5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength (2nd Edition) (7 page)

Don’t get overzealous with one area for too long. If you do, expect to spend the same amount of time getting neglected areas up to par. Remember this when choosing assistance exercises, and try to achieve balance in your training with both exercises and muscles.

Assistance Work #1: Boring But Big

This is probably the most popular assistance work to accompany this program, and it’s real y very simple. After you perform the sets and reps of the program, you simply follow it up with the same exercise for 5 sets of 10 reps. For example:

Sunday

Military Press – 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever week you’re on) Military Press – 5 sets of 10 reps

Chin-ups – 5 sets of 10 reps

Monday

Deadlift – 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever week you’re on) Deadlift – 5 sets of 10 reps

Hanging Leg Raise – 5 sets of 15 reps

Wednesday

Bench Press - 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever week you’re on) Bench Press – 5 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell Row – 5 sets of 10 reps

Friday

Squat - 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever week you’re on) Squat – 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg Curl – 5 sets of 10 reps

Don’t let the simplicity of this fool you. You’l get sore, and you’l be tired. The big question here is how much weight to use for the “down” sets of 10 reps. The first time you try this, go light.

Very
light. Go with something you know will be easy – maybe around 30-40% of your training max. From there, you can work with 50-60%, or whatever you want. You don’t have to progress on these down sets, although you don’t have to use the same weight, either. Although you
can
.

It simply doesn’t matter! Just do 5 sets of 10 reps and build some muscle. Since you’re already warmed up, you can pyramid
down
here. For example: Squat – 315x10, 315x10, 275x10, 245x10, 245x10

You can stay with the same weight for al the sets, but that’s boring as hel . Boring, but big.

Make sure all percentages of Boring but Big are based on your training max, not your actual max.

Assistance Work #2: The Triumvirate

This is the smart man’s way to train, because it’l force you to think about which exercises are the most effective. It’l make you experiment and reevaluate. Al we’re going for here is to limit each workout to 3 exercises, including the big one. Here’s an example:
Sunday

Wednesday

Military Press – 5/3/1

Bench Press - 5/3/1

Dips – 5 sets of 15 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press – 5 sets of 15 reps

Chin-ups – 5 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell Row – 5 sets of 10 reps

Monday

Friday

Deadlift – 5/3/1

Squat - 5/3/1

Good Morning – 5 sets of 12 reps

Leg Press – 5 sets of 15 reps

Hanging Leg Raise – 5 sets of 15 reps

Leg Curl – 5 sets of 10 reps

This is very similar to Boring But Big, but you don’t have to do the same exercise over and over again, and you don’t have to do 5 sets. Just do the 3 exercises you’ve found to be the most effective for your training.

One problem I see is that people feel they need to do something for everything. In reality, one or two exercises can get the work done. I used to have problems with my grip and my lockout when I deadlifted. I was given a laundry list of exercises I should do to bring these up: reverse hypers, glute-ham raises, kneeling squats, shrugs, plate pinches, gripper work, finger-strengthening work and gripper closes.
No thanks
.

After constantly failing and having my deadlift go nowhere, I came across Kroc Rows, as described earlier. These did the trick like nothing else I’ve tried.

I did one or two sets of high-rep dumbbell rows every week. My upper back got bigger, my grip problems went away, my lats got stronger, and my lockout improved – and because my upper back was so much stronger, my bench, in turn, was more stable. So with one exercise done for two sets a week at most, many of my problems went away.

The point of the story is this:
find your Kroc Row
. Quit farting around with a million things for your lower back and settle on the one that will make you strong. People ask me why I love dips so much. Have you found a better exercise for your shoulders, chest and triceps? I haven’t.

What about chins? Besides a barbell or dumbbell row, few things can compare.

How about good mornings for your hamstrings and back?

Weighted sit-ups or hanging leg raises? You can feel free to go twist on your ball. I’l take these two.

I’m not in the weight room to jerk off to a bunch of different exercises and go nowhere. For more than 20 years, I’ve been walking into weight rooms, but I’ve never entered to train, exercise, work out or get a pump. I go into the weight room to
get strong
.

Assistance Work #3: I’m Not Doing Jack Shit

This is my favorite. I don’t recommend it, but it’s useful for non-beginners who have limited time to train. The I’m Not Doing Jack Shit program entails walking into the weight room, doing the big lift for the day (bench, squat, military or deadlift), and then walking out. I’ve done this plenty of times, especial y when I’ve trained in commercial gyms.

There are some advantages to this. You’l be supremely focused on one thing: getting your sets done and breaking a PR. You won’t be worried about your assistance work, whether a machine is going to be available, or how much good mornings suck. I’ve made this deal with myself many times before I’ve trained: If I do X weight for X amount of reps, I’m leaving.

I do this fairly often, and I’m sure it seems odd. I recently went to a commercial gym, warmed up, did my working sets and set a huge PR. I sat there for a little while, then decided to leave.

As I was walking out, I looked around at the other people training, and I wondered whether anyone else had set a personal record that day. For my part, I know I walked out of there better than I did when I walked in.

The disadvantages here are obviously the lack of both volume and balance, but it can work for a while. If I had very little time to train, I’d do this. Sometimes, when you’re struggling to find time to train, you think you can’t make progress. With this type of training, you wil .

Assistance Work #4: Periodization Bible by Dave Tate
This pattern of assistance work is inspired by an article Dave Tate wrote called
The
Periodization Bible, Part I
. This is the piece that launched a thousand box squats, speed benches and good mornings, but very few deadlifts.
That was a joke
.

