Hey Jim, first off I wanted to say thank you for writing the 5/3/1 program. I love it, it keeps me grounded and I am making great gains from it. So much so that I wanted to share them with you. You don’t hear a lot about conditioning goals being reached on here so I thought you might appreciate this.
This April I started training for a 10k race that I just ran this past weekend. I didn’t want to go full bore into a running only program since I have been adhering to 5/3/1 for 3 years. So I decided to use your concept of keeping conditioning a priority while still having strength training in my program, along with mobility work. I did your two day program from beyond (squat/bench emphasis one week, deadlift/press emphasis the next) and I ran 3 times per week, sometimes upwards of 8 miles. And here were my results from this program:
-I dropped 8lbs
-I PR’d at least once per week on a lift. Sometimes two.
-I pulled a deadlift PR on Friday (the day before my race.)
-I PR’d on my 10k race and did it under an hour, medaled in my age group (25-29) all while pushing my 2 and a half year old son in a stroller who weighs 30 lbs.
-I then did a squat PR yesterday, two days after my 10k and hiked 4 miles with my son on my back.
I was pretty surprised with my results, I thought for sure I was going to lose strength, I certainly didn’t expect to gain any. I thought I would lose momentum every time I hit a hill in my race, but I actually went twice as fast as everyone else (I attribute that to squatting.) And I learned that being in great condition DOES NOT make you weaker, it actually makes you stronger.
So I just wanted to say thank you Jim for sharing your 5/3/1 principles with all of us. I definitely would not have been able to achieve what I just did this last weekend. I would still be spinning my wheels in the gym.
Happy belated Father’s Day to you as well!