I'm intending to start Wendler's 5/3/1 this week.
For those of you not in the know, the program is basically built around monthly progression in the squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press. You take your 1RM of each, reduce the weight by 90%, and treat that number as your 1RM for the calculations. Then each week you do the following work sets for each of the above exercises:
Week 1: 5x65%, 5x75%, 5+ x85%
Week 2: 3x70%, 3x80%, 3+ x90%
Week 3: 5x75%, 3x85%, 1+ x95%
Week 4: deload 5x40%, 5x50%, 5x60%
One day per week is dedicated to each of the main lifts, so you train 4 days per week, and after warming up and doing the work sets, you do assistance exercises. What you do for the assistance exercises is a bit more up to you, based on what you need to do to increase your squat/deadlift "1RM" by 5kg/month and your bench/press "1RM" by 2.5kg/month. So assistance exercises could just be more volume of the main lifts, they could be partial movements, different movements that work the same muscles, or p/rehab, etc. Because of the vast variability in what people do for assistance work, many people do 5/3/1 to the letter, even though their routines look nothing like one another's.
Anyway, here's what I'm planning on doing. Let me know your thoughts. (PS, I've been bulking for the last year, not with the goal of getting big but with the goal of getting stronger. I've now decided I want to give my stretch marks some time to fade, so I intend on cutting or at least recomping for the time being. My goal is still to continue gaining strength, and the strength goals in my sig still stand.)
Monday: Squats
- Squats: warm up, 5/3/1
- Squats: 3x8
- Light Deadlift: 3x10 @ 50% top weight of the week
- Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets, pyramiding the weight up, increasing reps each week, sitting in the 8-20 reps range
Tuesday: Bench Press
- Bench Press: warm up, 5/3/1
- Bench Press: 2x8
- Pull Ups: 3x8
- Light Overhead Press: 3x10 @ 50% top weight of the week
- Cable Rows: 3x10
Thursday: Deadlift
- Deadlift: warm up, 5/3/1
- RDL: 3x8
- Light Squats: 3x10 @ 50% top weight of the week
- Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets, pyramiding the weight up, increasing reps each week, sitting in the 8-20 reps range
Friday: Overhead Press
- Overhead Press: warm up, 5/3/1
- Overhead Press: 2x8
- Rows: 3x8
- Light Bench Press: 3x10 @ 50% top weight of the week
- Lat Pull Down 3x10
For those of you not in the know, the program is basically built around monthly progression in the squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press. You take your 1RM of each, reduce the weight by 90%, and treat that number as your 1RM for the calculations. Then each week you do the following work sets for each of the above exercises:
Week 1: 5x65%, 5x75%, 5+ x85%
Week 2: 3x70%, 3x80%, 3+ x90%
Week 3: 5x75%, 3x85%, 1+ x95%
Week 4: deload 5x40%, 5x50%, 5x60%
One day per week is dedicated to each of the main lifts, so you train 4 days per week, and after warming up and doing the work sets, you do assistance exercises. What you do for the assistance exercises is a bit more up to you, based on what you need to do to increase your squat/deadlift "1RM" by 5kg/month and your bench/press "1RM" by 2.5kg/month. So assistance exercises could just be more volume of the main lifts, they could be partial movements, different movements that work the same muscles, or p/rehab, etc. Because of the vast variability in what people do for assistance work, many people do 5/3/1 to the letter, even though their routines look nothing like one another's.
Anyway, here's what I'm planning on doing. Let me know your thoughts. (PS, I've been bulking for the last year, not with the goal of getting big but with the goal of getting stronger. I've now decided I want to give my stretch marks some time to fade, so I intend on cutting or at least recomping for the time being. My goal is still to continue gaining strength, and the strength goals in my sig still stand.)
Monday: Squats
- Squats: warm up, 5/3/1
- Squats: 3x8
- Light Deadlift: 3x10 @ 50% top weight of the week
- Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets, pyramiding the weight up, increasing reps each week, sitting in the 8-20 reps range
Tuesday: Bench Press
- Bench Press: warm up, 5/3/1
- Bench Press: 2x8
- Pull Ups: 3x8
- Light Overhead Press: 3x10 @ 50% top weight of the week
- Cable Rows: 3x10
Thursday: Deadlift
- Deadlift: warm up, 5/3/1
- RDL: 3x8
- Light Squats: 3x10 @ 50% top weight of the week
- Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets, pyramiding the weight up, increasing reps each week, sitting in the 8-20 reps range
Friday: Overhead Press
- Overhead Press: warm up, 5/3/1
- Overhead Press: 2x8
- Rows: 3x8
- Light Bench Press: 3x10 @ 50% top weight of the week
- Lat Pull Down 3x10