I just finished up my 13th cycle of 5/3/1 this month, with a 1RM evaluation at the end of the projected deload week. Before I share my thoughts, I think by posting my numbers it will allow my progress to speak for itself.
I will post my “pre 5/3/1” maxes (performed 2 weeks after starting 5/3/1 at the end of last August), my best estimated 1RM (with weights and reps), my best max period (with and without a belt, paused and TnG), and my “post 5/3/1” maxes that I have just recently done. Please note, my pre and post 5/3/1 maxes were all done without the use of a belt. I would also like to mention that due to my schedule and poor planning, I wasn’t able to adequately fuel up with food on evaluation day; I hadn’t eaten anything about 4 hours prior to lifting.
SQUAT
Pre: 365 lbs
Best Est. 1RM: 430 lbs (300 lbs x 13)
Best Overall: 415 lbs (belt)
Best Overall: 407 lbs (no belt)
Post: 407 lbs
407 was a slow, yet solid, grind with no break down in form whatsoever. It mayhave been possible to throw on another 10 lbs.
BENCH
Pre: 275 lbs (TnG)
Best Est. 1RM: 304 lbs (240 lbs x 8)
Best Overall: 295 lbs (TnG)
Best Overall: 285 lbs (paused)
Post: 270 lbs (paused)
My butt came off the bench on the “post” max, so doesn’t count.
DEADLIFT
Pre: 415 lbs
Best Est. 1RM: 475 lbs (396 lbs x 6)
Best Overall: 455 lbs (belt)
Best Overall: 440 lbs (no belt)
Post: 418 lbs
I broke 440 lbs off the floor during the evaluation workout, but it would have been terribly ugly and a deathly slow grind to finish, so I did not go for it.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT 5/3/1
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Flexibility
The flexibility in the program was my biggest selling feature. The program is simple in its instruction and execution, and allowed me tailor it to fit my needs wonderfully. In this sense I had the feeling that I was doing what I needed to do to get to where I wanted to go (strength) while still allowing me to feed the inner bodybuilder and work on my physique.
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Easy to see progress
When you are comparing your numbers to watch for progress, you have two options: 1) breaking your estimated 1RM from the previous week or 2) beating what you did a month earlier. I found that by looking at both of these numbers, I was able to determine how hard to push myself to make sure I was making progress. Did I want to beat last week’s estimated 1RM, or did I just want to match the number of reps I did last month with a weight that is now 5 - 10 lbs heavier? Sometimes one of these options was easier to achieve than the other, and if I didn’t feel very motivated I could go for the easier option and still know that I made progress.
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Time
Depending on what you choose to do for accessory, the workouts can be very quick. There were a few times where I came into the gym, just did my all out set, 3 sets for an accessory, then called it a day; in these cases I was in and out of the gym in no time. I did what was required of me to continue progressing, and have earned the right to do the next workout (as Jim puts it).
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If you’re smart, you can use this to peak very easily
I found that by fluctuating the volume while keeping the intensity high, you can get small “mini” peaks every month. Got a comp? Get the day of competition and work backwords so that it falls at the end of your deload. Instead of deloading the intensity as Jim prescribes, I did heavy singles (usually just my training max) on my deload week and cut all but 1 accessory every workout for the week. I found it worked awesome for keeping my confidence high under heavy loads (I am the kind of person who if I don’t squat something moderately heavy atleast once every week, I lose my confidence under the bar very quickly).
WHAT COULD BE BETTER ABOUT 5/3/1
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It was easy to get carried away with accessory exercises
I understand that this can be avoided by following some of the templates that Jim provides, however for the most part I found that freedom of choosing your own accessory exercises can lead to shifting the focus from the main lift to the accessory. If the user is smart about their training and realistic about what they want to get out of this program, I don’t see this as being a huge issue but I do see people who have the “if I do more, I will get more out of it” mindset losing sight of the real purpose of this program. For those that love doing their own programming, 5/3/1 is awesome. For those that think too much (like me), it can sometimes be a nightmare.
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Not enough practice with the main lifts
Again, this can probably be avoided by smart programming on the users part or by following the Boring But Big template Jim provides. I am no master by any means, and while I had / have “good” technique in my lifts, I never (and still haven’t) honed them in to where every little cue is second nature yet. This takes practice, and by doing the lifts with heavier weights only once a week it took me a very long time to improve upon that. It wasn’t until this last month, where I reprogrammed my workouts so I benched 3 times a week whilst squatting and deadlifting 2 times a week, that I felt like I could actually improve and work upon my technique with far better results. I think that is where most of my squat increase came from.
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This is a long term commitment
This was not an issue for me, but I agree with Jim when he says that people are constantly looking to improve their numbers by ridiculous amounts as quickly as possible. When I started 5/3/1, it was my full intent to commit to it for atleast a year. I have a buddy who started 5/3/1 at the beginning of May, but now has mutated and transformed it into something that can’t be called 5/3/1 anymore. If you are going to do this program, do it for a year. Minimum. It is not for those who can’t make a commitment.
MY THOUGHTS
Probably the most important thing I gained from doing 5/3/1 were how my lifts responded to the accessory work I did, and the importance of good technique. The most progress I made for both my bench and deadlift were in the first 4 months (my highest overall numbers for these lifts were performed on the same day) where I was doing more accessory work that hit the smaller groups. For bench, it was a lot more dumbbell pressing (both flat and 45 degree incline), dips and incline close-grip pressing. For deadlifting, it was a lot more lat work (chinups and pullups, db rows). I think improved technique was the reason for my squat progress, though I can’t help to think that doing more core and upper back work helped a lot as well.
My deadlift seemed to fluctuate in what was the weakest-link; I never had a problem breaking the weight off the floor during any of my all-out sets, it would always be lockout. However, whenever it came to an all out attempt with a weight that I theoretically should have been able to pull, I never could get it off the floor. I don’t think I was ignorant about my weaknesses doing 5/3/1, or in choosing appropriate accesory work, but it almost seemed like the weights that I was programmed to do didn’t show what my true weakness really was. I guess I can also take away the fact that I can rep out weights much easier than what I can do for an all-out pull (this can also be said for my bench).
WHAT NOW?
The last month I have been playing around with higher frequency training in the main lifts. Like I said above, I am now benching 3x and squatting / deadlifting 2x a week, and my accessory exercises are db rows, chin ups, ring push ups, military press, front squats, sumo deadlifts and roll outs (performed once a week). Once school starts, my best friend and I are hoping to do the bench program outlined by Christian T. and Tim H. on this site (Super Bench program, I think it was called that Tim wrote) in the hopes that I can hit my goal of a 140 kg bench for the end of the year. I’ve also been looking in to Sheiko and Smolov, and am really interested in trying those out, perhaps in the new year.
I am also planning to compete in my first powerlifting meet on October 5th in Calgary, then again in December here in Edmonton, in the 83 kg weight class. I am very excited!
