T Nation

Template to Prioritize Health?

Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Coaching
#1

Hope everyone is well! Been lifting and following 531 principles for a while now. I committed to bulking up during this pandemic and for the first time in my life I actually grew. I went from 175 to 200lbs and my lifting feels more rock solid than ever. I added in 3x a day mobility work and 2-3 days of easy airdyne for about 30 mins.

I feel great. Im a little chunky but plan to drop some weight this spring. I recently had a doc visit and my BP and cholesterol are higher than they have ever been. Im not seeking medical advice but wondering what peoples thoughts are on a truly balanced program? Im obviously more concerned about my health than my size and numbers.

I plan to clean up my diet a bit and try to hit the airdyne 5 times a week. Also add back in some hard conditioning. Any thoughts on a template to help structure this?

Im 33 yo Male btw

#2

28 male here. On BP meds from 23-27. I specifically used 1000% Awesome to get my BP under control while coming off meds.

Lift heavy (5/3/1 set), get some hypertrophy going (supplemental/assistance), and cardio. I did 3 hard and 3 easy sessions per week - the hard sessions were 8-12 minutes tacked onto my 3 lifting days and my easy sessions were 15-30 minutes walking, jogging, rowing, or doing the active recoveries from Forever.

Diet-wise, I reduced salt a lot (<3000mg) and kept it to 90% or more whole foods with a focus on fruit and vegetables.

Edit: currently trying out Pervertor and striving for a similar balance.

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#3

Yep do some hard conditioning I’d just do one of those airdyne sessions as intervals/hard HIIT for 45 mins. Hill sprints are another Wendler mainstays.

THese great also…

And yeah diet prob the main thing …ton of greens, plenty of fiber, very low sugar etc

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#4

There’s a thread on here about people trying the walrus template. I’m in early days of trying walrus and 2 days of barbell work but so far it’s good for me and hit some PRs today. A bit too early for me to recommend but Jim does.

#5

@dietdrfapper your username is glorious.