Say you were stuck with training at home in somewhat limited space with heavy dumbbells (comfortably above and beyond what you can OHP but most quad dominant leg work is restricted to single leg variations)… How would you train? Would you use the 5/3/1 system? I’m working/studying a lot at present and had been trying to make a two day split with days hill sprints but I have to admit I am lacking in expertise!
Thank you for any help.
I dont think there is a “how to” on this. Get inventive, Trial and Error dude. Try different exercises, reps and sets, combinations or stuff, whatever. Just do what you think will work for you…then get your ass to a real gym once that shit stops working!
5/3/1 can only be done with a barbell for the main lifts. Honestly, other than higher volume full-body routines, having only dumbbells greatly limits what you can do. Sell the DBs and join a cheap gym. Even a Fitness 19 would be a better situation for you. What can you sacrifice to pay for a membership?
You are really going to have to find a gym to train at though. You will be able to through those dumbbells through the fucking roof sooner than you think. You will then need find a barbell to fight with.
I spent a fair amount (for a student) on these things…olympic DB handles + plates. I’m not the strongest guy and by the looks of it I can get them to go up to 55kg each if I buy enough 5kg plates (so they don’t get too bulky). At the moment with lectures in the city, studying and working part time Im struggling to justify the time/money to pay for a gym membership. More so because the local gym is very crowded!
Dan Jon seems to have found use for DB workouts in the past (check out his one db workout) and thus I figured there might be some value to home DB work.
I’m not very familiar or ever used a “dumbbell” only routine. Way out of my area of expertise.
[quote]Jim Wendler wrote:
I’m not very familiar or ever used a “dumbbell” only routine. Way out of my area of expertise. [/quote]
Mr. Wendler thank you for your concise and honest answer. I purchased 5/3/1 a year or two back and thoroughly enjoyed it whilst I had access to a gym and adequate time.
I guess the only thing I can work towards is heavy compound movements, high rep lower work, sprints and stretching. It’s not going to make me a bad-ass but it will make me better.
Of course you can get the same basic principles and programming done with db’s. If people throw a hissy fit if you call if 5/3/1, whatever, it’s still slow progressive training using cycles and the best multi-joint lifts you can do. I have an article coming out on something that would probably help you with this.
Our baseball players do dumbbell bench press and bulgarian squats using a similar progression. It has worked well. Call it what you will, but results speak for themselves and if it’s what you have, use it. Just my opinion based off of training people.
Do you have any heavy friends? I mean in the the literal sense.
[quote]benmoore wrote:
Say you were stuck with training at home in somewhat limited space with heavy dumbbells (comfortably above and beyond what you can OHP but most quad dominant leg work is restricted to single leg variations)… How would you train? Would you use the 5/3/1 system? I’m working/studying a lot at present and had been trying to make a two day split with days hill sprints but I have to admit I am lacking in expertise!
Thank you for any help.[/quote]
I wouldn’t use 5/3/1 or something similar with adjustable dumbbells, it would be a pain in the ass adding weight between sets and exercises etc.
You could check Ross Enamait or something, he gives out plenty of ideas for dumbbell training.
Lots of goblet squats and farmers walks for lower body…
5/3/1 is a barbell program, but you can apply the general principles and NOV attitude to any program with balls. Here is something you may find useful… the best squat without a barbell is the partner squat. Due to the position of the partner, the squat has a lot in common with a front squat (forward lean will dump the person from your shoulders) It is more stable than you think and very conducive to ATG depth. In the following video, Rudy (dude on my shoulders) makes the situation a bit tougher than necessary by freaking out–he’s too entirely too nervous about being dropped (not a concern, since he only weighs a little over 200lbs). That’s the limiting factor–you need progressively bigger friends (or you could progressively feed them more and more, milo style)
Yeah I don’t know if anyone said this already, but if you’re going to use a 5/3/1 system for your dumbbell routine, make sure it’s used only on the big compound movements. 5/3/1 is not for isolation or short movements.
i.e. 5/3/1 Tricep Kickbacks… you’ll destroy your elbow.
I used it for the dumbell clean and press and it worked pretty well.
I used it for 1 arm rows and it worked pretty well for that too.
I couldn’t find any lower body exercises with dumbells that worked as well with the 5/3/1 progression. Goblet squats and dumbell front squats are too unwieldy, and heavy dumbell squats get awkward because of where the dumbells hang by your side.
I actually had really good results with 5/3/1 doing it mostly with dumbbells and kettlebells. Broke down like this:
Military Press Day: Did my 5/3/1 military presses with one kettlebell, and 2.5lb jumps every month. Due to the big gaps in kettlebell sizes, I had to do some massive rounding, and buy 5lb and 2.5lb plate mates. The trick though, really, was to start light and let the repping out on the last set fill in the gaps. Worked my way up to an 82.5lb one arm military press for a double, which for a little dude like me, I was stoked. Did the rest of the boring but big sets with pairs of dumbbells. Also, alternated every set with pullups.
Deadlift Day: Did those at the gym with a barbell. I mean, come on.
Bench Press Day: Did those with dumbbell presses. Round to the nearest pair of dumbbells. Start light, and let repping out on the last set make up for the weird jumps in weight. Then did the boring but big sets with dumbbells also. Alternated every set with pullups.
