Training

A better way to train with weights

One of the most fundamental decisions every exerciser has to make is how often he or she wants to train each week. A related question is how often each muscle or muscle group should be trained per week.

Train too often and you will have problems recovering sufficiently. Don't train often enough and you'll get back to baseline (or below) between workouts. Obviously, this is an important factor when designing your training program! If you're like most exercisers, your optimal training frequency is three sessions per week.

This recommendation is in stark contrast to some of the popular training styles practiced today:

• Train squats every day: I've seen some compelling arguments for the so-called "Bulgarian" approach from trainers I like and respect, but for reasons I'll get into below, this high-frequency lifestyle is less than optimal for most.
• Bro Splits: These are training splits where you have a leg day, a back day, an arm day, etc. Each muscle group is trained roughly once a week. If you're so damn big and strong that you need six days to recover from training one muscle group, then this is a great training structure. But evaluate yourself honestly - does your chest muscle training wear you out so much that you need almost a week to recover from it? Probably not.
• Push-Pull: This is probably the best of these three examples, but two upper body and two lower body training days per week is probably not a high enough frequency unless you're doing over 160 kilos on the bench and over 250 kilos on squats. If you're not at those numbers yet, you'll be better off training each muscle group a little more frequently.

Success leaves clues

If you haven't done much research on the bodybuilding, weightlifting and powerlifting stars of the fifties, sixties and seventies of the last century, then you may be more impressed than you would have expected.

Despite the relatively primitive status of the performance-enhancing substances, nutritional science and training modalities of the time, there were plenty of strength and physique athletes who could rival the stars of today - guys like Franco Columbo, Anatoly Pisarenko, Bill Kazmaier and Doug Young, to name but a few.

This is not to say that all successful athletes in the field of weight training and bodybuilding trained three times a week back then, but many did. And one of the most established and successful training programs of all time is the legendary "5x5" program of Bill Starr, who - you've probably guessed it - used a three-day-a-week training structure.

This program (and all its variations) is the basic tool of strength coach Mark Rippetoe, who specializes in helping young exercisers gain mass and strength so quickly that they are often falsely accused of doping.

For whom is a training program with 3 training days per week best suited?

Probably for you. Three training days per week tends to work for exercisers who weigh between 85 and 100 kilos and whose training weights are in the following ranges:

• Squats: 140 to 170 kilos
• Bench press: 100 to 130 kilos
• Deadlift: 170 to 200 kilos

If you are significantly lighter and/or weaker than this, then you should consider full body training sessions four times a week or about every other day. If you are stronger, then use the push/pull system. If you are crazy bulky and strong, then use the bro split.

There are also some lifestyle considerations that influence this decision. If you work a lot - and especially if you do physical labor - or if you have a lot of stress or other commitments, then limiting your workouts to 3 per week will pay off for you. Training is only useful if you can recover and regenerate from training - and your training sessions are just one of the many forms of stress you experience during the day.

It's worth noting that back in the fifties, sixties and seventies, most jobs involved more physical labor than they do today. This is probably one of the big reasons (along with less pharmaceutical support) that the three days a week exercise regimen worked so well. So if you're a construction worker who is on your feet all day, a three-day-a-week training program could make a dramatic difference.

Lastly, remember that the law of diminishing returns also applies to training frequency:

• Is training two days a week better than training one day a week? Absolutely.
• Are three workouts a week better than two? Almost all training experts would say yes.
• What about four training sessions per week? This is where things start to get more controversial.

For some people, four workouts a week might be better, but for others it might not. But even if four workouts a week is better, it's probably only slightly better than three. So even if you don't think three workouts a week is better than four, you can't deny the efficiency of getting 90% of the results with only 75% of the work.

With all this in mind, a very practical litmus test for fine-tuning your training frequency is to look at your progress in the gym. If you're working hard and getting results, then your training frequency is probably right. If, on the other hand, you're working your ass off day in, day out and not making progress, it means you're not recovering sufficiently and should consider reducing your training frequency.

The benefits of 3 training sessions per week

1 - Higher frequency

All else being equal, the more you can spread your training volume over a greater number of sessions, the better results you are likely to achieve.

