Hi Jim,Everyone
I’m 45 living in the UK.Just exhausted SS linear progression.Too many resets and my joints couldn’t handle the max effort every workout any more.Was exploring intermediate progression when a knowledgeable friend recommended 5/3/1 so I bought the book.My goals are steady strength progression and noticeable hypertrophy gains {like everyone I guess}
Anyhow I thought the 28 Week Sample Program was a good place to start.My training will look like this:
Day 1
Squat 5/3/1 , Good Mornings 5x10 , Face Pulls 5x15
My requests for guidance are:
1.Would you add/subtract/change anything in my 4 day training plan?
2.I chose the 28 Week training plan to see how the individual stages and earlier volume increase and later intensity increase worked for me. Would I use the 5 forward 3 back reset protocol or reset each lift as required?
3.Is the 28 week program even the best place to start or have I overlooked anything perhaps more suitable for my goals ? {bearing in mind the recovery issues I have being an old git}
Thanks in advance to anyone who bothers to take the time to point me in the right direction.
Troy
Pretty standard Triumvirate style workout. The only thing that jumps out to me is the inclusion of dips twice a week. Any particular reason you might want to do this? Just seems redundant to have BW dips and then later have weighted dips.
A lot of Jim’s work includes BB curls for your biceps. I would recommend replacing the BW dips with BB curls. This will promote balance between your upper body pushing and pulling.
And this is completely personal preference, but I might recommend Straight Leg Dead Lifts over Good Mornings, and Front Squats over Hack Squats. SLDL or RDL’s take a lot of the pressure off of your lower back, and in my experience front squats are better at engaging the quads.
My requests for guidance are:
1.Would you add/subtract/change anything in my 4 day training plan?
2.I chose the 28 Week training plan to see how the individual stages and earlier volume increase and later intensity increase worked for me. Would I use the 5 forward 3 back reset protocol or reset each lift as required?
3.Is the 28 week program even the best place to start or have I overlooked anything perhaps more suitable for my goals ? {bearing in mind the recovery issues I have being an old git}
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No. I had a really hard time getting good mornings down so I switched to SLDL, but if you can manage GMs then that won’t be an issue. Just tossing that out as an option.
Use both. Use 5/3 as your standard reset plan but leave open the option to reset individual lifts early if required.
You picked a better place to start than 99% of the other people who ask us to judge their programs. The only suggestion I’ll make is to do 3 sets of assistance the first week, then work up to all 5 sets as you feel ready for it.
Lastly, if you were doing something like Starting Strength or Strong Lifts before 5/3/1 will feel deceptively easy. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this means you should keep adding shit until you bury yourself every workout. Trust the program.
Thanks breakingiron and some_dude
some sage advice there.You both mention Sldl’s, I’ll try Good Mornings for the
!st 3 weeks , Sldl’s for the 2nd see what suits me best.Makes sense to do the same with Hack Squats/Front Squats I think.
I’m glad the reset position is settled in my mind now and I won’t be rushing to add extra work. Starting light suits me fine as I’d like to get past the first 4 cycles with FSL and Pyramid sets before I reset. From my understanding
a reset during the Joker set and TM amrap cycles won’t hinder me as much.
Looking forward to seeing how each cycle benefits me and planning my next steps accordingly. Setting rep PB’s is going to be such a motivation I can’t wait until Monday to get cracking.
Cheers guys appreciate it.
Yours looks similar to my triumvirate program, and I am working on week #3 and have been satisfied thus far. However, I have opted to use hanging leg raises for some core work.
Mine looks like this:
OHP 5/3/1
Dips 5 x 15
Chins 5 x 3-5
DL 5/3/1
Good Morning 5 x 12
Hanging leg raise 5 x 15
Bench 5/3/1
DB Press 5 x 15
DB Row 5 x 10
Squat 5/3/1
Leg Press 5 x 15
Leg Curl 5 x 10
The only change I am going to make is subbing out the good morning assistance work, as I am having trouble getting down a proper form without too much stress on a previously injured lower back. I find good mornings to be more difficult for me than I thought, so I think you have to pick assistance exercises that a) meet your goals and b) work for you / something you actually enjoy or can do without too much strain.