Olympic Lifts and 531

Hello all, I’m a first time poster to the site but I’ve read two of Jim’s books (the original 531 and the beyond 531 book) and have been running 531 for about a year and half and absolutely love it and have seen great results. As an ex-college football player I’ve had an affinity for the olympic lifts that I’ve been unable to satisfy as my gym was not equipped with bumper plates or platforms and would have tossed my ass had I attempted them. They’ve recently installed platforms and bumper plates and are now full go for olympic lifting. I’d like to begin working the olympic lifts into into my programming while at the same time continuing to follow 531 principles for the four core power lifts. I’ve sketched out the program below and would like to get some thoughts.

Monday:
Snatch (65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x 3)
Squat 531+ FSL ( 1 set)
Gluteham Raises ( 4x 10)
Ab Wheel

Tuesday:
Push Jerk (65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x3)
Bench Press 531+ FSL (1 set)
Chin-Ups (4 x 10)
Cable Tricep Extensions/ Face Pulls/ Bicep Curls (pick 1 or 2) (3 x 12)

Thursday:
Front Squat (65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x 3)
Deadlift 531 + FSL (1 set)
Back Extensions (4 x 10)
Weighted Sit-Ups (4 x 10)

Friday:
Power Clean (65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x 3)
Press 531 + FSL (1 set)
Dumbell Bench Press ( 4 X 10)
DB Row (4 x 10)
Tricep Extension/ Bicep Curl/ Face Pull (pick 1 or 2) (3X12)

Feel free to tear this apart if you feel you must do so, but please include any recommendations that you may have. Thanks.

I would cut a few things out…531 by itself is tiring enough, adding in the Olympic lifts without cutting something else out sounds like you’ll get worn out pretty quick by the end of the first cycle, if not even the first week.

Since you’re doing Snatches and Power Cleans twice a week(I’m assuming you’ll be pulling from the ground), I would cut out the Deadlift. From my experience, heavy cleans do plenty to keep my deadlift from getting weaker, and at certain points have even lead to deadlift PRs. If you do cut the DL out, move your cleans to Thursday. Do them first, followed by your Front Squats.

I would also eliminate the FSL sets. With the olympic lifts you’ll be putting enough stress on your lower back and shoulders, no need to add to it(although I suppose FSL on the OHP would be fine).

And lastly, I think most of the accessory work is not important.

My 2 cents would be to run something like so…

Monday:
Snatch (65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x 3)
Squat 531
Gluteham Raises ( 4x 10)
Ab Wheel

Tuesday:
Push Jerk (65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x3)
Bench Press 531
Chin-Ups (4 x 10)

Thursday:
Power Clean (65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x 3)
Front Squat (65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x 3)
Back Extensions (4 x 10)
Weighted Sit-Ups (4 x 10)

Friday:
Press 531 (Maybe FSL if you feel good)
Dumbell Bench Press ( 4 X 10) (Maybe alternate with Dips)
DB Row (4 x 10)
Tricep Extension/ Bicep Curl/ Face Pull (pick 1) (50 reps)

Cheers

Looks good to me OP. Personally would cut back on the fluff n puff though and stick to olympic lift, 531 lift, and an accessory pull 2 days, press 1 day (compound movement such as bb row, incline bench) abs 1 day all for 50 to 100 reps. Have done this before with good results.

I actually do my 531 by adding in olympic variations lifting 4x week with success. Here is how i do it:

Bench 531
Incline bench/overhead press/push press 5x5/5x10 (I Pick one)
Chinup between pressing movements (8 sets for 5+ reps)
Curls/facepulls/tricep exercise/DB pullover 3x10-15/Bro out- dont count go for pump (I Pick two)

Squat 531
Power Snatch to a heavy single
Snatch Grip High Pull/Power Clean 5x5/6x4/8x3
Ab Work

Press 531
Dips/Pushups/ DB Bench 5x10/5x5/5x12-15+ for BW (I Pick one)
BB Rows/DB Rows/Pullup/Lat Pulldown 3-5x10 (usually 2)
curl/tricep exercise/facepulls/Pullover 3x10-15/Bro Out-dont count go for pump (I pick 2)

Power clean working up to a heavy set of 1-5 reps
Deadlift 531
Front Squat/High Bar Squat 5x5/6x4
Ab Work

-I have found trying to do snatch movements before deadlifts kills my leg drive for deadlifts but power cleans do not. Also i have not done or really do full cleans so i cannot tell you how that would affect deadlift workout if I tried to do full cleans before the deadlift.
-I also like to do Squats first on the Squat 531 day and it works so no tweaking has been done for that.
-i dont see why someone would suggest taking out deadlifts under the excuse of “taxing”. Granted though i only pull double overhand and have not hit absolute failiure on any of my main 4 exercises, but i continue to make progress
-Arm work wont kill your upper body days
-Also I Power Clean all my overhead Pressing
-For any of the higher volume than 30 total rep exercises (3x10,5x10,5x15+) If you ever feel bad one day dont be afraid to cut down the weight on assistance exercises just dont cut down the volume and shorten your reps. For the 5x5 work I start off light and i add 5 pounds a week and just switch the rep range to 6x4 then 8x3.
-I also do the Power Snatch to a single before Snatch high pulls because I am tired from the squatting and it allows me some time to recover between Squats and High pulls.
-I use Straps for my Snatch Grip High Pulls otherwise there is no way to go for 5 reps or even 3 without having to let go of the bar and take a break or the weight will be too light for what you can really do

I just wanted to show you my program and my thoughts on a 531 workout with Olympic movements. To me your program looks like it can work and you should not have any doubts on recovery.

Just an idea:

You could use the Olympic movement as part of your warm up to the main movement. So on squat day you’d do front squats for a few extra warmup sets prior to squatting (assuming you can squat a decent amount more than front squat). On DL day you could do power cleans until you hit a “heavy” weight that you can still move explosively, and then continue working up to your first 5/3/1 set for DLs.

On MP day you could do a double or triple push jerk immediately before your 5/3/1 sets of MP (since I’m sure you can jerk much more than you press). So:

warmup weight 1: push jerk x3, rest, MP x whatever
warmup weight 2: same
65%: push jerk x3, rest, MP x5
75%: push jerk x2, rest, MP x5
85%: push jerk x1-2, rest, MP for PR set
Then you could work back down or do FSL or whatever.

Then on bench day maybe a few explosive sets of hang snatch before you press (this would be the exception where the lifts don’t really mesh that well together).

This would let you do some weightlifting in a way that sorta flows into (or along with) your 5/3/1 work. As long as you don’t go too heavy on the Oly lifts and keep the bar moving with good speed you shouldn’t interfere with your strength work. I think it actually helps my 5/3/1 sets since the explosive movements kinda wake everything up.

I do something very similar to what Steel Nation suggests. It gets me warmed up an CNS activated. My 52 yr old body needs a bit more theses days to get up to operating speed. The OL really help.