5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength (2nd Edition) (11 page)

Squat – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Chins/Pull-ups – 3 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 sets of 10-15

Friday

reps

Squat – 40%x5, 50%x5, 60%x5

Dumbbell Rows – 3 sets of 10 reps

Press - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Wednesday

Deadlift - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Squat – 40%x5, 50%x5, 60%x5

Notes:

 The squat weights are initially fairly light to help you get used to the increased squatting.

Feel free to push the reps on each of these sets to 10 reps (on the extra squat days).

 For the push exercise (dumbbell bench press) and the two pulling exercises (chins and dumbbell rows) feel free to substitute any kind of push or pulling exercise you like.

Phase Two:

Monday

Bench Press – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Squat – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Chins/Pull-ups – 3 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 sets of 10-15

Friday

reps

Squat – 65%x3, 75%x3, 85%x3

Dumbbell Rows – 3 sets of 10 reps

Press - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Wednesday

Deadlift - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Squat – 65%x3, 75%x3, 85%x3

Notes:

 The intensity (percentage of your 1RM) is increased on the extra squat days. This will allow you to get used to squatting heavier weights on the squat more frequently. The volume is still low.

 For the push exercise (dumbbell bench press) and the two pulling exercises (chins and dumbbell rows) feel free to substitute any kind of push or pulling exercise you like. These exercises can include: incline presses, dumbbell incline press, dumbbell press, floor press, dumbbell floor press, dips, lat pulldowns, chest supported rows and t-bar rows.

Phase Three:

Monday

Bench Press – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Squat – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Chins/Pull-ups – 3 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 sets of 10-15

Friday

reps

Squat – 75%x3, 85%x3, 95%x1

Dumbbell Rows – 3 sets of 10 reps

Press - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Wednesday

Deadlift - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Squat – 75%x3, 85%x3, 95%x1

Notes:

 The intensity is greatly increased on the extra squat days. After 2-4 months of the first phases, your body will be ready for the increased squatting and the increased intensity.

 For the push exercise (dumbbell bench press) and the two pulling exercises (chins and dumbbell rows) feel free to substitute any kind of push or pulling exercise you like.

These exercises can include: incline presses, dumbbell incline press, dumbbell press, floor press, dumbbell floor press, dips, lat pulldowns, chest supported rows and t-bar rows.

Phase Four (OPTIONAL INSANITY)

Monday

Bench Press – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Squat – 5/3/1 sets and reps

 3 sets of 10 reps of chins between

all bench press sets, including

 3 sets of 5 reps of box jumps in

warm-ups

between squat warm-ups

Good Mornings – 3 sets of 10 reps

 3 sets of 10 reps of chins between

squat sets

 3 sets of 10 reps of chins between

all good morning sets

Power Clean – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Friday

 Hip flexor stretch between all sets

Squat – 75%x3, 85%x3, 95%x1

Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 sets of 10-15

reps

 3 sets of 5 reps of box jumps in

between squat warm-ups

 3 sets of 10 reps of chins between

all dumbbell bench press sets

 3 sets of 10 reps of chins between

squat sets

Wednesday

Deadlift - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Squat – 75%x3, 85%x3, 95%x1

 Hip flexor stretch between all sets

 3 sets of 5 reps of box jumps in

between squat warm-ups

Press - 5/3/1 sets and reps

 3 sets of 10 reps of chins between

 3 sets of 10 reps between all press

squat sets

sets, including warm-ups

Note:
This requires time, strength, commitment, and mental toughness. You had better be ready!

More Full Body Training Ideas

The next template isn’t really a 5/3/1 based. It is something a friend of mine would do and I think it is incredibly awesome. I only add this as something very cool to do when you don’t have a meet coming up, you are an advanced lifter and just want to be awesome and show how strong you are. He would train full body, three days per week and his training would look like this for EVERY workout:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday

Squat – 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 405x5, 495x5

Bench Press – 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5 (sometimes work to 405) Deadlift - 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 405x5, 495x5

He’d finish off each session with some curls and some lat pulldowns and that was it. The guy was huge and I do this in honor of him. Each of his sets was explosive and looked easy as hell.

