Hypem's log: 5/3/1

Good idea both with the leader/anchor and getting the new book.

C4W4D2
Deload Squat

Worked up to a single with 95kg ™ by doing triples. It flew up, I felt great.

100 chins in between sets and DB Bench 50 reps with 20 kg.

Weight 76.9kg

@MarkKO I was re-reading your post from a few weeks ago talking about programming a few months in advance: I feel like it’s my biggest weakness as I have no idea how to program things and what I’ll be doing in 2-3 months.

My goal is to bench 100kg, and keep progressing on all the other lifts.

I don’t realy know which template to use for my next Anchors: I was reading about the 531 for powerlifting where you change the order of the weeks with 3/5/1 and use jokers in the 3’s ad 1’s week to work up to a heavy single, do you think that would be a good idea at my level ?
Of course the PR set would always have priority, and I would have a 3x5 FSL there too. The working up to a single would just happen in case of a good day (like jokers basically).

Assistance would probably be about the same as I’m doing now, 50-100 reps for each category.

For Leaders I feel like 5’s PRO + FSL 5x5 is great so I won’t change that.

That’s why I’m interested in Jim’s last book as it’s no more templates but proper programming. Thanks again!

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There’s no reason not to use 3/5/1 for your anchor, but my understanding is that it doesn’t really include PR sets except in the last week and doesn’t include FSL either. It’s a different iteration of the system.

Absolutely, plan months in advance, but you might do well initially to pick a leader/anchor setup that suits you and just recycle it for a while.

Oh I didn’t know there was not FSL then, do you think I could add it in ? I will check for the PR sets.

Yes that’s my plan, get my leader/anchor right and do 2 cycles/1cycle each and the use 5 forward/ 3 back for the TM as I’ve read on this forum.

Thanks again for our help

Double check the book, but I’m pretty sure 3/5/1 isn’t meant to include FSL. I probably wouldn’t add it in, that’s for sure. Volume is good, but when you’re pushing intensity it needs to be backed off.

Resist the temptation to combine elements of different templates. Instead, pick the ones that really excite you and set aside a few cycles to try each one. For example, I’m currently doing leader/anchor followed by a peak. Then I’m going to do Training Maximally for three months, then do Full Body Full Boring for two months.

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I am not sure I can quote exactly the book on the forum, but in the chapter “training for non-competitive lifters”, Jim does say that we should keep pushing rep PR’s.

In the 3’s and 1’s week, we work up to a single at no more than 95% of estimated max.

It is explicitly written to not hold off on the last set to work up, the last set always has priority.

You are right for FSL though, Beyond was written after 531 for powerlifting. I looked around the forum and found this

Where Jim is talkng about the 351 set up for rep PR’s, so apparently it would be OK to have 3x5… But Jim is talking about rep PRs, and there is no mention of singles so it might be better to just leave it out.

So I would do this twice, deloading every 2 cycles:

Leader (2cycles): 5’s pro + 5x5 FSL
Anchor(1 cycle); 3/5/1 + single on 3’s week and 1’s week

That looks fine. You’d have a fair idea by the end of what did and didn’t work too, and could then try a different template if you wanted.

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Thanks a lot for your help! I’ll do that, starting my anchor on Wednesday with the following TM’s

DL:110
Squat: 95
Bench: 65
Press: 50

Today was C4W4D3: deload on the Bench, I did a single with 62.5kg and worked up to it doing triples.

Assistance was minimal as I didn’t have much time.

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I tried hard last week at running and since last friday I had a small cough that was quite bad yesterday and today.

I started cycling into uni and stopped by the gym instead. I’ve a got syrup thing to take for a few days.

So I felt pretty weak today, great to start 351! I still did OK on my PR set, which by the way are hard as hell! I forgot the intensity of it by doing 5’s PRO! I’ll do better next week.

I knew I wasn’t going to do much assitance work or any singles, so I did FSL pyramid to do some work with the main lifts and then called it a day. The workout was 40min, one of the shortest ever, I felt good at the end.

I started with the press

Press
Main sets
3x35
3x40
9x45 (PR!) (I did 7x45 exactly 3 months ago)

3x40
10x35

DL
3x77
3x88
10x100 (I had a few more in me but didn’t want to kill mysef) I did 10x102 exactly 2 months ago.

