Hey buddy! How are you liking this program?
If you have already explained then Iām sorry I missed it. But can you explain the rep set up here.
Are the 3 sets of 5ās part of the 531 set up or are they the warm up ?
Then whatās with the 2 rep set followed by a 9, I am guessing the 9 is an amrap.
Then you have a drop set which I assume is a other amrap !? Maybe
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@muskratlifts I like it a lot, going to three days a week and doing about 45 - 55 minutes is really working well for me right now.
@simo74 Iāve tried but probably not well enough.
Jims work has 3 working sets with the topset as amrap per default.
Iām doing a butchered version 5ās pro were the first two are 5 reps and the last set I do 2 sets one set is the prescribed reps 5 3 or 1 (2 if Iām feeling good).
This is understandable I think.
The first week I do 3 sets of 5 reps then an amrap that determines the rest of the cycles volume.
If I get 12 reps with the amrap Iāve done 17 reps.
Week 2 for topset I do 3 reps - rest do an amrap of say 10 reps Iāve done 13 reps, then I strip the bar back to FSL weight and do 4 more reps, Iāve done more volume than week 1
Week 3 to increase volume I do an extra set before the 3 working sets.
Yesterday I should have done the first 3 sets then 1 rep at 97 + 9 + 3 reps (Did a couple extras because I could).
Iām still feeling good doing it this way. Iām doing a double progression on the volume back off lift yesterday it was bench starting with 65 kg 5x5 increasing until I get to 65 kg 5 x 8 reps. Then Iāll increase weight and start over.
Deadlift and OHP is done the same way wednesday, those do not have a volume day. .
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Ok I think I get it now
Your 531 sets were 77, 87, 97
You should have done 1 with 97 but you felt good and did 2.
You then did an amrap of 9 but because you were targeting 14, you dropped to your first 531 set of 77 and did 5 more.
It sounds like you are enjoying this and feeling good on it so keep it up. I canāt say I can understand exactly why itās laid out this way but then Iām not Jim and donāt know the new book.
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Woke at 77,6 kg
Todays training: DL PR + OHP PR
1000% Awesome 531
C2W3D2
Warmup: Airdyne + minimal extra
OHP SS pull up 7, 7, 6, 6, 6
- 5 x 30, 35, 40 kg
- 2 x 45 kg
- 8 x 45 kg + 5 x 35 kg drop set
- 5 x 35 after a short break
Deadlift
- 5 x 100, 107, 120 kg
- 9 x 132,5 kg + 4 x 107,5 kg drop set (drop dead)
Giantset
- DB incl bench: 8 x 22, 25 kg, 13 x 27,5 kg (+1)
- DB one arm row: 10 x 22, 25 kg, 15 x 27,5 kg (+1)
- KB goblet squat 10 x 12, 16, 20 kg (skipped front squat this was easy)
Finisher
- Push ups: 12, 12, 12
52 minutes + 10 minutes warm up.
Ran 22 minutes slow yesterday, training almost everyday is guite hard.
Going in today I felt tired and a bit sore and fatigued.
OHP was hard but I got what I wanted for reps a little surprised by that.
DL I almost said can I get 5 reps Iām happy. Got to five and said no way man the f*ck up, did two more, and felt they way reasonable reps so kept on and 1 more, good 1 more sluggish so called it, dropped down to FSL and did 4 reps at least lost count could have been 5 or 6. Almost felt like Pwn here.
Then to the giant set those were hard the last set DB bench I did the same but got an extra rep.
Should have done front squat on the giant set, just took a KB to grease the squat groove.
Donāt tell Jim please, the original calls for a rep PR and thatās it.
I like to do a āfeelerā set before the AMRAP. The reason for the drop set is to do more volume than the previous week, starting the cycle with just an AMRAP and beating that rep number the following two weeks.
First week 5 reps + 12 reps
second week 3 reps + 10 reps + 4 rep FSL (combined with the heavier first and second main sets itās more weight)
third week 1 rep + 9 reps + 4 reps FSL + an extra 5 rep working set in the warm up totals more weight.
Itās probably not very scientific, but hey itās just iron it doesnāt know.
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Your secret is safe with me
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Todays training: Bench PR ā Squat 5 x 5-8
1000% Awesome 531
C2W3D3
Warm up: very little a bit of bw squats, lazy lifter and mobility.
Squat SS AB wheel 1x12 + 4x11
- 82,5 kg: 5 x 8 reps
.
Bench Press SS underhand BB row 10 x 50, 60 kg, 70 kg x 7, 7, 7
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5 x 60, 65, 72,5 kg
-
1 x 80 kg
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5 x 80 kg + 8 x 65 kg drop set.
.
Giant set
-
Standing press: 14 kg x 8, 10, 13 (+1)
-
Bulgarian Split squat: + 5 kg x 9, 11, 13 (+1 all sets)
-
DB curl: 17,5 kg x 5, 6, 10 (+1)
.