Sometimes he’d use the standing press, push press or incline press in place of the bench press.

But he’s always squat and always deadlift. I asked him if he ever changed these exercises. His response? “Why the hel would I do that?”

More Squatting

Here is another template that I have never tried and I’m just throwing this out there to see if anyone wants to. Use with caution. This template is all about More Squatting. I firmly believe that the squat is the basis for all strength. Not only does it require tremendous leg and hip strength but it requires a pair of balls to squat hard and heavy. You can always drop a deadlift when it gets tough. Missing a squat is a little bit scarier. And nothing tests your will more than a heavy barbell across your back and smashing your lungs.

Monday

Bench Press – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Squat – 5/3/1 sets and reps

Chins/Pull-ups – 3 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 sets of 10-15

Thursday

reps

Squat – 65%x3, 75%x3, 85%x3

Dumbbell Rows – 3 sets of 10 reps

Incline Press – 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Tuesday

Chin-ups – 3 sets of 10 reps

Squat – 65%x3, 75%x3, 85%x3

Friday

Dumbbell Incline Press – 3 sets of 10-15

Squat – 75%x3, 85%x3, 95%x1

reps

Press - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Chin-ups – 3 sets of 10 reps

Deadlift - 5/3/1 sets and reps

Wednesday

Saturday/Sunday: OFF

Squat – 75%x3, 85%x3, 95%x1

Figure 9: Five Points - Native Owned

5/3/1 and Crossfit

I know this is going to be read and re-read and highly scrutinized. I’m not going to go into detail to the uninformed of what Crossfit is or what it has turned into

Things that suck about Crossfit

1. Programming – It’s no secret that the programming is awful. You can try to explain the rhyme/reason for the randomness but just be honest; when you have no end goal (competition, for example) other than being a good worker-outer it’s hard to program TODAY when you don’t where you want to be tomorrow. This is known as AttaBoy Training. Lots of motivational screaming and ass slaps. Myopic training (“Let’s just work real y hard!”) is probably not a bad idea for the chubby masses but not ideal when you want to be great. Just because a trainer or a gym has good intentions to share their fitness enthusiasm does not mean he is a good coach or the gym is great. Good intentions when combined with ignorance and lack of experience are a recipe for bad form, limited results and injury.

2. Apprentice, never a Master – Crossfit claims that they want to be good at everything.

Good luck with that one. The quest to be fit as a cross country runner, fast as a sprinter, strong as a powerlifter and built like Greek god is not only endless but pointless. The reality Is that you can work to be great at a few and those will carry over to being good at the others. If you are strong, lean and in good condition, things start falling into place.

This is not a revolutionary idea. And maybe I’m in the minority with the mindset of wanting to be great at one thing, and not average at a bunch. Or at least as great as I can be.

Things I like about Crossfit

1. When Mark Rippetoe was brought on (he has since left) to teach the basic barbell lifts, the Gods of Iron smiled. Barbel training is a lost art in today’s fitness world; al one needs to do is peak their head into any commercial gym and see the piles of machines and cardio wheels that take up floor space.

2. Though often a negative when used as a cover up of SMART programming and training, the idea of hard work to achieve a goal has also been lost. Pills, elimination diets and infomercials al play to the “You don’t even have to change your lifestyle” to lose weight/get in shape. At least Crossfit makes you sweat. The good news is you can still work hard AND program correctly.

