It almost looks like you’re trying to make this into a body-part split versus main movement plus upper / lower body support movements. Also looks like you’re attempting to follow a Boring But Big (BBB) template.
This is pretty much what Jim recommended to me with BBB
Bench Day / OHP Day
5/3/1 Bench / OHP
BBB Bench / OHP (or OHP / Bench)
Lats
1 Tricep or 1 Bicep, or 1 Rotator cuff exercise
Do you find value in calf raises? My calves are probably the strongest and most defined they’ve ever been simply from DL’ing, Squatting, and I imagine the cardio. Calf work seems unnecessary with 5/3/1.
I did Layne Norton’s PHAT split before this (5 days a week, every muscle twice a week) (I’m only on my second month of 5-3-1 atm) and training legs etc just once a week is already a bit boring for me, plus add that 5-3-1 is only 4/week… :-/
I’m not blessed with great calves, and calf raises are giving me good response. If I don’t hit them directly I’ll have skinny calves for life, plus to be honest, to me the weight seems light when training at 75% x5 reps (based on 90% of the true 1RM). Today I hit 14 reps benching 85% x(5+) on week 1 of the 5-3-1 bench exercise. Maybe I used to train too heavy before this program (probably i’ve had my CNS overtaxed for ever, allways trained to failure, drop sets, never deloaded etc) so now I’m finding the 5-3-1 work “light” therefore the extra volume I added in the accesory work…
[quote]skream89 wrote:
I did Layne Norton’s PHAT split before this (5 days a week, every muscle twice a week) (I’m only on my second month of 5-3-1 atm) and training legs etc just once a week is already a bit boring for me, plus add that 5-3-1 is only 4/week… :-/
I’m not blessed with great calves, and calf raises are giving me good response. If I don’t hit them directly I’ll have skinny calves for life, plus to be honest, to me the weight seems light when training at 75% x5 reps (based on 90% of the true 1RM). Today I hit 14 reps benching 85% x(5+) on week 1 of the 5-3-1 bench exercise. Maybe I used to train too heavy before this program (probably i’ve had my CNS overtaxed for ever, allways trained to failure, drop sets, never deloaded etc) so now I’m finding the 5-3-1 work “light” therefore the extra volume I added in the accesory work…[/quote]
If you use the BBB Template and do the opposite exercise for the BBB exercise you can easily get the added leg work in. Although if you Squat one day and DL another I don’t see how you’re only working legs once per week.
Initially, 5/3/1 does feel light but that’s kind of the plan, build from there. Two months is not a long time. If you add Joker Sets (read Beyond 5/3/1) you’ll be able to work with some heavier weights. The Beyond 5/3/1 variation itself allows for using heavier weights.
I suggest a template inspired by the one in the 3 month challenge article.
Bench day:
Bench: 5/3/1.
OHP: 5x10 x 50% of tm.
Lats: a total of 50 reps.
Rear delts/Traps: a total of 50 reps.
Squat day:
Squat: 5/3/1.
Deadlift: 5x10 x 50% of tm.
Abs/Calves.
OHP day:
OHP: 5/3/1.
Bench: 5x10 x 50% of tm.
Lats: a total of 50 reps.
Rear delts/Traps: a total of 50 reps.
Deadlift day:
Deadlift: 5/3/1.
Squat: 5x10 x 50% of tm.
Abs/Calves.
Used this for a cycle last year and worked great for hypertrophy, but for me it was to much for my shoulders with that
much pressing. I find it helped to just do the 5/3/1 sets for bench and OHP for my shoulders sake, but if you can handle
that much pressing, then more power to you. You can also replace the four BBB excercises with Front squats for squats,
Incline for OHP, RDL for DL, and Close grip Bench for regular Bench. You can also replace BBB with SST if you want to
go heavier on your main assistance excercise.
Please save your money with the NO Explode and make this the last tub you buy. If you need a pick me up, carbs (dextrose)+creatine+crystal lite…and maybe a few hundred mg’s of caffeine on week 3.
[quote]chobbs wrote:
Please save your money with the NO Explode and make this the last tub you buy. If you need a pick me up, carbs (dextrose)+creatine+crystal lite…and maybe a few hundred mg’s of caffeine on week 3.[/quote]
Yeah, pretty much. Although I will say that Xpand2.0 is a pretty good supplement. I hate spending money on supplements but it actually had a peer reviewed research journal written about it and the results were very positive.
[quote]that much pressing, then more power to you. You can also replace the four BBB excercises with Front squats for squats,
Incline for OHP, RDL for DL, and Close grip Bench for regular Bench. You can also replace BBB with SST if you want to
go heavier on your main assistance excercise. [/quote]
You can do that but I think it ceases to be BBB when you do that. The point is to get the extra volume with the main set’s exercise.
To be honest…if you don’t take steroids you need a couple heavier moves…I also see no progression model. I don’t see this as a very good program for someone who is not on pharms. light weight=weak=small. if you cant bench 315 squat 405-495 and deadlift 405-550+ then honestly you are better off putting more work in getting stronger and bigger(read eating food)
[quote]Jamesliftsheavy wrote:
To be honest…if you don’t take steroids you need a couple heavier moves…I also see no progression model. I don’t see this as a very good program for someone who is not on pharms. light weight=weak=small. if you cant bench 315 squat 405-495 and deadlift 405-550+ then honestly you are better off putting more work in getting stronger and bigger(read eating food)[/quote]
This is heavy for me man! im 148lbs (5’6) ^^ trying to bulk ye ^^ but not skinny. I squat 2.2x and DL 2.5x … give me time to hit the big numbers :F
My upper templates tend to be higher volume as well, since I can recover from it no problems and am making good progress.
What may be too much volume for you might be too little for another person. My templates look like this.
Upper Body Jump 3-5x1-3
Bench 5/3/1 / Press 5/3/1
Incline 3x5-10 / Close Grips 3x5-10
DB Press 3x10 / DB Incline 3x10
Pullups 100 total throughout
Face Pulls 5x10
Biceps or Triceps 3x10
It’s not an insane amount of volume, but with 9 sets of pressing I need to work in a lot of pulling work to balance it. Then a few minutes at the end for arms. My workouts are always done in under an hour.
push fast, descent through 2 secs