I’ve been at the 5/3/1 program for a while now with great progress, however because of some knee and low back issues I have had to stop and start a couple times with the squat and deadlift parts of the program. I have made awesome progress with the bench portion taking my 1RM from 320 to 375 in a little over 6 months.
I finally decided to keep track on here along with others following the same program to compare and hopefully gain more knowledge on what works best. I have made some adjustment to the program to fit my needs but the basics are pretty much here, except for any overhead pressing which I don’t do because of previous shoulder issues. I also like to use Rest/Pause for a some of my accessory work which has helped out quite a bit rather than the traditional 5 x 10.
5/3/1 Box Squat
Warm up: 135 x 2 x 10 // 185 x 5
Work Sets: 205 x 5 // 235 x 5 // 275 x 7 (stopped at 7 because knee was starting to act up again.)
Close Stance Leg Press: 4 x 15 w/ 3 plates/side
superset w/
Backwards Sled Dragging: 4 Trips of 100 ft. w/ 4 plates
Leg Press Calf Raises: 3 x 25
Ya know, it’s really frustrating to try and get a leg workout in when the knee just doesn’t want to. Ever since my ACL reconstruction over a year and a half ago, my knee just doesn’t like to do any quality leg workouts, and this is especially frustrating since I was a mid-600 squatter before my surgery. And I have talked with several people who have had the same surgery with the same results I am seeing, but others came back 100% with no issues at all. Guess I am one of the lucky ones.
Yep, I found out from trial and error that you don’t get nearly the benefit of R/P sets without the stretch afterwards. They definetly go hand in hand with each other.
Week #1
5/3/1 Flat Bench
Warm ups: Bar x 20 // 135 x 10 // 185 x 5
Work Sets: 225 x 5 // 255 x 5 // 290 x 10*
D.B. Press off Stability Ball
60’s x 10 // 80’s x 10 // *R/P 100’s x 10/5/4 (19)
Chest Stretch
Standing Side D.B. Raises
25’s 5 x 10 w/ 30 sec. rest between sets
Shoulder Stretch
Chinbreakers w/ EZ Curl Bar
85 x 10 // 105 x 10 // *R/P 115 x 13/8/5 (26)
Tate Presses
50’s 2 x 20
Tricep Stretch
This Workout SUCKED!!! It was 98 degrees in my garage today during my workout. I literally walked in the door and started sweating. Just another beautiful day here in lovely northern california.
Wide Grip Pulldowns
135 x 10 // 150 x 10 // 165 x 10 // *R/P 195 x 10/6/4 (20)
Down Set 135 x 30
T-Bar Rows
2 plates x 10 // 3 plates x 10 // 4 plates x 8 // 5 plates x 4* //
Down set 3 plates x 12
Seated Low Rope Rows
120 x 10 // 150 x 25
Back Stretch
Seated Face Pulls
105 x 10 // 105 x 10 // *R/P 120 x 15/10/10 (35)
Shoulder Stretch
Alt. D.B. Curls
Down the Rack
50’s/40’s/30’s x 10 each // 45’s/35’s/25’s x 10 each // 40’s/30’s/20’s x 15 each
Great workout this morning, hell of a pump off of it. I didn’t have a lot of time today for the gym, so I chose the weights over cardio. It was my daughter’s 1st birthday and my wife and I had the whole day planned out. I plan to hit cardio in the morning bright and early at 4:30am then will hit the circuit later in the day.
A3: Seated D.B. Curl to Shoulder Press x 30’s x 15 reps
A4: Trap Bar Deadlift x 225 x 10 reps
Go from one exercise to the next without rest until 5 rounds are complete.
This kicked my ass pretty good today. I looked like I had jumped in a pool with all of my clothes on when I was finished. Tomorrow is a rest day thankfully.
Been offline for a couple days, but back on track now. Yesterday was the start of my very first try with a CKD. Gonna give it a run and hopefully shed a bunch of this unwanted bodyfat. Built up from years of squatting and eating so/so. I am one of those that tends to hold onto bodyfat pretty easily and I swear to god sometimes I gain just from smelling the wrong food. I have never done a diet like this before. I am fed up with my this shit and am gonna give it hell. I am also gonna use some of the 5/3/1 program with my own little tweaks here and there along with Low Intensity Cardio while dieting. Any advise on this journey is more than welcome and very appreciated.
5/3/1 Flat Bench
Warm ups: Bar x 20 // 135 x 10 // 185 x 3 //225 x 1
Work Sets: 240 x 3 // 275 x 3 // 305 x 8* (p.r.)
Stability Ball D.B. Press (1 min. rest periods)
80’s x 10 // 90’s x 10/10/10/9 drop to 50’s x 12
D.B. Side Raises (45 sec. rest periods))
20’s x 10/10/10/10 // 25’s x 20
Skullcrushers Lying on Floor (1 min. rest periods)
w/ EZ Curl Bar
115 x 10 wide grip // 115 x 10 narrow grip // 115 x 9 wide grip // 115 x 8 narrow grip
Tate Presses
50’s x 12/12/12
Done! 3rd day of almost no carbs( up to 30). Gonna go for about two weeks before I start the carb up process once a week (saturday’s). Suprisingly I have more energy than I expected to have right now. Eggs, Egg whites, Chicken, Tuna, Fish and some reat meat have become my best friends. I also am eating avacodoes, natural peanut butter, fish oil caps, olive oil dressing on my salads, and need to pick up some coconut oil today. Also, green veggies whenever I can mix them in, which is probably 3-4 meals a day.