Wendlers 5/3/1

I am doing it right now. I do the full body training template. I like the 4 week cycle aspect and that the weight progression is slower than some of the other well known heavy lifting programs. It just fits me. My plan is to do it for at least 6 cycles, which will take me through October. After that I'll decide if I am going to stick with it longer or not.

lulum1986 wrote: »

Just curious to see who else is doing this programme and how you finding it?

I'm really enjoying it and just wondering how many weeks could I do it for. What else could I do after it?

after?? i don't understand. there is not really an "after" to the program. i mean, you just keep lifting weights for as long as you are interested in the program and lifting weights.

the only reason someone would switch programs is if their goals change. but it is a very versatile program. if you pick up wendlers book, he says that this program can be built around a runners schedule, or an athlete in-season, or just a regular guy that wants to hit the weights once in a while.



btw, a suggestion someone gave me once to increase longevity and interest in the program is to "reverse" the program a bit. so it's split into four days/movements, right? dead lifts, squats, ohp, and bench. so instead of doing your 5/3/1 of deads and then 5x10 of deads (or whatever assistance work you're doing) on the same day, you switch and do the assistance work for squats that day. and on ohp day you do bench... get it? keeps things interesting, and you are essentially hitting every major muscle group twice a week.

That, and it gets you doing all of the big lifts twice a week. It might not seem like much, but it seems to help me, as well.

I've been doing for a little over a year. I do the Boring But Big program during the winter months since I am just naturally less active so I try to go into a bulk. During my running training I basically just do the main compound lifts along with some body weight exercises to keep things interesting.

I like how all the different routines center around the 4 main compound exercises (squat, bench, military, dead) and you can tailor it depending on your goals.

I did it for 5 cycles and really liked it. I was in a deficit so I definitely stalled, but I liked the very controlled/calculated way of adding weight. I would have kept it up but I'm going into maintenance and wanted to try something new. I think I'm going to go back to running my squats, deadlifts, and bench press in the 5/3/1 format though.

I've only read the first book. I do the full body training program. My big goal this year is to stop hating squatting and finding it so difficult so I'm doing the plan that has me doing it 3x/wk. I've added in accessory work that keeps up with what I did with Strong Curves--RDLs, hip thrusts, and glute bridges at various times during the week.