Russian Strength Skill On 4 Days/Wk?

Hi, Coach!

Sorry if this has been addressed, but I haven’t been able to find an answer. Like a lot of others, I’m interested in running the RSS program, but I’m only able to lift 4 days per week. Will this be doable? If so, what’s the best way to structure it? I can think of two options:

A (dropping manual labor workout)
Mon: off
Tues: Group 1
Wed: Group 2
Thurs: off
Fri: Group 1
Sat: Group 2
Sun: off

B (only three Group N days, alternating)
Mon: off
Tues: Group 1 (2 next week)
Wed: Group 2 (1 next week)
Thurs: off
Fri: Group 1 (2 next week)
Sat: Manual Labor Workout
Sun: off

Thanks in advance!

my 2 cents,
I would go with plan B,I am also currently doing the RSS and loving it. I have done 531 for the past 5 years and jim w recommended alternating the lifts like you have in plan b if you cannot train the amount of times per week the plan states. Hope this helps

Thanks for the input, masfonos. Under different circumstances, I would also choose B. However, I’m working in a crowded gym with a training partner who is at a very different strength level from me, and the logistics of the Manual Labor Day are just too daunting. So, I’m going to run A for at least a cycle to see how things go. I’ll miss out on the density of the circuit work, but I still get to practice each lift twice a week with heavy-ish singles. In that sense, it’s still a pretty radical change from the 5/3/1 plan I was running.

I hear ya. I either train at home with 1 barbell or at a commercial gym so I too can’t do the manual labour day in the circuit style as it was written. What I have been doing is 1 lift at a time, using a timer and doing 1 rep every 30sec.I believe you won’t get the overall conditioning effect, but the carry over to strength for the lift should be the same.