5/3/1 While Injured

I was fortunate enough to get a new job with hours that allow me to get to the VA gym before it closes. My plan as a result was to do the 6 challenges presented in the Beyond 5/3/1 book. I was about a month into BBB and onto the deload before raising maxes and assistance percentage.

Unfortunately I live in a part of the country where black ice is a major concern and my dog and I had a less than pleasant encounter with it (well I did. Huskies are made for that sort of thing). The resulting damage to my Achilles tendon put me in a boot encompassing my right foot all the way up to my knee, with warnings that I need to let the injury heal and complete physical therapy before I can even THINK about squatting or deadlifiting again.

My doctor is however, familiar with 5/3/1 and did clear me to do upper body exercises during the healing process (he did have concerns over the standing press and the effect of weight pushing down on my leg, but fuck it it’s my lightest lift anyway). That said, I’m wondering what the best method going forward would be while half my body is sidelined. I don’t want to continue the challenge just with upper body because my lower body won’t progress, which I feel is important for the other five challenges. Should I switch to standard 5/3/1 for the time being? Move to the Triumvirate or the I’m Not Doing Jack Shit assistance? Do I start the BBB back at 50 percent once I’m 100% again?

Would appreciate any input. Thanks!

@T3hPwnisher has a log you should check out that might give you ideas, particularly at the start, he had a big lowed body injury.

don’t suppose you could post a link by any chance? Seems I’m doing a lot of endless scrolling to find it.

Here you go

That’s about 2 weeks post ACL reconstruction onward.

Big takeaways;

-You can still train 1 leg. Train it. I’d rather have 1 strong leg than 2 weak ones.

-For deadlifts, look into seated good mornings. I’d use 3 variations (seated chain suspended buffalo bar good mornings, seated chain suspended SSB good mornings, and seated zercher axle good mornings off pins). You either want to suspend the bar or have it on ins, so that you don’t have to walk it out.

-I used seated press until I was confident to stand

-Reverse hypers are awesome

3 Likes

Thanks a lot guys!