I’ve decided to compete early next year and have decided to work in heavy(ish!) doubles and single in my 3, & 5/3/1 weeks to gauge where i’m at, I will be doing 3 week first, then 5 week for perscribed reps only followed by 5/3/1. Im not a 1RM live or die lifter but i’ve been doing the program for best part of 2 years and really want to know where i’m at in preparation for the meet. Ive just done my first heavy double bench session in a long time and am really shocked at how shite i lifted it!. Before I started the program I could have easily hit this conservative weight for 4 but barely managed 2. Now before anybody jumps on my training I’ve followed it to the letter, decreased maxes dramatically and trained smart(always picking my battles). My reps have increased alot in all lifts and my squat & deadlift rms have also improved quite a bit when jumping from lighter high reps to heavy doubles or singles every 5 - 6 cycles however I’m part of the trend that seems to make little or no progress in bench. I’m gonna keep with this routine for the next 2-3 cycles but am disappointed at bench compared with the other 2 main lifts and from reading through the thread I seem to be not alot.
Oh and by the way i’m not a wendler hater as far as the other 3 lifts go this program is the shit and up to now i wouldnt change a thing.
[quote]UFgator11 wrote:
I’ve been doing the BBB sets for chest as close grip bench instead of regular bench. Tri’s are a weak point in my presses. It’s been working for me. As the weight has been increasing, so has the reps, this is even more so true on OHP than bench.[/quote]
I like that approach. I fail on bench and OHP where my tris take over. I’m stealing that one…thanks.[/quote]
[quote]Raided wrote:
I’ve been doing big but boring since February and I’m thinking of mixing things up a bit. I want to do more arm, trap and rear/side delt work in the spirit of what wendler said about training like a bodybuilder. So I’m thinking maybe do some kind of 4 week “specialisation” for each of these part on top of big but boring.
I’m thinking about adding arm work for 4 weeks to bench day then trap work to deadlift for the next 4 weeks and so on.
Do you guys have any other suggestions or thoughts on this?[/quote]
I do:
a set of chins before a set of OHP
side and rear raises are a must
a set of wide pull-ups before a set flat bench
triceps on “military” and “bench” days
biceps on “squat” and “deadlift” days
vary exercises, vary sets/reps
jumping jacks between exercises to stave off the fat demon
[quote]nick.down.under wrote:
I’m thinking of doing the IKFF certification (Steve Cotter’s version of RKC - same shit different title) when it comes to Aus in late November.
I don’t have much experience with kettlebells and I got in contact with Steve and he recommended practicing the swing, clean, snatch, press, push press and jerks with one KB and front squat with 2 KBs for time.
I still want to continue my 5/3/1 for main lifts, how would you guys incorporate the KB work afterwards?
I was thinking maybe swings and snatches after DL, cleans and front squats after squats and the presses on military day, push presses and jerks on bench day and some rows and chins on the upper body days as well?[/quote]
Do it anyway and report your findings here. Will be interesting to read.
I dont stress about how 5/3/1 should be designed. For me it’s a foundation which you can build any successful program around.
[/quote]
This is correct - you can use the program for a million different uses and tailor it how you see fit. Add in extra conditioning. Increase volume via Boring But Big (or similar) for hypertrophy. Use KB’s for all assistance or strictly sandbags. Use Strongman implements as assistance.
It is very flexible and allows you to do a lot of different things while never straying from the basics of strength training. All of this is very simple to do - the problem is that too many people are trying to do too many things.
Hey so for my accessory for every other month I swtich from doing bent over rows to db and/or kroc rows. Do you guys think from a deadlifting perspective kroc rows would be more beneifical???
for my grip, on deadlifts I do everything with a snatch grip, except for the “+” set to make it harder on my grip. for example, 5 and 3 sets with snatch grip, 1+ set with mixed grip, BBB 5x10 at 55% with snatch grip. If I squeeze the shit out of the bar for all 5 sets of 10, my grip gets worked well.
[quote]Ski_USMC wrote:
To anyone: I am having trouble with my bench. I am approaching a year post surgery and toward the end of any set of bench my left shoulder appears to quit on a weight I know it should be strong enough to handle. Anyone have any advice on this?
The peculiar thing is my military press does not suffer from the same issue and in fact continues to improve, progressively closer to my bench. I perform many dips and chins (weighted an unweighted), and dumbbell row into the triple digits.
[/quote]
What is your current bench? I assume your doing 5/3/1 so what assistance are you doing that day besides chins or rows.[/quote]
I’ve done 205 for 1 a few weeks ago and get 185 for anywhere between 1-5. As of late its been lower. I have had to repeat cycles on my bench a few times.
