I’m currently running my second long term period of 5/3/1. For the last 2-3 months I’ve ran NOV style, stretching hard, lifting hard, sprinting hard, eating hard and doing all of the above as described by Jim to the dot. I’ve fully thrown myself into trusting the principles of the programme and have found that they’ve improved all aspects of my life, including studying.
My first competition in November landed a 160kg squat, 105kg bench and a 190kg deadlift (failing 205kg) at a body weight of 81.45kg. I’m currently prepping for my next meet in March and sit around 82kg body weight, after losing weight over a stressful exam period. In the last two weeks, I’ve broke a gym PR on squat at 157.5kg (2.5kg PR) as designated by the 92.5% meet goal single. However, this week has been my best week of training ever. I’ve got a 110kg bench, 120kg with a reactive SlingShot straight after and today pulled 200kg, both life time PRs. These were not per the programme, but attempted after feeling incredibly confident and strong, something I put down totally to the principles I’ve adopted from Jim.
I’m confident of a 170kg squat, 110kg bench and 200+ deadlift come March. I can’t express enough how much I’ve loved the last few cycles of training, building up new levels of mentality, physical strength and athleticism. If you do nothing else, trust in the 5/3/1 methods and more importanty, the ethos that surround it. Thank you Jim for a kick arse programme, I’ll be sure to update this thread with my results come March!