Beyond 5/3/1: Simple Training for Extraordinary Results (5 page)
Read Beyond 5/3/1: Simple Training for Extraordinary Results Online
Authors: Jim Wendler
21
Deload
Deload
22
3x5
5x1 @ TM
23
3x3
5x1 @ TM
24
5/3/1
5x1 @ TM
25
3x5
5x1 @ TM
26
3x3
5x1 @ TM
27
5/3/1
5x1 @ TM
TM = Training Max
Remember that at NO time would you ever
not
go for a PR on the last set of
the 5/3/1 work sets. In other words, if you can’t set a PR, then perform your “5x
sets,” you had best pick another physical pursuit. At all times in life, you must expect
more from yourself. This is
strength training and it is hard work.
23
Boring But Big, 13 Week
Challenge
This 13-week challenge combines all of the Boring But Big challenges into one
condensed program. This is ideal for people who don’t want to spend half of
the year doing the BBB program, or its variations.
Week
Work Sets BBB Sets
1
3x5
5x10 @
50%
2
3x3
5x10 @
50%
3
5/3/1
5x10 @
60%
4
3x5
5x10 @
60%
5
3x3
5x10 @
70%
6
5/3/1
5x10 @
70%
7
Deload
Deload
8
3x5
5x5 @ 80%
9
3x3
5x5 @ 80%
10
5/3/1
5x3 @ 90%
11
3x5
5x3 @ 90%
12
3x3
5x1 @ TM
13
5/3/1
5x1 @ TM
Boring But Big, 2 Days/Week
Here is a great way to do a six-week challenge when training only two days/week.
Many
lifters can only train two days a week due to family, work or recovery issues. Here is
the
general template for this challenge:
Week One
Day One
Day Two
Squat – 3x5
Bench Press – 3x5
Deadlift– 5x10 @ 50%
Press @ 50%
Good Mornings - 3-5 sets of 10 reps (light) Lat Work – 5 sets of 10 reps
24
Week Two
Day One
Day Two
Deadlift – 3x5
Press – 3x5
Squat – 5x10 @ 50%
Bench Press – 5x10 @ 50%
Good Mornings - 3-5 sets of 10 reps (light) Lat Work – 5 sets of 10 reps
Week Three
Day One
Day Two
Squat – 3x3
Bench Press – 3x3
Deadlift– 5x10 @ 60%
Press – 5x10 @ 60%
Good Mornings - 3-5 sets of 10 reps (light) Lat Work – 5 sets of 10 reps
Week Four
Day One
Day Two
Deadlift – 3x3
Press – 3x3
Squat – 5x10 @ 60%
Bench Press – 5x10 @ 60%
Good Mornings - 3-5 sets of 10 reps (light) Lat Work – 5 sets of 10 reps
Week Five
Day One
Day Two
Squat – 5/3/1
Bench Press –5/3/1
Deadlift– 5x10 @ 70%
Press – 5x10 @ 70%
Good Mornings - 3-5 sets of 10 reps (light) Lat Work – 5 sets of 10 reps
Week Six
Day One
Day Two
Deadlift – 5/3/1
Press – 5/3/1
Squat – 5x10 @ 70%
Bench Press – 5x10 @ 70%
Good Mornings - 3-5 sets of 10 reps (light) Lat Work – 5 sets of 10 reps
Boring But Big, The Rule of 50
This is a variation of Boring But Big that’s pretty simple to do. After the work
sets, drop
down and repeat the first work set. For example, do 65% of your training max on the
3x5
25
week, 70% of your training max on 3x3 week and 75% of your training max on
5/3/1 week. This is exactly like the two Boring But Big Variations listed above.
The only difference is that you try to get a total of 50 reps by any means
necessary. This could mean
5 sets of 10 reps, or, 10 sets of 5 reps; the reps can vary on each set. You can do more
reps
or less reps per set – the point is to get a total of 50 reps with the first work
set of the day. Remember, this is done after the main work is done.
A good friend of mine would often time himself on the Rule of 50. He’d either go
for a set time, say 15 or 20 minutes, depending on the lift. With the lower body
movements, he’d give himself 20 minutes. The bench press and press were given
15 minutes. His goal was to do those 50 reps in that time period.
The key to doing this is not burning yourself out in one or two sets. You have
to be smart about this and not be overzealous in the beginning. This concept is
very similar to Charles Staley’s EDT program. I admit to not being terribly familiar
with EDT and I do not want to claim that this is the same thing without knowing all
of the specifics.
