Hello.
First time poster.
I want to try 5/3/1 because I need some direction in life. My current 1RM bench press is probably 225.
I’ve been doing 5x5, that goes something like 205, 210, 215, 210, 205. Or straight across 205 or 210, depending on how I feel. Like I said, I need direction in my life.
If max is 225, and I take 90%, that’s 202.
65% of 202 is 131. 75% is 151. 85% is 171.
These seem way too low to be of much benefit.
ideas?
[quote]jointer wrote:
I’ve been doing 5x5, that goes something like 205, 210, 215, 210, 205. Or straight across 205 or 210, depending on how I feel.
[/quote]
If you can do 5 sets of 5 with 205, your 1RM really ought to be better than 225. That’s your first problem. No wonder you think that 65% number seems low.
The idea is to start with a “running start”. Plus you’re pushing that last set for a PR so you still get to challenge yourself. Are you getting better now? If so then keep going with what you’re doing. If not, then just give it a shot. But know that this isn’t one of those programs that you do for 4 weeks and hope for a huge PR. It’s about the long term.
start low and you will grow
Just do the program for 3 cycles and then judge it. Your brain will tell you anything you want to hear, your muscles will give you the truth.
Just keep plugging away. If your bench is like 200 and you use 180, that seems low, but when your bench gets to like 500 and you use 450, it doesn’t seem so low anymore. Progress takes lots of time and patience.
If you don’t like the program, don’t do it. You won’t get anywhere by tap dancing. You put your head down and sprint.
This program has been proven to work. Either hop on board or find another program that you 100% believe in.
Keep it low and push the PR sets. If you have more in the tank then do some Joker sets and then do some First-Set-Last (Beyond 5/3/1 book); it doesn’t get much easier than that. Plenty of tools to get strong with here, just have to trust the programming.
[quote]jointer wrote:
These seem way too low to be of much benefit.
[/quote]
You’ve made that determination based on what experience?
This month your TM is 205.
Next month it’s 210.
A month after that it’s 215.
Then 220
Then 225
Then 230
Then 235
Then 240
Then 245
Then 250
Then 255
Then 260…
Unfortunately you can’t get past week one because you’re to short sighted to see the big picture.
I guess this just goes to show, there are no stupid questions.
Thank you to those who gave a helpful answer.
To the others, sorry I wasted your time. It’s just a matter of YNDTP, right?
[quote]jointer wrote:
It’s just a matter of YNDTP, right? [/quote]
It’s mostly just a matter of experience. Once you’ve tried a program as written, then experimented with some other ideas and modifications you’ll know what works and what doesn’t work for you.
The trick is that the sub-maximal effort thing works, but it requires time to achieve results. You can’t judge the effectiveness of a long term program based on week 1 numbers.
Secondly, the final set is a + set… As in 5+ reps, 3+ reps or 1+ reps. If you push that 171x5+ reps for 10 reps total your new estimated 1rm would be 228 lbs, which is an improvement over the 225 you can currently press. So, by improving your results with sub-maximal weights you are still driving progress on your maximal strength.