If we compare three training days per week to a push/pull system, then you might notice something interesting. Let's say you typically do 4 sets of chest work, which in a push/pull system means 8 sets per chest exercise per week.

If you move to a full body workout with a 3 training days per week structure, you are now performing 12 sets per week because you will be training your pecs three days per week instead of two. That's a 50% increase in volume. Seems significant, right? And what's even more important is the fact that if you bench press weights in the 100 to 130 kilo range, you'll probably have recovered within 2 days and won't need 3 or 4 days.

If you don't repeat the training stimulus as soon as your recovery is complete, then you will lose some ground. Week after week, month after month, this will add up to a lot of lost ground.

2 - Better recovery

If you train three days a week, then by definition you are recovering four days a week. Combine this with the point about higher training frequency and you start to see the magic. You're training each muscle group more frequently while getting more recovery. That's hard to beat.

By recovery I mean passive and (possibly even better) active recovery. You could simply rest on your four non-training days or do complementary activities like cardio, flexibility training, etc. If you train on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, then you can schedule these restorative activities on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and take Sunday completely off.

3 - Better adherence to the program

In a recent interview, the self-proclaimed "world's strongest bodybuilder" Stan Efferding said that consistency is at the top of the list when it comes to what to consider when training.

He meant that no matter how optimal a given training system is, it won't pay off if you can't do it consistently. Training three days a week will allow you more time in your life besides training - training-free weekends with your family, time for hobbies and enough energy to take on life's responsibilities without being overloaded. Consider this if the stresses of life are interfering with your training sessions.

What it all looks like

If you work out three times a week, you'll be doing full-body workouts, which means you'll be working your upper body and lower body during the same session. These workouts can (and will) be longer than what you're used to if you train more often.

An example training week could look like this:

Monday

• Split squats
• Dumbbell bench press
• Romanian deadlift
• Lat pulldown with close grip
• Standing dumbbell curls
• Lying tricep press

Wednesday

• Pull-ups
• Back extensions
• Bench press
• Hackenschmidt squats
• Tricep presses on the cable pulley
• Cable curls

Friday deadlift

• Deadlift
• T-bar rowing
• Front squats
• Dumbbell incline bench press
• SZ- Curls
• Standing calf raises

Here are a few notes on this hypothetical example:

• The first four exercises of each training session represent the four primary movement patterns for strength and hypertrophy development: squat movement, press, (hip) hinge exercise, and pull. The last two exercises of each training session are optional exercises - things you want to do or should do that don't fit perfectly into the four primary movement patterns.
• The optional exercises can include anything from direct arm training, calf training or ab workouts to loaded carries, power cleans, box jumps or whatever else might fit your needs. You have a lot of flexibility here, which you should use to your advantage.
• The key point is this: if you train your four "big" movement patterns three times a week, then you will stimulate a large muscle terrain with the least number of exercises and minimal redundancy. In other words, you will get the most value for your training investment.
• For each "adjacent" training session, the exercises chosen for each of the primary movement patterns should be as different as possible. If you perform vertical pulls and horizontal presses on Monday, then you should perform horizontal pulls and vertical presses on Wednesday. Since fatigue is specific, maximizing the variance of exercises (within the confines of this template) will allow you to recover faster and you will also be less prone to scheme-specific overuse injuries.
• In a Monday/Wednesday/Friday setup, you will have more recovery time after the Friday session than after the Monday and Wednesday sessions. For this reason, you should place the most demanding exercises - the exercises that require the most recovery - on Friday.
• For me, the latter means deadlifts, but for you it could be something else. I'm also more willing to go hard on the optional exercises on Friday because I know I have more days for recovery and healing. So you could use that day for Loaded Carries or something similarly masochistic.
• The Friday training session can be moved to Saturday with minimal (or no) negative impact on the overall training program. So if you have more muscle soreness than expected on Friday, or if an unexpected event keeps you from training, you have enough flexibility to make adjustments without negative effects.

Adding "supporting" activities to this template

Exercising is a bit like cooking, which results in a great meal but also a messy kitchen. For many exercisers, it's best to spend off-training days cleaning up the kitchen before it's time to cook again.