Week
Work Sets BBB Sets
1
3x5
50 reps total with 65%
of your TM
2
3x3
50 reps total with 70%
of your TM
3
5/3/1
50 reps total with 75%
of your TM
4
3x5
50 reps total with 65%
of your TM
5
3x3
50 reps total with 70%
of your TM
6
5/3/1
50 reps total with 75%
of your TM
5/3/1 and The Fatherland
When I was in college, the magazine that everyone would read was
Muscle Media
(not
Muscle Media 2000
, which came later, after Bill Phillips received his MBA).
The original
Muscle Media
was the only magazine that talked about steroids and by
god, if they talked
about something taboo I was going to read it.
I didn’t realize it then, but by the time
Muscle Media
made it into my world, I had
enough
lifting and knowledge base that I COULD have written for them. Like many people, I
26
thought that if you wrote for a magazine or a big “lifting” company, you were really
something. I thought that you had a big lifting penis and were free to
impregnate all the young lifters minds.
I remember reading the magazine and some of the training advice and thinking,
“Apparently I’m an idiot because I’ve been doing it all wrong.” There is a huge
distinction between what you see written by a Never Has Been and what the
strong, fast and explosive Fuck Yeah Crue was doing.
One of the biggest fads that hit the training world via Muscle Media was
Charles Poliquin’s “German Volume Training” (GVT). GVT is nothing more than doing
10 sets of 10 reps with an exercise. People reported massive size gains from this
program; obviously the volume done with a big exercise, and eating correctly, is a
simple prescription for size. But where GVT falls short is strength.
I must admit that although there is a huge fascination with GVT, I think it’s pretty
stupid. When you have a high level lifter (or hell, any lifter) the soreness you get
from doing this kind of training is not worth the benefit. The Boring But Big
program is dangerously close to being too much for many lifters and not a very smart
program for people who have reached the advanced stage of training. There is nothing
wrong with being sore but being sore on a program whose results may not be worth
the soreness isn’t a great option. In any case, I was stupid enough to do it so
maybe you will be too.
This is a combination of the 5/3/1 program and GVT. The combination of the two is
pretty
easy to figure out. Here are two versions of GVT that you can use with the
5/3/1 Program:
GVT Template One
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Press - 5/3/1
Deadlift – 5/3/1
Bench Press– 5/3/1 Squat – 5/3/1
sets/reps
sets/reps
sets/reps
sets/reps
Press – 10x10
Deadlift – 10x10 Bench Press –
Squat– 10x10
10x10
Lat Work – 10x10
Abs
Lat Work – 10x10
Abs
27
GVT Template Two
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Press - 5/3/1
Deadlift – 5/3/1
Bench Press– 5/3/1 Squat – 5/3/1
sets/reps
sets/reps
sets/reps
sets/reps
Bench Press –
Squat – 10x10
Press – 10x10
Deadlift– 10x10
10x10
Lat Work – 10x10
Abs
Lat Work – 10x10
Abs
You can use whatever percentage you think you can handle with the GVT work.
Generally people use one weight for all their sets, but that’s not set in stone. If
you do use one weight, I highly recommend you use a very light weight the first
time you try this program out, as you will get incredibly sore. You may only want
to run the 5/3/1 GVT for 3 weeks (one
5/3/1 cycle). Use a Boring But Big Variation for the first three weeks and then GVT for the
next three.
The amount of volume for the squats and deadlifts might leave you a bit crippled,
so use the GVT for 1-2 lifts only – squats and presses, for example. For the other
lifts, use any other
5/3/1 variation you want. Another great way of using the GVT in the 5/3/1 program
is using it in a 3-day per week program or even a 2-day per week program. The 3-
day per week program would simply look like this (this example has the lifter
alternating the 5/3/1 lifts and the GVT lifts):
Week One
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Press – 3x5
Deadlift – 3x5
Bench Press– 3x5
Bench Press –
Squat – 10x10
Press – 10x10
10x10
Lat Work – 10x10
Abs
Lat Work – 10x10
Week Two
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Squat – 3x5
Press –3x3
Deadlift - 3x3
Deadlift – 10x10
Bench Press –
Squat – 10x10
10x10
Abs
Lat Work – 10x10
Abs
28
Week Three
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Bench Press – 3x3 Squat – 3x3
Press– 5/3/1
Press – 10x10
Deadlift – 10x10 Bench Press –
10x10
Lat Work – 10x10
Abs