5/3/1 for Hardgainers Submitted

Not speaking for Jim, but when I didn’t have a prowler, I would push cars/trucks/vans. Not exactly the same, but works well.

1 Like

Hills as prowler sub? I like them when I don’t have access to a sled.

I was wondering if walking lunges 50-100 reps would be a acceptable substitute for prowler or sled?

Very different movements/training effect in my experience. One has no eccentric whereas the other does.

Yeah, probably just best to stick with Wendler’s design. I am starting tomorrow. Already have my assistance work lined out for each day. Honestly, I just wanted to get in extra leg work on upper body days with a more eccentric/concentric contraction focus. I am sure he would have put that in his program if he thought it was needed.

I’m going to start this template when I go home for summer. Here’s what my exact plan is. Any recommendations or suggestions are appreciated.

*I’m supersetting all my warmup work (agile 8, box jumps, warmup sets for the main lift) with Chin-ups for 25 total reps.

Monday-
Squat 3x5+, FSL x20 superset with Pushups (100 total reps)
100 reps of core work (leg raises, weighted crunch, inchworms, dead bugs, v-ups)

Tuesday-
Bench 2x5, 5x5 heavy set superset with Rows (50 total reps)
Run Hills

Thursday-
Deadlift 3x5+, FSL 5x5 superset with Dips (25 total reps)
100 reps of core work

Friday-
Press 3x5, FSL 10x5
25 reps of curls
Run Hills

Eat to support my training needs, (basically eat a shit ton)

I went to a commercial gym yesterday and saw something which reminded me of this.

Some guy was pushing a bench with some plates on it. I’ve also seen plates sitting ontop of a towel used (spud inc even sell an expensive version of this idea)

Now this is very dependent on the type of bench, floor and space available plus how busy your gym is but pretty good idea in a bind.

Quick question, the 4th week would be a deload?

I started this template last week and wow what an a** kicker. I love it. Thanks for putting this together. And by the way these types of training templates are what made me join your personal forum. Great knowledge in there.

question for anyone that may know,

what does “85% x 5+ (PR set)” mean for example for the squat day? 85% of TM for at least 5 reps AMRAP style?

thanks anyone in advance.

@cristian85 That would be an amap set so you go for a rep PR.

Thanks man the wording was a little unclear to me but I got it now.

“amap,” which I assume means “as many as possible,” is not the same thing as a rep PR. Pretty important to understand the difference.

Can you please explain the difference? And which one is the one used for squats and deads? Also, how come the press days don’t have an AMAP or rep PR? How do you progress on the presses then?

AMAP or AMRAP means as many reps as possible - so you’re doing just that - as many as you can.
Rep PR means you want to do more reps with that particular weight than you have ever done but you don’t want to have to do as many reps as possible to set that record. Having that rep or two left in the tank is very important.
So your first Rep PR may only be a Rep PR because you’ve never really recorded a rep PR for that particular weight. If your first Rep PR is an AMRAP then most likely the next time you try to set a Rep PR you’re probably going to have to go AMRAP again.

Agree for the most part, but a PR isn’t limited to the same weight if you’re using the Estimated max formula of (weight x reps x .0333) + weight. You can even set a PR with less weight on the bar, such as:

200 for 5 reps = est max of 233
195 for 8 reps = est max of 246

Oh i see. I just did the standard 5/3/1 for 6 months so all I’ve been doing is AMRAP on last set to set new PR’s.

How do you progress on press movements since there’s no rep PR OR AMRAP?

You do the workout. .

4 Likes

is anyone having a rough time hitting the 20 reps on widowmaker set for squats without racking the bar? the 60% was ok, very tough but i did it. today i could not hit the 20 reps in a row with 70% had to rack the barbell for 10 sec and then finish it. i just tested last week my true 1RM so i based all the working weights off 85% of that, as Jim suggested for this template. if i am not hitting the 20 reps without racking the barbell should i just lower the weight or is it “ok” to do it as a rest-pause set?

When doing squats for 20 reps, I find that toward the end I’m doing more breathing than squatting. Just don’t rack the bar until 20 reps are done, even if that means standing there huffing & puffing with the bar on your back.