I hit between 5 and 8 reps on all my +1 sets and on many of my +3 sets I was hitting 10 reps. How should I increase my weights for my next 5/3/1 cycle?
I’m worried that if I only do the 5/10lb increase the +5 week is going to be wasted from a strength standpoint.
You’re looking at it the wrong way, in my opinion.
How much stronger you get on 5/3/1 isn’t a function of how quickly you add weight to the bar, it is a function of how hard you push your top set.
Your training max can be viewed as a tool to keep you in the rep range you want to be working in. If you’re getting 5 reps on your 1’s week and 8 reps on your 5’s, you’re in a good range for all-around strength development.
I recommend running the percentages as directed, including lowering your training max periodically in whatever 3 steps forward 2 steps back frequency Wendler recommended. I can’t recall exactly what it was off the top of my head.
Edit: I misunderstood you at first. 10 reps on your 3’s week might be a bit light on the training max. I was always content if I could get 5 reps on 1’s week and fewer than 15 on 5’s, but I did have some heavier cycles at first and those worked fine too. More like 3 reps on 1’s week and 10 reps on 5’s.
As long as you push that top set hard you can get stronger in a variety of rep ranges.
So in light of this would you reccomend I add 10/20 or just stick it out? Based on my calculated max I’m looking down the barrel of a 12-13 rep set for my 5+ bench set, and that’s assuming I’m not coming out of the deload week stronger than I was finishing my 5/3/1
I say stick it out and run it. You’re in a sensible rep range. You would still be in a sensible range if you bumped it up a bit.
I almost always came out of a deload week stronger. If it is working too well just bump up your TM.
It’s much more about pushing that top set hard no matter what’s on the bar and then progressing with recovery and long-term sustainability in mind.
I don’t see this as a problem.
Playing the long game, you’re only a few months from that being 10, then 9, then 8, and so on. It will catch up to you.
I had my best success with 5/3/1 with around 15 reps on 5+ week, 12 reps on 3+ week and 10 reps on 1+ week. That way, I did not need to reset for about 10 months. Doing that keeps you fresh and allow that progress to happen. It also allows more assistance work or conditioning which will help your progress.
Low TM works and even if you progress fast, in a few months, it will slow down. Ride it out. The program is obviously working and working really well. Don’t change it.
If you increase too fast, you will stall faster and will probably have to reset to where you are right now to start progressing again.
If I was following a program, and when following it, I was getting too strong TOO fast, I would change absolutely NOTHING about that program.
This is like making too much money too quickly.
Same here at 36 years old.
But at 20 years old, I would have tried to change something. I was stupid back then.
Ok, so I guess I’ll just try to blast out some crazy rep PRs. I’m cutting so I feel like anytime I see something resembling hypertrophy ranges it’s worrying but if it’s the right call I’m down
That’s the whole idea with 5/3/1.
5/3/1 is a program designed to be supported with recovery over time, specifically eating to support strength gains.
I’ve ran it on extended periods in a deficit and it works fine for that too, but it did lead to my only lifting injury I ever sustained when I was foolishly doing high rep assistance work for the sake of doing high rep assistance work when I should have been aware of just how beat up I had become.
I think it’s totally fine to stay on 5/3/1 while you’re dropping fat, but temper expectations accordingly and prioritize recovery. I actually became stronger on my deadlift as I dropped weight but my other lifts were more or less static, which is a good outcome when dropping fat.
I should’ve known when to shut it down, but I learned the hard way.
Ah that’s the magic, I’m running it as INDJS. My weekly volume across the sum total of all lifts is like 100 reps, including warmups
That seems totally sensible to me. Keep pushing those top sets hard and see where you end up.