Question on Missing a Day, Make It Up or STFU?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Coaching
1

I train M(press)/T(DL)/Th(bench)/F(squat) at the gym at my work. Currently using the often-recommended 2x(5’s PRO+BBB) + 1x(PR’s+FSL).

In the past, if I would take a day off from work (typically a Monday or Friday), I’d usually just make up that session at a local gym on Saturday and live with only getting one rest day before I start again.

But what would you guys recommend if the Saturday isn’t an option? Say you missed the Monday session. Would you:

  1. Make up the missed day by combining press & deadlift main + supplemental on Tuesday, and keep the planned Wednesday off day, or
  2. Skip the planned Wednesday off day and just train 4 days in a row, or
  3. Shut up and not worry about one missed session?
2

I’d go with option 1 personally. But for just one week, pick which one you think is going to make you happiest and get back on track after.

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3

I would just do the next workout., even if that means the schedule now becomes Tuesday Press, Thursday Deadlift, Friday Bench, and Monday Squat, or whatever until the schedule adjusts again. But, I do not generally schedule particular workouts for particular days of the week. I just plan out the workouts and then go in and do them on whatever days the workouts happen to fall.

Of the options you listed, though, I would go with 1.

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4

stop thinking of your training schedule within a 7 day week. Your body doesn’t know the difference if you squat on Monday or Tuesday.

Just get the workouts in - if you missed Wednesday’s workout (let’s say its Bench) just do it the next day you workout. So let’s say you plan your workout like this:

Mon, Tue, Thurs, Fri… But ruh roh, you can’t work out on Tuesday because whatever… Just do that workout on Wednesday and do the rest of the week as normal. Can’t workout Wed? Then just do it the next day you can and move the week back. So your M/T/Th/F week might turn into M/W/F/Saturday. So what. It doesn’t matter.

edit: and if you can’t do it Saturday, just do it Sunday or Monday. You might wind up working out 3 days one week and 4 days next week, just do M/W/F/M instead of M/T/Tr/Fri. Just do your workouts in order and you can stop giving a fuck what day you actually do them. Just get to the gym when you can and continue to do the workouts in whatever order you chose. Your workout week might turn into 9 or 10 days instead of 7… and again, it doesn’t matter at all.

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5

Yeah, I hear you. I’ll have to try and wrap my head around thinking that way. I’m a creature of habit though… especially when that habit involves deadlift day falling on Taco Tuesday.

6

I agree with marc. Just do whatever you can whenever you can. The body doesn’t know what a Monday is. For example, I was going to start my 7th Week Training Max Test two Monday’s ago but the night before I could not sleep for the life of me and even ended up waking up in the middle of the night and struggled to sleep. If I went to the gym before work as I had planned, I would have had 5 hours of sleep and would have been miserable. So instead, I just went on Tuesday and everything was shifted a day.

Jim’s new book Forever 5/3/1 makes it even nicer where if you see that in the next week you will be more busy than usual, you could resort to using a 3-day template or even 2 day template instead of a scheduled 4-day template.

Life happens. Don’t think about it and just go when you can. Confining yourself to only doing a certain exercise on Mondays or Thursdays sets you up for failure in the long run. However, this is just an opinion of an anonymous guy who doesn’t know how to “play trumpet” as Jim would put it haha so take what I say with a grain of salt.

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