5,3,1 GO!

     Good Sunday everyone... or whenever your decide to perv the blog. It's been a been a busy month, but don't worry, I'm never too busy to ramble for my loyal followers/viewers. And you know me, I'm all about getting the information to you!

     So, today I'm going to share with you of how I get all big a strong (kinda). So my weakness would be my strength (makes sense doesn't it). I'm fairly comfortable with the bodyweight movement, I mean I'm no Speal, but I can hold my own. But what destroys me is picking up heavy things. To fill in this gap I'm on my second rotation of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 method.



If this guy told you how to get strong, I'd listen

      So, what is the 5/3/1 program? Well, it's designed to boost your strength by focusing on 4 different exercises: Press, Bench Press, Deadlift and Squat. The great thing about this program is you're never lifting your max load, but just shy of it. This is a 4 week program designed to build up as the weeks progress, with the final week deloading. It works like this:

Week 1: 65% x 5 reps, 75% x 5 reps, 85% x 5 reps or more
Week 2: 70% x 3 reps, 80% x 3 reps, 90% x 3 reps or more
Week 3: 75% x 5 reps, 85% x 3 reps, 95% x 1 rep or more
Week 4 (deload): 40% x 5 reps, 50% x 5 reps, 60% x 5 reps or more

     What does it mean, "5/3/1 rep or more"? Well, when you get to your final set you should push to get as many reps in as possible without going to failure. Or, as Wendler puts it, the final set will be the one that "puts hair on your balls".




Put that in an AMRAP!

     So, the way I've been doing it is 3 days a week I'm incorporating these strength movements. You'll notice that there are 4 exercises, so I have to mix it up a bit, like this:

Week 1: M- Press W- Deadlift F - Bench
Week 2: M - Squat W - Press F - Deadlift
Week 3: M - Bench W - Squat F - Press
Week 4: M - Deadlift W - Bench F - Squat

     As I said, I'm on my second rotation of this program, and I've seen some drastic improvements! My Deadlift went up 30 lbs, Bench went up 10 lbs, Squat and Press have stayed the same. So these are the goals I'm shooting for: Deadlift 400lbs (35lbs away), Bench 225lbs (35lbs away), Squat 250lbs (25lbs away), Press 170lbs/bodyweight (... still a while away). I still have a while till I achieve these goals, but I think I will be able to reach them with this program.

     I hope everyone enjoys the rest of your weekend. Does anyone have any Strength goals they'd like to achieve? Let's hear em! Post to comments, and I'll talk to you guys again soon.



3,2,1 GO!