On bench day I superset dumbbell presses or dips with dumbbell rows and end with external rotations and sometimes with arm or trap or neck work, then I may do conditioning. I keep my presses/dips and rows in the 6-12 repetition range.
As an example I did 110lbs for 4 sets of 7 with the 70lbs dumbbell press for the same on Wednesday September 15.
On military press day I perform a chin up variation with a different (but constantly increasing) weight. I superset this with rear delt flies and dumbbell or kettlebell shoulder presses.
On squat day I superset my GHRs with Rear delt flies, lateral raises, and external rotations.
That is pretty much the extent of my upper body assistance.
I have recently improved body composition, but little fluctuation in my bodyweight (175lbs).
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
Hey so for my accessory for every other month I swtich from doing bent over rows to db and/or kroc rows. Do you guys think from a deadlifting perspective kroc rows would be more beneifical???[/quote]
Both are great - stick with the DB Rows for a cycle and then switch to Barbell Rows for another. There is no “better” just different.
hey Jim. what do you think of doing standing press first then bench press in the same workout using 5/3/1? ive been doing Squats then Deadlifts in the same workout with great results,im thinking its because my lower back has a full week to recover. im curious to see if giving my shoulders/chest/arms the same treatment will yeild similar results? wat do u think?
Some feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Switching out Overhead Press for Chins as I have a rib issue that makes it difficult to press overhead.
Monday
Bench 5/3/1
Dumbbell bench 3 x 10
Dumbbell row 3 x 10
Tuesday
Deadlift 5/3/1
Lunges 3 x 10
Thursday
Chins 5/3/1
Close grip bench 3 x 10
Seated cable rows 3 x 10
[quote]tmay11 wrote:
Some feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Switching out Overhead Press for Chins as I have a rib issue that makes it difficult to press overhead.
Monday
Bench 5/3/1
Dumbbell bench 3 x 10
Dumbbell row 3 x 10
Tuesday
Deadlift 5/3/1
Lunges 3 x 10
Thursday
Chins 5/3/1
Close grip bench 3 x 10
Seated cable rows 3 x 10
Friday
Squat 5/3/1
Good mornings 3 x 10
Thanks, Travis.
[/quote]
Looks good just make sure you are switching assistance every 1-2 months. For important lifts like Rows I do 2 months of DB Row then 2 of BB Row. If you can do like DB Press or incline bench for assistance on overhead press day since your skipping that lift.
[quote]tmay11 wrote:
Some feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Switching out Overhead Press for Chins as I have a rib issue that makes it difficult to press overhead.
Monday
Bench 5/3/1
Dumbbell bench 3 x 10
Dumbbell row 3 x 10
Tuesday
Deadlift 5/3/1
Lunges 3 x 10
Thursday
Chins 5/3/1
Close grip bench 3 x 10
Seated cable rows 3 x 10
Friday
Squat 5/3/1
Good mornings 3 x 10
Thanks, Travis.
[/quote]
No. Switch chins out for another pressing movement, not another pull…
[quote]tmay11 wrote:
Some feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Switching out Overhead Press for Chins as I have a rib issue that makes it difficult to press overhead.
Monday
Bench 5/3/1
Dumbbell bench 3 x 10
Dumbbell row 3 x 10
Tuesday
Deadlift 5/3/1
Lunges 3 x 10
Thursday
Chins 5/3/1
Close grip bench 3 x 10
Seated cable rows 3 x 10
Friday
Squat 5/3/1
Good mornings 3 x 10
Thanks, Travis.
[/quote]
Looks good just make sure you are switching assistance every 1-2 months. For important lifts like Rows I do 2 months of DB Row then 2 of BB Row. If you can do like DB Press or incline bench for assistance on overhead press day since your skipping that lift.[/quote]
[quote]tmay11 wrote:
Some feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Switching out Overhead Press for Chins as I have a rib issue that makes it difficult to press overhead.
Monday
Bench 5/3/1
Dumbbell bench 3 x 10
Dumbbell row 3 x 10
Tuesday
Deadlift 5/3/1
Lunges 3 x 10
Thursday
Chins 5/3/1
Close grip bench 3 x 10
Seated cable rows 3 x 10
Friday
Squat 5/3/1
Good mornings 3 x 10
Thanks, Travis.
[/quote]
No. Switch chins out for another pressing movement, not another pull…[/quote]
So you think there is not enough pressing even with the close grip bench and DB Bench as assistance exercises? It seems to me that then both upper body days would be focused around pressing. What is the reasoning behind this ?