Bullmastiff Explained
Bullmastiff is Alex Bromley's intermediate strength program, from his book Peak Strength. Its idea is simple to state: the last set of every main lift is a rep-out, and the reps you get there decide next week's weight. Strong weeks move you faster and flat weeks hold you back, without a fixed schedule deciding for you.
Want to run it? Load Bullmastiff free in Ægir Iron and log it session by session.
Who it is for
Bullmastiff is for a lifter who has run out of beginner progress, where adding weight every session no longer works. It asks for four sessions a week and a real one-rep max on the squat, bench press, deadlift and overhead press. Bromley is a strongman, and the program is the barbell base he builds strongman training on, but it works on its own for anyone after a stronger squat, bench, deadlift and press.
The week
Each session has one main lift, then a variation of a different lift, then bodybuilding work. Pairing the variation with another lift means every lift is trained twice a week: once heavy, once as a variation.
Bromley names slots rather than exercises. A "developmental squat" can be a front squat, a long pause squat, a tempo squat, a safety bar squat and more, and choosing from his menu is your job.
The rep-out rule
Every main lift ends with an all-out set. Count the reps past the target and add one percent of your one-rep max for each of them. That is next week's weight.
The program runs in three-week waves, and each new wave starts again at its own opening percentage rather than carrying on from the last rep-out. That reset is what makes it sustainable. A great week moves you up quickly inside a wave, and the next wave starts from a planned number, not from wherever a good day left you.
| Base phase | Opens at | Main lift, every week of the wave |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 65 percent | 4 sets of 6, last set all out |
| Wave 2 | 70 percent | 5 sets of 5, last set all out |
| Wave 3 | 75 percent | 6 sets of 4, last set all out |
Volumizing the variations
The variations do not use the rep-out. You pick a weight that feels easy, about a 6 out of 10 with four or so reps left in the tank, and keep it all wave. What changes is the set count: three sets in week 1, four in week 2, five in week 3. The effort climbs because the volume does. Bromley calls this volumizing, and he only adds weight if the effort stays where he prescribes it.
The Peak phase
After the nine-week Base phase comes a nine-week Peak phase with heavier openings: 80, 85 and 90 percent, for triples, doubles and singles. Its shape is inverted. Instead of holding the sets and climbing the weight, each wave drops the sets as the weight rises: five sets in week 1, three in week 2, one in week 3, still with a rep-out at the end.
The days change too. A targeted variation of another lift takes the first variation slot. These are the movements that attack a sticking point, such as pin presses, box squats or a pause where you fail. A developmental variation of the day's own lift follows, and the bodybuilding work shrinks until the third wave drops it entirely. The phase ends with a deload week and a test week.
How it compares
| Bullmastiff | Wendler 5/3/1 | Juggernaut Method | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days per week | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Loads come from | A real one-rep max | A training max at 90 percent | A training max at 90 percent |
| What the rep-out does | Sets next week's weight | Shows your progress; the increase each cycle is fixed | Sets the next wave's training max |
| Weight moves | Every week, by how you performed | Every four-week cycle, by a fixed amount | Every wave |
Original source
Ægir Iron's template is built from this source. Under it is what the template takes from it.
- Bromley A (2021). Peak Strength: Competitive Performance Roadmap (Bullmastiff, pp. 154-166). Self-published (Base Strength book 2); free excerpt on empire-barbell.com.Bullmastiff: Base and Peak phases in three-week waves, the main-lift AMRAP that adds one percent of the max per rep over target, and volumizing variations
Running Bullmastiff in Ægir Iron
Load it from the Program Wizard under Powerlifting and choose the Base phase, the Peak phase, or both in a row. The first week of each wave arrives priced from your max. Weeks 2 and 3 depend on your rep-out, so they arrive with Bromley's rule written on them and no weight, and you add one percent of your max per extra rep yourself. Each variation and accessory row is one pick from Bromley's menu, with the rest of the menu in the row's note. The program runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The rolling schedule Bromley also offers, where the four sessions drift through the week, does not fit a weekly plan.