After complaining that I program-hop too much I’m about to stop the high volume program I made up and hop onto another program…5/3/1. There are people that swear by it and people that don’t rate it, but here’s my reasoning for deciding to commit the foreseeable future to it:
- Jim Wendler is pretty highly rated. And Dan John (who’s T-Nation articles I enjoy not just for the training knowledge but his other sagely advice) also says its one of the best strength training systems.
- Progression is planned out - I sometimes struggle with either trying to up everything at once or just coasting along. Having a set plan for the main lifts will help me set and reach long term goals.
- But I still get to choose the assistance exercises I want to do
- 5/3/1 will allow me to build up a good strength base from which I can do a high-volume typical bodybuilding type routine later. Lets face it, there’s bugger-all point in me doing sets of bench press for 12 reps when its only 60kg!
- I like that Jim Wendler advocates doing cardio even though he knows people doing his programs want to be strong and big. I don’t want to have to sacrifice fitness for being big. I am of Indian descent so I’m going to get diabetes and high cholesterol at some point so I want to do what I can to keep it away for as long as possible. Cardio will help there
So that is a stream of my thoughts justifying to myself why I am attempting 5/3/1.
The exact program I am following is the Simplest Strength Template (SST) from the ‘5/3/1 2nd Edition’ book. Its not one of the main hypertrophy focused routines but I thought its an interesting looking routine that I can add more volume to if I can recover from it. I think because of my fitness level, my work capacity and recoverability is decent (also recoverability is aided by the weak-as-piss weights I use)…
The exact routine will look like this:
DEADLIFT DAY:
Deadlift @ 5/3/1 sets/reps
Front squat @ 10/10/10 week 1, 8/8/6 week 2, 5/5/5 week 3
Seated hamstring curls 3x10-20
Glute thrust 3x10-20
Abs work and back raises superset in with front squat, ham curls and thrusts
OVERHEAD PRESS DAY:
OHP @ 5/3/1 sets/reps
Close grip bench press @ 10/10/10 week 1, 8/8/6 week 2, 5/5/5 week 3
Superset with Lat pulldown 3x10-20
Rear delt raise 3x10-20
Superset with Lat raise 3x10-20
Tricep rope extensions 3x10-20
EZ bar curl 3x10-20
SQUAT DAY:
Squat @ 5/3/1 sets/reps
SLDL @ 10/10/10 week 1, 8/8/6 week 2, 5/5/5 week 3
Lying ham curls 3x10-20
Calf raises 3x10-20
Abs work and back raises superset in with SLDL, ham curls and calf raises
BENCH DAY:
Bench @ 5/3/1 sets/reps
Incline bench @ 10/10/10 week 1, 8/8/6 week 2, 5/5/5 week 3
Superset with Rear delt raise 3x10-20
DB row 3x10-20
Superset with EZ bar skullcrusher 3x10-20
Upright row 3x10-20
DB curl 3x10-20
The layout for the week is:
Mon: deadlift day
Tue: OHP day
Wed: football (soccer) 60 minutes
Thu: rest, yoga
Fri: squat day
Sat: bench day + prowler OR farmers walks
Sun: rest, yoga