55 minutes + 10 minutes warm up.
.
Total fail on bench and I hate it, got 5 reps on my topset. I had 6 as absolute minimum count so that was disappointing to say the least. Best PR is 11 reps so Iām pretty far away.
Squats was fine got 8 across on the 5 sets time to increase weight here.
Giantset was fine as well.
Next week is deload, I donāt really think I need it going 3 days a week, but Iāll take it. Iāll work up to a heavy single at TM weight or thereabout.
Next cycle Iāll increase weight on squat, deadlift and OHP. Bench Iāll keep the weights.
Iām thinking about doing PR sets on bench before my volume work for squats next time around.
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Bench isnāt kind to lighter people. Donāt worry about it.
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Iāll try not to.
ā¦
ā¦
I just tried I couldnāt.
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If I find myself in a position like this:
Then I think back to what I was doing to reach that PR.
So, whatās your answer?
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For me trying to do amrap sets each week for bench and always get improvement doesnāt seem to work. It can also be a bit demoralising when you donāt hit what you want. Have you considered doing something more simple for bench. Simple block or wave periodisation with slow progression? It may be the slow approach but what have you got to lose. If you add 10kg to your bench but it takes all year, you have still added 10kg.
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Hey Mort, how ya been man? Iāve been pretty bad at keeping up with logs lately.
Youāre running 1000% right? Did you make some modifications to the program, or are you in the Anchor phase? Just curious as I didnāt do any PR sets when I ran it, and even opted out of them for the Anchor in favor of Jokers.
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Ok, then letās think if there may be something that could make things better.
Youāre not training for a meet, so getting in specific practice isnāt really important. That means you could do a bench-like exercise and still progress perfectly fine. Maybe when youāre lighter, thereās a specific part of the bench that gets a bunch weaker. If there is, hammer that, hard. You could check out @Koestrizer and his DIY bench block. Maybe all you need is a bit of time hammering your bench from a one or two board.
Either way, donāt get hung up on your bench not being what it was. Youāre much lighter, youāre training differently, so it happens.
Try to find a bench approach that lets you keep progressing, because youāre not training for a performance so you may as well change things if it makes it more enjoyable.
I mean, hereās a left field idea. You do your bench top set. Then you strip off some weight but add bands to equal that top set weight at the top, and then do your second set. Strip maybe 10-20% bar weight, replace with bands.
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@simo74 idea is better than mine, FWIW
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He could do a combination of both. Simple wave block for bench one day a week and then a variation maybe bands or dumbell press or board or all three in rotation on a second day.
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Hitting the PR on the AMRAP is cool but like gotta keep in the mind thatās expressing strength as much as building. Depending on your level of readiness it may not be there but you are still making gains by doing putting in the work on bad days. Building strength doesnāt require a PR set.
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This is very true, but there are also lots of people who try to hit PRās every set for weeks and weeks and whilst their strength improves some, they could probably get stronger with simple progression.
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Honestly every time Iāve hit a PR past few weeks Iāve thought that maybe instead of going big for a rep PR should saved the energy to get a bigger overall stimulus and be stronger down the track.
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woke at 77,5 kg trying to stay around here, between 77 and 78 kg.
Thanks for chiming in guys, Iāll try to respond to it.
When I started this log I had done Jims work for a year or more.
I ended doing something called 28 week challenge or something. Standard 4 days a week setup, every day every week the goal is to set a new rep PR, starting out with only amrap on topset for two weeks, then PR sets on topset + FSL, then topset + SSL, then topset + TM, I ended up doing 10 reps 80 kg and 5 reps at 87,5 kg, and I did amraps on every lift throughout the whole cycle upping weight every time. I crashed at the end doing PR sets on top set + PR set with TM that was just 1 - 3 reps with TM and I really crashed and burned here. Right after this I started doing a lot of other fun stuff.
So I was kind of back to basics.
I think Jims work is very simple progression and periodisation. I would love to add 10 kg to my bench 
5 kg would be nice and 2,5 would make me hit the two plate ā¦ again.
Yes
Off course the version Iām looking at has PR sets so I do that, Iām doing a feeler set before the topset.
And Iām adding a rep or two on the volume sets every week starting at 5x5 keep adding until I get to 5x8 reps.
Doing a circuit at the end.
Iāve tried 5ās pro with leader and anchor cycles and I didnāt like it, coming from 5ās pro and then doing amraps I just couldnāt find the groove.
After the deload Iāll go back to 5x5 as prescribed by the program, and trust it. Iāll push the amrap keeping a rep in reserve.
I weigh the same, training the same way and I know it happens, I knew I couldnāt do more than 6 or 7 reps.
I really like the idea of band work, Iāll do another couple of cycles before trying something new.
I totally know this it true, but doing sub max work not going to or near failure doesnāt seem to work for me.
I might after another couple of cycles Iāll try something different if Iām not progressing.
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