Beginner 5/3/1

Bigger Stronger Leaner Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Coaching
1

Hi,
This is my start with 5/3/1. I am 37 and lift for 4 months now. Here are my maxes I used for programming:
Squat - 240 lbs
DL - 250 lbs
BP - 160 lbs
MP - 105 lbs

My goal is to get strong overall and in particular help my bench which I think is very poor and chins - I can do no more than 6 chins now. This in mind, I plan the following:

Mon Squat 5/3/1, Dips 3x10, Chins 3x10
Wed BP 5/3/1, DB rows 3x10, Incline DB press 3x10
Fri DL 5/3/1, MP 5/3/1, Chins 3x10

Does it make sense? I wonder whether the Mon workout shouldn’t skip dips and chins and instead do some SLDLs/back raises + abs work.

2

You are fairly new to lifting, so there is no need to think about weaknesses like your bench and chins. Everything is weak right now, so train everything with equal focus. I don’t say that to be a dick, what I mean is that it’s too early to tell if there is a particular area that needs focus because you haven’t been training long.

I would highly recommend doing 5x5 FSL sets after your main sets. At this point, you need practice on the 4 main lifts and FSL will provide that as well as size and strength.

After the FSL sets, throw in any type of row, not just chins. Then ad some ab work and rear delt work (for shoulder health) and you should be good to go for a while providing you are truly pushing your main sets hard.

3

[quote]piotrek wrote:
Hi,
This is my start with 5/3/1. I am 37 and lift for 4 months now. Here are my maxes I used for programming:
Squat - 240 lbs
DL - 250 lbs
BP - 160 lbs
MP - 105 lbs

My goal is to get strong overall and in particular help my bench which I think is very poor and chins - I can do no more than 6 chins now. This in mind, I plan the following:

Mon Squat 5/3/1, Dips 3x10, Chins 3x10
Wed BP 5/3/1, DB rows 3x10, Incline DB press 3x10
Fri DL 5/3/1, MP 5/3/1, Chins 3x10

Does it make sense? I wonder whether the Mon workout shouldn’t skip dips and chins and instead do some SLDLs/back raises + abs work.[/quote]

Here is what I would do: set the following goals for this assistance work -

Chins x 20
Dips x 40
Push ups x 50
Hanging Leg Raise x 25 (slow, straight leg)

This is minimums you should strive to achieve. Along with 1 mile run, prowler work and a couple others, you should strive to bring up your relative strength AND your conditioning. You do this AND keep lifting heavy, you will be a beast. You take this stuff out and welcome to the fucked up land of Idiot Lifters that happen to populate 99% of internet. No experience, no strength, no balls, nothing.

Get a wide range of abilities and you will be 10000 times better off than the closet bulimics that call themselves experts. Speaking of bulimics, where are all of bulimic women? Remember when people cared?

Anyway, after you lift, do this simple circuit:

Chins or fat man rows
Push ups or dips
Swings or snatches
DB step ups or DB lunges or Hanging Leg Raises

Do this 5 times through, reps are up to you. Should take you no longer than 30 minutes. Get strong, get in shape.

4

Thank you. I’m not able to do single leg raise yet - I can raise knees only so these are solid targets for the next months.

For the conditioning work - I haven’t seen prowler live yet. I wonder if kettlebells provide nice conditioning too? At least for me, a few minutes of swings/snatches do more to my heart beat/breathing than running.

5

[quote]piotrek wrote:
Thank you. I’m not able to do single leg raise yet - I can raise knees only so these are solid targets for the next months.

For the conditioning work - I haven’t seen prowler live yet. I wonder if kettlebells provide nice conditioning too? At least for me, a few minutes of swings/snatches do more to my heart beat/breathing than running.[/quote]

This is minimums you should strive to achieve. Along with 1 mile run, prowler work and a couple others, you should strive to bring up your relative strength AND your conditioning. You do this AND keep lifting heavy, you will be a beast. You take this stuff out and welcome to the fucked up land of Idiot Lifters that happen to populate 99% of internet. No experience, no strength, no balls, nothing.

Get a wide range of abilities and you will be 10000 times better off than the closet bulimics that call themselves experts. Speaking of bulimics, where are all of bulimic women? Remember when people cared?

Anyway, after you lift, do this simple circuit:

Chins or fat man rows
Push ups or dips
Swings or snatches
DB step ups or DB lunges or Hanging Leg Raises

Do this 5 times through, reps are up to you. Should take you no longer than 30 minutes. Get strong, get in shape.