In my case, I love bench pressing but tend to have a somewhat kyphotic (curved) spine posture, so on my off days I do mobility exercises for my upper back, chest and shoulders. Additionally, I go for a walk to get some blood moving through the body and burn some calories.

If fat loss is part of your goal, these non-training days are the best time to do cardio to boost energy expenditure and fat loss. If you are a recreational athlete, you can use your training-free days to train in the sport of your choice. There are a variety of options here - and you should try them all.

Make this scheme your own

If you are working hard without getting satisfactory results while training four or more days a week, or if you have a physically demanding job, or if you have many responsibilities and a lot of stress, then you should give this approach a chance.

Remember that there is plenty of room for personal customization with this template - whether you are a weightlifter, a bodybuilder, a powerlifter, a strongman athlete or just a serious recreational athlete. Simply apply this template and its basic principles to your own situation.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/lifting-3-days-a-week-is-best

By Charles Staley

If you want to know how strength training works and how to perform the most popular strength training programs, then this is the article for you.

The benefits of strength training

I was 18 years old when I started working out and my motivation was simple: girls liked muscles, I liked girls, so I needed muscles.

So began my quest for bigger muscles and since then I have made many mistakes and learned some important lessons. One of my biggest mistakes was neglecting actual strength training. Back then, when I didn't really know what I was doing, a typical chest workout for me looked like this:

• Flat bench press on the multi press: 4 to 5 sets of 10 to 12 reps.
• Dumbbell flat bench press: 4 to 5 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions
• Bench press on the reverse incline bench: 4 to 5 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions, in superset with push-ups until muscle failure
• Flying movements with dumbbells: 2 to 3 descending sets until muscle failure.

I was doing workouts like this every day, lasting 1.5 to 2 hours, without realizing that this high repetition pump training should never be the focus of a natural exerciser. Instead, I should have spent less time in the gym and done fewer exercises with heavier weights.

Like many people at the time, I thought that building strength didn't necessarily have anything to do with building muscle. I thought that strength training was about getting strong, but not necessarily muscular. I was quite wrong about that...

Strength training and muscle building

There are three primary ways to stimulate muscle growth (1):

• Progressive tension overload
• Muscle damage
• Cellular exhaustion

Progressive tension overload

Progressive tension overload is the most important of these three mechanisms (2). This concept refers to an increase in tension levels in the muscle fibers and the most effective way to achieve this is to keep increasing the weight on the bar over time.

Muscle damage

The concept of muscle damage refers to microscopic injuries - also known as microtraumas - that occur in the muscle fibers due to high levels of tension. This damage needs to be repaired and if the body is provided with sufficient nutrients and rest, it will rebuild the muscle fibers to better cope with future overloads.

Cellular exhaustion

The concept of cellular exhaustion refers to a variety of intracellular and extracellular changes that occur when muscle fibers contract repeatedly (3). When you push your muscle fibers to their metabolic limits through repetitive actions to the point of muscle failure, you induce large amounts of cellular exhaustion.

These three mechanisms can be seen as separate muscle growth pathways. Each of them stimulates muscle growth, but this stimulation is not equal. This is related to what scientists call the "strength-endurance continuum" (4).

• Heavy training with weights with low repetitions builds strength and results in large amounts of muscle damage.
• Lighter training with weights with higher repetitions increases muscle endurance and results in less muscle damage.

Few people will argue that pump training with high repetitions builds strength as well as training with low repetitions and high weights. Just look at the best strength training programs in the world: they all involve a lot of heavy training.

What surprises many people, however, is that heavy weight training is also very effective for building muscle mass (5). In fact, if you want to reach your maximum genetic potential for muscle growth, you need to do more strength training and less "bodybuilding" workouts.

You might be wondering why fitness model XY performs an infinite number of repetitions and still has an amazing body. The answer is that things look very different when performance-enhancing anabolic compounds come into play.

Want to get muscular? Then you need to get strong

That's the bottom line. This does not mean that training with high repetition numbers has no right to exist in the training program of a natural trainer. But it is most relevant for experienced trainers and it can never completely replace heavy training.

