5/3/1 Support Thread
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Oh man, if you've never used straps, get ready. All bs aside, they are a joy to use. Your grip is still important, and you will still have to hold on, but it helps you focus so much more on the movement, which is at the heart of the exercise to begin with.
Again, not saying that they should be used for anything but high reps/heavy working sets, but the bar just feels really solid.Although I am doing the 6 week variation now. I just didn't feel like a reload after the last cycle. Had lots of energy and I'm still new so I don't think I need a full week deload yet. I will keep skipping the deload until I stall.
Sounds like you're on point, but remember Wendler suggests doing it now when you're fine, so you don't *need* it later. I think that's sound advice, not that skipping it is going to hurt you necessarily. And from what I understand deloads don't really help with stalls, that's what resets are for. Deloads are meant to give your body a break while still keeping up some activity.
That said, while I have always taken my prescribed deload weeks... I absolutely hate them! I walk in the gym and roll my eyes the whole time lol Feel like such a b*tch, but w/e...0 -
Oh man, if you've never used straps, get ready. All bs aside, they are a joy to use. Your grip is still important, and you will still have to hold on, but it helps you focus so much more on the movement, which is at the heart of the exercise to begin with.
Again, not saying that they should be used for anything but high reps/heavy working sets, but the bar just feels really solid.Although I am doing the 6 week variation now. I just didn't feel like a reload after the last cycle. Had lots of energy and I'm still new so I don't think I need a full week deload yet. I will keep skipping the deload until I stall.
Sounds like you're on point, but remember Wendler suggests doing it now when you're fine, so you don't *need* it later. I think that's sound advice, not that skipping it is going to hurt you necessarily. And from what I understand deloads don't really help with stalls, that's what resets are for. Deloads are meant to give your body a break while still keeping up some activity.
That said, while I have always taken my prescribed deload weeks... I absolutely hate them! I walk in the gym and roll my eyes the whole time lol Feel like such a b*tch, but w/e...
Have you seen his new deload that works up to your Training Max? That's actually not bad. Go in there and work-up to a fairly heavy set then leave. That's exactly how I plan on deloading.0 -
On the matter of grip, straps, etc... just bought an Eco Ball, "invisible chalk". Have yet to use it on a lift due to the tendinitis, but I tested it out a little and it dries your hands up pretty good. Going to try this in lieu of gloves for a while.0
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On the matter of grip, straps, etc... just bought an Eco Ball, "invisible chalk". Have yet to use it on a lift due to the tendinitis, but I tested it out a little and it dries your hands up pretty good. Going to try this in lieu of gloves for a while.
Gloves I know I will never use, tried them once for a while, hated them and threw them away. Chalk could be cool, looking forward to the straps. I will only use them for my heaviest sets on the DL, they'll only come out of my bag for 3 or 4 sets probably.0 -
Cycle 3 - Bench Day 5/3/1+
Make this update quick, my 1RM is back up to 250lbs, 12 weeks +20lbs and I'm finally back to where I started the year at; I'm sorry happy. I hit 7 reps on my NFL bench test (LOL!).
I swear 5/3/1 Strength Phase is like magic.0 -
So much for resting my biceps this week. I'm going to give my body complete rest for the next two weeks and see if this **** goes away.
Also, my knees hurt quite a bit with the new high bar, ATG squat I've been doing. Coming up off my heels just feels like hell, and like I'm yanking the tendons over the top-left, above my knees where the quads attach. You know they say "listen to your body", and though everything mechanically seems correct and I've been as thorough as I can manage, my body is telling me something isn't right with the movement.
Maybe my knees aren't conditioned for this movement at the higher weights (1.5xBW and totally a possibility) but at any rate, I don't like it. When I get back to it, I'm going to keep doing the old low-bar, parallel squat that I was doing. Might have also been my attempts to use the "spring" at the bottom of the squat to rebound (something my body wasn't used to), but I'm just not interested in working on the ATG form anymore, especially when figuring it out is hurting my knees and keeping me out of the gym.0 -
So much for resting my biceps this week. I'm going to give my body complete rest for the next two weeks and see if this **** goes away.
Also, my knees hurt quite a bit with the new high bar, ATG squat I've been doing. Coming up off my heels just feels like hell, and like I'm yanking the tendons over the top-left, above my knees where the quads attach. You know they say "listen to your body", and though everything mechanically seems correct and I've been as thorough as I can manage, my body is telling me something isn't right with the movement.
