Wendler 5/3/1

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  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Have tendonitis issues in my elbows & knees from heavy powerlifting as a youth. Have been using the Tommy Kono knee sleeves for both elbows & knees but they are tearing and wearing out so I puchased two pairs of Rehband sleeves (old style blue). Wow...these things are nice & tight and keep the joints warm.

    Had OHP this morning and got 5 on my last set of one. Thursday will be my last workout (deads) of this wave before I start again. Experimenting with the skipping of the deload week for a few waves to see how things go.

    That's really awesome that you found something to help you with that. I've been lucky in that despite my various injuries tendonitis is one I've avoided thus far. Too bad I can't do an ab crunch without worrying about my disc popping out my back. LOL

    The end of year is so close and I really want to push through without a Deload. I might do a deload before my last phase of the year so when I go to test my true 1RM's I'm a little more rested. I'm just going to play it by ear. I'm starting a new job in a few weeks which is cool but I'm going to be traveling now, so I'm just hoping that I can maintain this while I'm on the road for the few weeks I'm gone.

    Edit: Oh yeah... this week is my week 3. Yesterday I got 6 reps on my bench pretty sure I could've gotten 8 but I didn't have a spotter and I wanted to leave at least one in the tank. Today's squatting was good, got 8 reps in. Walking Lunges are getting easier and I may actually progress the weight next week but we'll see, that exercise kicks my *kitten*.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    I've hit a wall on my OHP like something fierce. Last week was ****ty and today on my 1+ set I only got 3 reps. I'm just going to take that number and reset my OHP starting next week. I guess I just started too heavy and I honestly thought I was being conservative, oh well.
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
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    Tomorrow ends week two for me. I'm not sure how long I want to continue. I'm happy with all my lifts, except squats.

    What are your thoughts on applying the 5/3/1 process to one specific lift, for one day of the week, while using a different program for other groups?
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Tomorrow ends week two for me. I'm not sure how long I want to continue. I'm happy with all my lifts, except squats.

    What are your thoughts on applying the 5/3/1 process to one specific lift, for one day of the week, while using a different program for other groups?

    I'd definitely wait and see how week 3 goes for you. How many phases have you gone through?

    I tend to stay away from "Frankensteining" workout programs and just stick to how it's designed. If you're squat is suffering do you know where it's suffering? You can likely improve it by addressing the weak points with assistance work. One of the biggest improvements I've made for my squats and deadlifts are doing walking lunges. My legs have felt stronger and more balanced since I started doing those. If the issue is your back do good mornings and rows to help build your back.
  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    So due to chronic fatigue I've decided to scale my workouts back to 4 days a week. I'll be doing Wendler 5/3/1 on those days along with the 30 minute walks. On other days I'll be sleeping in and monitoring my calories with very low carbs. No more 60 minute walks on "off" days.

    Blew off the deadlift workout as I wasn't "feeling it." For me, not "feeling it" is different than just being flat out lazy. I wasn't going to risk doing something stupid. May be coming down with the flu? Like Jim Wendler says "pick your battles."
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    So due to chronic fatigue I've decided to scale my workouts back to 4 days a week. I'll be doing Wendler 5/3/1 on those days along with the 30 minute walks. On other days I'll be sleeping in and monitoring my calories with very low carbs. No more 60 minute walks on "off" days.

    Blew off the deadlift workout as I wasn't "feeling it." For me, not "feeling it" is different than just being flat out lazy. I wasn't going to risk doing something stupid. May be coming down with the flu? Like Jim Wendler says "pick your battles."

    Sounds like you need a Deload maybe?
  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    So due to chronic fatigue I've decided to scale my workouts back to 4 days a week. I'll be doing Wendler 5/3/1 on those days along with the 30 minute walks. On other days I'll be sleeping in and monitoring my calories with very low carbs. No more 60 minute walks on "off" days.

    Blew off the deadlift workout as I wasn't "feeling it." For me, not "feeling it" is different than just being flat out lazy. I wasn't going to risk doing something stupid. May be coming down with the flu? Like Jim Wendler says "pick your battles."

    Sounds like you need a Deload maybe?

    Actually think I'm just getting sick. I'm off until Saturday so we'll see how I feel then. If I'm still drained, I may go that route.

    EDIT: After further review I'm pretty sure it's likely illness. Girlfriend's son got sent home from work early and he sounds like death. Same with her mom. Something is going around.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    So due to chronic fatigue I've decided to scale my workouts back to 4 days a week. I'll be doing Wendler 5/3/1 on those days along with the 30 minute walks. On other days I'll be sleeping in and monitoring my calories with very low carbs. No more 60 minute walks on "off" days.

    Blew off the deadlift workout as I wasn't "feeling it." For me, not "feeling it" is different than just being flat out lazy. I wasn't going to risk doing something stupid. May be coming down with the flu? Like Jim Wendler says "pick your battles."

