What template did you like the most and why? What template did you make the most gains with? In strength or size?
Personally, I think if you “fall in love” with any workout template/plan, you’re probably doing it wrong. That said…
There are lots of threads about it already, but from the Forever book:
All around strength/athleticism/performance: Krypteia
For conditioning+strength: Widowmaker circuit
For the long haul due to week-by-week variety: Pervertor
As a change of pace / maintenance: Wendler Classic
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For being a big and strong mofo with no excuses: BBB/BBS.
5/3/1 Forever has been out about 16 months now. How much program hopping would you have to do in order to make such an evaluation?
That question is rhetorical, of course. If you don’t program hop, you haven’t tried enough programs to make a valid comparison of enough templates to have any value. If you do program hop, you haven’t used a template long enough to properly evaluate it.
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True. The list I gave also represents the only templates I have completed from the book.
There were actually a few templates in existence before the Forever book…
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Acknowledged. Plus several limited to Jim’s private site that popped up between Beyond and Forever. In fact, the Push-Pull-Core assistance concept seemed to be hatched between book releases.
Having said that…
This question popped up on Jim’s site just a few months after Forever came out. WTF?
I admit leafing through the book and thinking “Hmmmm, damn that template looks sexy” but it was all theoretical and speculative.
Leviathan gave me a chubby, so I did it… I mis-programmed the supplemental (made poor choices with the options presented) and wrecked myself so bad I couldn’t complete the anchor phase. It’s taken me six months of OG 5/3/1 to get back to feeling good, and back to hitting new PRs.
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Ha, yeah I kind of remember the question you’re referring to, that definitely didn’t make sense.
I seem to always be building back up from some kind of injury or previous baggage to really give a good evaluation, but the original with like a 70% TM seems to be a good spot right now for lower body lifts, BBB and widow-makers for upper body lifts.
I keep returning to BBB and BBS. Always seem to work. Speaking of Leviathan, oddly it did next to nothing for my main lifts–other than Bench Press it was complete stagnation. However, my assistance exercises–and I’m talking about Chins, Dips, CGB Press, Goblet Squats–went through the roof and I put on c.5lbs of muscle, which, at 6’1" and 200lbs, surprised me.
As far as being effective, 5/3/1 Building the Monolith was awesome for putting on size and giving me a challenge. SVR II is a fantastic baseline 5/3/1 program. God is a Beast was incredibly effective, and the PRs just sorta snuck up on you with it.
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5/3/1 has totally changed my mind and the way to approach training. I just cant thank Jim enough
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When I was just first starting out with 5/3/1 I made huge gains, both strength and size, with BBB. Now, a few years later, BBS is now my favorite for making solid gains. One of my other favorites, though. was the Prowler Challenge. It’s not really a go-to for size and strength, but that was hard, and completing it was a really rewarding experience.
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So far I have enjoyed Volume and Strength the most. It wasn’t nearly as physically taxing as I thought it would be and was a nice mental boost to handle heavy weights regularly. Kept me real dialed in.
BBS strong challenge worked wonders on my DL. Pushed it over 600 finally.
Currently running God is A Beast. So far so good.
Hoping to try Building the Monolith this fall before I start training for my next meet.
Personally I’ve done,
BBB
BBS (whip and the body, focused on Bench & Squat (I can’t OHP due to shoulder issues)).
I’m going to start Pervertor for my next cycle, but I’ve really been wanting to do the Coffinworm. I’m saving that one for after the new year in preparation for a lifting meet.
I’m looking forward to doing both Pervertor and Coffinworm. BBS is soul sucking.