Hello people. I just calculated all my percentages for the 5/3/1 BBB 3 month challenge… and Oh Boy am I surprised. I knew 5/3/1 was about starting light but jeez man this seems a little too light. I mean on the 5*10 hypertrophy work I will be benching 12.5 pounds on each side
I mean I will still do the program but it makes me wonder if this will be enough to justify eating extra at all.
I’ll still do this entire program to see if Wendler’s all he’s cranked up to be (and because I’m not a quitter), but man this is like a punch to the gut… and my ego.
For anyone who’s interested to look at my numbers here’s a link to the sheet –
(I only have cycle one filled out and the yellow numbers are my training maxes (90% of 1RM))
Wendler’s quotes alone are pure gold: “It doesn’t take any talent to be in shape.”
His programming is good, too, totally all it’s “cranked up to be.”
While far from the most experienced guy on here, I’ll bet the advice you’ll get is to start with more basic programming. If you’re hellbent on Wendler, he has a program called “Triumvirate” that I bet others would also recommend.
Or you could adjust your 5x10 poundages set to set. If the first set feels easy, add a few pounds. If it feels too hard, take some plates off the bar.
In the end, whatever you decide now won’t make much difference years down the road if you’re willing to learn on the fly and adjust as you go.
What’s most important is to make a decision for now and get going.
You have to get stronger to earn the weight on the bar. Give it three weeks and it’ll no longer be just 12.5lbs. Give it a 6 months and you’ll be surprised with how much is programmed to be on the bar.
This isn’t to be mean, sometimes it just helps to see it laid out. Here’s the proposed logic train:
My current strength level dictates a relatively small amount of weight on the bar
It’s not yet where my goal weights would be
Until I’m strong enough to do more weight, I won’t eat the amount of food recommended to get bigger and stronger
Does that sound like a good plan when we lay it out that way? Your current state is your current state, no more or less. Dive into the process and just keep moving toward your desired end state.
Google “Help a Friend Get Stronger - Jim Wendler”. I’ve referred a couple of my friends to this article, and it has proven to be effective for them. It will help get you get some lifting experience under your belt before diving into 5/3/1. Just my two cents!
Too light? I don’t think so. If your press TM is 85lbs, meaning your actual best press is probably somewhere around 105lbs, pressing 5x10x45lbs (just the empty bar) is going to be hard. It will surprise you. Same with bench - the 5x10 work is ratiometric to your TM.
Now if you can actually bench 200lbs and you just set the TM to 138.4lbs for fun, then sure it’s going to be too light, but if your best bench is 155-175 range and your TM is 138, then yeah, 5x10 at 70lbs is probably great.
It’s OK to round up. And if it’s easy, throw another fractional plate on. But try it before you knock it.
If it feels too light you could move your grip In or Out just a little, to make it tougher.
Or you could pause at the bottom for more time under tension and stretch, and more hypertrophy.
You could try Paired Sets where you do a set of Bench Press then a set of Assistance work back to back. Less rest can make the light weights be more exciting. And short rests can build your work capacity and conditioning.
You can get even more gnarly with Circuits. Like Bench Press, assistance move one, assistance move 2, assistance move 3. Then repeat. That way you can take advantage of the light weights to cram a lot of work into a short time. The circuits can improve your Cardio and build up your Horse Power. That way you’re more ready for the heavier work that comes later.
This is probably the key all the time. Beginners tend to think they can look at something on paper and “know it”, but we tend to be better off if we just f around and find out.
I don’t wish to appear rude, you’ve posted a number of threads about 5/3/1. Just make a start.
One of the main ethos’s is to start too light and keep making progress. You need to just crack on and run the programme. Run through a couple of cycles, you’ll find out what works, what you respond well too and what doesn’t work. This experience is more valuable than any research or questions you could ask on here. The way I run 5/3/1 now is miles apart from how I started out.
But alongside that, one must try it with the principle of charity in effect. If you think the program isn’t going to work before you even try it, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
There are SO many ways out there to lift weights. It’s honestly VERY hard to do wrong. I always go to the incredibly crass quote by Jamie Lewis, because there’s no better way to put it
“Lifting weights is so simple they do it in the special Olympics”
But the brain can EASILY sabotage the body when it comes to success. Justin Harris has commented several times that the best bodybuilders were often NOT the smartest one. The ones that were a bit too cerebral would get too much into their own heads. The ones that just did what coach told them to do because “he’s the coach” would do awesome.
It’s been a long time, and I think it predates my training log, but I gave 5/3/1 BBB a good run a few years back and gained 20 lbs. I was embarrased to be benching less than 135 for most of the sets - my TM was probably 155 - but I did it anyway. I have pics up on the T-ransformation thread and you can see the skinny little waif I once was… I’m not in the top 20% on this site but I could kick young me’s ass today.
No regrets at all from 5/3/1 BBB, is what I mean. If the weights are too easy, just do it super fast with no rest! You can make it hard. And by week 6 or so, it won’t be too easy.
Jim Wendler said it himself and I don’t think he could stress it enough…”start light” try to lift big and you’ll put yourself out of the game
A wise man once said, “an oak tree will not fall with just one swing of the axe” keep chopping away and your numbers will be climbing before you know it, good luck
