Wendler's 5/3/1 Program - Part 3

Training Powerlifting
981

[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Why not test a max, or 5 rm max, or whatever, find out where you are actually at, and start from there? I would suspect at least a temporary strength loss from being in a calorie deficit for two months. In any event, it would be good to document where your strength is after a 2 month cut just to know. [/quote]

Thanks for the advice JJK. I initially considered this but started to lean towards just resuming where I was at because my training maxes (the number I use to calculate 90%) were actually lower than my real maxes when I cycled off. So I figured that if I did lose some strength, the numbers would be similar.

At any rate, any strength that I temporarily lost should come back quickly once I get used to the movement patterns again because I didn’t lose any LBM on the diet.

982

Halfway through my 5th cycle, hit 11 reps with 5 pounds more than my Projected 1RM on Bench from my first cycle.

This shit works.

983

[quote]monatu wrote:
Halfway through my 5th cycle, hit 11 reps with 5 pounds more than my Projected 1RM on Bench from my first cycle.

This shit works.[/quote]

Nice job…good work man!

984

[quote]crncsu099 wrote:
my results since December:

Before:
weight: 187
Bench: 2257
Deadlift: 3157
Military: 1359
Front Squat: 2257

After:
weight: 183
Bench: 22810, 2525
Deadlift: 3566
Military: 1565, 1614
Front Squat: 2508

[/quote]

Very impressive - thanks for sharing this.

985

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Why not test a max, or 5 rm max, or whatever, find out where you are actually at, and start from there? I would suspect at least a temporary strength loss from being in a calorie deficit for two months. In any event, it would be good to document where your strength is after a 2 month cut just to know. [/quote]

Thanks for the advice JJK. I initially considered this but started to lean towards just resuming where I was at because my training maxes (the number I use to calculate 90%) were actually lower than my real maxes when I cycled off. So I figured that if I did lose some strength, the numbers would be similar.

At any rate, any strength that I temporarily lost should come back quickly once I get used to the movement patterns again because I didn’t lose any LBM on the diet.

[/quote]

Whatever you do, just start too light. No one wins an award for where they start…just on where they finish.

986

[quote]TisDrew wrote:
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.[/quote]

You are welcome!

987

[quote]OT wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]OT wrote:
yeah theres been a ton of stress. trouble sleeping cuz im getting taller, which is a blessing but a curse because im outgrowing my puny bed. I also am pretty banged up from a fight on wednesday which resulted in a 3 day suspension. My weakpoint in the deadlift is pure pussiness. Bench is my lockout, press is idk, and squat is probably my core. My assistance has sucked and left me sore as shit everday, it is probably interferring with my recovery tbh. I was doing a bastardized bbing version. Im making the switch to triumvirate.[/quote]

Your biggest concern should be that you didn’t pinpoint these myriad reasons that you just gave as your problem before being asked. I mean, you’re young I’m assuming, so you get a bit of a pass, but come on man. How do you expect to NOT see some decreases in your training with all these factors adding up?[/quote]
I know, i know, I feel like a dumb shit for not seeing it myself until I was prodded by W’s questions. My subconcious operates on the notion that I am invincible. [/quote]

i discovered a neat little trick for resetting, and this might help you if you aren’t getting the reps you want. i start with the assumption that I want to be getting 6 or 7 reps on the last set of my 5/3/1 day. I look back at the past couple weeks in my log for a weight that I actually did for 6 or 7 reps. divide that number by .95, and that is your new training max for that lift.

for instance, my training max for weighted dips was 360, but I just haven’t been getting the reps, and on my 5/3/1 day I only got 3 at 345 (bw+50 in my case). note that this was last week. The previous week I got 7 at 325, so that tells me 325 is the more appropriate weight for my 5/3/1 day. the last set on the 5/3/1 day is (training max * .95), so I take 325 and divide by .95 and get 342.11, which I round down to 340. so, next cycle, my training max for weighted dips will be 340, down 20 lbs from 360.

I am on cycle 9. I did this for all my lifts for cycle 5, and started making PRs again. this is the first cycle I did the weighted dips, so it needed to be reset. in cycle 10, I expect to start hitting PRs on weighted dips as well.

Drop the weight and let the reps make you strong.

988

progress report.

I used the method above to reset all my maxes for cycle 5 last October. before I reset, my calculator maxes were:
squat - 408
bench - 300
dead - 408
military - 182

I am on the 5/3/1 week of cycle 9 right now, and my calculator maxes are:
squat - 427
bench - 321
dead - 456
military - 198 (cycle 8 was the last time i did militaries)

I have a goal if pulling 500 before the end of the year, so deadlift is the lift that I really bust my ass on. the 456 happened yesterday, and was a 14 lb pr. consequently, my other lifts have suffered a little but they are still coming up. also I’m 46 and an Old Lardass.

