531 4 Lifts/Day, 2 x Week

I tried today doing all 4 lifts in one training session. No bbb, no FSL, no bs. Just 531 jack shit style. It took about an hour, felt good, I left the gym feeling stronger, not beat up as usual. What do you think about adding more frequency to 531 training, keeping weekly volume and tonnage at the same level, so just 531 , four lifts per day, 2-3 times a week…? To goal is strength, not bodybuilding. Non-competitive strength, so just for well-feeling and well-being.

Im not Jim and by no means an expert (been running 531 programs last 9 years however) but this could work imo. I would do minimum reps for the second time you train a lift and split the days so you did two lifts pushing reps and two minimum reps. Also would probably consider only increasing TM after two cycles not one.

I’d love to do this. Not sure if it would “Work” but I’d love to do it. I’ve been thinking of doing something similar like running 531 for all four lifts twice a week. Which you do with a lot of templates anyway but I’m speaking more of just the the 531 sets not BBS or FSL etc.

That sounds remarkably like full body full boring from the first book, but with press added in. The original template works fine for strength gain on the big 3.

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My idea was to increase frequency and do each lift at least twice a week. I don’t do bbb / fsl but because lifts are done more often weekly volume stays at the same level. Since bodybuilding is not my objective there is no reason to get tired and sour. Just stay fresh and leave the gym feeling stronger. 531 is fairly non-taxing routine so I think it should work twice a week, maybe even three times. It might be worth to run it this way for a while and see how it feels… I would probably still do some mobility and ab work at home, nothing crazy, maybe 20 minutes a day, something like active recovery… I also I like to do some pullups between sets since I don’t think that bare 531 has enough pull movement. That would be the only “assistance” I would do.

By the way, I’ve been wondering if I should try two exercises a day, and one day I train the next day or say two days of rest. Depending on how I feel. For example, military press and DL 5,5,5+, rest, bench and squat 5,5,5+, rest, military press and DL 3,3,3+, rest, bench and squat 3,3,3+, rest, military press and DL 5,3,1+, rest, bench and squat 5,3,1 + and follow the training with Deloud. Then I enhance the weights. In each training I have 2-3 accessories in 3-5 sets at 10-15 rep. But surely Jim will say that this is not 5/3/1 as it is created and will be right if we do not make progress. Maybe at first, but then he won’t be able to. And the goal of the program is to achieve goals in the long run.

If I’ve read it right. It’s alternating days with two lifts a day and a rest day in-between, maybe 3 sessions a week. Have you read all his stuff as you might be surprised?

Is this question to me or to the author of the topic. If it’s me, the answer is yes. I mean, two exercises in one practice, then you take one or two days off, depending on whether you’re reinstated and then the other two exercises in the other practice. And so rotate until you do 555 +, 333 +, 531 +. Then you do the unloading and the next drill you already increase the weights. But I think there may be progress, but it will be more fleeting and you will reach a plateau very quickly.
And for what you mean, it might surprise me if I read everything? Maybe this way was discussed already somewhere on the topics I did not see. I guess it is. I’m not saying this is going to work, and it’s better. I just thought it for myself, as I don’t want and it gives me no pleasure to do just one basic exercise in a workout.
If Jim sees what changes we make to his program, he’s going to want to come and punish us :slight_smile:

My short, on the go answer may have come across more aggressive than meant.

He has similar in his books, but I don’t want to give away the book details. Even mentions it may not be the best in a long run, or something similar.

Not an expert or anything, but the problem I see with this is that you will be severely lacking in back work. Jim Wendler emphasized one of his guiding principles in training which is “balance.” Leaving out assistance also means leaving out direct back work, something that the 4 main lifts don’t directly hit. You could potentially run into problems down the road from having a weak back relative to your chest

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Yes, lack of major pull movement pattern, other than deadlift to some extent, is my major concern. For some reason Wendler leave it for assistance and accesories. I usually do pullups between sets and some face pulls for warmup but there is no programming there. I thought about incorporating barbell rows as a fifth 531 lift.

Well he also highly encourages to do lots of pullups and chins as accessories in general, so he’s not neglecting it for sure.