Hey everyone. New to the forum so a little background. I am 32 years old currently weighing in at 175lbs. Got serious about fitness and lifting about a year and a half ago. I have looked into Wendlers 5\3\1 but always told not to bother its too much, its not enough, I made no gains off it. Etc etc. I recently fell into a situation where I can only train a few days a week. I was going every other day but due to work and some stuff at home I am limited to my time getting into the gym. I have decided to give a 6 week shot at the 2 day 5\3\1. I have just about finished the beyond 5\3\1 and have read just about every article online I could find on the subject and feel comfortable enough to give it a go.
I started with the squat and OHP as day one. 10/13/2017
Squat
5x60
5x75
5x90
5x95
5x115
10x125
BBB sets
10x75
10x75
10x75
10x75
10x75
OHP
5x45
5x45
5x55
5x55
5x65
6x75
BBB sets
10x45
10x45
10x45
10x45
10x45
This was a change from my normal workouts and even though it didn’t seem like heavy weight it put me through the ringer. I was tired and this morning my thighs are sore. After the workout my shoulders were sore but today not bad at all. Looking forward to DL day.
Welcome, good luck with it, give it longer than 6 weeks mate, it’s a slow and steady program. The people who haven’t had much gains on it probably customised it too much and didn’t follow it.
So I ended up pinching some nerves in my shoulders and had some issues getting it straightened out. So I have to ease back into the gym and I am sick and tired of sitting around getting fat and being weak. So I came up with the plan to hit 5\3\1 on a 4 day program. So I went back to the gym Monday and Today, Wednesday.
Squat day week 1- 12-04-17
Warm up squats
5 x 50
5 x 65
5 x 80
Work sets
5 x 85
5 x 100
4 x 115
Accessory work
Leg press
12 x 90
15 x 90
15 x 90
15 x 90
15 x 90
Leg curls
12 x 25
15 x 25
12 x 25
12 x 25
12 x 25
Leg Extensions
15 x 25
15 x 25
15 x 25
15 x 25
15 x 25
Bench workout 12/06/17
Warm up
Weight assisted Pull ups
5 x 12
5 x 12
5 x 12
5 x 12
5 x 12
Rope tri extensions
12 x 6
12 x 6
10 x 6
10 x 6
Bench press warm up
5 x 50
5 x 65
5 x 80
Working set
5 x 85
5 x 100
5 x 110
BBB Accessory work
10 x 65
10 x 65
10 x 65
10 x 65
10 x 65
Thanks. So far so good. I figured after the squat day I would be sore but It didn’t hit me till today. I hear a lot of people complain about the program but when you search the program it seems to have a great success among a lot of people. I assume maybe Mr. Wendler’s attitude bothers people and that’s why they hate on the program.
Huge 5/3/1 guy here. I’ve noticed that people like to talk shit about Jim for no real reason. Maybe they’re mad that they didn’t think of such a simple yet effective program first? Who knows.
5/3/1 seems to be the single best template for beginners and intermediates–that is, according to my calculations, 92% of the gym-going population. Myself included. Serious long-term gains in 5/3/1.
Anyways, glad you got that pinched nerve straightened out. Glad you’re back in the gym!!
Thanks. I have found with focusing on one lift per day that it is working. I don’t feel sore right away but it takes a few days. I notice my lats are a bit sore today and my legs are feeling a better than yesterday. I’m excited to see how it goes and hopefully get some good numbers following this program.
Worried about hitting the press as this is where I injured myself before but, this was a pretty decent workout. Good light start the only issue I noticed was keeping my back tight while pressing. I did notice if I focused I would feel some good lat activation during the press.
The BBB sets are pretty much just a ‘get them in type thing’ ,and see how you feel on the day, I think Wendler mentioned to not over think them (been a while since I read the book). Some days they will be too easy as prescribed weight, especially when main lifts aren’t heavy, other days they will kick your ass.
BBB Accessory work
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
Leg lifts
15 reps for 4 sets
OHP warm up
5 x 45
5 x 45
3 x 50
OHP work sets
3 x 55
3 x 65
4 x 75
BBB OHP accessory
10 x 45
10 x 45
10 x 45
9 x 45
Needed to make some time available to myself this weekend due to stuff at home so I combined both workouts. This one was tough because I pushed hard but was hard to complete while under the gun. I ended up calling it on the OHP due to previous injury and not wanting to sacrifice form for reps. I hit some PRs and think im making progress
BBB Assistant sets
10 x 45
10 x 45
10 x 45
8 x 45
10 x 45
Deadlift warm up set
5 x 60
5 x 75
3 x 90
Dead lift Working sets
5 x 110
3 x 125
8 x 140
BBB assistance set
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
Time constraints have been getting in my way a lot lately so I haven’t been able to make a 4 day a week cycle work so I have been combining days together that I would normally do over the two days I have free. I have felt like I am making progress but not like in other programs. I know Jim states this is normal but not a good way of thinking and I will tell you today I broke a lot of those feelings down. I wanted to try the OHP first as last time I was tired and pushing myself to finish the workout and figured the DL wouldn’t tax me so much. I was able to set some really good PRs in both lifts. I didn’t look at the set up before hand just figured go in put on the required weights and do my thing and if I get more than required than great. Well on the press I got to the last 1x set and decided to set a mental bar and figured if I can get 2 or 3 reps I was good. Well I hit that number. I did fail on the BBB set but that’s ok. I also had to adjust those as the required weight was only 40 lbs so I modified it to do just the bar. Now lets talk about the killer DL work out. I love the dead lift. Before this program I loved it but when I started the program I was sore and hated the dead lift. Well when I got to the last set I looked at the two 45s and said I only have to get one. I set up and got ready and pushed off the floor and once I was up I decided that I was going for at least five. I hit a great PR and felt great about it. It was a good day.
It is deload week. It felt good in a sense to do this but while I was in it I kind of wished I was lifting heavy and not doing this deload. Might have been too soon in the program to deload but we will see in another cycle how it adds up. I have also noticed that the app cuts the BBB sets on the deload but I don’t recall seeing it in the book to do so. What I do recall is that the BBB sets are good to get in but not as important as the working sets.
I skip deloads depending on how I feel, what’s going on outside of lifting etc, Ifind deload feels the same, too light, although it is important, it’s a marathon, not a Sprint.