Maybe my knees aren't conditioned for this movement at the higher weights (1.5xBW and totally a possibility) but at any rate, I don't like it. When I get back to it, I'm going to keep doing the old low-bar, parallel squat that I was doing. Might have also been my attempts to use the "spring" at the bottom of the squat to rebound (something my body wasn't used to), but I'm just not interested in working on the ATG form anymore, especially when figuring it out is hurting my knees and keeping me out of the gym.
Yeah, there's little reason to go past parallel if you're not competing and even then I'm not sure if it's worth it.
I've never really tried high-bar versus low bar, kinda' middle of the road on bar positioning there, but I would assume that each position probably changes the weight you can manage at least a little. Just do whichever version of the Back Squat that feels most comfortable for you, hit parallel, work hard, do your assistance work, do some cardio, and go home.
Stretch your quads good, even on non-leg days, and even on off days. Stretch. Foam roll or Lacrosse Ball your quads, which may help relieve some pressure around your knee.0 -
Biggest difference from what I can tell, is that lowbar lets you lean forward a little more while still keeping the weight above your feet (centered). High bar has your back more vertical, and so it has you sitting into the hole. To be fair there is probably something I'm doing wrong here, but I record almost all of my squats, and I don't see it.
I find that driving up my hips and using my back more helps relieve the problem, rather than using my quads almost exclusively to get out of the hole, but that essentially has me rocking forward with the high bar squat. I'm going to see if the low bar fixes all of this, as I expect it should.0 -
So I'm doing complete rest for the next two weeks to see if my knees and elbows get around to feeling better.
I figure after that time, my strength will have waned a bit, and I also want to make sure that I get back up to speed very gradually so that I avoid getting hurt again, and temper things in case my body needs a little more time to heal up.
I don't want to drop my 5/3/1 weight since starting really low would have me progressing too slowly, so I've been considering starting at a lower amount, and using SL5x5 which has pretty quick progression to get me back up to speed within 2 months.
Seems like a solid comeback with ample time to recover and a slow ramp up, and really giving my joints a chance to chill out without just taking a month off.
I would increment 10lbs for every lift, from workout to workout.
it would look like this:
Strong Lifts 5x5 Recovery
Prev TM Start Wt Diff 2W Cycle Weeks Months Inc % of TM
Bench 220 100 120 4 8 2.00 30 0.45
Deadlift 305 185 120 4 8 2.00 30 0.61
Press 135 45 90 3 6 1.50 30 0.33
Squat 245 125 120 4 8 2.00 30 0.51
I just want the first few weeks to be very light, with no accessory work, and take 2 months to recover so the weight doesn't just jump on me too much, too early.0 -
So I'm doing complete rest for the next two weeks to see if my knees and elbows get around to feeling better.
I figure after that time, my strength will have waned a bit, and I also want to make sure that I get back up to speed gradually so that I avoid getting hurt again, and temper things in case my body needs a little more time to heal up.
I don't want to drop my 5/3/1 weight since starting really low would have me progressing too slowly, so I've been considering starting up at maybe 37.5% of my training max, and using SL5x5 which has pretty quick progression to get me back up to speed.
By my estimates, this would have me back up to pre-injury levels in about 2 months. Seems like a solid comeback with ample time to recover and a slow ramp up.
Would start SL5x5 with:
Bench: 85
Deadlift: 115
Press: 50
Squat: 90
This is all very light weight for me, which is what I want, and the weight will ramp up at a good pace. Better than taking more weeks of complete rest, although I will have to see in a couple weeks how I feel before I start anyhow.
Even though I promote SL5x5 for un-experienced beginners, I friggin' hate that routine so I cringe when I see it. LOL. People tend to confuse adding plates to the bar with true strength gains. Maybe just do it for a week at most and maybe get four workouts done instead of the 3 (A, B, A,
? Dunno, do what works best for you.
If it were me I would honestly just swallow my pride a little, go find my new 1RM, re-calc everything and just hit my TM reps and Joker Sets really hard and try to get my strength back quickly. I'm in a similar boat with some forearm tendonitis. I took most of last week off and just did a de-load at the end of the week with lifting straps no less to help relieve stress from my arm. I will still probably lay off any curling exercises for a while but upper back stuff is back on the table.0 -
Did anybody catch this 5/3/1 article recently?
http://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/letter-to-young-jim-wendler
Notice his training split? Not gonna' lie... I'm a big fan of that. Damn, I may have to practice my Cleans again. LOL!0 -
It's peculiar that he posted this again, this is an old article from back before May. Good stuff though.0
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It's peculiar that he posted this again, this is an old article from back before May. Good stuff though.
