Greyskull LP: How the Program Works and Who It Suits
Quick answer: Greyskull LP is a three-day-a-week full body barbell program by John Sheaffer. Every main lift runs two sets of five plus a final "5+" set taken for as many reps as you can manage. You add 2.5 lb to upper body lifts and 5 lb to lower body lifts each session, and cut 10% off a lift when the last set drops below five reps.
Most beginner programs treat a bad day and a good day identically. You did your 3x5, you add weight, and nobody asks whether the last set moved like a rocket or like a car with a flat tyre.
Greyskull LP asks. That single change is why people who stalled on other linear programs keep coming back to it.
What is Greyskull LP?
A linear progression built around one honest set. Created by John Sheaffer, who writes as Johnny Pain, Greyskull LP is a three-day-a-week full body barbell routine, usually run Monday, Wednesday and Friday (Lift Vault).
The structure is deliberately small. Two alternating sessions, a squat or deadlift, one press, and a short list of assistance work. What separates it from Starting Strength or StrongLifts is what happens on the last set of each main lift.
Instead of stopping at five, you keep going.
How is a Greyskull LP session structured?
The template alternates two workouts across three sessions a week, so you run A, B, A one week and B, A, B the next.
Workout A
- Bench press (or a bench variation): 2x5, then 1x5+
- Squat: 2x5, then 1x5+
Workout B
- Overhead press: 2x5, then 1x5+
- Deadlift: 1x5+
Deadlifts get a single working set, because a heavy set of deadlifts taken past five reps is quite enough for one week. Most versions bolt on chin-ups or rows and some direct arm work, which is the gap the popular Phrak's variant closes by putting chins or rows into every session.
What does "2x5, 1x5+" actually mean?
Two sets of five at your working weight, then a third set at the same weight where five is the minimum and you keep going until the reps stop being clean. Our guide to workout shorthand covers the rest of the notation you will meet in program write-ups.
If the numbers themselves are new to you, sets and reps for beginners covers why five is the number everyone starts with.
How does the progression work?
Add weight every session, in small jumps. After a session where you hit your reps, put 2.5 lb on upper body lifts and 5 lb on lower body lifts for next time (Lift Vault). In kilograms, that is roughly 1.25 kg and 2.5 kg, which means microplates are not optional.
That is the "LP" part, and it is the same idea every beginner program uses. The interesting part is what happens when it stops working.
When the final set falls below five reps, take 10% off that lift and start climbing again. Only that lift resets. Your squat stalling does not touch your bench, and your bench stalling does not touch anything else.
Why the AMRAP set changes the maths
A fixed 3x5 gives you one bit of information: did you get it or not. The 5+ set gives you a number.
Hit 5 reps on the last set and you scraped through. Hit 9 and you had far more in the tank than the program was asking for. Over a block, that number tells you how much runway you have left before the reset arrives, weeks before the reset arrives.
It also quietly adds volume. A lifter who regularly turns the last set into 8 or 10 reps is doing meaningfully more work than a lifter doing a flat 3x5 at the same weight, which is part of why Greyskull has a reputation for adding size as well as strength.
How hard should you push the 5+ set?
Not to the point where the bar stops moving. The usual guidance is to leave one or two reps in reserve rather than grinding to a genuine failure, since a true limit set on squats three times a week wrecks the recovery the progression depends on.
If leaving reps in reserve is a vague idea to you, our guide to RPE versus RIR explains how lifters put a number on it. Keeping that number honest matters more here than on almost any other beginner program, because the AMRAP set is the input to every decision the program makes.
Who is Greyskull LP for?
Beginners and returning lifters who want a little more than five reps. If you can already squat and press with reasonable form and you are still adding weight session to session, this is a sensible place to spend three to six months.
Anyone whose life is inconsistent. Sleep, stress and work vary. A fixed 3x5 punishes a bad Tuesday with a failed session; a 5+ set lets a bad Tuesday cost you three reps instead of the whole progression.
People who found StrongLifts too much squatting. Five sets of five squats three times a week grinds a lot of people down. Greyskull's two-plus-one arrangement is far less total squatting per session, and our comparison of Starting Strength and StrongLifts 5x5 covers the two programs it sits between.
It is a poor fit if you want a bodybuilding split, if you cannot get microplates, or if you are already an intermediate who has run linear progression to its end. Our comparison of linear progression and double progression covers what usually comes next.
| Greyskull LP | StrongLifts 5x5 | Starting Strength | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main lift structure | 2x5 plus 1x5+ | 5x5 | 3x5 |
| Sessions per week | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Upper body increment | 2.5 lb | 5 lb | 5 lb |
| Lower body increment | 5 lb | 5 lb | 5 to 10 lb |
| Stall rule | Cut 10% on that lift | Deload after 3 failures | Deload after 3 failures |
| Built-in AMRAP | Yes, every main lift | No | No |
| Upper back work | Added in most variants | Rows only | Rows only |
A simple starting plan
- Test, do not guess, your starting weights. Work up to a set of five that feels like you had three more reps left, then start there. Beginners who start too heavy burn through the program in six weeks.
