Training for inconsistent and busy men

Training 5/3/1
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Ok so in Training for inconsistent and busy men Jim says:

One lift/day. […] Generally speaking, push this lift hard UNLESS you feel like hell. If that’s the case - use the 5/3/1 5’s Progression.

“push this lift hard” means always take it 1 off failure? Follow normal 531 progression with TMs and 7th week protocol like I read in 531 forever? Anyone know?

(In case you need to know, I’m 40yrs old, a man, 88.5kg, recovering from a couple of injuries, and my aims are to avoid injury lifting/carrying/throwing my 4 young kids around, and keep my athletic ability to surfskate/surf/basketball as I age)

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Push this lift hard means exactly that: push the lift hard. The contrast he offers is “unless you feel like hell, if that’s the case, use the 5/3/1 5s progression”, which is simply doing 5 reps with the weight.

There are LOTS of ways to push a lift hard. If you’re using 5/3/1, you’re going to use 5/3/1’s progression on a 5/3/1 program, to include TMs and the 7 week protocol, irrespective of if you push a lift hard or not. Within 5/3/1, there are multiple ways to push a lift hard, one being PR sets, another being jokers.

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I’m trying to follow the forever philosophy - but with this template - are you saying Jim means to pick a template from forever and apply it to the 2 day a week training as outlined on that link?

Like doing the main lift and a supplemental (widowmakers/FSL etc.) after?

Or just push it hard by applying any of the ideas for the main lifts in forever…

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I am not saying that, no. I would imagine someone who has the time to do that wouldn’t really be in the target audience of “inconsistent and busy men”, because 5/3/1 Forever itself has programs that allow for 3 days a week of lifting that are fully fleshed out, if that’s your goal.

I read that article and it does not mention supplemental work, which checks, because the busy man doesn’t have time for that. If you remember Jim’s “I’m not doing jack sh*t” protocol, it was JUST the main lifts and going home. This is that, with some assistance work.

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Oh cool thanks. Yeah I might be able to follow one of the main programs but can’t do 3 day a week - do you think I could just do one of the main ones 2 days a week?

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Why not follow one of the 2 day a week programs if that’s the case? Like 2x2x2, or Con Clavi Con Dio?

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I’ll second 2x2x2. For busy people, that’s a sure-fire way to go.

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I’ll take another look - it may be possible. [Marches off to study the book once more]

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I think what put me off 2x2x2 is seeing 6 days of gym work … reading into it it seems like you can do it all on 2 days in a week - is that right?

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@johning, how about Wendler Classic?

2 days strength training:
SQUAT/BENCH 5x5/3/1
DEADLIFT/OHP 5x5/3/1

3 days weighted vest training:
PUSHUP
PULLUP
SQUAT

Weighted vest walks for conditioning.

Committing to frequency but each day is very short and efficient.

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I’ve run this template with success.

I set my Training Maxes low, around 75-80%, and used a “rule of 20.” By that, I mean the goal each session was to hit 20 total reps with the top weight of the day. I didn’t hit the goal every day… some days the baby monitor sounded at rep 5 and that was that.

Also, Kryptiea 2x/week is a great program. This isn’t endorsed by JW, but to apply it to forever principles you could do:

1 cycle: 5s pro, 5x5 SSL,
1 cycle: 531 PRs, 5x5 FSL

Assistance remains as outlined in the article

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Thanks guys - a lot to process. I think 2x2x2 might actually work for me. He says if you’re doing 531+ for the main lift You can skip the supplemental work - that would make it super fast for me. Is that true? Both leader and anchor I just do the main lift then accessories? Feels like I’m cheating…

I need to minimise actual gym time because it’s out of the house. the accessories I can get away with doing later on at home while the kids are asleep.

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You are doing the bare minimum. Its not a forever thing

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