For those doing 5/3/1, what are your training days?

DopeItUp

Just curious, the schedule seems flexible and one that stands out to me is doing 4 days a week, M/T and Th/F. Anyone doing this have any reservations, especially while in a deficit? I was questioning the two adjacent training days but they're pretty dissimilar. M is OHP, T is DL, then a rest day. Then Th is BP, F is Squat. Seems reasonable?

Or should I really shoot for a rest day between every workout and only do 3 days a week (not interested in working out on the weekend, have too many household projects going on).

Just looking for similar experiences. I can always just try it and see if my legs fall off. I'm a fan of that method anyway.

tomcornhole

I do a 4 day split and do them all on consecutive days due to my schedule. Thurs: Squat, Fri: Bench, Sat: DL (+rows and bicep curls), Sun: OHP (+lying tricep extension). I do Boring But Big with each lift. That's a lot of volume 4 days in a row, but I travel Mon-Thurs and don't have access to weights.

I started this 2 months ago while on maintenance and saw great progress. I started a cut a month ago and have been struggling to hit my "1" max weights. Although I just did squats tonight and hit my "1" max weight with ease and could have gone heavier.

If I could split it like you do, I would. I think that would work better. I have only been lifting since May so I am a newbie.

Tom

DopeItUp

Interesting, wow, 4 days in a row, that sounds brutal. Makes my proposed configuration sound wimpy. Maybe I'll go to an 8 day variation instead (every day, and then a double workout on the 7th day).

I will be going on a bulk in a few months so I guess if it gets too brutal it should hopefully alleviate with the extra calories

SideSteel

I train the following days:

T
Th
Sa
Su

I do this regardless of energy intake.

On occasion I will have to train 3 days in a row. I definitely notice recovery issues and I tend to have issues when this happens, but I do it on occasion if a scheduling conflict comes up.

SirBonerFart

I've been doing it every other day

sjohnny

When I was doing the standard 4 day a week 5/3/1 I did:
Monday - Squats
Tuesday - Bench
Thursday - Deadlift
Saturday - Press (but sometimes I did this on Friday depending on my schedule that week)

I was also running 3 or 4 days a week depending on the week and eating at a slight deficit.

In fairness my squats were pretty light at that point.

It worked great for me.

Sarauk2sf

I plan to do consecutive days but usually end up with a day or two in between here and there due to scheduling challenges. If I plan on consecutive days, then I am more likely to get them all in. When I had a more predictable schedule I was doing them consecutively and sometimes tacking complexes at the end of the week. Now I am lucky to get all sessions in and find I have to double up occasionally (this was/is while cutting - while bulking I was doing The Frequency Project so ended up doing 5 or 6 days in a row).

I would really only recommend doing all days consecutively if you have your sleep and recovery sorted (which I am terrible with)

jonnythan

I train 3 days a week M/W/F.

I'd be willing to do 4, but I don't have a fourth day available.

I play tennis or racquetball every Thursday, and usually do something outside (mountain biking, skiing, tennis, etc) Saturday and/or Sunday.

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da_bears10089

Monday - Bench
Tuesday - Deadlift
Thursday - OHP
Friday - Squat

Wed & Sat are potential cardio days and Sunday is Football Day

yummy_

I aim for 4/5 days a week, with 2/3 rest, just depending on what comes up in "life." I can usually plan out a full week in advance, but my work schedule does not allow for the same plan each week.

I recently swapped the position of squat and deadlift within the sequence because I feel like my squats are my weak spot right now and OHP is the least taxing of the 4 lifts for me. This gives me OHP day followed be a rest day before I take on squats. Plus, I ♥ to finish the week with deadlifts - DL day is almost like a reward for all the other days.

So, a typical week would go :

rest
Squat
Bench
rest
DL
OHP
rest

So far, this is working well, and allows a little room for last minute tweaks without throwing off the program.
The exception is deload week - I usually double up (squats + OHP and DL + bench) and take a couple extra rest days or add in a cardio day or two. Just seems to help me with having more energy to start the next cycle.

tomcornhole

As an added note just because I am reading Mark Rippetoes's Practical Programming for Strength, I assume you guys/gals just do the 4 different exercises once / week? For example, you just do squats once/week?

I feel I may need to switch back to SS or 5x5 once I start my bulk because I haven't been lifting long and I should take advantage of novice gains. And Rippetoe says a novice should not need more than 48-72 hours between full body workouts. I switched to 5/3/1 because I stopped progressing on SS but I may attribute that to being in a cut and being 47. I think I still have some serious novice strength gains available once I start a bulk.

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scode83

I train 3 days a week M/W/F.

I'd be willing to do 4, but I don't have a fourth day available.

I play tennis or racquetball every Thursday, and usually do something outside (mountain biking, skiing, tennis, etc) Saturday and/or Sunday.

I've just started doing M/W/F as well. Had been doing M/T/T/F but found when I was forced one week to do three days weight training I got better results. I guess everyone's body responds differently to what stresses it's placed under and how much recovery it is allowed/required.