5/3/1 Question - Adding In Singles

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
21

[/quote]

I kind of agree on the bench thing but still working on find a better alternative for it. Just start to experiment with other stuff as long as it does not effect the other 3 days that much. I have been doing more bench assistance on OH Press day and actually not much volume at all on Bench day for pressing. One thing I have not tried yet but want to is reset the 5/3/1 bench to something that allows a lot more reps, up to 15 on week 1 or something. That should allow many months where even week 3 is 5+ reps. I initially made good progress on Bench but once my max reps got to 4 or so it went down fast as the weight went up. [/quote]

The one thing that i hadnt tried for bench was seriously reducing my max and hitting higher reps each week like youve said until 4 cycles ago. I really really reduced my max (75%) and found that again, I was hitting high reps (really high reps, 20+) each time I choose a battle but there was zero carry over to my 1 RM, now as i’ve previously said im not a 1 RM til I die knobhead but if i wanna compete this has to be tested aswell.

Whats even more confusing is that I know its harder to gain on upper body movements but I followed the same approach with OHP and it has greatly improved in both reps and heavier weight.

22

[quote]HERC410 wrote:
I am continually suprised to learn that guys are making very little progress with the bench. If I make the 245x1 this week that will be a 25lb increase in 8 weeks.[/quote]

Im not trying to steal your thunder man cos a 25lbs increase in 8 weeks is more than I could hope for and I respect anybody making those gains, but I aint benching 245x1.

23

Personally, i’m doing 6-10 singles over %80 for deadlifts and i add 10 lbs each week to my top single. Working great so far. I started on the light side to work on technique and get back in shape from a layoff.

btw i’m following the 5/3/1 setup but i don’t use the rep schemes. For the 3 other main lifts i ramp up with sets of 3 and again add 5-10lbs per week to my top set. I haven’t stalled yet. Simple and its working.

Once i get around %85 of my “goal” 1RM i will work on getting 5x3 sets across.

5/3/1 looks interesting but its not aggressive enough for me. Eventhough, i have started pretty light on my top sets. I work away from home so i have limited access to weights when i’m gone and sometimes that can be 2 mths.

24

You can do 5/3/1 with singles

25

This is the 5/3/1 Reloaded article and he talks about adding in singles.

26

Damn, Racer377 beat me to it :slight_smile:

27

From that “5/3/1 Reloaded” article:

“Jim Wendler’s new book, 5/3/1 for Powerlifting will be available soon.”

When Jim? When?

28

I was disappointed by that article; the title was misleading. I wanted slow motion double backflip dropkicks.

29

what weight is your pull now it’s geared to theoretically add 100 pounds to deads and squats in a year so if your within 300 on deadlift just stick with the program

30

what’s the general rule of thumb for starting % weight for week 1 singles?

31

[quote]zeik09 wrote:
what’s the general rule of thumb for starting % weight for week 1 singles?[/quote]

Yeah, I was wondering about this too. When it says add in some “heavy” singles, is there any percentage rule for this? Should you work up and come close to your max or just do singles with your top weight? Or should you bring the weight down and do some down sets of singles? It just seems a bit vague.

32

[quote]ultimatethor wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:
what’s the general rule of thumb for starting % weight for week 1 singles?[/quote]

Yeah, I was wondering about this too. When it says add in some “heavy” singles, is there any percentage rule for this? Should you work up and come close to your max or just do singles with your top weight? Or should you bring the weight down and do some down sets of singles? It just seems a bit vague.[/quote]

i guess i’ll answer my own question. from what i’ve been able to gather, use your 90%1RM weight for heavy singles.

33

[quote]zeik09 wrote:

[quote]ultimatethor wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:
what’s the general rule of thumb for starting % weight for week 1 singles?[/quote]

Yeah, I was wondering about this too. When it says add in some “heavy” singles, is there any percentage rule for this? Should you work up and come close to your max or just do singles with your top weight? Or should you bring the weight down and do some down sets of singles? It just seems a bit vague.[/quote]

i guess i’ll answer my own question. from what i’ve been able to gather, use your 90%1RM weight for heavy singles.[/quote]

Hopefully Wendler will weigh in on this soon and we can get a definitive answer, that’s been the only thing holding me back from adding them in really. I’m curious to know if the heavy singles on the 5/3/1 day are supposed to be higher % of 1RM then the 3x5 day.

34

[quote]zeik09 wrote:

[quote]ultimatethor wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:
what’s the general rule of thumb for starting % weight for week 1 singles?[/quote]

Yeah, I was wondering about this too. When it says add in some “heavy” singles, is there any percentage rule for this? Should you work up and come close to your max or just do singles with your top weight? Or should you bring the weight down and do some down sets of singles? It just seems a bit vague.[/quote]

i guess i’ll answer my own question. from what i’ve been able to gather, use your 90%1RM weight for heavy singles.[/quote]

That may be true but it may not. Why not wait until Jim puts out the new book and then you will know for sure.

