I’m definitely a junkie when it comes to writing up new progression models. I typically fall into the bad habit of always making them linearly more challenging week by week and feeling burnt out by end of a program. So my goal was to create a strength progression where I would hit a goal weight for 3 sets of 5, but some of the intervening weeks were “easier,” i.e. never doubted getting any reps and could focus on rep quality. Here’s what it looks like.
Load
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Wave 1
~75%
5 x 3
5 x 4
5 x 5
Wave 2
+10-20 lb
4 x 3
4 x 4
4 x 5
Wave 3
+10-20 lb
3 x 3
3 x 4
3 x 5
My starting point was to figure out a realistic weight I wanted to hit for 3x5 in week 9 and work backwards from there. When I ran this it was around my 6RM on each lift. So nothing too dramatic, but I feel like 3 sets of 5 with your 6RM after 9 weeks is pretty solid if you’ve been lifting for 10+ years. So for example, if your goal is to hit 225 lb for 3x5, you could do 205 lb wave 1 and 215 lb all of wave 2.
Each week in a wave the weight stays the same, so it is slightly more challenging with the additional rep; however, you get a nice reset at the start of the next wave. Although load increases, you reset to only 3 reps, plus the whole wave is a little less stressful than the previous since you’re only hitting 1 less set as well. I really went out of my way to make sure I was never feeling run down while getting stronger.
The results were great. Not only did I hit my targets on all my lifts, but I owned them. My form dramatically improved, and not a single grinded rep in 9 weeks! I definitely recommend giving this a try if you’re feeling burnt out and want to get back to feeling confident and energized leaving the gym again.
You can adjust according to your goals with the movement. For example, on pulling movements like weighted chins and seal rows I did 6/7/8 reps. Or if you need more volume, progress from 6 down to 4 sets.
As a bonus, I used the following volume based progression for my secondary movements on the day. Using the exact same weight for all 9 weeks (I chose a weight I would use for 3x10), it would look like:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Wave 1
3 x 8
4 x 8
5 x 8
Wave 2
3 x 10
4 x 10
5 x 10
Wave 3
3 x 12
4 x 12
5 x 12
This time each week gets harder by adding the extra set. Once again you get a reset at the start of each wave with 2 fewer sets, but a little more challenging with the extra reps. Plus, you don’t have to worry about adding weight. Depending on the movement, you can also adjust the reps. For example, on hip abduction machine I used 12/15/20 reps.
All together a basic week then could look like this:
Thanks for taking the time to write this up, the volume aspect especially is an approach I should consider. I’m by no means an experienced lifter, I should and try to progress with a straight forward double progression approach, however, I tend to chase reps rather than own them. This inevitably results in frustration and a substitute exercise.
Tldr: a long term patient approach with a weight I can manage is something I should really consider.
The problem is that…for beginners all models work. Unless someone is trying to do bad, the best would differ from the worst by 5-10% of total gains so it wouldnt be noticable.
As far as non-beginners go, progression just doesnt work this way in a long term, so there is no point to plan it.
For people with experience, a progression model like this shouldnt be written in weeks but in months. So your week 1, would be like 1-2 months. Week 2, might be 3rd-4th month, etc.
Even if you look at 531 the way it was intended, with all the 3 cycles forward, 2 cycles back - you would actually increase the weight past the heaviest you had done before, only once every 10-12 weeks. All the rest is just repeating the previous ones you already did in a wave like manner.
As exciting as it is to plan the progress, after noob gains are done, the progress is made in months and sometimes even years, not weeks.
I don’t understand how anything you mentioned is inconsistent with this plan. In fact, it was precisely for all the reasons you stated that I wrote it in the first place. You are only really hitting a new weight once every 9 weeks. You said 10-12. Hell, if you just hit 3x5 with a weight of 225, you can literally follow this template all the way to hitting 3x5 with 230 9 weeks later. You set up the weeks backwards from the end goal. I’m not sure I get what you mean by “shouldn’t be written in weeks.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen progressions not mapped out week by week.
I couldn’t help but notice you don’t plan a ‘testing week’.
Is there a formula you prefer for estimated 1RM to gauge your 75% off? Wendler has his
([reps] x [weight]) x .0333 + [weight] = 1RM
which then is dulled down to 90% 1RM as “Training Max”.
Do you have a similar approach? (I’m assuming this is based on a calculated 1RM because no testing week)
I think of the 3x5 week as “test week.” You start from a target weight there and build all 8 weeks before from that. I reverse engineer all my training this way now. The 75% is just a guide so I didn’t leave that blank. I never actually used %s.
For example, I wanted to hit 155 for 3x5 OHP. So I used 135 lb wave 1, 145 lb wave 2, and 155 lb wave 3.
Thanks! I get way too stressed if I don’t have it as meticulously planned out. I will also tend to undereat and overtrain if it’s not mapped out. It takes all emotion out of the game for me.
I started this program recently, and I really like it. But I feel like I need a deload after every wave, Wave 1, deload, wave 2, deload etc. After the first week I was getting some shoulder and neck pain, I think Its due to the volume because I was feeling a bit sore after wave 1. What do you think about deloading every 4th week so I dont overtrain?
When I designed this it was precisely to never need deloads. If you’re feeling run down after each wave either you started too heavy, you’re conditioning needs work, or your body isn’t properly recovering. That could be due to sleep, nutrition, or injury. With the neck pain after 1 week I’d look into that ASAP. You could post over in injuries forum and get more targeted advice.
Perhaps the weights was to heavy when Im thinking about it… I will change it up. I think I went to heavy on the accessory/secondary movements as well. You dont think 5 sets for the last week is to much though ?