After a few months of 531 progression ( two cycles) my bench is still stalled. Idk what to do anymore fr. What’s true this progression isn’t working so far
2 cycles is very few cycles of 5/3/1. What specific 5/3/1 protocol did you employ? How much bodyweight did you gain?
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Did you get stronger in any lifts? If so, which ones, and please quantify?
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The Classic 5/3/1, 4 Weeks each cycle, last week is deload. I’ve gained almost 2kg in two months. I know it’s not a lot of time but hell not progressing is overwhelming asf.
This means nothing.
Did you go for PR sets on the main lifts, or did you use 5s progression? What supplemental work did you do? What assistance work did you do? What conditioning work did you do?
My squat is also stalled rn, but I’m getting a bit better last workout at least.
two months ago vs now
Barbell row
90kgx4, 95x5kg now
My weighed dips
22kgx8, 30kgx7 now
Romanian deadlifts
130x6, 140x6 now
Incline barbell press:
Same weight, also stalled.(75kgx6)
Overhead press:
60kgx3, 65kgx3 now.
I’m also doing conventional deads, but I’ve been skipping them for time issues.
I asked so many questions…
When you are ready to receive help, I will be ready to provide it 
Do you know the program? I’ve been doing weighed dips, incline press and flyes for assistance, what do you mean by conditioning?
Yes. I’ve read every book Jim has written on it, multiple times. 5/3/1 Forever remains one of my favorite books on training.
This says to me that you were not doing 5/3/1. Conditioning is a part of every 5/3/1 program.
From the author of the program
It looks like you just went to an app and plugged in some numbers. Did you read any of Jim’s books before using his method?
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Not really, I was just trying to find a way to progress by reading articles and watching content. Many ppl progress without even have a calculated program. I’ll read about it. I’m just trying to find out a solution, cause everything seems to be right I mean surplus, protein, intensity, volume etc
This is bad. Post some videos of you squatting. You just might not know how to squat efficiently.
I am more concerned that your squat strength has not improved than your bench press.
This is good.
Note: that if you have shoulder injuries, that the stabilizing muscles are weaken, it will prevent the prime movers from firing 100%.
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Yup. They do the things you were neglecting when you ran what you did in the past few months, which, in turn, are what is built INTO 5/3/1 when you run it for real.
You need to build a base. You’re just banging your head against your max over and over again and wondering why it’s not progressing. If you ran a real block of 5/3/1, with a solid wave of 5s progression to build up a base, supplemental work to develop mastery, and hard assistance work to build muscle, along with the required conditioning work to get fitter and better able to train, and then came back around with an anchor where you gain an ability to lift maximal weights, you’d see the results you want.
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To get fitter? I’m bulking rn. Also I’m doing cardio 2-3 times a week. Spinning 15-20 min.
Thanks for your info
I’ll do it next week in order to see my technique. I don’t have a shoulders injury and never had a problem with them, In a nutshell I’ll see what can I do to improve my loads.
Please read Jim’s work.
And you are welcome
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Young lifters consistently find themselves in quest of their 1 rep max. I find zero value in that quest. If you want to know your max strength, do so with at least a 3 rep max. But you cannot be testing your 3 rep max more than once every couple of months.
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I’m not doing rep maxes all the time, the majority of sets are between 4-8
When you do the 5/3/1 program, is your bench day difficult for you? I ask, because sometimes percentage based programs don’t do enough for bench. The reason is that if you are using percentages of bar weight. When you squat, you aren’t only lifting the bar. When you bench you are pretty much only lifting the bar. So 80% on a squat will feel harder than on bench.
Let’s say we have a lifter that is 180 lbs. During a squat, the body mass below the knee does not travel vertically very much, but most of the body moves vertically an inch for every inch the bar travels. Let’s say this lifter is lifting 150 lbs of body weight. Lets say that he can squat 350 lbs. Total weight is 500 lbs. If we calculate 80% of 1 RM off of only bar weight the lifter should load 2800.8=280 lbs. If we calculate off of total weight lifted it is 500.8=400 lbs. To get what should be loaded on the bar, subtract 150 lbs so 400-150=250. You can see that using only bar weight for loading gets one 30 lbs extra weight on the bar.
If you are making progress on things like squats and deadlifts with the percentages used, but not on bench, you may need to increase your percentages a bit to get a similar stimulus.
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OP Just do this. Please do this.
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