Squat day: Two kettlebell frontsquats. Kettlebell rack position way better than dumbbells, by a lot. You’re still not going to be able to use as much weight as you could with a barbell frontsquat, but at least it’s a legit squat workout. The boring but big sets prob filled in a lot of the gaps here.
Another option could be RFE Split Squats, channelling Mike Boyle. Mike says that in six weeks his athletes can use more weight on one leg x2 than they can squatting on two legs. But they use barbells for the RFE Split Squats also…
Anyhow, these days I do it all the main lifts with a barbell. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t come up with something that worked. Honestly, 5/3/1 is so straightforward, I can’t imagine you wouldn’t get stronger with any permutation of it.
My word! I thought this thread died after Wendlers post.
Anyway thank you all for your valuable input. Currently what I’m doing is the following:
Mon:
DB OHP aiming for 25 reps in under 5 sets, 3 min rests
DB Row aiming for 50 reps in under 5 sets, 3 min rests
Weighted pushups 3x10-20, 1-2 min rests
Tue:
DB Lunge aiming for 25 reps in under 5 sets, 3 min rests
DB RDL aiming for 50 reps in under 5 sets, 3 min rests
Situps 3xF, 1-2 min rests
Wed: off
Thu:
DB Row aiming for 25 reps in under 5 sets, 3 min rests
DB OHP aiming for 50 reps in under 5 sets, 3 min rests
DB Curl 3x8-12, 1-2 min rests
Fri:
DB RDL aiming for 25 reps in under 5 sets, 3 min rests
DB Lunges aiming for 50 reps in under 5 sets, 3 min rests
Situps 3xF, 1-2 min rests
Sat: off
Sun: off
Things I think I should change:
[quote]Josh Hillis wrote:
I actually had really good results with 5/3/1 doing it mostly with dumbbells and kettlebells. Broke down like this:
Military Press Day: Did my 5/3/1 military presses with one kettlebell, and 2.5lb jumps every month. Due to the big gaps in kettlebell sizes, I had to do some massive rounding, and buy 5lb and 2.5lb plate mates. The trick though, really, was to start light and let the repping out on the last set fill in the gaps. Worked my way up to an 82.5lb one arm military press for a double, which for a little dude like me, I was stoked. Did the rest of the boring but big sets with pairs of dumbbells. Also, alternated every set with pullups.
Deadlift Day: Did those at the gym with a barbell. I mean, come on.
Bench Press Day: Did those with dumbbell presses. Round to the nearest pair of dumbbells. Start light, and let repping out on the last set make up for the weird jumps in weight. Then did the boring but big sets with dumbbells also. Alternated every set with pullups.
Squat day: Two kettlebell frontsquats. Kettlebell rack position way better than dumbbells, by a lot. You’re still not going to be able to use as much weight as you could with a barbell frontsquat, but at least it’s a legit squat workout. The boring but big sets prob filled in a lot of the gaps here.
Another option could be RFE Split Squats, channelling Mike Boyle. Mike says that in six weeks his athletes can use more weight on one leg x2 than they can squatting on two legs. But they use barbells for the RFE Split Squats also…
Anyhow, these days I do it all the main lifts with a barbell. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t come up with something that worked. Honestly, 5/3/1 is so straightforward, I can’t imagine you wouldn’t get stronger with any permutation of it.
[/quote]
RFE squats sound good but I struggle to not push off with the back foot and as such have avoided them a lot.
EDIT: Goblet squats have been iffy - one of my collars has slipped in recent times and its made me nervous of them!
[quote]benmoore wrote:
RFE squats sound good but I struggle to not push off with the back foot and as such have avoided them a lot.
EDIT: Goblet squats have been iffy - one of my collars has slipped in recent times and its made me nervous of them![/quote]
Collared dumbbells = worthless.
Couldn’t help myself, I just googled “Barbell” and you can get a barbell at Target with 110 pounds of plates for $94. Buy that. Use that for your split squats and your single leg deadlifts, and for your military presses, until you can afford to add some more weight to it and use it for standard squats and deads.
*I should make one addition to my above post: The reason I tried 5/3/1 with kettlebells was because I was training for a kettlebell certification.
[quote]Josh Hillis wrote:
[quote]benmoore wrote:
RFE squats sound good but I struggle to not push off with the back foot and as such have avoided them a lot.
EDIT: Goblet squats have been iffy - one of my collars has slipped in recent times and its made me nervous of them![/quote]
Collared dumbbells = worthless.
Couldn’t help myself, I just googled “Barbell” and you can get a barbell at Target with 110 pounds of plates for $94. Buy that. Use that for your split squats and your single leg deadlifts, and for your military presses, until you can afford to add some more weight to it and use it for standard squats and deads.
*I should make one addition to my above post: The reason I tried 5/3/1 with kettlebells was because I was training for a kettlebell certification.[/quote]
I got these:
https://www.strengthshop.co.uk/bars/olympic-dumbell-handle.html
I’m from the UK by the way.
My workout space is a bit restricted at the moment… maybe 8x8 feet or less? I have a small room with a double bed im renting.