Rachel's 5/3/1

My girlfriend starting lifting with me about a year ago, but for a while her training was kind of by feel. We started with a lot of form practice on the barbell lifts, and after that I just sort of had her ramp up to something heavy, whatever that meant on any given day. By now, we’ve both gotten frustrated with that haphazard approach, so I had her test some rep maxes last week, and she’s starting on a version of 5/3/1 today.

Because of scheduling conflicts, she can only train with me on the weekends right now, so I put her on an upper/lower split. Also, I had to make some exercise substitutions because her press is too weak to make the numbers work and neither of us is happy with her deadlift form.

C1/W1/D1

Bench:
5 x 45
5 x 50
10 x 55
14 x 45

Pulldown:
5 x 60
5 x 70
10 x 80
14 x 60

Band Pull-aparts:
3 x 10

C1/W1/D2

Squat:
5 x 45
5 x 50
8 x 55

Lunges:
8 x 10 lbs. (each leg)
5 x 20 lbs.

C1/W2/D1

Bench:
5 x 45
3 x 50
5 x 60
10 x 45

Lat Pulldown:
3 x 65
3 x 75
5 x 85
10 x 65

Lying Leg Raise:
2 x 8

C1/W2/D2

Squat:
3 x 45
3 x 55
7 x 60
8 x 45

Lunges

C1/W3/D1

Bench:
5 x 50
3 x 55
5 x 60
1 x 65

Pulldown:
5 x 70
3 x 80
1 x 90
2 x 90

C1/W3/D2 (last Sunday)

Squat:

5 x 50
3 x 55
5 x 60

C2/W1/D2 (today)

Bench:
5 x 45
5 x 50
9 x 55

Lat Pulldown:
5 x 65
5 x 75
4 x 85 (stopped b/c of wrist pain)

C2/W1/D2

Squat:
50 x 5
55 x 5
55 x 10

Oops. I screwed up loading the bar, so Rachel got to do 55 again for her AMRAP set instead of 60. 10 reps is a new PR, so it’s still a good day.

C2/W2/D1

Bench:
3 x 50
3 x 55
7 x 60

Pulldown:
3 x 70
3 x 80
10 x 80
3 x 90

We had another minor mishap with Rachel’s weights today. Her AMRAP on the pulldown was supposed to be at 90 lbs, but she forgot to move the weight. So, she tied a PR at 80, then did a Joker set at 90.

C2/W2/D2

Squat:
3 x 55
3 x 60
6 x 65

KB Deadlift:
3 x 10 x 53

Donkey Kick (w/ weight held behind knee)
10 x 5 (each leg)
10 x 10 "
10 x 15 "

C2/W3/D1&2

Bench:
5 x 55
3 x 60
3 x 65

Squat:
5 x 55
3 x 65
5 x 70

Lat Pulldown:
5 x 75
3 x 85
5 x 95

C3/W1/D1&2

Bench:
5 x 50
5 x 55
8 x 60

Squat:
5 x 55
5 x 60
7 x 65

Pulldown:
5 x 70
5 x 80
5 x 90

C3/W2/D1

Bench:
3 x 50
3 x 60
4 x 65

Pulldown:
3 x 75
3 x 85
6 x 95

C3/W2/D2

Squat:
3 x 55
3 x 65
3 x 75

KB Deadlift:
3 x 10 x 57

Donkey Kicks (weight behind knee):
1 x 10 x 5 lb.
(stopped set w/ 10 lb. due to discomfort)

C3/W3/D1 (yesterday)

Bench:
5 x 55
3 x 65
1 x 70

Pulldown:
5 x 80
3 x 90
3 x 100

C3/W3/D2 (today)

Squat:
5 x 60
3 x 70
5 x 75

KB Deadlifts:
3 x 10 x 57

Donkey Kicks:
10 x 5, 10, 15 lbs. (each leg)

Mobility and depth are still a little lacking in the squat, but 5 x 75 is the most weight she’s ever moved here, and I was really impressed with the effort she put into it. Donkey kicks went smoother this week with a tweak to the position of the weight.

C3/W4/D1

Bench:
1 x 60
1 x 65
1 x 70
1 x 75
0 x 80

Pulldown:
1 x 70
1 x 80
1 x 90
1 x 100
1 x 110
1 x 115
1 x 120
1 x 125

C3/W4/D2

Squat:
1 x 65
1 x 70
1 x 75
1 x 80
1 x 85
1 x 90

Hex Bar Deadlift:
5 x 65
3 x 75
3 x 1 x 95

C4/W1/D1&2

Bench:
5 x 50
5 x 60
4 x 65
2 x 65

Squat:
5 x 55
5 x 65
6 x 70

Pulldown:
5 x 70
5 x 80
8 x 90

C4/W2/D1

Bench:
3 x 55
3 x 65
1 x 70
1 x 70

OHP:
4 x 3 x 45

Lat Pulldown:
3 x 80
3 x 90
5 x 100

C4/W2/D2

Squat:
3 x 60
3 x 70
7 x 75

Leg Press:
3 x 5 x 95

C4/W3/D1

Bench:
5 x 60
3 x 70
1 x 75

OHP:
3 x 5 x 45

Pulldown:
5 x 85
3 x 95
5 x 105