3x88
10x77

25 chins total (5x5)

Hopefully I’ll feel better friday for a squat rep PR!

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I’m still coughing but I had a good workout !

Squat
Main sets
3x66
3x76
15x86 (PR!, I did 9x87 in December I think)

I had this number in mind since yesterday, but I thought I would get 12 or 13. My legs felt fine, it was actually my shoulder that were getting buried under the bar that made me stop.

I did 3 extra singles
1x95
1x100
1x105

105 is the maximum I’ve ever squatted but I know it is probably not my max but it did feel heavy, I guess I was tired from the PR set too.

I filmed the last two singles (I took a picture in the first one…), I realised the angle is not the best but any feedback ?

Also what is the easiest place to upload videos ?

Assistance
75 chins
5x5 ab roll out (hard as hell!)
5x10 DB bench with 18kg

weight; 76.9kg

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Well done! Both those singles looked pretty easy. I think most people upload videos to either YouTube or instagram.

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Your walkout is rather good. No excess steps. Angle makes it harder to tell, but there’s nothing in either that stood out to me as a problem. Bar speed was decent, and on 105 it looked more like you were caught by surprise that you had to work through your sticking point rather than it being heavy.

One thing you could work on is not cocking your wrists. That can hurt your elbows down the track. Most effective for me was pulling my elbows into my sides rather than under the bar. Widen your grip if necessary.

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What do you mean by cocking my wrist ? For my grip I put my pinky on the second ring of the bar (power bar I think not Olympic)

I thought elbows should always be under the bar so that’s why I put them this way. I’ll try with a wider grip maybe it will help me on rep PR too o avoid shoulder pain

Thanks both for your feedback ! I might try 110kg for the last single on the 1s week and I’ll try to get a better angle too.

Bending your wrist back. It puts strain not just on your wrist but your elbow. Honestly, as far as I’m concerned elbows under the bar is a shitty cue. What you’re aiming for is a tightly locked in upper back, and you don’t need elbows under the bar for that. You need squeezed lats and scaps back and down. Elbows into your sides does that very well.

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I see what you mean now, thanks. I cannot look at the link just now but I will tomorrow. Thanks again for your tips !! I will firm the singles in the bench on Monday to get feedback too !

Sunny week end, ended up riding my bike and not eating much but I still felt good !

Bench
3x45.5
3x52
11x58.5 (I’m not sure if 11-12 reps… I lost count !)

Singles
1x65
1x70
1x75
1x80 (PR)

Really happy with the bench PR, though I was sure I had it in me. 2 months ago I did 1x77 so i’m sure I could do a bit more than that: I will try maybe for 83 in two weeks (1s week)

I couldn’t film cause I had no batteries in my phone.

60 chins total between all bench sets
5x10 DB bench with 20kg
5x10 DB rows 22 kg
5x15 lunges with a 20kg kettlebelt on one hand
weight: 76.0 kg

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Start of week 2: 5’s week
I missed the PR sets!
After the PR sets I did FSL pyramid. I feel like the leaders prepared me for that, I feel great after the sessions. Especially because on the 5’s week I don’t do singles.

I filmed the DL PR set, any feedback is welcome! I realised my hips may be too high to start with.

Press
5x32.5
5x37.5
12x42.5

Pyramid down
5x37.5
15x32.5

DL
5x72
5x83
15x94 (PR, I’ve done 10x92.5 in December, my first post on the thread)

Pyramid down
5x83
15x74

Assistance
100 chins between the above
3x20 DB bench with 14kg (wanted to do high reps today)
3x20 hyperextension
weight: 76.8kg

eedit: just realised I’m not supposed to go for max reps on the second week… I’ll just do the prescribed reps for squat and bench.

edit2 and note to myself: read more about the programs I’m doing, don’t add stuff. I’ll take out FSL for the rest of this cycle, as it’s not in the book and as recommended in the posts above.

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Hips are definitely too high, also looks like you aren’t quite getting your hips through at the top. Try to get your shoulders behind the bar at the start and drag the bar up your legs. As you lock out, squeeze your glutes hard.

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I will do that, thanks for your feedback!

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