I am going to begin 5/3/1, exactly as written, in two weeks, after I finish my current program that I have been following for the past 14 weeks.
The only principle that seems unclear to me, after re-reading the information posted here in the previous two articles that Jim has written for T-Nation on the 5/3/1 template, is how long is a typical period of time to follow the program (or how many different 4-week training cycles are recommended) before transitioning to one of the “Beyond 5/3/1…” templates?
I gather and agree that this should be a long-term goal, but I am curious as to how or when others have transitioned to one of the beyond platforms (e.g., 6 months, 12 months, 18 months)? Any particular recommendations to share?
IMO you can follow 5/3/1 indefinitely. There are tons of different assistance templates to keep in fresh and keep you progressing. Even with Beyond out I know many people (myself include) still follow regular 5/3/1.
[quote]JMac31 wrote:
IMO you can follow 5/3/1 indefinitely. There are tons of different assistance templates to keep in fresh and keep you progressing. Even with Beyond out I know many people (myself include) still follow regular 5/3/1.[/quote]
Thanks - just curious, how long have you been on the program? I am starting with the recommended assistance lifts in the Triumvirate plan. I don’t expect to change to anything else in less than 6-12 months, at minimum, but just curious how long some here have been on this program if >12 months.
I just finished a 531 series I started in October of last year. Finally stalled out on more than just the presses. I’ll take care of a few things this week and next that have me out of the gym for personal reasons, add 5 pounds to my base numbers for bench and press, and 10 to my squat and deadlift, and start another series. That series may last another six months, or longer, for all I know. Playing the long game with 531.
Currently I have been on 5/3/1 for 5 months, and plan to continue for the foreseeable future. In the past I ran for 18 months with great success. I only stopped because I did not have access to barbells for a period of time.
I like to switch up assistance every 2 cycles, but as always keep going on the main lifts.
I think I ran Old School, straight up 5/3/1 for a good year before transitioning to any variations, and would do it the same if I had it to do all over again. I think it’s important people really learn (and believe in) the program before tinkering with too many variations, even the Jim recommended/approved ones. It takes time to really see how the cycles build upon each other; how, when and how much to reset; and the rep ranges that work best for you on the + sets.
There are a number of great responses here, and at least this gives me a time frame of somewhere between 12-24 months from which to build upon this program.
One more question - did anyone else NOT have any access to a weighted vest? If so, what did you do to compensate for conditioning? My initial short-term goal is to get my 3.0 mile HIIT routine below an 8 minute mile, total, for the entire conditioning session (drop from 28-30 minutes at present to <24 minutes), but I do not have any access to a weighted vest for the general walking days.