My 5/3/1 Set-up

If you can justify EVERY ONE of those exercises in your program, then you are fine. But I highly doubt you can without running some drivel.

But judging by your post the MOST IMPORTANT thing in your training is your assistance work because this is what you care most about. This must change.

ALL ENERGY must be focused on the big exercises.

[quote]Asoss wrote:
Thank you guys for all the good advices, I’ll definitely try to narrow things down and make it more simple. As for Steel Nation, I actually don’t have a copy of the book. Seeing that I live in Sweden makes things a tad more difficult. Especially as a student. [/quote]

Dude, it’s an e-book. And as a student you should be able to easily scrape together the requisite $20 by doing what any good, educated male would do when strapped for cash: sell blood and semen (preferably your own, and never mixed together).

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
Asoss wrote:
Thank you guys for all the good advices, I’ll definitely try to narrow things down and make it more simple. As for Steel Nation, I actually don’t have a copy of the book. Seeing that I live in Sweden makes things a tad more difficult. Especially as a student.

Dude, it’s an e-book. And as a student you should be able to easily scrape together the requisite $20 by doing what any good, educated male would do when strapped for cash: sell blood and semen (preferably your own, and never mixed together).[/quote]

Man… I just passed coffee through my nose… too f"n funny!

[quote]Jim Wendler wrote:
If you can justify EVERY ONE of those exercises in your program, then you are fine. But I highly doubt you can without running some drivel.

But judging by your post the MOST IMPORTANT thing in your training is your assistance work because this is what you care most about. This must change.

ALL ENERGY must be focused on the big exercises.

[/quote]

I appreciate you posting here Mr. Wendler. I can promise that your words won’t be taken too lightly. Btw, I bought the book=) From Sweden with love!

Thanks

[quote]Asoss wrote:
Thank you guys for all the good advices, I’ll definitely try to narrow things down and make it more simple. As for Steel Nation, I actually don’t have a copy of the book. Seeing that I live in Sweden makes things a tad more difficult. Especially as a student.

Everything I know about 5/3/1 comes from reading on these forums. So I don’t have any finished templates to begin from.

To be honest, my first routine in the first post was taken from another forum with some minor changes. [/quote]

Did you see this, OP? Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION

Why not just give the Triumvirate template a try? It worked well for me.

Lol. Do less excises.

I’ve read the book twice now and it’s very informative but still hardcore. Does anyone have a finished excel spreadsheet? Would be really helpful.

Edit: Nevermind, found one=)

hahaahha steel nation

Hi every body

I â??d like your thoughts about my 5/3/1 + BBB template.

Day 1

Squat 5/3/1
A1 Squat 5x10 (now with 100Kg.)
A2 Leg-Curl 5x6 (I prefer using more loads on this so I use 6 reps)
Crunches 3 sets

Day 2
Press 5/3/1
A1 Press 5x10 8 (now with 42.5 Kg.)
A2 Weighted Chins (50 total reps, now with 16.5 Kg.)

Day 3
Deadlift 5/3/1
A1 Db Row 5x10 8 (now with 32Kg.)
A2 Incline Bench 5x8 (now with 75Kg.)
B1 Triceps Pushdown 5x15-20
B2 Db Curl 5x12-15

I explain: I canâ??t do heavy bench right now due to a little annoying pain in my left shoulder so I simply have dropped it.
I do the assistance exercises supersetted with â??1 between them and â??2 at the end.
I added direct arm work on last day since I need it (my arms are 15.7 and Iâ??m 5â??50 tall).

What do you think?
Iâ??m on my second wave right now and the feeling is good.
Thanks to you all.

Andreas 44 y.o.

Asoss, bro look, underneath the title is “the SIMPLEST and most effective training system for raw strength.”

Its good you bought the book. Hopefully you’ll now grasp simplicity. In the end though, your assistance exercises should compliment your major lifts, not burn you out from them. In all honesty, when I began the program, I started over analyzing the stuff too. I even wanted to record every set of every rep of every assistance exercise that I did. Then when I found that some days I might want to do a different exercise, or do a different rep scheme or whatever, I scrapped that idea. Now I go by feel.

Think of it this way. If you’re deadlifting and squatting at least 4 plates per side and bench and press at least 3 (well, press at least 2) then you’ll be a strong individual and all of your assistance exercises will go up. Your assistance exercises are supposed to help you strengthen weak points in your main lifts, but in the end, getting stronger at your main lifts will help get you stronger at your assistance exercises, so in the end, it doesn’t really matter (all too much). I’ll show you what I mean. Here’s what mine looks like:

Deadlift 5/3/1
-Quad based movement
-Hamstring/low back movement

Bench 5/3/1
-Upper back/lats/traps
-Shoulders/Chest/Tri’s

Squat 5/3/1
-Hamstrings/low back
-Quads

M. Press 5/3/1
-Upper back/lats/traps
-Shoulders/Chest/Tri’s

Thats it.

