Wendler 5/3/1 Program

Training Powerlifting
241

[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
JPuxHenri wrote:
Hi there guys, I’m also doing the 5/3/1 and I’m on my first wave, so I thought to stop by and say hello. I’m not going to post a full log, but I’ll post the PR’s wave by wave.

The only minor tweak I’ve done to the 5/3/1 is that in lower body days, before the squat and the power clean (yes I’ve sub power cleans for deadlifts), I’m doing some jump training to improve my vert.

Right now my maxes are 105Kg BPress, 135Kg Squat and 180Kg Conv Deadlift, all raw. Oh and my max vert is 25 inches. My height is 170cm and my weight is 72Kg.

Shit, I know, but I’m confident that the 5/3/1 will bring me up to the next level :wink: Well, thank you so much for your time!

By the way, best of luck on the meet Mr. Wylie!! :wink:

Hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us have.

What are you doing for assistance work?[/quote]

Db Bench Presses, Db Rows and Db Curls on Bench Day.

Lunges and GHRaises on Squat day.

Pullups, Dips and Reverse Curls on Military Day.

RDL’s and GHRaises on Deadlift (Power Clean for me) Day.

And some ab & neck work when I feel doing it.

Thank you for asking!

242

[quote]JPuxHenri wrote:
TheDudeAbides wrote:
JPuxHenri wrote:
Hi there guys, I’m also doing the 5/3/1 and I’m on my first wave, so I thought to stop by and say hello. I’m not going to post a full log, but I’ll post the PR’s wave by wave.

The only minor tweak I’ve done to the 5/3/1 is that in lower body days, before the squat and the power clean (yes I’ve sub power cleans for deadlifts), I’m doing some jump training to improve my vert.

Right now my maxes are 105Kg BPress, 135Kg Squat and 180Kg Conv Deadlift, all raw. Oh and my max vert is 25 inches. My height is 170cm and my weight is 72Kg.

Shit, I know, but I’m confident that the 5/3/1 will bring me up to the next level :wink: Well, thank you so much for your time!

By the way, best of luck on the meet Mr. Wylie!! :wink:

Hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us have.

What are you doing for assistance work?

Db Bench Presses, Db Rows and Db Curls on Bench Day.

Lunges and GHRaises on Squat day.

Pullups, Dips and Reverse Curls on Military Day.

RDL’s and GHRaises on Deadlift (Power Clean for me) Day.

And some ab & neck work when I feel doing it.

Thank you for asking![/quote]

I like your set up, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to make a recommendation.

It appears as though you have set up your Squat and Power Clean (Deadlift) days so that your accessory work is more similar to the main movement (Squats and lunges / Power cleans and RDL’s).

I would recommend switching things around so you perform the RDL’s on Squat day and the Lunges on Power Clean (Deadlift) day.

Not only will this help you get more frequency each week (hit all of your legs twice a week rather than more emphasis on quads one day and hams the next), but it may be “easier” to follow your main lift with an accessory lift that is working other (somewhat) parts of the leg. It may also help with injury prevention and helping to increase strength.

Just a thought.

243

Thanks for the idea Nate!

I’ll try that on the next wave and I’ll let you know if it works well for me or not.

244

[quote]JPuxHenri wrote:
Hi there guys, I’m also doing the 5/3/1 and I’m on my first wave, so I thought to stop by and say hello. I’m not going to post a full log, but I’ll post the PR’s wave by wave.

The only minor tweak I’ve done to the 5/3/1 is that in lower body days, before the squat and the power clean (yes I’ve sub power cleans for deadlifts), I’m doing some jump training to improve my vert.

Right now my maxes are 105Kg BPress, 135Kg Squat and 180Kg Conv Deadlift, all raw. Oh and my max vert is 25 inches. My height is 170cm and my weight is 72Kg.

Shit, I know, but I’m confident that the 5/3/1 will bring me up to the next level :wink: Well, thank you so much for your time!

By the way, best of luck on the meet Mr. Wylie!! ;)[/quote]

Thanks, JPuxHenri! You will like the 5/3/1.

245

How is this program for people with really pathetic lifts and need some big strength gains? (I.e - 1RM of 185lbs on squat, 220lb on deadlift & 165lb on bench)

Should I just do WS4SB instead until I get bigger?

246

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
How is this program for people with really pathetic lifts and need some big strength gains? (I.e - 1RM of 185lbs on squat, 220lb on deadlift & 165lb on bench)

Should I just do WS4SB instead until I get bigger?[/quote]

I think 5/3/1 would be great for someone with those lifts.

All the program really is is setting PRs in certain percentage ranges, rotating those percentages and trying to break those PRs when you come back to that percentage. Nothing about those aspects says “unsuitable for a beginning lifter” to me.

247

Cool just confirming.

I’ve done some programs off this site before and got shit for it from the owner at my gym because it was stupid for someone at my level.

Going to start this on thursday & probably stay on it for as long as I can.

248

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
Cool just confirming.

I’ve done some programs off this site before and got shit for it from the owner at my gym because it was stupid for someone at my level.

Going to start this on thursday & probably stay on it for as long as I can.[/quote]

I just made a comment in your log, good luck, but before you jump in it, make sure you have the good set,(read this thread)…Also read Jim q/a on elitefts, and again dont forget;

-10% of you 1 rep max and dont guess your max to high.
-Rome wasnot build in one day, 5/3/1 not a miracle formula,steady low progress…

Good luck!

249

Thank you for the reply & advice.

