This morning I officially finished my second consecutive cycle of the Invictus Weightlifting 5 day per week program designed by Jared Enderton (35th at 2018 Crossfit Games) and I have a lot of great things to say about it.

I am writing this review because I know that trying to decide which program to follow can be rather difficult especially when there are so many available that all seem to have had their share of success.

Hopefully after reading this review and seeing some of the results I achieved you will have a better understanding on how this program works and you can then decide if its a fit for you or not.

A couple notes before we get started:

I am not paid for writing this review so all information is unbiased.

I had only been doing Crossfit-style training before this program. Some strength work, but only as an afterthought, not the primary focus.

I have been doing Crossfit for 2 years before this program.

I followed this program from April 2nd – August 11th (19 weeks, 2 cycles)

We’ll start with my results from the program and then follow with the review.

MY RESULTS:

Snatch +25lbs (255lbs)

Clean & Jerk +30lbs (295lbs)

Front Squat +20lbs (305lbs)

Back Squat +10lbs (335lbs)

Power Snatch +20lbs (225lbs)

Push Press +50lbs (255lbs)

Bench Press +25lbs (270lbs)

Split Jerk +20lbs (305lbs)

The main thing you may have noticed here is that my olympic lifts are disproportionately better than my power lifts such as my clean and jerk only being 10lbs under my max front squat. This is partially because this program does not put a large emphasis on improving your squats but rather making your olympic lifts more efficient.

And partially because as an individual I have decent technique but am lacking raw leg strength.

Invictus Weightlifting 5 day/week Program Review

A sample day on this program does not look drastically different from many of the other programs available, but there are definitely some things that separate it from others.

The main difference that stays true to the Invictus style of weight training is how everything you do is on a running clock in order to maximize efficiency and prevent 4+ hour gym sessions.

EX: Every 2:00 for 18:00 (9 sets) – Snatch x 1 rep

EX 2: In 25:00 build to 1rm clean

Below is what a sample day on this program may look like.

SAMPLE DAY:

A) Mobility / positioning work

EX: 4 x 6 clean grip sots press

One of the main aspects of this program that I enjoyed the most was the focus on mobility and positioning, which happen to be the two most important things in olympic weightlifting. Everyone knows that in order to be an advanced lifter you have to be able to put your body in the position thats most effective to move heavy loads, but most programs leave that up to the individual to figure out on their own.

This program starts off most days with a lift-specific positioning drill and mobility warmup that most Crossfit athletes have never even given a second thought. When starting this program you may think this is unnecessary, but these warmups are in fact what moves the needle the most in your lifting.

In four months I went from taking close to an hour to warmup and release my hips for lifting to now just around 15 minutes per day and I feel more mobile and stable than ever.

B) Snatch / overhead focus

EX: every 2:00 for 20:00 (10 sets) – Snatch + OHS x 2 reps

On most days after you finish your mobility and warmup work you typically now move on to your first lifts of the day which tend to be either some sort of snatch emphasis work that can be anything from a snatch liftoff + snatch to a 2rm power snatch. It is like this for 3-4 days per week.

If part B is not a snatch focus then you are working on a different overhead movement such as the split jerk, push jerk, or push press.

I believe it is wise that these always come before squats and clean and jerks as your legs are not overly fatigued.

If your overhead stability is typically the limiting factor in your lifts this program will most likely solve that.

C) Clean and jerk / squat work

EX: every 2:30 for 20:00 (8 sets) – Clean and jerk x 1 rep

This part is very similar to part B but includes a little more variation. During this part of the training you can be performing cleans, clean and jerks, front squats, or back squats.

By this point in the workout you should not be all that fatigued yet and should feel primed to hit all of your percentages.

D) Posterior chain / unilateral strength work

EX: every 2:30 for 10:00 (4 sets) – Barbell step-ups x 6 each leg

Along with the mobility and positioning I believe that this part of training played a big role in many of my results. Before this program I occasionally did a bit of this work on my own, but not at the level included here.

Movements in this part of training included Romanian deadlifts, barbell lunges, barbell step-ups, Glute-Ham raises, Bulgarian split squats, and conventional deadlifts.

These movements typically hurt much more than practicing the actual lifts themselves, but were needed to make sure that you don’t lift 100% quad dominant.

E) Core + back work

EX: 4 sets of: hip extension x 8 / L-sit x :20 seconds

Any decent weightlifting program has designed core and back accessory work included in daily trainings so this is no surprise, however I found the core work to be lacking a bit.

I was a big fan of the constant back extensions, bent over rows, and chin-ups. I felt a legitimate difference in my lower back and felt stronger on pulls.

However I was not so much a fan of how easy the core work seemed to be. Perhaps the core work wasn’t designed to challenge you so much and keep you fresh for the next day, but I found myself repeatedly swapping out the programs core work for my own.

This is just a sample of what one day on the Invictus Weightlifting program may look like. Not every day will look the same and there is a lot more involved in the training than I can include in this post.

FINAL NOTES

In terms of olympic weightlifting Jared Enderton knows a lot more than I do and everything included in this review was from my personal experiences.

I achieved many great results on this program and believe it is one of the best out there if you are looking to increase your olympic lifts. You are likely to become all-around more mobile and stable as an athlete and that will in turn transfer over to your snatch and clean and jerk.

If you are looking for a program to purely boost your raw strength, especially in the squat or deadlift, this isn’t the program you’re looking for.

You get your training for the day on the previous night at 6pm PST meaning you can’t see what you will be doing a week in advance.

As part of this program you get full access to the Invictus Weightlifting facebook page where you can ask any questions and post videos of your form. Jared Enderton is very active on that page and you’re likely to get a response within a few hours.

This program is a bit more expensive than other programs, but this one also provides you a community of people following the same program and direct contact with a coach that has competed at some of the highest levels of weightlifting.

Heres the link to the Invictus Weightlifting 5 day per week program

I hope that this review could be of some benefit to you. If you have any questions about this post please leave a comment on the Heatonminded Instagram page.

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