I find the most important assistance exercise for each major lift is an exercise that works the opposite, or antagonistic muscles. Then the second exercise is one that directly works a muscle group involved in the main lift. The final exercise(s), if any are performed, then work ancillary muscle groups, like biceps, calves or abs.

On the days I do Bench or M.Press, you’ll see that I will either choose an upper back exercise, a lat exercise or a trap exercise. I don’t work all three, I just choose one to work. And then I choose either a delt exercise, and chest exercise or a tri exercise. If I have time I’ll do bi’s afterward, but because I have to squeeze in some conditioning work, I usually don’t.

There are no specific rep schemes. I go by feel. There is no point of me doing 5x10 if I am feeling run down. It is too much. Like wise, if I chose 3x8 on a given day, that might be too little. Sometimes I like to do straight sets, but majority of the time I like to ramp. I find that if you go by feel, you never do too much or too little. You always do just the right amount, which will cause you to progress in your major lifts.

I’m using:

Deadlift
Goodmornings
(adding hanging leg raises soon)

Benchpress
Lat Pull Downs (Till pull ups get easier)
Dumbell Chest Press
(adding dips soon)

Squat
Lunges
Ab Wheel
Squat Complex

Overhead Press
Dips
Lat pull downs
(Adding Barbell Turkish Getups)

[quote]Pillimbero wrote:
Hi every body

I â??d like your thoughts about my 5/3/1 + BBB template.

Day 1

Squat 5/3/1
A1 Squat 5x10 (now with 100Kg.)
A2 Leg-Curl 5x6 (I prefer using more loads on this so I use 6 reps)
Crunches 3 sets

Day 2
Press 5/3/1
A1 Press 5x10 8 (now with 42.5 Kg.)
A2 Weighted Chins (50 total reps, now with 16.5 Kg.)

Day 3
Deadlift 5/3/1
A1 Db Row 5x10 8 (now with 32Kg.)
A2 Incline Bench 5x8 (now with 75Kg.)
B1 Triceps Pushdown 5x15-20
B2 Db Curl 5x12-15

I explain: I canâ??t do heavy bench right now due to a little annoying pain in my left shoulder so I simply have dropped it.
I do the assistance exercises supersetted with â??1 between them and â??2 at the end.
I added direct arm work on last day since I need it (my arms are 15.7 and Iâ??m 5â??50 tall).

What do you think?
Iâ??m on my second wave right now and the feeling is good.
Thanks to you all.

Andreas 44 y.o.

[/quote]

If it’s working for you, keep it! When I couldn’t bench, I went through a couples of waves using BB Rows as a main exercise, just to keep a 4-days template.

I eventually did a lot of prehab stuff, and now I’m bench pressing pain free. I strongly suggest you to take care of your shoulder, there’s a lot of free prehab info (Cressey and Robertson articles on T-Nation, Diesel Crew prehab vids on Youtube, etc…).

Hi,
i’m gonna do some of that stuff for sure…
One question about tracking my progress on 5/3/1 and sorry if it’s a stupid one:
when I perform the all-out set the result (using the formula shown in the book) should be
increasing each time or not?

I mean, without testing my 1RM can I guess if I’ve beated it just by that formula or do I lose
something?
Thanks!!

As long as you are getting AT LEAST the prescribed reps, you are progressing. In a few months, when you look back at your starting loads, you’ll find out you got stronger almost without noticing it.

I only add about 3-4 assistance lifts. I’m 15 and im on my 7th cycle. Here’s what my day looks like

Day 1 - Shoulders and Traps

Military Press - 5/3/1
Weighted Dips - 5x8-10
DB Shoulder Press - 5x8-10
Bent Over Reverse DB Flyes - 5x8-10
Heavy Smith Machine Shrugs - 5x20

Day 2 - Back and Hamstrings

Deadlift - 5/3/1
Lat Pulldowns - 5x8-10
Goodmornings - 5x8-10
One-Arm DB Rows - 5x8-10
Seated Leg Curls - 5x8-10

Day 3 - Chest

Bench - 5/3/1
Flat DB Bench - 5x8-10
Barbell Rows - 5x8
Incline DB Bench - 5x8-10
Tricep Rope Pulldowns - 5x12

Day 4 - Legs

Squats - 5/3/1
Split Squats - 5x8
Reverse Hyperextensions - 5x12
Calf Raises - 4x20

Thats all I do and sometimes it only takes me about an hour and a half at most, maybe hour and 45 but no more