Just a short question, regarding this template:
Day One
Squat 5/3/1
Bench 5/3/1
assistance work
Day Two
Deadlift 5/3/1
Press 5/3/1
assistance work
Would this template be any effective for strength gain if it were performed 2 days in a row? E.G I only have the weekends to train. Or would the weekend template in Jim’s article “effective training for busy men” be better?
I do it that way occasionally, usually when shit is hitting the fan, but then I alternate the intensity of workout 1 and workout 2 from week to week - so, for example…
squat 5/3/1, bench 5/3/1…deadlift @70-80%, press 70-80% (week 1)
squat 70-80%, bench 70-80%…deadlift 5/3/1, press 5/3/1 (week 2)
I do the 70-80% stuff by feel, 3 sets of 5-8 or one set of AMRAP, or whatever works.
Your 3 week cycle takes 6 weeks, so you can probably deload a lot less frequently as well. I do it this way versus the lower/upper ‘busy man’ split because I do better with full body’ish workouts and don’t handle lots of assistance very well - I do the above Triumvirate style (add rows to bench, pullups to press) and leave.
The weekend workout in the article you mentioned is much better, and Jim Wendler has already “recommended” it by writing the article. I personally would burn out quick trying to hit 4 rep PRs in 2 days.