I have recently started getting back into lifting after taking some time off to do some at home CrossFit attempt. As much as I enjoyed the change, I grew bored and didn’t have enough time working with a barbell. One of my biggest issues is I have limited time between work and kids and life in general. I am currently working midnights and trying to fit workouts in when I get home, but recovery has been slow, and eating/hydration has been a bit lower than normal. I should be heading back to a normal work time mid-September, but until then I am considering switching to a limited time template. I’m considering either going with the widow maker or the 5x5/3/1 limited time templates.
I am wondering if anyone has done this and how the results were? I also wonder what the best conditioning with this type of layout would be? I have access to a treadmill, rower, and a stationary cycle bike.
Sounds like it’s only a month. I’d set time limits and see how miserable you can make yourself. Like “I’ve got 15 minutes, I’m going to sprint until I puke”.
I don’t think you can go wrong doing any barbell worth asking the lines you’re suggesting. So maybe:
5/3/1 + widowmakers
3 x 10 supplemental with the opposite lift
3 sets of curls/ tris or abs/ lunges
15 minutes of miserable conditioning
Separately, I really do highly recommend Surge Workout Fuel for the eating/ hydration. It plain works.
If recovery is slow, Widowmaker or 5 x 531 seem like poor fits. They both have pretty high recovery demands. I would look to something like Krypteia or Krypteia redux that has conditioning built in and doesn’t tax recovery so hard.
I have looked over the krypteria program a few times and just did a search and found the 2 day program. I might give that a shot as it seems like something I was considering when trying to figure out a solution to my training
I’ve done both Widowmaker and 5x531 limited time. Widowmaker is much more demanding recovery wise but I saw better results. Mind you, I only ran one cycle of widowmaker followed by a cycle of boring but big before the anchor.
I saw really good results from my most recent block of limited time (the latter mentioned) and will run it again at some point, but in general I feel like the “limited time” Is a bit of a misnomer as You are still training six days a week which can get cumbersome if you’re really trying to do it right.
I like the 2 day kryptiea better than limited time, not necessarily from a results standpoint but A) I find it to be even more flexible and B) psychologically I like it better too because it allows for more experimentation exercise-wise versus plugging away at the same 5 lifts for three months. I’ve ran it already with 5s pro 5x5, and am now trying it with SVR 2.
I would do that but my main issue is my home gym is outside in a little shed area so I would still only get 2 maybe 3 days a week if possible. The metcons or circuit type work and conditioning of the CrossFit wods are easy because inside I have my cardio equipment and some kettlebells and dumbbells so I can watch the kids while I hit some conditioning. I was considering going to a dumbbell only workout but I wanted to try getting back to lifting a few days as I think it would be a bit easier to build my lifts up as I went from 5/3/1 to the CrossFit workouts and while I leaned out and gained some definition in my upper body, could just be from losing weight, my main lifts became almost non existent.
You like the WODs because it allows you to perform family duties while also getting your grind on, check.
You want to get more time under a Barbell, check. Do you have one at your home gym? If so, I don’t see why you couldn’t run 5/3/1 (or other BB strength template).
With your recovery, this seems reasonable if not preferred. 5/3/1 can absolutely be done in 2 or 3 day format - I see no reason why Bench and Overhead Press are on separate days to be honest (but who am I to question Mr. Wendler).
Probably me misunderstanding again; do you mean that you want to get into dumbbell only workouts?
I have two home gyms if you will. The power rack, barbell and plates are out in a shed where as the other gym area is more for cardio but does have kb’s and dumbbells. When my wife is working I’m watching the kids. I can usually get a half hour of cardio or something in the inside gym since I can see the kids and watch them while I use the treadmill or do a wod.
The last few months I have no help so I’m limited to when I can get a workout in, add in being bored with the CrossFit program in fits been ok but wanting to get back into strength focused training it’s hard to get out to the power rack and barbell so I was going to try using dumbbells and kb’s.
I can try to get my in-laws to watch the kids for an hour maybe 1-2 times a week depending on their schedules and the day my wife is off I can get a day in so that’s what I was thinking about for being able to get back into regular training.
Of course, it’s up to you how you do your training - but base 5/3/1 doesn’t take that much time as it’s only 3 working sets and the warmup for it.
This being said, if you’re already bored with WODs and you’re looking to spice up your training, I can’t say 531 base is super sexy either lol.
I’ve done 5/3/1 before. Pretty familiar with it. I think I made it 8 months or so last year with it. I’m leaning toward krypteria three day and see if I can make the three days consistently