989

[quote]Jim Wendler wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Why not test a max, or 5 rm max, or whatever, find out where you are actually at, and start from there? I would suspect at least a temporary strength loss from being in a calorie deficit for two months. In any event, it would be good to document where your strength is after a 2 month cut just to know. [/quote]

Thanks for the advice JJK. I initially considered this but started to lean towards just resuming where I was at because my training maxes (the number I use to calculate 90%) were actually lower than my real maxes when I cycled off. So I figured that if I did lose some strength, the numbers would be similar.

At any rate, any strength that I temporarily lost should come back quickly once I get used to the movement patterns again because I didn’t lose any LBM on the diet.

[/quote]

Whatever you do, just start too light. No one wins an award for where they start…just on where they finish.
[/quote]
Similar to what I told my friend who wondered if he should use knee wraps to squat (he’s blown both knees playing football/soccer and has confidence issues with a loaded BB on his back. They dont give out “bravest lifter of the month awards” at most gyms, and if light wraps give him the confidence to squat, then all power to him.

By the by, Jim. Two weeks in post meet, and I haven’t had a session where i’ve failed to smash a PR into the ground, rub dirt in its crack and call it a nancy. All this whilst dropping about 10lbs since April 18th.

5/3/1 + BBB + Chins = gold.dust.

990

[quote]Jim Wendler wrote:

[quote]crncsu099 wrote:
my results since December:

Before:
weight: 187
Bench: 2257
Deadlift: 3157
Military: 1359
Front Squat: 2257

After:
weight: 183
Bench: 22810, 2525
Deadlift: 3566
Military: 1565, 1614
Front Squat: 2508

[/quote]

Very impressive - thanks for sharing this.
[/quote]

np Jim, I found that taking smaller jumps month to month has made the biggest difference in my training (progressing by 2.5lbs on upper body, and 5lbs on lower body. Using micro plates has also been really helpful. Because of this i haven’t had to reset my training max since December

991

Hi, in my last cycle when doing the bench I could feel it getting very tough and just about made the prescribed reps. this is the first week of my next cycle and I failed to hit 5 reps only made it to 4 with a struggle. What I’m wondering is should I finish out this cycle then recalculate my max and start over, or should I take an off day to recalculate my max now and start with the new weight for the second week? thanks for any advice.

992

Four days a week, 5/3/1+BBB+HIIT conditioning = kickass.

5/3/1, and especially the North of Vag ideology is just so simple, yet so complete. Strength, muscle, conditioning, flexibility, all my goals are covered well within the N.O.V. way of living. It’s simple, it allows for less than stellar days, free to choose assistance etc.

I customized one thing:

I treat the barbell row like a main lift.

So my bench day looks like this:

Bench 5/3/1
Bench BBB
Barbell Rows 5/3/1
Barbell rows BBB
After this some shoulder rehab work, perhaps some curls, and I’m done.

Big But Boring on Lowerbody lifts are really awesome! My quads and glutes are still sore from monday.

I thank you Jim, simplicity is really key, and moving north of vag is something every man should persue.

Jim, what do you think of using the barbell row as a main lift? I want to keep the volume of my pulling the same as the pressing, and I think this is the easiest way.

When is your “5/3/1 for powerlifting” Ebook out?

993

I’m not Jim (obviously), but in my opinion barbell rows a great main lift. I did it myself last year, and they worked great. However, I’d do both of my main lifts before accessory work. That way you’ll still be fresh for the rows and your progress will be more consistent in case you have to skip accessory work (when extra busy, sore etc.). I’d do something like this:

  1. Bench 531
  2. BB Rows 531
    3a.Bench BBB
    3b.BB Rows BBB

This split should save you some time too, and increase work capacity. Also, remember to test your rowing max on a bench day AFTER you bench.

994

[quote]jjackkrash wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
I don’t think this has been asked through the different threads, but if it has then I apologize.

Did 5 cycles of 5-3-1 from October-February. Made great progress and was really happy with the weights I was putting on the bar, but I also had put on quite a bit of fat weight and decided to do the V-Diet to blast some of it off. The workouts were essentially fully body 3x a week with about 40 reps per exercise & 4 exercises per session. I’ve been doing that for nearly two months, but I’m ready to get back to 5-3-1.

My question is this: What is the optimal way to pick it back up? Should I just start where I left off, since I was still getting a lot of reps on the last sets of last cycle? Should I recalculate my maxes and start all over? Or should I knock down my current training maxes 10% or so and start from there?

