What 101 strength programs prescribe
The 101 programs as open data: 1,791 prescriptions of sets, reps and rest, as CSV and JSON, free to reuse with a link back.
depot.fitness is a library of 101 structured strength-training programs. Every set, rep and rest period is written out, so the library can be counted. These are the counts, and the files they come from, free to reuse with a link back (CC BY 4.0).
- 101 programs
- 1,791 prescriptions
- 390 training days
- 58 median sets a week
- 5 / 16 exercises / sets in a session
- 75 s median rest
A typical program prescribes 58 sets a week
The median across all 101 programs is 58 prescribed sets a week, and the range runs from 12 to 130. Beginner programs (30) sit at 47, intermediate (52) at 59.5, advanced (19) at 67.
- Beginner (30): 47 sets
- Intermediate (52): 59.5 sets
- Advanced (19): 67 sets
A session is 5 exercises and 16 sets
Across the library's 390 training days, the median session has 5 exercises and 16 sets. 92.1% of sessions have between 3 and 6 exercises.
No program asks for fewer than three days
42 programs train 3 days a week, 40 programs train 4 days a week, 10 programs train 5 days a week, 9 programs train 6 days a week.
- 3 days a week: 42 programs
- 4 days a week: 40 programs
- 5 days a week: 10 programs
- 6 days a week: 9 programs
64 of 101 programs run 8 or 12 weeks
36 programs run 8 weeks and 28 run 12. The shortest is 3 weeks and the longest 16. A program's schedule is one week, repeated for its length.
- 3 weeks: 1 program
- 4 weeks: 6 programs
- 6 weeks: 14 programs
- 8 weeks: 36 programs
- 10 weeks: 15 programs
- 12 weeks: 28 programs
- 16 weeks: 1 program
66.3% of rep-count prescriptions top out at 9 to 15 reps
Of the 1,565 prescriptions written as a rep count, 66.3% top out at 9 to 15 reps. Sets topping out at 5 or fewer are 13.0% of them (11.4% of all 1,791 prescriptions).
- 1 to 5 reps: 13.0% (204)
- 6 to 8: 10.4% (162)
- 9 to 12: 33.4% (522)
- 13 to 15: 32.9% (515)
- 16 or more: 10.4% (162)
Rest follows the rep range: median 75 seconds overall
The median rest across all prescriptions is 75 seconds. By the top of the rep range it is 180 seconds at 5 reps or fewer, 120 at 6 to 8, 90 at 9 to 12, and 60 at 13 or more.
- 1 to 5 reps: 180 s
- 6 to 8: 120 s
- 9 to 12: 90 s
- 13 to 15: 60 s
- 16 or more: 60 s
484 exercises; the back squat leads with 56 programs
484 distinct exercises appear in the library; 98 of them in three or more programs. The back squat and the bench press are the most used, in 56 and 56 programs, followed by the barbell row (44). Counts are by exact name after merging a fixed list of aliases; a lift's labelled variants (a tempo or a BBB tag, for example) are not merged in.
- Back Squat: 56 programs
- Bench Press: 56 programs
- Barbell Row: 44 programs
- Lateral Raise: 39 programs
- Romanian Deadlift: 39 programs
- Incline Dumbbell Press: 38 programs
- Plank: 37 programs
- Overhead Press: 36 programs
- Deadlift: 36 programs
- Leg Curl: 34 programs
38 programs write rest days into the week
The other 63 list only the days to train. 82 of the 101 programs leave three or four days a week without training.
10 progression notes name a deload or reset
8 programs add weight to the bar every session, all of them beginner programs. Progression is free text in the source, so both counts come from reading the notes, not from a field.
How this was counted
- Training day: A day in a program's weekly schedule that lists at least one exercise. A day with none is a rest day. The schedule is one week, repeated for the program's length.
- Prescribed sets: The sets value on each exercise. The library does not mark warm-up sets. Weekly prescribed sets sums them over one week.
- Canonical exercise: Names are slugified, mapped through the alias table behind the exercise index (an abbreviation expanded, a parenthetical dropped, four barbell pairs merged), and a trailing "s" is merged when the singular also occurs. Names that could mean something else stay apart. Every merged spelling is listed in exercises.csv.
- Reps: Reps are free text in the source. The files give a kind (fixed, range, wave, list, amrap, time, interval, rounds, effort, other) and, for rep counts, the minimum and maximum. Rep statistics use only the rep-count prescriptions.
- Medians: The median of an even count is the mean of the two middle values, which is why the intermediate figure is 59.5.
Download
- programs.csv: One row per program: level, type, goals, equipment, length, days per week, weekly prescribed sets, progression note.
- exercises.csv: One row per canonical exercise: programs using it, typical sets, reps and rest, every spelling merged.
- prescriptions-free-programs.csv: One row per exercise in a training day, for the five programs that are free in full.
- summary.json: The headline numbers on this page.
Version 2026.10.13, snapshot of 2026-10-13. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Also on GitHub: https://github.com/AlonDrilich/depot-strength-programs. Cite: depot.fitness. (2026). depot.fitness strength-program dataset (Version 2026.10.13) [Data set]. https://depot.fitness/data
What this does not say
- One library, written by depot.fitness. Every count describes these 101 programs, not training programs in general.
- Prescriptions are what the programs call for, not what anyone did.
- Progression is free text, and no program prescribes RPE or RIR.
- There is no exercise-to-muscle mapping in the source; muscle groups are recorded per program.
- A snapshot of 2026-10-13. The library changes: compare the version.