Phrak's Greyskull LP: Free 3-Day App Template

Greyskull LP is a beginner barbell program, and its LP stands for linear progression, a plan that adds a little weight every session. The full program is sold as a book, Greyskull LP: Third Edition. The r/Fitness wiki once kept a free summary of it called Phrak’s Greyskull LP Variant, and Kinoku’s Greyskull-style template follows that summary.

How Phrak’s variant works

The wiki version trains on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and each session runs in the same order: a pull, a press, then a leg lift. The pull is chin-ups or barbell rows, and the press is the overhead press or the bench press. Each one alternates from one workout to the next, with the bench press paired with rows and the overhead press paired with chin-ups.

The leg lift depends on the day. Monday and Friday end with three sets of squats, and Wednesday ends with one set of deadlifts. Every lift gets three sets of five, and the last set is taken further, which the wiki marks with a plus sign. That set ends with one or two reps still left, around the point where the bar starts to slow.

The wiki asks for 2 to 3 minutes of rest between sets. It suggests running the program as written for three months at most, and it compares the program to the concrete slab that a house is later built on.

How the weights move on the wiki

The wiki adds 2.5 lb (about 1.1 kg) to the upper-body lifts and 5 lb (about 2.3 kg) to the squat and deadlift after each workout. A last set of more than 10 reps may double that jump. A lift that gets fewer than 15 reps across all its sets is cut by 10 percent.

Take a bench press at 60 kg as a worked example. Sets of 5, 5 and 8 make 18 reps, so the bar goes up next time, and sets of 5, 5 and 11 earn the double jump. Sets of 5, 4 and 5 make only 14 reps, so the wiki’s rule brings the bench press down to 54 kg.

What Kinoku works out for you

Kinoku tracks six lifts in this template: the overhead press, chin-up, back squat, bench press, barbell row and deadlift. You enter a one-rep max for each barbell lift, and the app plans the first working weight at 80 percent of it, rounded to the nearest 2.5 kg. The chin-up starts with no added weight, and a barbell field left blank starts on the empty 20 kg bar.

After a session where every set reaches five reps, the press, bench press and row each gain 2.5 kg. The chin-up gains 2.5 kg of added weight, and the squat and deadlift gain 5 kg. Ten or more reps on the last set double the jump.

A session where any set falls short takes 10 percent off that lift straight away, rounded to the nearest 2.5 kg. So the bench press from the example comes back at 55 kg rather than the wiki’s 54 kg.

Where the app’s version differs

The size of the jumps is the biggest difference. Kinoku adds 2.5 kg and 5 kg where the wiki adds 2.5 lb and 5 lb, which is about twice as much. Choosing Smaller under Weight jumps in Program settings halves Kinoku’s jumps to 1.25 kg and 2.5 kg, which is close to the wiki’s steps. With Smaller on, the cut after a missed session rounds to the nearest 1.25 kg as well.

The week is built differently too. Kinoku keeps the deadlift in Workout B with the bench press and row, so a week with two B days holds two deadlift sessions and one squat session. On the wiki, squats stay on Monday and Friday and the deadlift stays on Wednesday every week, and only the upper-body lifts alternate. Inside each workout, Kinoku puts the press before the pull, where the wiki starts with the pull.

Two rules also work a little differently. The wiki adds up the reps across all three sets, so sets of 5, 4 and 6 reach 15 and avoid the cut. Kinoku counts any short set as a miss, so the same session takes 10 percent off. The double jump starts at 10 reps in the app, one rep sooner than the wiki’s “more than 10”.

The wiki’s extra options stay with you, such as chin-up negatives or three sets of deadlifts for more work. The routines are yours to edit, though Kinoku plans weights only for the six lifts it tracks.

Where the wiki page went

The r/Fitness wiki address for Phrak’s variant now points to the r/Fitness Basic Beginner Routine. That routine keeps three sets of five with a last set taken further, but it fixes the lifts into two workouts that never change and adds cardio days. Kinoku runs it as a separate template, which the Basic Beginner Routine page describes.

Frequently asked questions

Which app runs a Greyskull-style linear progression with the double jump?

Kinoku runs a free plan based on Phrak's variant. It plans a first weight at 80 percent of your one rep max, adds 2.5 kg or 5 kg after a session where every set reaches five reps, and doubles the jump when the last set reaches 10. A session with any short set takes 10 percent off that lift straight away.

Is this the official Greyskull LP?

No. Kinoku's template follows Phrak's Greyskull LP Variant, a free summary on the r/Fitness wiki that names the book Greyskull LP: Third Edition as its source. Kinoku has no connection with the book or the store that sells it.

What counts as a missed session in Kinoku?

Any set that ends below five reps counts as a miss, the last set included. The next session plans 10 percent less for that lift, rounded to the nearest 2.5 kg, and the usual jumps start again after that.

How does the chin-up progress?

The chin-up starts at your body weight with nothing added, and it stays there until every set reaches five reps. After each session that does, Kinoku plans 2.5 kg more added weight for next time. The wiki suggests negatives, or a pulldown with your palms facing you, until chin-ups come.

How long can I run a Greyskull-style plan?

The wiki suggests three months at most, and Kinoku plans 12 weeks. After that, some of Kinoku's other strength templates vary the load from week to week or day to day, such as Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 and PHUL (power hypertrophy upper lower). A plan that adds weight every session cannot keep that pace for long.