Now that I've made your mouth water enough about training with heavy weights, it's time to go into more detail.

The best strength training programs

If you're used to bodybuilding-style training with high reps and high volume, the transition to real strength training can be a little bumpy at first.

• You'll be moving some intimidatingly heavy weights on presses, pulls and squats.
• Depending on the program you follow, you will probably train certain muscle groups more or less often than before.
• Your workouts will feel less draining overall.
• You will rest significantly longer between sets
• Your training sessions will probably be shorter.

Don't be surprised if once you start your strength training program you want to do more during your workouts...by using shorter rests and increasing the frequency of your workouts and/or exercises. Don't be tempted to make these rookie mistakes.

What you may not realize at the beginning of a strength training program is how quickly systemic fatigue can build up if you try to do too much heavy training too quickly. This can lead to overtraining, which can throw your training and progress completely off track.

Remember that your main goal in your strength training sessions is to get stronger - not to maximize the number of calories burned, the pump or the sweat. This simple shift in your mindset will help you tremendously.

Before you'll be able to do any of the programs we'll cover later, you need to know a little bit about how much weight you can move in different exercises. More specifically, we're talking about your 5RM weight - the maximum weight you can perform 5 technically correct repetitions of a given exercise.

Most programs revolve around the 5RM weight and there are basically two ways to determine this for a given exercise. The first is to find this weight simply by experimentation, which will give the most accurate results.

Alternatively, there are various calculators on the internet which, by entering a training weight and the number of repetitions you can perform with this weight, provide a more or less good estimate of your 5RM weight for the exercise in question.

The best strength training programs for beginners

If real strength training or heavy barbell training is still something relatively new to you, then I usually recommend starting with one of the following tried and tested programs.

Starting Strength

Starting Strength is one of the most popular strength training programs for good reason. This program was published in 2005 by Mark Rippetoe and the third edition of this book is now a staple of bodybuilding literature (6). If you're serious about training with weights, you should read Starting Strength - even if you don't plan to follow this program.

The reason Starting Strength is so appealing to many people - and especially people just starting out with weights - is that it's simple, effective and suitable for a wide range of goals.

• If you want to get strong, Starting Strength can help.
• If you want to build muscle, Starting Strength can help you do that too.
• If you want to improve your athletic ability, Starting Strength will do the job.

The bottom line is that if you're new to strength training or heavy barbell training, you can't go wrong if you start with Starting Strength.

The Starting Strength program

Starting Strength workouts are very simple. They rely on a handful of basic exercises and the focus of the program is to end up moving the heaviest weights possible.

You alternate between two workouts

Unlike muscle confusion programs, in Starting Strength you will only perform two workouts:

No, I haven't forgotten anything here. There are only four exercises for your first Starting Strength training sessions and only six for the entire program.

You will do 3 workouts per week

Your first month will look like this:

You start each exercise in your training sessions with warm-up sets

Warm-up sets prepare your muscles and connective tissue for the heavy training that follows. You perform your first warm-up set with the empty bar and then increase the weight evenly over the course of several sets up to your working weight.

For example, if you perform 5 repetitions of squats with 140 kilos, your warm-up program would look like this:

• Empty bar (20 kilos): 2 sets of 5 repetitions
• 60 kilos: 2 sets of 5 repetitions
• 90 kilos: 1 set of 3 repetitions
• 120 kilos: 1 set of 2 repetitions
• 140 kilos (working set): 3 sets of 5 repetitions

After you have warmed up, you move on to your heavy training.

How much weight should you use for your heavy sets?

Your heavy sets should be performed with a weight that allows you to perform 5 repetitions with good form (and no more and no less).

If you're new to heavy training, it's a good idea to start with a slightly lighter weight than the calculated 5 RM weight and slowly increase as you feel comfortable with the weight.

Rest between sets

Rest 2 to 5 minutes between sets. When you move on to your next set, you should no longer be breathing heavily or feel exhausted from the previous set.

When and how to increase the weight

If you have successfully completed 3 sets of 5 repetitions in a training session, then increase the weight by 2.5 kilos the next time you perform this exercise.