    Sounds like you need a Deload maybe?

    Actually think I'm just getting sick. I'm off until Saturday so we'll see how I feel then. If I'm still drained, I may go that route.

    EDIT: After further review I'm pretty sure it's likely illness. Girlfriend's son got sent home from work early and he sounds like death. Same with her mom. Something is going around.

    Same here. My poor friend at work has a viral infection and mono. ugh... And I'm going to start doing some traveling soon so I'm really getting opened up to that crap.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Today made up for my ****ty OHP session and my Sumo DL's and Cleans are coming along nice. Still on week 3 I pulled for 7 reps on the last and Cleaned 6 reps on the last. The plyo session was good and yet humbling, definitely need to work on that.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Got 7 reps on my 1+ set today of Chest Supported Rows. My upper back has like exploded since I started doing 5/3/1 for my upper back and I'm on a calorie deficit on top of it. This is my upper back day right now and I'm loving it.

    Chin-ups 5 x 10
    Chest Supported Rows 5/3/1 (I like these for keeping the pressure off my lower back)
    DB Rows 5 x 10
    Face Pulls 5 x 10
    Wide BB Shrugs 5 x 10
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Started Week 1 / Phase 3 today...

    Today was an excellent workout. On my 5+ set for bench press I did 12 reps versus the 10 reps I did for week 1 on phase 2. It felt great, up 5lbs and up 2 reps. I added another 5lbs to my dips too and almost got a complete 10 reps on my 5th set, but it still felt great.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    It's kind of crazy so late last week I started doing early morning fasted lifting with nothing but a EAA + BCAA powder before and during my workouts. So far this week I've broken two PR's for my 5/5/5+ days. Today was Hack Squats and I added 10lbs from prior week 1 and did 11 reps versus 10 reps from the previous phase. I also added 10lbs to my RDL's and Lying Leg Curls and it felt light. Weird... I'm not sure how long this will last but I'm gonna' ride the fat loss / strength gain train for now. LOL
  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    Switched things up a bit. Still using 5/3/1 for my main lifts but assistance work is now based off of the LeanGains descending sets principle. I've switched up my days into chest/tri's, legs, shoulders and back/biceps. Four day split. I'm not a fan of curls but I think the higher volume might help add some size.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Switched things up a bit. Still using 5/3/1 for my main lifts but assistance work is now based off of the LeanGains descending sets principle. I've switched up my days into chest/tri's, legs, shoulders and back/biceps. Four day split. I'm not a fan of curls but I think the higher volume might help add some size.

    That's cool. Definitely one thing I like about 5/3/1 is the flexibility to incorporate certain methods for assistance work. I'm already thinking ahead to next spring and incorporating Gironda's 8x8 method for assistance work.

    No matter how much back work I do I still like doing curls. I even started doing standing BB Curls with 5/3/1 sets / reps and I like it so far. I set a PR this week (5/5/5+) by doing 100lbs for 12 reps. Not a lot of weight but I was pumped.

    Funny you mentioned Lean Gains because I've been following theit fasted morning training. I take Controlled Labs Purple Wrath and White Flood with a little Creatine. This whole week has just been crazy good.
  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    I've been doing LeanGains 16/8 protocol for at least 3 months. Train fasted whenever I work out.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    I've been doing LeanGains 16/8 protocol for at least 3 months. Train fasted whenever I work out.

    Cool, have you been able to lean out pretty well?
  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    I've been doing LeanGains 16/8 protocol for at least 3 months. Train fasted whenever I work out.

    Cool, have you been able to lean out pretty well?

    It's worked out fairly well. I prefer the fasted training. I have cortisol issues (doc appointment 12/7) so the lower ab fat wants to stick around.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Today was Chest workout Week 2 / Phase 3 and it was okay. My Bench weight for the 3rd set is +5lbs and I only got 9reps compared to the 10 I got for week 2 / phase 2, oh well not the end of the world I guess. Last week I decided to change one of my assistance exercises to Floor Presses to work on my strength from the mid to lockout portion of the BP. Hopefully that will help a little.
  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    Good OHP workout this morning. Bench was strong on Saturday and FINALLY had a squat workout that felt strong on Sunday. Maybe it was the 2 cups of preworkout coffee?
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Good OHP workout this morning. Bench was strong on Saturday and FINALLY had a squat workout that felt strong on Sunday. Maybe it was the 2 cups of preworkout coffee?

    Good for you. I see a lot of people do early morning coffee but coffee tears me up, I'd never make it through my session.

    My workouts have been decent this week. I had to combine Bench and Rows yesterday unfortunately. I only got 5 reps on the Bench (5/3/1+) which is one short from phase 2, I was hoping to at least match it but on my Rows I beat my last phase by 2 reps. Today was Hack Squats and I beat it by 2 reps also, so I was excited.

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