5/3/1, Then High Frequency...

Training 5/3/1
1

I did some iteration of 5/3/1 for about nine months. Squat training max when from 275-340. Dig it.

That was my return to weightlifting after a about an 8 year hiatus, for context of what follows.

Started hearing a lot about high frequency training, mainly on another website. Did a lot of research and wrote a program. Paid a world record holder $100 bucks to check it out. He tweaked it minimally. Two months of volume, two months of higher intensity/lower volume. Some variation of squat, press, and pull every day.

Weights stalled. That was after about 6 months of training higher volume stuff. Sleep is 8 hours every night, has been since I was in highschool because I don’t miss it. Started counting my macros because I was stumped. I heard the saying you are sleeping enough and eating enough, then you need to work harder. That’s what I was doing… ?

I looked back at my year and half of logs, and it seems like the switch from the lower volume to the higher volume coincides with the stalled weight. I did 5/3/1 the longest, but I also made next to no progress with the higher volume stuff.

Anyone else have this experience?

2

They are WAY too many variables. May not just be the frequency - Might be food intake as maybe 10% of people actually eat enough due to HUGE eating disorders that are rampant in the industry.

3

Yeah for sure! A lot of variables, especially with all the percentages and such. I started counting my macros so I could know what I was getting to try and eliminate one of them. I counted them for about a month to get a meal plan together so I didn’t have to count anymore. I won’t say I was perfect in that regard, but counting them macros helped me get a better idea of what I did actually need to eat.

I think that was a big failing point, a year into training changing from 5/3/1 to squat/press/pull three times per week. So many new variables its hard to tell what exactly was going on, while adding a lot of volume.