So if you were able to perform 5 repetitions with 100 kilos for all sets of squats in training session A, then increase the weight for squats in training session B to 102.5 kilos.

What should you do if you are unable to complete the specified number of repetitions?

If you are unable to perform 5 repetitions on all sets of an exercise - let's say you can do 5, 4 and 3 repetitions - then stick with the weight you are using until you can do 5 repetitions on all 3 sets.

If you can't do 5 reps on your first set, and can only do 2 or 3 reps on your second and third sets, then the weight is too heavy.

If you reach a point where you have not been able to increase the weight for two workouts in a row, then it's time for a reset. You do this by performing your warm-up sets and then performing a set at 90% of your best 5RM weight for each exercise.

In the second part of this article series, we'll take a look at other popular and proven strength training programs like 5 x 5 and the Texas Method.

By: Mike Matthews

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 Powerlifting System is so popular because it works! Wendler lets you train 3 to 4 days a week with a rotating wave system.

Training description

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 Powerlifting System is quickly becoming one of the most popular powerlifting and strength building programs on the planet. A few years ago, most powerlifters I know were still using the Westside Barbell System. Westside was the gospel and there was no other. But today, things have changed. A good percentage of my friends use Wendler's 5/3/1 or a Westside/Wendler combination. Westside is still the king of powerlifting programs, but Wendler's 5/3/1 has emerged as an alternative worth considering.

In this guide to Wendler's 5/3/1 you will find information on the 2, 3 and 4 day splits. You'll also find information about a Wendler 5/3/1 Westside Hybrid program. I've also included detailed information about supportive training - including possible variations described in Wendler's 5/3/1 e-book.

The core components of Wendler's 5/3/1

• 4 to 5+ week mesocycle: A Wendler's 5/3/1 mesocycle lasts 4 weeks if you train 4 days per week and 5+ weeks if you train 3 days per week. If you train three times a week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday), then you will rotate 4 core training sessions. If you train 4 days per week, you will perform each training session once per week on the same training day.
• 4 core training sessions: Wendler's 5/3/1 consists of 4 core workouts

• Training session A: Squats and supportive training
• Training session B: Bench press and assistance training
• Training session C: Deadlift and supportive training
• Training session D: Overhead press and assistance training

• 3 days per week: As mentioned above, if you use Wendler's 5/3/1 and train three days per week, you will rotate between 4 workouts. Over the course of a mesocycle, you will perform each of these four workouts four times, for a total of 16 workouts. The weeks of the mesocycle are as follows:

• Week 1: Monday - training session A, Wednesday - training session B, Friday - training session C
• Week 2: Monday - training session D, Wednesday - training session A, Friday - training session B
• Week 3: Monday - training session C, Wednesday - training session D, Friday - training session A
• Week 4: Monday - training session B, Wednesday - training session C, Friday - training session D
• Week 5: Monday - training session D, Wednesday - training session A, Friday - training session B
• Week 6: Monday - training session D

• 4 days per week: If you use Wendler's 5/3/1 and train 4 days per week, your mesocycle will only last 4 weeks. Your weekly training program should look something like this:

• Monday: Squat day
• Wednesday: Bench press day
• Friday: deadlift day
• Saturday: overhead press day

• The training session waves: Each training session is performed four times over the course of a Wendler 5/3/1 mesocycle. Simply put, you will perform 4 bench press workouts, 4 squat workouts, 4 deadlift workouts and 4 overhead press workouts. Each specific workout (A-B-C-D) consists of 4 waves or 4 different workouts. These waves are:

• Wave A. Warm-up, 75% x 5, 80% x 5, 85% x 5
• Wave B. Warm-up, 80% x 3, 85% x 3, 90% x 3
• Wave C. Warm-up, 75% x 5, 85% x 3, 95% x 1
• Wave D. Discharge wave - 60% x 5, 65% x 5, 70% x 5

The complete mesocycle of Wendler's 5/3/1 in detail

Now that we've looked at the practical basics of the Wendler 5/3/1 powerlifting program, it's time to put it all together into a structured mesocycle. It should be noted at this point that the following tables do not include supportive training. The letters (ABCD) after the core workouts represent the corresponding wave that you will perform on that training day.

