Vacation in the Middle of 5/3/1

Bigger Stronger Leaner Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Coaching
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I’m in the middle of the Beyond 5/3/1 but I’ll have to be out of the country for 2 weeks right when I hit week 8 or 9. Problem is I’ll have limited to no access to a gym for most of that time (it’s a third world country). Assuming I won’t be able to do the program until I come back, what should I do after the 2 weeks? Just pick up where I left off? Should I take some time to ease back in or just go back to heavy lifting?

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contrary to what most think, your dick doesn’t fall off when you take a one or two week vacation from training.

All jokes aside, you should maintain a few things in your “off” weeks like running or sprinting, long jumps or box jumps if you can MacGyver something to jump on, pushups, bodyweight squats, and chin-ups if you can find a place to do them. Pack a jump rope too and use it for some conditioning if you don’t want to run around outside.

When you get back, just start off on week 6 or 7 and push forward. You might even come back stronger with the time off and a couple weeks of a conditioning focus.

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I would just pick up where you left off when you get back. Enjoy your vacation

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I think you should cancel your vacation.

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Update:

I left for a two week trip after having completed Week 7 so Week 8 and 9 were potentially going to be overseas. I was able to find a gym and complete Week 8 overseas though it was a bit irregular what with the lbs to kg conversion throwing me off, not having access to all of the equipment, not knowing how much these skinny bars weighed, etc. So Week 9 I basically didn’t lift, though the trip lent itself to a lot of weighted walking. Also, my protein consumption was probably way down.

When I came back, I decided to start over at Week 7 just to be safe. I was actually kind of surprised/upset to find that I couldn’t complete the same lifts I had done the first time through. On the PR (rep record) lifts, originally I had hit 2 or 3 reps and now I was barely getting 1. I considered repeating again but I think I’m going to power through.

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For vacations longer than 2-3 days I always try to finish a cycle right before leaving. This often means extending a cycle 4 or 5 weeks or cutting it short and working out 5-6 days per week to finish in time. For a longer vacation you know about months in advance it would be a good time to plan a % reset on 5/3/1 when you get back.

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for a vacation i repeat the week with a little more weight for the lifts i did do

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You will have some bad days after lower calorie consumption and time off from the gym. Your first week back may be bad, but do week 8 next week anyway. Start eating right again and pushing and you’ll catch back up. You didn’t lose strength, you just lost neural efficiency (if there’s a difference).

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Thanks for the note. Low calorie consumption was probably a big part of it

I also re-read Beyond 5/3/1 and took note of the sections talking about how progress isn’t linear, how I will have bad days, and how you just need to smartly push through.

Started on Week 8 and had a much better workout Monday (though not completely where I wanted to be). Hoping for even better tomorrow.