Oh really, I must've missed that one. It could be in prelude to T-Nation adding a 5/3/1 and Wendler forum. I'm so friggin' jazzed about that I can barely contain myself. I wonder how much they compensate him or if just selling his book on their site is the way they do it.0 -
It's peculiar that he posted this again, this is an old article from back before May. Good stuff though.
Oh really, I must've missed that one. It could be in prelude to T-Nation adding a 5/3/1 and Wendler forum. I'm so friggin' jazzed about that I can barely contain myself. I wonder how much they compensate him or if just selling his book on their site is the way they do it.
Oh @#$%$#@% that's awsome!
EDIT: Holy **** he responded to your post!!! That's so cool man!0 -
It's peculiar that he posted this again, this is an old article from back before May. Good stuff though.
Oh really, I must've missed that one. It could be in prelude to T-Nation adding a 5/3/1 and Wendler forum. I'm so friggin' jazzed about that I can barely contain myself. I wonder how much they compensate him or if just selling his book on their site is the way they do it.
Oh @#$%$#@% that's awsome!
EDIT: Holy **** he responded to your post!!! That's so cool man!
Yeah, he's pretty cool like that. He'll answer most questions, BUT do not ask a question that you don't want an extremely direct answer too and surely don't argue with him. LOL0 -
I might just try arguing with him for the hell of it lol But yeah, I like the forum.
Except that bit about straps :laugh:
So how have you changed your routine since you talked to him. Are you still keeping the volume high, or trimming it down a bit?0 -
I might just try arguing with him for the hell of it lol But yeah, I like the forum.
Except that bit about straps :laugh:
So how have you changed your routine since you talked to him. Are you still keeping the volume high, or trimming it down a bit?
To a degree he is right about the straps. At the same time I'm only looking at the injury prevention aspect of it which is why I'm making some changes.
I pretty much did exactly what he said but I went to the BBB Variation 1 template.
This week...
- OHP Day
5 @ 105
5 @ 120
5+ @ 135
5 (joker) @ 150
5 (joker) @ 160 - failed to hit all reps so I stopped
B. OHP @ 105 5 x 10
C. Chin-ups 5 x max (it was something like 10, 10, 8, 7, 5.. forgot exactly the last couple sets. I just rest-paused those sets to hit 10 reps but I only count the first consecutive reps before failure)
D. Triceps 5 x 10
Abs
<done>
-Deadlift Day
5@255
5@290
5+@330
5 (joker) @ 370
5 (joker) @ 390
5+ (FSL) @ 255
B. Squat 5 x 10 (I did the opposite movement today)
C. Back Raises 5 x 10 @ 35
<done>
I used his exact Joker reps and percentages from his book this week as well. In order for me to reign myself back in and stay focused I have to go by-the-book and not go by feel for a while. Once I'm consistently back on-track I'll make slight adjustments based on how I feel but still try and keep the basic structure.0 -
That's cool man. I know we talked about it on the other forum, but have you considered Template 2? The effects of training are cumulative, and it I find I'm a lot fresher from day to day doing this.
Also, what you mentioned on the forum was actually not Var 2, it was Var 1... which is ****ing brutal 5x10 at 85% in WK 3? Killer.
Var 2 is very similar with the reps changing; Wk1 5x10 65%, Wk2 5x8 75%, & Wk3 5x5 85%.0 -
That's cool man. I know we talked about it on the other forum, but have you considered Template 2? The effects of training are cumulative, and it I find I'm a lot fresher from day to day doing this.
Also, what you mentioned on the forum was actually not Var 2, it was Var 1... which is ****ing brutal 5x10 at 85% in WK 3? Killer.
Var 2 is very similar with the reps changing; Wk1 5x10 65%, Wk2 5x8 75%, & Wk3 5x5 85%.
Yeah, there's so much info in that book that I mix things up from time to time. Variation 1 of BBB is what I intended to use but I don't think I can do it with the OHP. On that 5th set I struggled to get an 8th rep at 65%. LOL. Tomorrow I'm going to Bench and see how it goes. For OHP I may try 55%, 65%, 75% and see how it goes. Or I might just do his 50%, 50%, 60%, 60%, 60%, 70% <deload> (6-Week Challenge).
I kinda' like the idea of doing opposite exercises, but I also like how hard I pushed the OHP the other day with the main set work and then BBB work. I'll probably do temp 1 for 6-weeks and then try temp 2 for 6 weeks and make a judgement call after that. Then it'll be friggin' New Years already... ugh.0 -
Hey man, what do you know about recomping?0
