I did the order as OHP, deadlift, bench and then squat for the first 3 cycles. I switched dead and squat to put squats earlier in the week and make them more of a priority. I was barely getting the required reps.
DL yesterday, 167.5kg x 8 !!! new PR (369lb)
I don’t think the order really matters. I do the order like this:
M: Arms
T: Squats
W: Bench
R: DL
F: OHP
Weekend: Cardio
[quote]TisDrew wrote:
I don’t think the order really matters. I do the order like this:
M: Arms
T: Squats
W: Bench
R: DL
F: OHP
Weekend: Cardio[/quote]
The order matters if you are only working out 4 days a week. I have my split set up to be:
Monday: Deadlift
Tuesday: Bench
Thursday: Squat
Friday: OHP
I put the deadlift first in the week (or after 2 days rest from training, however you want to look at it) because it is the one I need to work on the most right now. The squats logically follow that a few days later.
OHP comes last in the week because I would rather be burnt out from lifting all week and have to hit OHP rather than Bench.
Deadlift today, 130Kgx9 not much but a PR could only deadlift 140Kg 10 weeks ago! Thanks Jim!
Hit 275 on bench today for my 1RM! I’m super stoked. Thanks so much Jim, this is a 20 lb. PR for me. Only on cycle 3.
congrats on all the PRs y’all.
i have been doing it mil/dead/bench/squat from the beginning. they only change I have made from the written program is that I don’t have enough time on squat day to do both the work sets and the accessories, so I added an extra day and do squat accessories the day after I do squat. this was the first week of this, so I don’t know how its going to work out, but I’ll keep yall posted.
[quote]Dan E wrote:
Hi all
While we’re on the subject of what has helped to improve lifts - can anyone give me some suggestions for the Squat please?
I am on cycle 19 on 5/3/1 and everything is moving along nicely with the exception of squat. I have found resetting the training max very light (80-85% - I use the rule of thumb of being able to get 10 reps on the 3’s week after resetting) to work well for the other 3 lifts but when I did it for the Squat I regressed further.
This makes me think I need to get used to handling heavier loads so am considering following Matt Rhodes advice and doing some heavy singles after the last 5/3/1 set. I’m also considering forgetting the 5/3/1 for Squats for a while and just work on getting some rep work in to work on form (which I realise could play a big part in my problem).
I’d be grateful for any suggestions.
Cheers
Dan[/quote]
I heard Jim say you can’t improve everything all at once all the time. try resetting your deadlift max a little lower, or backing off a little on your deadlift and squat accessories. could just be a recovery issue.
Woo super happy, this time last month I benched 77.5kg (I know I’m weak :() for 10 reps and today I did 80kg for 11 reps :D. I stopped taking creatine and caffeine before my workouts for 2 weeks because I felt like it was doing nothing for me and I had kind of sub-par workouts, and then today I dominated in the gym it felt fantastic I squeezed so many reps out. I dunno if I can attribute that to the 3lb gain though either =/. Eitherway, I’m gonna continue to take creatine and caffeine again but does anyone know how much caffeine is too much? I take 200mg before a workout and I workout 4 times a week.
[quote]Webbykun wrote:
I’m gonna continue to take creatine and caffeine again but does anyone know how much caffeine is too much? I take 200mg before a workout and I workout 4 times a week.[/quote]
200mg is very standard and fine. As was discussed in the stimulant or caffeine roundtable a while back, you may want to avoid caffeine otherwise so that you do not build a tolerance and make it ineffective. On 5/3/1, you could, like me, also not take the caffeine during your deload week for the same reason.
Just for reference to give you an idea of what 200mg of caffeine is: Caffeine chart | Center for Science in the Public Interest
You can see that it is significantly less than a cup of Starbucks coffee which many perfectly healthy people drink multiples of daily. Just make sure that you are drinking enough water with the caffeine, creatine and working out.
5/3/1 has taught me much about lifting and getting strong. one example off the top of my head, 3x10 and magazine-ish set/rep schemes are bullshit. figure a starting point, plan your progression and get stronger- THAT works regardless if its 3x10, 5x5, 3x3, 4x12, etc, etc.
but, the thought that i really wanted to post…not important, just figured id share with like-minded people:
my favorite lifts, in order from “would do them all day if i could” to “would rather eat brussel sprouts” are:
Military press
Deadlifts (love/hate)
bench
Squats
benched today and got a new PR 205x6. not much, but good numbers for me. the 5/3/1 week is a great week.
Okay, thinking about starting the program.
I’m a little dismayed by what looks like slow progress but if I really push the max reps I assume I’ll still get stronger…
I would like to keep up my 20 lbs/month rate of improvement for a while but I may be hitting the point when that’s no longer possible (been lifting for about a year and a half).
At squat 185/bench 115~125/DL 255 do I suck too much to do 5/3/1 yet?
Alisa, I was thinking the same thing as you, but yet you get to push a lot more reps out so you still make the progress. There’s a formula in the book you can use to give you a rough estimate of how much progress your making. And even though I’ve technically only added small amounts to my lifts this past month at submaximal weights, I’ve totally owned some PRs and using that formula shows I’ve added like 10kg-ish to my lifts. I’m probably gonna try some 1RMs at the end of cycle 4 or so (on cycle 2 now). Dooo it!
[quote]AlisaV wrote:
Okay, thinking about starting the program.
I’m a little dismayed by what looks like slow progress but if I really push the max reps I assume I’ll still get stronger…
I would like to keep up my 20 lbs/month rate of improvement for a while but I may be hitting the point when that’s no longer possible (been lifting for about a year and a half).
At squat 185/bench 115~125/DL 255 do I suck too much to do 5/3/1 yet?[/quote]
Last I checked there was no, “You have to be X strong to start” clause.
Try it out. Worst case, you don’t like it.
All right then! I’m doing it; today was my first day.
[quote]AlisaV wrote:
Okay, thinking about starting the program.
I’m a little dismayed by what looks like slow progress but if I really push the max reps I assume I’ll still get stronger…
I would like to keep up my 20 lbs/month rate of improvement for a while but I may be hitting the point when that’s no longer possible (been lifting for about a year and a half).
At squat 185/bench 115~125/DL 255 do I suck too much to do 5/3/1 yet?[/quote]
Ya don’t worry theres no requisite strength level to start off as. There are some people who barely bench 135 that have started to do the program. The reason why I started to do it was because I spent a good 4 years focusing on beating my body down to a bloody pulp without any regards to progression. I’m in one of the worst scenarios because I’m pretty weak (MAX deadlift is only like 300…and thats a 1RM). So though Im weak, my body doesn’t respond like a beginner’s, so I’m left with progressing slowly at relatively loww weights.
thank sweet baby jesus for good mornings. Been doing them for two sessions and my deadlift is already blowing up
I’ve been doing 5/3/1 for a while now. Been working great. Just one question.
What exactly does the deloading week do? What’s it’s purpose? Just curious, thanks a lot.
[quote]flipHKD_6 wrote:
I’ve been doing 5/3/1 for a while now. Been working great. Just one question.
What exactly does the deloading week do? What’s it’s purpose? Just curious, thanks a lot.[/quote]
It’s purpose is to give your body and mind a break.