You shut up, Duke! I won’t take any crap from a young guy who lifts more than me. I’ll fight dirty!
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*Pulls out pepper spray or taser
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A lot of people hate him for this, but that’s why I love him. His standards are so outlandish that you never reach them, but when you realize you got close, you’re a strong motherfucker by that point. Most of it is meant as a “you’ll never hit all these things at once but you should strive to.” Not really to be taken literal.
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You’ve got to remember that he spent a lot of time at Westside, and I think that’s where this kind of thing comes from. By “strong” he means actually strong, up there with the best in the world, not stronger than most guys on my street/in my gym. This is how I take it, and I’m absolutely fine with that.
In fairness, he most likely said that because it was more than he could squat.
Strong concur. One of his standards was a 20x500lb squats. Absolutely insane. Something maybe 2 humans have done before. But in the pursuit of that, you’ll get ridiculously strong.
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If I was going to be perceived as an authority on the matter, then I would definitely pick a number that I’d already conquered. 
I think it’s clear Jim has never cared about how he is perceived. The “Bo” and “Luke” knuckle tats are a dead giveaway, haha.
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Wendler has squatted over 1000lbs in competition.
There’s also a thought there that says that maybe what he’s really trying to inspire is a little bit of humble. It’s easier to shut up and work If you’re not busy boasting about your 400lbs squat.
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First time I came across the original 5/3/1 article I was also put off by how brash his tone and approach was. When I decided to learn more about 5/3/1 after being convinced by a few people here in the forums, I listened to some recent podcasts, specially those on EliteFTS. The guy actually speaks a lot sense for the most part and seems down to earth. I guess he learned a lot from coaching kids and raising his son.
Edit: just realized that the original 5/3/1 article came out 10 years ago
But not 700 raw, which I assume was the context of the 700lb squat.
Otherwise, if he was talking about in unlimited gear, that quote should be far less offensive to many.
I personally don’t think anyone should worry about “standards” besides your own. That’s all that matters at the end of the day. That is unless you are competing in a sport where you have to reach certain standards lol.
Just get as strong as you can/want to and just leave it at that.
I’ll still go back to this. If you are deadlifting 500, squatting 400, benching 300, and oh pressing 200 for reps, you are going to look good and be strong. Any more than that is just depending on how far you want to push yourself!
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I don’t think humility is one of his traits. At least, it didn’t used to be; perhaps he’s changing.
Here’s an excerpt from his article “Average to Athlete” regarding squat/deadlift strength:
- 2.5 times bodyweight: Suburban All-Pro
- 2.0 times bodyweight: Starter
- Less than 2.0 times bodyweight: Just glad to be on the team, coach
And his take on the strict press:
- 1 times bodyweight: Dating the head cheerleader
- 90% of bodyweight: Dating a cheerleader
- Less than 90% of bodyweight: Dating catcher on softball team
It’s not the standards; it’s his condescending/insulting choice of words to describe people who fail to meet the standards. It’s slightly funny at times, but it’s a repeating theme in his work.
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I have no idea what he’s squatted raw, the whole gear thing is way over my head. I would assume that gear can’t add 300+lbs to a lift, but I have absolutely no experience or knowledge to base this on.
I slightly agree, however I’m also aware that he does have to write in a way that will keep putting food on the table.
I’m aware I sound like a total Wendler fanboy now, but I’ve always enjoyed his writing and, I believe, got a lot out of it. I’m fully aware that he’s probably not someone I’d enjoy spending much time with in real life.
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Thinking of it as "gear adding to a lift’ makes the issue confusing, because it’s not like a math equation where metal king+inzer wraps=Xlbs on raw squat. The technique employed in a geared squat or bench is specific towards finding how the suit works and exploiting it. Specific tailoring of it can go a long way too. The first guy to ever bench 1000lbs did not have a 600lb bench, for example. There were guys out there that could bench more raw, but couldn’t figure out a shirt as well as Gene could.
It’s not to say Jim never had the strength to squat 700lbs, but as far as I know, I’ve never seen a training log or video of him posting a 700lb raw squat.
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I will absolutely take your word on it. Gear of either sort is way beyond the level that I expect to reach, or have any interest in reaching in my lifting career. Although I guess a belt is probably an inevitability eventually.
On the subject at hand though, I don’t think high standards are a bad thing in terms of strength sports. In physique goals, maybe so, because a sense of failure here seems to translate into self esteem issues far quicker than in strength sports.
Just wanted to pick your brain.
So my cousin is 5’7, 171lbs, probably 20% bodyfat. He has love handles, lower back fat, and chest fat. He’s that typical “skinny fat” with no fat on his legs or arms lol.
He can squat 185 @ 5x5, bench 165 @ 5x5, deadlift 275 @ 5x5, and oh press 115 @ 5x5.
He wants to get into bodybuilding because he wants to have a really aesthetic head turning physique. He told me wants to do a show next year to just get the experience.
I guess for his height and let’s say 10% bf, what should his “weight” be to actually look really jacked/good in terms of bodybuilding standards?
I told him I can help get him strong but I have no idea about bodybuilding minus the articles he should read that you @BrickHead @EyeDentist told me to read earlier this year. I would be grateful just to have some starting advice to give him to get him started!
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Today was a fun day. I took my employees on a “field trip” and we went to a BJJ/Muay Thai company event. It’s awesome when you surprise them with a “no work Monday”.
It was just me and my 23 employees and we were able to spend the first 1.5 hours rolling and learning some basic BJJ and then 45 min break, and then another 1.5 hours sparring, striking and learning some basic Muay Thai.
@twojarslave - In your opinion how long does it take someone to become proficient in BJJ (and Muay Thai if you do that) to actually help with self defense? I think the combination of BJJ and Muay Thai is lethal to an average person for self defense. I have a friend that was a collegiate wrestler but now boxes and there’s no way I would want to fight his 5’9 ~180lb frame at all! Dude is a straight beast!
I’ve never trained any Muay Thai aside from what I’ve picked up training jits with fighters and other people who train MT.
The answer to “How long?” depends on a lot of things. The trainee, the instructor, the training partners and, of course, the person you are defending yourself against and the circumstances of the encounter.
To give you a canned answer, I’d say two to three years of training 2-4 times per week at a school that’s legit will put most people into the “competent” category, at least when it comes to skill set and the ability to actually apply it in uncontrolled circumstances. Someone with your intelligence and physical ability might be relatively safe from getting beat up after a year, at least when fighting an untrained aggressor. A 140 lb guy might not be able to effectively defend himself against a 250 lb aggressor for many years, or maybe never.
Every time you train you set yourself further apart or, perhaps, close the distance between you and whatever asshole you may or may not run into. That’s really all that’s going on. You’re just loading the dice a little bit before you throw them. There are no guarantees when things get violent.
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In the ultimate bit of irony, you will get far more beat up injured training to not get beat up and injured compared to if you just took your chances.
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