Exercise substitutions

For each of the 4 workouts (ABCD), you can replace the primary workout with an appropriate substitute at the beginning of a new mesocycle. The following are examples of acceptable substitutions:

• Squats: you can replace squats with box squats, front squats, squats with bands or chains, etc.
• Bench Press: You can replace bench presses with floor presses, 2 board presses, rack presses, etc.
• Deadlift: You can replace deadlifts with deficit deadlifts, rack pulls, deadlifts with bands or chains, etc.
• Overhead presses: You can replace overhead presses with push presses (standing shoulder presses with momentum from the legs), dumbbell shoulder presses, rack presses, etc.

Supportive training

How much supportive training you do is entirely up to you. Natural trainers should try not to spend more than 60 minutes in the gym. If you can't complete your training sessions within this time frame, then you need to take a long, hard look at the rest intervals you allow yourself between sets of supportive training.

A quote from Wendler on training duration:

"People laugh and call me crazy while they do their 3 hour workouts and make no progress at all. Sometimes it's not what you do in the weight room, but what you don't do that will lead to success."

Wendler's 5/3/1 book presents the following supportive training plans:

• Boring But Big: Main exercise, again the main exercise with 5 x 10 (50% of the 1RM) and 5 more sets of another support exercise. - The Triumvirate: Main exercise and 2 supporting exercises with 5 sets each.
• I'm Not Doing Jack Shit (I'm not doing anything at all): Main exercise and nothing else.
• Periodization Bible by Dave Tate: Main exercise and 3 exercises of 5 x 10-20 repetitions each.
• Bodyweight: Main exercise and two bodyweight-only exercises such as pull-ups, dips, sit-ups, etc.

Here are some example training plans for supportive training based on your goals.

Supportive training for strength building

Squat training session

• Squats: 5 x 10 x 50%
• Leg curls: 5 x 10

Bench press training session

• Bench press: 5 x 10 x 50%
• One-arm dumbbell row: 5 x 10

Deadlift training session

• Deadlift: 5 x 8 x 50%
• Hanging leg raises: 5 x 12

Overhead press training session

• Overhead press: 5 x 10 x 50%
• Pull-ups: 5 sets until muscle failure

Supportive training for bodybuilders

Squat Training Session Day - Supporting Exercises Option A

• Hackenschmidt squats: 4 sets of 10-20 repetitions
• Leg extensions: 4 sets of 10-30 repetitions
• Leg curls: 4 sets of 10-15 repetitions
• Sit-ups with additional weight: 4 sets of 10 repetitions

Squat Training Session Day - Supporting Exercises Option B

• 45 degree leg press - 4 sets of 10-20 repetitions
• Leg extensions - 4 sets of 10-30 repetitions
• Leg curls - 4 sets of 10-15 reps
• Sit-ups with additional weight - 4 sets of 10 reps

Bench Press Training Session Day - Supporting Exercises Option A

• Dumbbell bench press: 4 sets of 10-20 repetitions
• Dips (with additional weight): 4 sets of 8-15 repetitions
• Flying movements with dumbbells: 4 sets of 12 repetitions
• Tricep presses on the cable pulley: 4 sets of 10-20 repetitions

Bench Press Training Session Day - Supporting Exercises Option B

• Dumbbell incline bench press - 4 sets of 10-20 repetitions
• Dip (with additional weight) - 4 sets of 8-15 repetitions
• Flying movements with dumbbells - 4 sets of 12 repetitions
• Tricep presses on the cable pulley - 4 sets of 10-20 repetitions

Deadlift Training Session Day - Supporting Exercises Option A

• Pull-ups: 4 sets of 10-12 repetitions
• Rowing bent over with a dumbbell: 4 sets of 15 repetitions/arm
• Hyperextensions: 4 sets of 10 repetitions (with a barbell in the neck)
• Hanging leg raises: 4 sets of 15 repetitions

Deadlift training session day - Supporting exercises option B

• Lat pulldown - 4 sets of 10-12 repetitions
• Rowing bent forward - 4 sets of 15 reps/arm
• Reverse hyperextensions - 4 sets of 12 repetitions
• Hanging leg raises - 4 sets of 15 reps