I’m leaning towards the first option just to see how it goes, but the third option isn’t bad either IMO.[/quote]

Why not test a max, or 5 rm max, or whatever, find out where you are actually at, and start from there? I would suspect at least a temporary strength loss from being in a calorie deficit for two months. In any event, it would be good to document where your strength is after a 2 month cut just to know. [/quote]

Do what Jim suggests, estimate what you think your max is, take 85%, see how many reps, use the formula to estimate you 1RM. Then use 90% of that estimate as you training max.

Simples!

995

After reading the book I realised I had been BB rowing like a main lift (wasn’t deadlifting for a long time) i.e. I was moving a fair amount of weight (145kg for 5’s) but not necessarily working the muscles I wanted to target ie Lats. So I dropped the weight to 100-110kg after DLs, I can feel the lats working now. Anyway after 8 cycles my DL has gone up so that mylow back is too tired to use 145+ now anyway.
DL cycle 1, 1st week = 122.5kg x 13 (est 1RM of 175.5kg)
DL cycle 2, 1st week = 152.5kg x 11 (est 1RM of 208.4kg)
Looking good!

996

[quote]Boffin wrote:

[quote]jjackkrash wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
I don’t think this has been asked through the different threads, but if it has then I apologize.

Did 5 cycles of 5-3-1 from October-February. Made great progress and was really happy with the weights I was putting on the bar, but I also had put on quite a bit of fat weight and decided to do the V-Diet to blast some of it off. The workouts were essentially fully body 3x a week with about 40 reps per exercise & 4 exercises per session. I’ve been doing that for nearly two months, but I’m ready to get back to 5-3-1.

My question is this: What is the optimal way to pick it back up? Should I just start where I left off, since I was still getting a lot of reps on the last sets of last cycle? Should I recalculate my maxes and start all over? Or should I knock down my current training maxes 10% or so and start from there?

I’m leaning towards the first option just to see how it goes, but the third option isn’t bad either IMO.[/quote]

Why not test a max, or 5 rm max, or whatever, find out where you are actually at, and start from there? I would suspect at least a temporary strength loss from being in a calorie deficit for two months. In any event, it would be good to document where your strength is after a 2 month cut just to know. [/quote]

Do what Jim suggests, estimate what you think your max is, take 85%, see how many reps, use the formula to estimate you 1RM. Then use 90% of that estimate as you training max.

Simples![/quote]

Simple, but I didn’t want to spend a week retesting 5RMs, etc. I was itching to get back to the real 5-3-1 deal haha…probably wasn’t the smartest move in hindsight. But I just picked up where I had left off a couple months ago, and got 10 reps in both deadlift and bench so far on my 5+ set, so I don’t think it was a bad decision. If I am struggling with the reps by Week 3, then I will reevaluate for next cycle.

997

Hey all after hours (literally) of reading through all these posts I have learned a ton about the 5/3/1 program. After reading the 5/3/1 article on the web site the other day I figured I’d start this up. I started my very first week of my first cycle on Tuesday.

I will be doing the triumvirate and be using MP/Deadlift/Bench/Squat as my 4 MEs. I am really excited to see how the progression goes over the summer and into the fall.

So I can track my progress my stats are :

22 years old
5’11
about 193lbs

MP - 185lbs
Deadlift - 455lbs
Bench Press - 315lbs
Squat - 365lbs

998

[quote]Fandango wrote:
Hey all after hours (literally) of reading through all these posts I have learned a ton about the 5/3/1 program. After reading the 5/3/1 article on the web site the other day I figured I’d start this up. I started my very first week of my first cycle on Tuesday. I will be doing the triumvirate and be using MP/Deadlift/Bench/Squat as my 4 MEs. I am really excited to see how the progression goes over the summer and into the fall.

So I can track my progress my stats are :

5’11
about 193lbs

MP - 185lbs
Deadlift - 455lbs
Bench Press - 315lbs
Squat - honestly unsure about maxing but we will find out very soon.[/quote]

Welcome big man. You will definitely learn to love it! Start a log in the Training Logs forum so everybody can track your progress (and give you a swift kick int he nuts if you ever start to slack! haha). With your base, you’ll see those numbers shooting up very quickly.

999

Took your advice VTBalla34 and I started a training log. I think it will help hold me accountable. I just finished week 1 of cycle 1 this morning and I am really liking this already. I love how simple it is and how it is built around the main compound lifts.

1000

A broken AC joint from a year+ ago really nags my left shoulder. Is it permissible to swap BP days for floor press days instead?