I know that in Wendler’s book 5/3/1 for Power lifting he calls the 3/5/1 a program for meet preparation. But would there be anything wrong with throwing in a cycle here and there is there is no meet coming up.
I never get to compete because I seem to be working on traveling every time there something I can do. But I would like to try lifting some heavy singles for a change of pace.
3/5/1 was more optimal for strength gains in the PL aspect from my personal experience. That being said, I prefer volume so only applied the 3/5/1 to my strict OHP but it added on lbs quick and was very effective. I enjoyed the singles versus rep outs.
Go for it! Just be sure to record your progress. It may very well do nothing for you and your goals but you don’t know until you try. You have the book on it right? Just be sure not to go total AMRAP before your singles.
Not to derail the OP, but I do 3/5/1 without the singles but instead go
Week 1: 3,3,3+
Week 2: 5,5,5
Week 3: 5,3,1+
Week 4:deload
I like this b/c it gives me a small deload before the 1’s week…opinons?
[quote]chobbs wrote:
Not to derail the OP, but I do 3/5/1 without the singles but instead go
Week 1: 3,3,3+
Week 2: 5,5,5
Week 3: 5,3,1+
Week 4:deload
I like this b/c it gives me a small deload before the 1’s week…opinons?[/quote]
I do this as well, but i also do some singles after “3” and “1”.“5” is just like a deload to me
I am going to try running to three week cycles and then a deload every 7th week. And see how that works.
That was my only question about 3/5/1 that I felt like the book didn’t explain (or I missed it) was do you try to hit extra reps on the 3/1 weeks plus singles? Or required reps and then singles?
[quote]BDJBoston wrote:
I am going to try running to three week cycles and then a deload every 7th week. And see how that works.
That was my only question about 3/5/1 that I felt like the book didn’t explain (or I missed it) was do you try to hit extra reps on the 3/1 weeks plus singles? Or required reps and then singles?[/quote]
Depends.
Off-season: Perform 5/3/1 training as normal. Push the last sets hard when you’re feeling good, but always leaving a rep or two in the tank.
Pre-meet: Don’t push the last sets of the 5/3/1 training too hard; you can go for more reps. Introduce singles into your training.
Meet-prep: Don’t push any of the last sets in your 5/3/1 training. Singles are still used until the last one to two weeks before the meet.
Non-competitive powerlifter:
Week 1: 3 sets of 3 reps, work up to a heavy single (no more than 95% of predicted max)
Week 2: 3 sets of 5 reps
Week 3: 5/3/1, work up to a heavy single (no more than 95% of predicted max)
Week 4: Deload
Don’t shortchange your last set every week to work up. Keep pushing that last set hard.
[quote]death_ak wrote:
[quote]chobbs wrote:
Not to derail the OP, but I do 3/5/1 without the singles but instead go
Week 1: 3,3,3+
Week 2: 5,5,5
Week 3: 5,3,1+
Week 4:deload
I like this b/c it gives me a small deload before the 1’s week…opinons?[/quote]
I do this as well, but i also do some singles after “3” and “1”.“5” is just like a deload to me
[/quote]
I run like this without the + sets. It’s been very beneficial to get the extra heavy work in and have a mini deload.
Jim has quite a bit to say on what he calls ‘Joker sets’ e.g. singles after the main X+ (X=5,3 or1) set all set out in the beyond 531 e book.
Been having some success with the following set-up:
3/3/3/AMRAP (training max)
5/5/5+
5/3/1/AMRAP (training max) + singles
3/3/3/AMRAP (training max)
5/5/5+
5/3/1/AMRAP (training max) + max singles
Deload
[quote]chobbs wrote:
Not to derail the OP, but I do 3/5/1 without the singles but instead go
Week 1: 3,3,3+
Week 2: 5,5,5
Week 3: 5,3,1+
Week 4:deload
I like this b/c it gives me a small deload before the 1’s week…opinons?[/quote]
I know I’m a few days late here but, I’ve been looking at my numbers and my 531 week is crap compared to the 3’s week and 5’s week. I’m running the original 531. Your schedule is exactly what I might start doing. Except if I feel good on 5/3/1 week might throw in a single or 2. I always deload the week after anyway.
I think its in the second book he allows flipping weeks 1 and 2, so its 3’s, 5’s, then 531, then deload. So instead of medium, heavy, heavy light its heavy, medium, heavy, light. I am 44. What I have done that worked well for me is going 3 days a week. It takes 5 weeks to do a 4 day cycle but I’m fresher, I am still improving, and my last meet was best ever.