Overhead Press Workout Day - Supporting Exercises Option A

• Dumbbell shoulder press sitting: 4 sets of 10 reps
• Rowing upright with a barbell: 4 sets of 10 repetitions
• Dumbbell side raises: 4 sets of 10-15 repetitions
• Standing barbell curls: 4 sets of 10 repetitions

Overhead Press Training Session Day - Supporting Exercises Option B

• Shoulder presses on the hammer machine - 4 sets of 10 repetitions
• Rowing upright with a rope handle - 4 sets of 10 reps
• Reverse flying movements bent forward - 4 sets of 10-15 reps
• Standing dumbbell curls - 4 sets of 10 reps

Notes on Wendler's 5/3/1

Maximum weight for one repetition (1RM)

When you start with Wendler's 5/3/1, you should use a realistic maximum weight for one repetition (1RM weight). It's better to start slightly below your estimated max weight and work your way up than to overestimate your 1RM weight and waste a mesocycle. Powerlifting is not a sprint - it's a marathon. Don't kill yourself at the start. Wendler recommends starting the first mesocycle at 90% of your 1RM weight.

The last set

Jim Wendler recommends going all out on the last set of the core exercise in every training session. Remember that the core exercise is either squats, bench presses, deadlifts or overhead presses. On this last set, perform as many repetitions as you can with the given weight. Do not use this approach in the unload training sessions.

Increase the weight

After each mesocycle, add 2.5 kilos to your 1RM for bench press and overhead press and 5 kilos to your 1RM weight for squats and deadlifts and recalculate your percentages of 1RM weight. If you do Wendler's 5/3/1 for a year, this progression scheme will add 25 kilos to your bench press and shoulder press weight and 50 kilos to your deadlift and squat weight. Be patient and stick to the plan.

2 days per week approach

Those who can only make it to the gym twice a week can use the following template:

• Monday - squats and bench press
• Thursday - deadlift and overhead press

This is a 4 week cycle. Perform the core exercises first and then add appropriate supporting exercises. Remember to limit your time per training session to 60 minutes.

Wendlers 5/3/1 and Westside Hybrid

Wendlers 5/3/1 is a very flexible training system. For this reason, the door is wide open to combine Wendler's training system with core components of the Westside system.

Some exercisers may want to integrate dynamic effort days (DE) from Westside Training. How you structure this integration is up to you.

Some exercisers will be able to do heavy squats and heavy deadlifts on one day and then use the second day for posterior chain dynamic effort training.

Others may choose to combine heavy Wendler squats with deadlifts with dynamic effort and heavy Wendler deadlifts with squats with dynamic effort.

Other possible integrations of Westside and Wendler might be to skip the heavy overhead press day and instead perform overhead press exercises on bench press days. This would free up one training day per week for bench press training with dynamic effort.

Example program structure for Westside/Wendlers 5/3/1

• Monday - Bench press with dynamic effort. Heavier overhead press.
• Tuesday - Wendler's squat day. Deadlift with dynamic effort.
• Thursday - Wendler's bench press day.
• Friday - Wendler's deadlift day. Squats with dynamic effort.

Use exercises that address your weak points for supportive training. Please remember that this sample hybrid program is just one of many possible examples I've presented to get you thinking about the possibilities. There are many ways to combine Westside and Wendler and many reasons to want to do so.

If you are starting out with a hybrid program, approach it with caution. Start slowly and work your way up. Don't plan too much work into your hybrid program. It's better to get the right feel for a hybrid program first and then keep adding work than to literally kill yourself and then have to cut back.

Final notes

Far too many young exercisers are looking for magical training programs. Wendler's 5/3/1 powerlifting program is not magical. It works if you train hard and stick with the program. Wendler's 5/3/1 generally needs to be done over several mesocycles - so don't choose this program if you don't want to stick with it.

There are many heated discussions about which training system is best. In this context, remember that the key to success with any program is your drive to succeed.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/hardcore-look-at-jim-wendlers-5-3-1-powerlifting-system.html