I believe that any great training program has two things at the top of the training pyramid; Strength training and mobility. These two factors will greatly determine how you perform more than anything. As a person develops strength his entire body changes – he becomes leaner and faster. He is able to jump higher and move quicker. This is something I learned in 8th grade; I went from being a very good cross country runner (and not very fast) to being the fastest kid in school after several months of weight training. After running a race and winning, I was walking back to the locker room and thought, “The stronger I get, the faster I wil run.” Now there is a ceiling to this – an athlete that squats 600lbs may not get faster if he improves his squat to 700. But he is already very strong and it may be pointless to spend the time and energy to do so. The key is to make the weak athlete STRONGER. And this is done with a well thought out strength training program that teaches principles that can extend through YEARS, not just for a workout.

Combining a well-thought out strength program like 5/3/1 and the principles of heavy conditioning work such as Crossfit is not hard to do; you just need to put the correct pieces together. The standard Crossfit Workout of the Day, when combined with the 5/3/1 program will not work. The randomness of the WOD’s do not work with a detailed strength training program; too many things are working opposite of each other. The only time this could work would be to train three days/week (on a 10 day rotation; see the example earlier in the book) and picking your favorite WOD’s to do after the main strength work. While not ideal, this could work.

In order to program the weight training and the heavy conditioning work correctly they have to complement each other and not interfere with the next workout. With strength training the core of the training, the template will always start with one basic movement and is followed up with one or two assistance movements. For example:

 Deadlift – 5/3/1, Front Squat (assistance)

 Squat 5/3/1, Good Morning (assistance)

 Bench Press 5/3/1, Chin-ups (assistance)

 Press 5/3/1, Bent Over Rows (assistance)

These lifts would be done with purpose and with precision. There is nothing timed, no circuits and adequate rest is given to perform at the highest level. Following the strength work, the heavy conditioning circuits will begin. The following template can be used, performed in a circuit fashion from exercise 1 through 4.

1.
Full Body Movement
– tire flip, medicine ball slams, medicine ball throws overhead, medicine ball squat to throw, power cleans, power snatches, hang cleans, hang snatches, box jump, long jumps (done as singles (stop and hold landing) or as triple jumps), lunge jumps, kettlebell snatch, star jumps, stone loads, sledgehammer swings, sandbag cleans, sandbag shouldering, sandbag shoulder to carry, bottoms up squats (squat, hold, press, stand), clean/front squat/press, deadlift/clean/front squat/press, dumbbell cleans, dumbbell snatches

2.
Assistance Movement
(see below)

3.
Conditioning Movement
– short sprints (consecutive 40 yards, for example), long runs (400-800M), Prowler push (walk and sprint), sled drag (forward/backward), treadmill sprints, Air Dyne bike sprints, rower, jump rope, heavy bag, speed bag, mountain climbers, bear crawl, wheelbarrow walks, burpees, jumping jacks, ice skater/speed skaters, battling ropes, weighted vest elevated treadmill walk, 4.
Assistance Movement
(see below)

5.
Core Movement
– sit-ups, lying leg raises, planks (front and side), hanging leg raises, abdominal wheel, leg raise throws, stability ball sit-ups, medicine ball sit-up to throw, medicine ball leg raise, dumbbell side bends, crunches, medicine ball side throws (to partner), rainbows, Russian twist, hanging windshield wipers, bicycles, scissor kicks, side plank raises, sit-up with cross punch to partner, reverse crunches, pikes, alternate toe touch and plank (contra-lateral toe touch), plank slide outs, inch worms, side plank reach throughs, cable/band standing side twists, plank punches/pulls
Assistance Movements for Lower Body:
squat, deadlift, trap bar deadlift, front squat, lunge, step-up, safety bar squats, straight leg deadlift, yoke walk (barbell walk), back extensions, good mornings (bar and band), kettlebell swings, Hungarian core blaster, jump squats, rack deadlift, side lunges (lateral lunges), leg press, hack squat, hamstring curls, TRX hamstring curls, glute ham raises, reverse hypers, glute bridges, single leg deadlift, pistol squats, single leg squats (barbell and dumbbell), pin wheel lunges, static hold lunge (for time), wall sits (for time).