35

[quote]samson141 wrote:

This is the 5/3/1 Reloaded article and he talks about adding in singles.[/quote]

When he says that he switched week 1 and 2 around, on week 2 you only perform the requisite reps. Does that mean you actually stop at 5 reps? Or, do you go for 5+, and don’t do any singles after?

36

[quote]JFG12 wrote:

[quote]samson141 wrote:

This is the 5/3/1 Reloaded article and he talks about adding in singles.[/quote]

When he says that he switched week 1 and 2 around, on week 2 you only perform the requisite reps. Does that mean you actually stop at 5 reps? Or, do you go for 5+, and don’t do any singles after?[/quote]

Stop at 5 reps, don’t do singles.

37

[quote]Lanolar wrote:
I think you are no longer doing 5/3/1 then.[/quote]

So…

38

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:

[quote]ultimatethor wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:
what’s the general rule of thumb for starting % weight for week 1 singles?[/quote]

Yeah, I was wondering about this too. When it says add in some “heavy” singles, is there any percentage rule for this? Should you work up and come close to your max or just do singles with your top weight? Or should you bring the weight down and do some down sets of singles? It just seems a bit vague.[/quote]

i guess i’ll answer my own question. from what i’ve been able to gather, use your 90%1RM weight for heavy singles.[/quote]

Hopefully Wendler will weigh in on this soon and we can get a definitive answer, that’s been the only thing holding me back from adding them in really. I’m curious to know if the heavy singles on the 5/3/1 day are supposed to be higher % of 1RM then the 3x5 day.[/quote]

Are you all serious? Why are you so caught up on what the proper %, or rep range, or color of your feces! Just shut up and lift! Intensity is the only thing that truly matters. I’m sure Jim would tell you that also. Quit majoring in minor shit and go crush some weight.

39

[quote]Crow wrote:

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:

[quote]ultimatethor wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:
what’s the general rule of thumb for starting % weight for week 1 singles?[/quote]

Yeah, I was wondering about this too. When it says add in some “heavy” singles, is there any percentage rule for this? Should you work up and come close to your max or just do singles with your top weight? Or should you bring the weight down and do some down sets of singles? It just seems a bit vague.[/quote]

i guess i’ll answer my own question. from what i’ve been able to gather, use your 90%1RM weight for heavy singles.[/quote]

Hopefully Wendler will weigh in on this soon and we can get a definitive answer, that’s been the only thing holding me back from adding them in really. I’m curious to know if the heavy singles on the 5/3/1 day are supposed to be higher % of 1RM then the 3x5 day.[/quote]

Are you all serious? Why are you so caught up on what the proper %, or rep range, or color of your feces! Just shut up and lift! Intensity is the only thing that truly matters. I’m sure Jim would tell you that also. Quit majoring in minor shit and go crush some weight.[/quote]

/thread

40

[quote]Crow wrote:

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:

[quote]ultimatethor wrote:

[quote]zeik09 wrote:
what’s the general rule of thumb for starting % weight for week 1 singles?[/quote]

Yeah, I was wondering about this too. When it says add in some “heavy” singles, is there any percentage rule for this? Should you work up and come close to your max or just do singles with your top weight? Or should you bring the weight down and do some down sets of singles? It just seems a bit vague.[/quote]

i guess i’ll answer my own question. from what i’ve been able to gather, use your 90%1RM weight for heavy singles.[/quote]

Hopefully Wendler will weigh in on this soon and we can get a definitive answer, that’s been the only thing holding me back from adding them in really. I’m curious to know if the heavy singles on the 5/3/1 day are supposed to be higher % of 1RM then the 3x5 day.[/quote]

Are you all serious? Why are you so caught up on what the proper %, or rep range, or color of your feces! Just shut up and lift! Intensity is the only thing that truly matters. I’m sure Jim would tell you that also. Quit majoring in minor shit and go crush some weight.[/quote]

Call me curious. I hit it in the gym every workout, am close to an elite total, and am enjoying the progress that I’ve enjoyed on 5/3/1. Obviously following the % of his program has been working for me and for others, so why through all the “minor shit” to the wind when it’s been working? I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t say to just go for a PR every time in the gym, in fact it’s a “minor shit” detail that he says to avoid. Crushing weight and intensity can be done in smart ways, and it can be done dumb. Is it that much of an issue that some of us care what the % is on the singles that Jim would recommend? I’m pretty sure in his book Jim isn’t going to come out and say “fuck it all, don’t worry about % just go kill it in the gym on these singles.” I’m pretty sure he’ll take the time to actually give a % that has worked for him and his clients. Why? Because it’s a detail that has a bit of merit to it, otherwise there are a lot of people that most likely will just go do singles, trying for a PR every time. Get off the high horse of your super intensity. It’s those details that end up getting put in books, ultimately making Jim money.

As a side note, yes there are those that do focus too much on minor stuff, I don’t see this as being one of those things though, especially for those competing/looking to compete using this as the crux of their program.