T Nation

531 Basic Questions

Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Coaching
#1

Hi all,
I’ve been working on 531 for c.3 months now with great results. But, despite having read the original 531 and Beyond 531, I note that there are two things that are not mentioned in either but which are commonplace here; I wonder if someone could confirm the following for me:

  1. In the above books you are urged to go back a few cycles if you stall on a specific exercise, but it seems from reading this forum that 5 forward/3 back is the norm, regardless of stalling or not. Is this the case?

  2. I’ve been using the full body, 3 day a week template and love it. But I see that changing templates is again commonplace on this forum. Usually 2 cycles each of Heavy, Medium, Light templates. Again, is this what most folk are doing? Changing things up to cover all aspects of training and to get a change of pace or volume/intensity?
    I’m sure these questions have been asked before but I thought I’d ask. Things have been going so well I’m loth to change.

Best,
Ray

#2

Get this straight from the horses mouth:

  1. Yes, as we know the TM has nothing to do with your penis length or strength. So 5/3 is the best option, in general.

  2. The Beyond book is all about changing every 6 weeks. It’s not about changing templates, rather we change the focus on the main work/supplemental.

#3

Thanks Jim. Still think it’s pretty cool that the guy who wrote the books takes the time to answer (noobie) questions about his work.
No problem re the first question. I started with an even lighter TM than you recommended and have no worries about the 5/3 protocol. As you’ve written, this is a programme for the long haul and for a lifetime of lifting. I was just curious why it wasn’t flagged up more in the 531 books I have, but is mentioned extensively here in the forum.

As for my 2nd question, again, no worries. I knew that the various templates had a focus behind each, I was just curious how they interrelated over the weeks. I’ll check this out.
Thanks again for your work. I had my best gains previously with ye ol’ Bill Starr programmes and liked the no-nonsense approach of your training which doesn’t offer ridiculous gains at an equally ridiculous rate. Now hit 507lbs for 3 reps in my deadlift, after having stalled at 480 for 1 for months.

Best,
Ray

#4

Damn Ray, for a moment I thought you were Ray Williams the 938 lb squatter at the IPF Raw Worlds.
Seeing you’re not I would just follow the exact advice given in Jim’s books.

#5

[quote]Angus1 wrote:
Damn Ray, for a moment I thought you were Ray Williams the 938 lb squatter at the IPF Raw Worlds.
Seeing you’re not I would just follow the exact advice given in Jim’s books. [/quote]

Ha ha! If only. Yeah, one thing I’ve noted about folks who fail with 531 is that they tend to fall into two camps: those who started way too heavy, and those who mess about with the programme. I have enough experience not to do the former but not enough knowledge to do the latter. I’m sticking to the books religiously.

Ray