I was told by a couple people to read Beyond 5/3/1 when I had question about what 5/3/1 program would be right for me, so I spent like 3 hours of my off day today doing that! I’m happy to say that most of my questions have been answered, and I’ve since decided that the BBB 3 month challenge is the right program for me.
But I’ve got a couple questions on it:
The whole thing about the program is that the first month the BBB work is 50% of your training max, the second month is 60% and the third month is 70%. I’m planning to run it starting next Monday which falls halfway through the month… so if I just do 50% on cycle 1, 60% on cycle 2 and 70% on cycle 3, will that be fine?
Also I what’s the potential for something a bit longer term than 3 months with this program? Is there any potential for being able to run it it longer if I want, and if so, how?
I get that hypertrophy is the main goal of the program with strength taking a back seat to it, but if I follow the program to a T, and don’t push the top set like it prescribes, will I get any stronger? I mean in theory the BBB work gets thougher over time but I’m not sure if that would help strength at all.
I’ve been eying 5/3/1 for about 3 weeks now, and doing my research on the various programs offered under the name, so it was on the first day of reading about 5/3/1 that I learned I would have to be able to squat to do the any of the programs. For context Ive never squatted in any serious capacity before in my training, I just leg pressed instead because whenever I did any squatting (even with no weight in the bar) I would get knee pain. I know now that it’s because of my terrible ankle mobility so I’ve being working on that for a few weeks. Unfortunately the improvements have been slow, I can squat now at least, but only reliably without knee pain when I place a plate under the heel of each of my feet (I’m told this helps ankle mobility). So my question is, if I went into 5/3/1 with this “variation” of the squat will that in some way hurt my progress or mess up the program. (I’m hoping that someone with more experience than me will be able to take a good guess on this one)
The way you make muscles stronger is by making them bigger. That’s what the accumulation phase of a training block is for.
Once muscles are made bigger, the strength of them can be REALIZED through an intensification phase of training, and a peaking phase too, but without the accumulation phase (making the muscles bigger), a trainee doesn’t get stronger: they just keep realizing the same muscular potential.
Ref the longevity of the 3 month BBB challenge. It’s set at 3 months, complete the challenge and move on. The strength challenge in Beyond would compliment it well. Or any 5x5 fsl approach.
It’s nearly impossible to get bigger without getting stronger (which is why I’m so incredibly proud to have managed this feat all these years). The “hypertrophy vs strength” piece is a bias, not an on/ off switch. Even then, it’s for folks at the top of their game who have to choose to hit the highest levels of either. I could make this 40 pages long and confuse myself talking about periodization and level of development, but the gist is you’re going to be fine. It’s kind of like “I can’t jog a mile if I want to get stronger;” that might be true if you’re chasing an 1,100 lbs squat, but it is not a concern for the rest of us.
I am not sure I understand the month question? Start whenever. It’s a month of days, not tied to a calendar start date.
I’ll check out your squat videos. Good on you for uploading them. I’d recommend you keep that going as you go, and we can keep helping you hone it in. Going from not squatting to 65 relatively hard reps per week is going to force you to learn to recover, which I say is a good thing.
I have started playing with squat shoes (but the cheaper Adipower) and I’m pretty sure I like them! I don’t know what I’d tell someone first learning to squat to do; probably depends on what I see their feet and knees wanting to do. I’m also dropping a lot of opinions without yet watching the video, which is not really helpful.
Ok, last of my three straight posts (poor form, TfP; good thing you’re handsome).
Your squat looks fine; I seriously did not expect it to look that good when you said you’d never squatted. I’ll drop a couple pointers, all based on you saying your knees hurt, but overall it’s just practice time.
I assume you’re pausing to get used to it. That’s fine, but you could easily cut those in half.
Your feet want to move a little, and I’m thinking it’s because the plates hurt. Barefoot was awesome for this video, but if you have some non-squishy shoes that are comfortable, I’d wear them.
Your lower back is arched a little much. You’ll want to practice bracing that down, so your hips stay under you, while still keeping your chest up (you’re doing great there).
Since you say your knees bother you, I’d try to break at the hips just a hair sooner - think about sitting back to a box behind you. In fact, doing just that is a great way to practice it.
I wouldn’t worry about doing anything different with your upper back for now; I think it will get more comfortable as you get reps.
Squat looked pretty good to me. I would be careful doing squats in just socks though. Better to use shoes or go barefoot imo as those socks may lose their grip with a heavy weight. Also, make sure you use those rack safeties every time and get to the point that it is just second nature to set them up to the proper height before you begin squatting.
You will miss lifts and make mistakes as you learn proper form and find your own way of doing the movement that works for you. Those safeties will be important someday when you least expect it.
I think it may also be worth mentioning that muscles can’t grow without nutrients. The “Boring” part is taken up by the 5x10’s but the “Big” portion is referencing taking in food. If you want your muscles to grow you will need to make a point to ingest enough protein. You will want to avoid becoming a master of maintenance. This can easily happen if you only consume enough food to recover from the training, but not enough to actually grow. You don’t need to go overboard and put on excess, bad weight (dirty bulk) but you will want to make sure you’re moving the weight scale up slightly as you proceed for 3+ months.
How does it feel to squat without elevating your heels?
I dicked around for a decade and bought 3 pairs of heeled shoes only to find out that my most comfortable/strongest squat came from socks.
Though now I have since purchased slipper-type lifting shoes that are basically like socks, but they have really great grip on the floor so I don’t feel like I’d slip.
I think that the internet has made this heeled lifting this massive (Instagram mostly) and there are so many different body types out there that would probably benefit more from not wearing those types of shoes.
I have long femurs though, it’s hard to tell from this video if you do. But usually, it’s really obvious, so maybe it’s a sign that you don’t lol.
MY TWO CENTS!!!
Working on ankle mobility and lifting slippers FTW:D
Honestly when I squat without a heel lift my right knee hurts a good bit (I’ve noticed that it has less ankle mobility than my left). Also those lifting slippers seem super interesting, maybe I’ll give them a shot when I get some extra funds😅
VERY similar to something I experienced as well. Having tight ankles can really cause your body to naturally shift and avoid the problem and end up putting too much weight on the opposite leg and in the wrong places.
I had a tight right ankle and left knee pain. I realized I was putting a lot more weight on my left leg after going to physio and having some assessments. Regardless of what footwear you decide on, I would make it a priority to work on ankle mobility so that you’re not using a heeled shoe to mask the problem and create a worse injury down the road.