For accessory work I’m going to just what feels right. Just a couple synergistic exercises with 4-5x10-15 rep range.

I got the book so I can base it around the templates.

250

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
Thank you for the reply & advice.

For accessory work I’m going to just what feels right. Just a couple synergistic exercises with 4-5x10-15 rep range.

I got the book so I can base it around the templates.[/quote]

probably your best 2009 decision!

251

I’d give it a try, Wendler recently reported very good results from beginners in his log

252

Hey Phillip,

Just saw your last log post at badattitudegym.com

One word = Amazing

congrats on the record!

253

[quote]crankMAN wrote:
Hey Phillip,

Just saw your last log post at badattitudegym.com

One word = Amazing

congrats on the record![/quote]

Thanks for the props crankMAN! The 5/3/1 program is working great. I am in the process of setting up my next training cycle.

254

For someone who only has about 12 weeks to dedicate, would this still be a good program for them? My lacrosse season starts at the end of April and I wanted to try this program out, but I’ve been reading people say its a “slow and steady” program.

Also, if I’m going to set it up for 3 days a week, would this be okay?

Squat
Bench
Deadlift + Press

EDIT: also, do you guys follow the 3 sets of the day exactly (for example: 5x75, 5x80, 5+x85), or do you basically just work up to a RM at whatever the days weight is? I’m sure the added volume has it’s benefits, but wouldn’t you not be able to hit as many reps on the final set?

255

[quote]vision1 wrote:
For someone who only has about 12 weeks to dedicate, would this still be a good program for them? My lacrosse season starts at the end of April and I wanted to try this program out, but I’ve been reading people say its a “slow and steady” program.

Also, if I’m going to set it up for 3 days a week, would this be okay?

Squat
Bench
Deadlift + Press

EDIT: also, do you guys follow the 3 sets of the day exactly (for example: 5x75, 5x80, 5+x85), or do you basically just work up to a RM at whatever the days weight is? I’m sure the added volume has it’s benefits, but wouldn’t you not be able to hit as many reps on the final set?[/quote]

This program would work great for you. Don’t be fooled by the “slow and steady” comments, I am an experienced powerlifter and I put 55lbs on my raw deadlift in 20 weeks. 27 of those pounds were put on in the first 8 weeks.

I always go for a rep max on the third set. Sometimes I could do more reps, but I do more than the 5, 3, 1 that’s called for on the last set.

256

Phillip, congrats on your meet. I am also getting good gains from the 5/3/1(am going on my fourth wave) and I am doing the standard 5’s on week, then 3’s then the 5/3/1. I noticed you and Jim had talked about 3/5/1 before, are you currently doing this?

257

Thanks for the reply, I think I’ll give this program a try.

What I meant by the rep max question is, lets say the day calls for 5 reps at 75%, 80%, and 85% (this could be wrong I’m just going by memory). Do you guys worry much about the 75% and 80% sets, or do you just focus on getting as many reps as possible at 85%?

258

2009 NASA Natural Nationals
January 25, 2009

I weighed in at 243.9lbs and competed in the unequipped 275lbs division.

Squat

1st Attempt - 501.55lbs
2nd Attempt - 551.15lbs
3rd Attempt - 578.7lbs

Bench Press

1st Attempt - 358.25lbs
2nd Attempt - 402.34lbs ← Master 1 American Record
3rd Attempt - Passed ← I did not feel like I do much more if any.

Deadlift

1st Attempt - 600.75lbs
2nd Attempt - 661lbs
3rd Attempt - 705.47lbs ← Open & Master 1 American Record

Total
1658.96lbs ← Open & Master 1 American Record

1st Place Open Unequipped 275
1st Place Master 1 Unequipped 275

I tried to cut weight, but came up short at weigh in. I didn’t want to make weight at the risk of my performance, so I decided to compete 275’s. I completed my fifth wave of the 5/3/1 program going into this meet and the program is still working great.

Since starting the 5/3/1 program I improved my raw deadlift by 55lbs, my raw bench 16lbs, I am squatting 551lbs to USAPL depth, and increased my total by 253.56lbs. My squat was 111lbs more than I squatted at this depth prior to the 5/3/1 program. I hit my goals on the bench and deadlift, but came up short on the squat. I got too psyched on my last squat attempt and was bent over too much coming out of the hole.

259

[quote]MikeyKBiatch wrote:
Phillip, congrats on your meet. I am also getting good gains from the 5/3/1(am going on my fourth wave) and I am doing the standard 5’s on week, then 3’s then the 5/3/1. I noticed you and Jim had talked about 3/5/1 before, are you currently doing this?[/quote]

Thanks, Mikey! That’s awesome and I am glad to hear the program is working for you. I thought about switching to 3/5/1, but stuck with 5/3/1. It’s working well so I figured why change. I do think 3/5/1 is a great idea. That is what Jim is doing and Kroc was doing 3/5/1 too. I may give 3/5/1 a try some day.

260

[quote]vision1 wrote:
Thanks for the reply, I think I’ll give this program a try.

What I meant by the rep max question is, lets say the day calls for 5 reps at 75%, 80%, and 85% (this could be wrong I’m just going by memory). Do you guys worry much about the 75% and 80% sets, or do you just focus on getting as many reps as possible at 85%?[/quote]

You’re welcome!

I do those first two working sets (75% and 89%), but my main focus is the rep max on the third set. I focus on good form on the first two working sets. The first two sets might not be much fun but the volume is necessary and they help you warm up for the third working set (aka rep max).