My question is essentially, how many workouts are there in a cycle. I have been operating under the assumption that a cycle is 3 weeks so there are 9 workouts, but there are some posts on this forum that are saying otherwise.
This post linked above is saying a cycle is 2 weeks. This means that there would be 6 workouts in a cycle.
Whereas this post is saying that a cycle is actually 6 weeks long, resulting in 18 workouts per cycle.
Which interpretation is correct?
Edit: I believe the strength and conditioning template follows the same format (AB workouts, 3 times a week). So if you ran that before, I’d appreciate your input.
Man Jim Wendler literally answers the poster saying yes its two weeks. You do Aba, bab since its 2 main lifts a day(squat + bench for A, press and deads for B) its like doing: 3s/3s(A) , 3s/3s(B), 5s/5s (A), then next week is 5s/5s(B), 5/3/1s, 5/3/1 (A) 5/3/1s,5/3/1 (B)
This doesn’t seem right either. Jim never says in Beginner Prep School that it follows the standard 5/3/1 rep scheme. In fact, it looks like all sets are 5 reps regardless of the cycle, or week, or however this thing is organized.
In fact, this template seems unnecessarily confusing. It appears this is a standard 3x5 template with FSL at the end. I don’t see anything about progression. Jim says to increase TM after each cycle but the length of the cycle is about as clear as mud. I assume two weeks each cycle?
I dint say you dont use 5s pro(you can do either way), i said it takes you two session to do a normal week “3week” or "5week"etc.
you can find it in his “531 for a Beginner” blog post.
i dint check my copy of Forever but its probably similar.
It’s not defined in that article. The way it is defined in the 2nd edition states that cycles are 4 weeks long, with the 5th week being a deload, and the 6th week being the start of the next cycle. Someone else here mentioned that cycles are two weeks long and then the weight increases but I see nothing in any of Wendler’s articles or books that states that.
So when it comes to Beginner Prep School, how long are cycles and when does the weight increase? This is not clear in Forever.
5/3/1 Forever, Beginner Prep School Question - #7 by novalax This answers it. I had the same question and reading all that led me to this conclusion. This is what I’m currently doing (on cycle 4) and it’s working like a charm. I realized I was overthinking it all; that post is what makes the most sense