Day 1

Military Press (5/3/1)

 Shoulders or Chest – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (DB bench, DB Incline, DB Military, Incline press, Dips, Pushups)

 Lats or Upper Back – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (DB rows, Bent Over Rows, Chins, T-bar Rows, Lat Pulldowns, Face Pulls, Shrugs)

 Triceps – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (Triceps Pushdowns or Triceps Extensions)
Day 2

Deadlift (5/3/1)

 Hamstrings – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (Leg Curls, Glute-Ham Raise)  Quads – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (Leg Press, Lunges, Hack Squats)  Abs – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (Sit-ups, Hanging Leg Raises, Ab Wheel, DB Side Bend)
Day 3

Bench Press (5/3/1)

 Shoulders or Chest – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (DB bench, DB Incline, DB Military, Incline press, Dips, Pushups)

 Lats or Upper Back – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (DB rows, Bent Over Rows, Chins, T-bar Rows, Lat Pulldowns, Face Pulls, Shrugs)

 Triceps – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (Triceps Pushdowns or Triceps Extensions)
Day 4

Squat (5/3/1)

 Low Back – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (Reverse Hyper, Back Raise, Good Morning)  Quads – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (Leg Press, Lunges, Hack Squats)  Abs – 5 sets of 10-20 reps (Sit-ups, Hanging Leg Raises, Ab Wheel, DB Side Bend) You can change exercises however you see fit. This won’t make or break your program. You need to do enough assistance work to keep you balanced, strong and big – but not enough of it to break your performance on the big lifts.

There are no real disadvantages to this kind of assistance work.

Assistance Work #5 – Bodyweight

When I want to focus on feeling athletic and healthy while still maintaining muscle mass, I do this. It’s probably my favorite template to do these days other than Jack Shit. This involves doing al your assistance work with bodyweight exercises. It’l put a lot less stress on you, especially with your lower body.

Military Press – 5/3/1

Deadlift – 5/3/1

Bench – 5/3/1

Squat – 5/3/1

 Chins

 GHR

 Chins

 One leg squat

 Dips

 Leg Raises

 Pushups

 Sit-ups

I recommend no less than 75 reps per exercise for each workout. The one leg squats can get a little tough, so you may want to substitute lunges instead. Bodyweight exercises always make me feel strong, flexible and healthy. They’re a great way for beginners to learn how to lift, and they’re great for older lifters who want to limit the stress they’re putting on their bodies.

The advantage to this is that it’s very easy on your body and joints. The disadvantage is that you can’t really load most of these exercises, so the only way to improve is with more reps or sets – not with more weight.

Programming Your Assistance Work – The Simplest Strength
Template

I get asked more questions about assistance work than anything else. Because of the enormous amount of variety with assistance work, I can see why. That is why I created a very easy and effective way of programming the “big” assistance lifts. These are the second lifts that are performed each day and the most important assistance lifts. These are multi-joint assistance lifts that are designed to make you stronger.

Like the 5/3/1 program, the sets and reps are varied each week and are given a set percentage for each set. You are going to have to test yourself on these lifts to get an estimated 1RM for each lift. This may seem time consuming but so I’d rather take the time to figure out the lifts than be weak.

The next few pages is an example 4 week template of how the program will look during a full training cycle. Here are the sets and reps for each lift, for each week.

Week One – 50%x10, 60%x10, 70%x10

Week Two – 60%x8, 70%x8, 80%x6

Week Three – 65%x5, 75%x5, 85%x5

Week Four - 40%x5, 50%x5, 60%x5

You will notice that each day ONE big assistance lift is done. Just ONE. Don’t try to apply this to multiple assistance lifts on the same day; one of the things people need to learn is that you don’t have to kil yourself during every workout to make progress. You should always leave something in the weight room i.e. you should feel tired but not dead after a workout. Training for strength is a marathon, not a sprint.

For each lift (squat, bench, deadlift, press) there is a corresponding assistance lift that goes with it. I have paired the squat day with an assistance pulling movement, the deadlift with a squatting exercise, the press with a supine press and the bench press with an elevated press (incline, for example.)

There are many assistance exercises to choose from but they have to fal into the “big” category AND be an easily loadable exercise. Front squats would fall into this category, face pull and dumbbell benches would not. There is a complete list given to give you some ideas. Each of these lifts were chosen as great exercises to bring up your big lifts, make you strong and have been proven to work.

Finally, the assistance lifts are always done with the 90% rule – take 90% of your 1RM and work up the same as you would on your main lifts – 10lbs for lower body lifts and 5lbs for upper body lifts. The final sets are not done to failure and I would even caution you to do any more reps than the prescribed. As noted in the Training Rules to be Awesome: Strive to have a great workout on the main lifts, and a good workout on the assistance.

The assistance exercises that I have chosen to program are the ones that I believe to have the greatest carryover to the major lifts (squat, bench and deadlift). So these are: the front squat (or the safety bar squat), straight leg deadlift (or good morning), close grip bench press and incline press. For basic barbell movements, these are always great for being strong. Barbell rows are great but I believe that high rep dumbbell rows (Kroc Rows) are better for grip and upper back strength. So the template that is presented below, at this point in my training career, is the one that I recommend for anyone that wants to get stronger and more awesome. It includes all the appropriate big lifts and the assistance work that I believe works the best.

If you want to perform power cleans, please do so FIRST on any of the lower body days (squat and deadlift). You would program this just like a regular 5/3/1 lift.

I believe this is the simplest and easiest and most effective training template for getting stronger.

Week One