Back in the day about 20 years ago I was weighing about 135 benching 245 x 1 and today I’m weighing about 170 and sporting a nice little belly and benching 190 x 1. Started the 531 work outs on the bench based on my 190 max. Just did week 3 on the bench today and as with the previous weeks my last set I did 7 reps with no spot. The program had me at 130 x 5 / 145 x 3 / 160 x 1+ and like I said, I did 160 for 7 reps.
Here’s my question: Is that fine to be at 7 reps on that last set? When it says 1+ it makes me think I should be able to do 1 for sure and my 1 or 2 more, but 7 doesn’t seem right.
I just want to make sure I didn’t do something wrong. If that’s the way it’s supposed to be then cool. I’ll just add 5 lbs for the next cycle and keep moving on.
[quote]Jim Wendler wrote:
Stay the course. Please re-read the book as this is covered many times. [/quote]
Thanks, I will stay the course. Sorry to say I haven’t read your book. I decided I wanted to get back to lifting and a friend sent me some links to the 531 and told me I should do it. I’ll get the book and read it.
Thanks again to you all. I’m looking forward to get back to the old days of glory. hahaha
At 46 yrs old, do you think I will be able to get back to where I was 20 yrs ago?
[quote]Jim Wendler wrote:
Stay the course. Please re-read the book as this is covered many times. [/quote]
Thanks, I will stay the course. Sorry to say I haven’t read your book. I decided I wanted to get back to lifting and a friend sent me some links to the 531 and told me I should do it. I’ll get the book and read it.
Thanks again to you all. I’m looking forward to get back to the old days of glory. hahaha
At 46 yrs old, do you think I will be able to get back to where I was 20 yrs ago?
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[quote]DanProsser wrote:
The most I ever got on the 1+ week was 4 reps. Most of the time it was 2.[/quote]
It wasn’t just the 1+, I got 8 on the 5+ and 8 on the 3+
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Do you care about how many reps you’re doing or getting stronger?
As for getting back to where you were, without knowing your history, unless you were an elite athlete, you should be able to get there (or close, or even surpass it)
one thing I used to do that worked for me in the past and helped with the “push for PR’s, never AMRAP” was use 10, 6 and 5 for the top sets for each 531 week. ie; 5 week = 10 reps for top set, 3 week = 6 reps for top set, 1 week = 5 reps for top set . kept me fresh, lasted for months and I got stronger at the end.
Stay the course. I’m in kind of the same boat. I had not really lifted in a couple years, instead opting for sandbag/conditioning work in my garage. I recently got back into it and spent one week getting an estimate 1RM to start the program with.
I started with a 90% TM Squat 290, Bench Press 190, Deadlift 325, Military Press 135 based off of my 5RM from that week. Since then Its been 7 weeks, as i finish up my 2nd cycle. Every +set (5+, 3+, and 1+) has been in the 11-15 rep range. The difference in my TM and estimated 1RM, is +90lbs on my squat, +74lbs on bench, +100lbs, and +35lbs on press. (Est 1RM Using Wendler’s formula: Squat 399, Bench 279, Deadlift 448, Press 180, current TM: 310, 205, 345, 145).
I was tempted to go for 1RM again and reset my 90% TM but have decided not to. As TM’s go up each cycle (+5 for upper body and +10 for lower body) and i get closer to accurate numbers, the reps will come down (as reps come down the estimated 1RM will also be more accurate). This will ensure I don’t increase to quickly and cause injury. Remember, one of the tenets of Wendler’s program is long term lifting; Staying in the iron game as a lifestyle not a temporary thing between new years and beach season.
“Do you care about how many reps you’re doing or getting stronger?”
Am I misreading this? Doesn’t doing more reps mean you are getting stronger? I thought that was the point of all this -
[quote]Rave2.0 wrote:
“Do you care about how many reps you’re doing or getting stronger?”
Am I misreading this? Doesn’t doing more reps mean you are getting stronger? I thought that was the point of all this -
[/quote]
Your the second person to say that. You aren’t getting the point of the question. Why I was asking the question, “Is that fine to be at 7 reps on that last set?”, is because I would think the weight isn’t heavy enough. In other words, if I can get 7 reps on my last set then I can do heavier weight. I used to lift so that on my last set the weight was too heavy for me to get more then 1-3 reps. Once I could get 3 reps I would increase the weight for the next week by 5 lbs.
Jim said, “Stay the course. Please re-read the book as this is covered many times.” So my question has been answered and I am not concerned with it any longer. In fact I am continuing to have high reps on my last set and I’m excited that that means I am getting stronger. Obviously, there will come a time as I add 5 lbs each cycle that I will be unable to get as many reps. Taking it slow and consistent is just fine with me.