- Buy microplates before week one. A 2.5 lb jump on overhead press is the difference between four months of progress and four weeks of it. Standard 1.25 kg plates in pairs do the same job.
- Record the AMRAP number every single session.
OHP 45kg 5/5/8andOHP 45kg 5/5/5look the same in your memory and mean completely different things. - Reset one lift at a time. When the last set drops under five, take 10% off that bar and leave every other lift alone.
- Review the AMRAP trend at four weeks. If the last set is drifting from 9 reps toward 6 across a month, your reset is coming. That is useful, not alarming.
Once you know your best set, plug it into the free one rep max calculator to see roughly where your maxes sit without ever testing a true single.
Where the AMRAP number needs to live
Greyskull runs on one number that no fixed-rep program produces: how many reps you got on the last set. Lose that number and the program becomes an ordinary 3x5 with worse progression.
Most people write it in a note, because typing Squat 100kg 5/5/8 takes four seconds and no app's picker wheel is faster. Here is how the realistic options handle a program that changes its mind based on one number.
| Where the log lives | Records the AMRAP rep count | Speed between sets | Shows the AMRAP trend | Flags an approaching reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical Notebook | Yes | Fast | Flick back through pages | Only if you notice |
| Notes App | Yes, free text | Fastest | No, it is just text | No |
| Traditional Gym App | Yes, field by field | Slow, menus per set | Charts inside that app | Sometimes |
| Gym Note Plus | Yes, typed as plain text | Fastest | Automatic per-exercise trends | Visible as a slope |
Gym Note Plus keeps that habit and adds the memory:
- Type the session as plain text, AMRAP set and all
- Every lift gets its own trend line, so drifting AMRAP reps show up as a slope rather than a surprise
- Estimated 1RM calculated from your best set, updated automatically
- Last session on screen before you load the bar, so you know what you are chasing
Paste your last workout into the free notes to workout translator and see what your own shorthand turns into.
A fixed rep scheme tells you whether you passed. An AMRAP set tells you by how much, and that is the number that predicts your next stall.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Greyskull LP?
Greyskull LP is a three-day-a-week full body barbell program created by John Sheaffer. Main lifts use two sets of five plus a final set of five or more repetitions, weight increases every session, and a lift that falls below five reps on the final set is reduced by 10% and worked back up.
How much weight do you add on Greyskull LP?
Add 2.5 lb per session to upper body lifts such as bench press and overhead press, and 5 lb per session to lower body lifts such as squats and deadlifts. In metric terms that is roughly 1.25 kg and 2.5 kg, which means a set of microplates is effectively a requirement.
What does 5+ mean in Greyskull LP?
The 5+ notation marks an AMRAP set: five repetitions is the minimum and you continue for as many additional clean reps as you can, usually stopping one or two reps short of true failure. It appears on the final working set of every main lift and drives the program's progression decisions.
What happens when you stall on Greyskull LP?
When the final AMRAP set drops below five repetitions, reduce that specific lift by 10% and progress back up from there. Other lifts continue unchanged, so a stalled bench press never interrupts a squat that is still adding weight every session.
Is Greyskull LP better than StrongLifts 5x5?
Greyskull LP suits lifters who want less squatting volume per session and a built-in way to bank good days, because of its AMRAP final set and smaller upper body increments. StrongLifts 5x5 gives more total practice at each lift. Neither is stronger for everyone; the choice depends on recovery and preference.
How long should you run Greyskull LP?
Run Greyskull LP until you have reset the same lift two or three times without getting back past your previous best, which for most beginners takes three to six months. At that point a linear program has given what it has, and a slower progression model is the usual next step.
Final Takeaways
- Greyskull LP is linear progression with an honest last set. Two fives plus an AMRAP on every main lift.
- Increments are small on purpose. 2.5 lb upper body, 5 lb lower body, which makes microplates a requirement.
- Stalls are handled per lift, with a 10% cut on the lift that failed and nothing else touched.
- The AMRAP number is the whole program. Record it every session or you are running a worse version of 3x5.
- Expect three to six productive months before you need something that progresses more slowly.
Josh Ibbotson
Josh is the creator of Gym Note Plus, building tools that make workout tracking as simple as taking notes.
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