Beyond 5/3/1: Simple Training for Extraordinary Results (21 page)

Exercise – 3 sets

sets

sets

Optional

Optional

Optional

Optional

Assistance Work – Assistance Work – Assistance Work – Assistance Work –

as needed

as needed

as needed

as needed

Week Two

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Press – 3 sets of 5 Deadlift – 3 sets of Bench Press – 3

Squat – 3 sets of 5

reps (only get

5 reps (only get

sets of 5 reps (only

reps (only get

prescribed reps)

prescribed reps)

get prescribed

prescribed reps)

reps)

Pressing Exercise – Leg Exercise – 3

Pressing Exercise – Lower

sets

Back/Hamstring

Exercise – 3 sets

Pulling Exercise – Abdominal

Pulling Exercise –

Abdominal

3

Exercise – 3 sets

3

Exercise – 3 sets

sets

sets

Optional

Optional

Optional

Optional

Assistance Work – Assistance Work – Assistance Work – Assistance Work –

as needed

as needed

as needed

as needed

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Week Three

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Press – 5/3/1, no

Deadlift – 5/3/1,

Bench Press –

Squat – 5/3/1, no

extra reps or

no extra reps or

5/3/1, no extra

extra reps or

assistance work

assistance work

reps or assistance assistance work

work

Week Four (Testing Week)

Day One –
Work up to a new 1RM in the

Deadlift
Day Two –
Work up to new 1RM in

the Bench Press
Day Three –
Work up to new

1RM in the Squat

Note: You can change the testing days or even test on week three – do whatever

you

feel is right for you and when you feel good.

Prowler Challenge

Performance Goal: Perform 10 40-‐‐yard Prowler sprints with 180 pounds

additional weight and 60 seconds rest between sprints.

I originally came up with this idea when I started thinking about how I would

get into shape if I were to play football again. Of course, things started

taking a life of their own and at 37 years old, I am not the same person I

was in college. So I had to drastically alter things for my aging body.

Essentially this is a conditioning challenge. This will push your

conditioning levels higher while maintaining your strength. This is not the

challenge you want to do if your main goal is to get stronger in the main lifts.

It’s just how training works; you pick one goal and with a single-minded

focus, attack it. You don’t try to “lose weight and get stronger but still be able

to run a marathon while becoming an amateur strongman and train for the

police academy.” That’s a sure sign of a Fitness Hipster. Go be average on

your own time, Fitness Hipster. We are training, not fitnessing.

The reasons why I chose the Prowler and not hill sprints (or any other

“hard

conditioning”) are:

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It is awesome – nothing builds character like heavy Prowler work. It also

looks

barbaric.

It is simple – just get behind the thing and push. There is no

technique to the Prowler, you drop your hips and pump your legs.

It is easily loadable. A hill sprint is great but you can’t prescribe a set

number of hill sprints unless everyone has the same grade hill and same

distance. It just doesn’t work and you can’t program it.

Prowler Challenge --‐ Lifting

You will lift weights three times per week. All four lifts (the bench press,

squat, press and deadlift) will be done in these three workouts.

Monday you will squat. Wednesday you will bench press. On Friday,

you will do both the deadlift and the press.

For the conditioning challenge you will reset your numbers. Your training

max will now be lowered to 90% of your 1RM. Because there will be an

emphasis on conditioning, we will strive to maintain, and possibly gain, strength.

But that is all. You squat and deadlift will suffer. You will have some

bad days. Suck it up and move forward. Expect greatness.

There will be no additional lower body lifting other than the main lifts

because the Prowler already taxes your legs and we don’t need anything

else interfering with your goals.

You are welcome to do more reps on the last set, as the usual with the 5/3/1

program. This might be easy during the first month. The second and third

month will start catching up to you and I highly recommend that you only do

the prescribed reps on the squat and deadlift. You are welcome to push the

upper body lifts as you see fit.

After each 5/3/1 cycle is complete, increase your training max as usual: five

pounds for the upper body lifts and 10 pounds for the lower body lifts. On the

fourth week, deload the weights as usual and keep the assistance work the

same.

Prowler Challenge – Conditioning

All Prowler sprints will be done on the vertical horns. These are the black

poles that

the weights are loaded on. You can use the Econo Prowler or regular

Prowler.

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However, if it is a knockoff version (not made by Williams Strength) then I am

unfamiliar with it and do not know if the weights will still apply.

The Prowler Challenge is set to be pushed on a paved street. Not

concrete, not the turf and not grass. You are welcome to push on these

surfaces but the weights will probably have to change and I’m not familiar

with what weights to use. If this is your choice, it is up to you to

find the correct weights.

When my wife did this challenge we simply changed the weights to reflect her

lighter bodyweight and strength level. There are three weights that are

used during this challenge. The light weight is 90 added pounds, the

medium weight is 140 added pounds and the heavy weight is 180 added

pounds. In her case, we used the following: 20 added pounds was the light

weight, 50 added pounds was the medium weight and 90 added pounds was

the heavy weight. The weight of the Prowler is never factored in due

to it being a constant.

Make your own light/medium/heavy weights according to your bodyweight and

strength level. This, again, is up to you to determine.

You will perform three Prowler conditioning workouts per week. These can

be done on any day that fits into your schedule, on training days after you lift

or on the days off. Because the emphasis is on conditioning, I would rather

do the conditioning work on the off days. But that may not be optimal for

many. The key is this: get three workouts of lifting and three workouts

of conditioning in per week.

Prowler Challenge – Diet

This is NOT the time to be cutting calories. Crazy, I know. But you will need

to eat

just like you were in the other challenges. If you want to get weaker and

more

awful, eat like a bird. If you want to maintain (and possibly gain) some

strength and get in insane condition, you have to eat like a goddamn man, not

a baby. Cutting calories and increasing energy expenditure is the sure way

to get weaker. It never made sense to me. Supplementation is the same as

always – quality fish oil, vitamin C and a multi-vitamin are crucial.

If you feel your lifts are suffering, increase your calories by eating bigger

portions or

increasing the number of meals.

Prowler Challenge – Lifting Template

The following lifting template will be used for the duration of the Prowler

Challenge. It would be redundant to write it out each week since it is very

simple and

straightforward. I have added in some additional trap and arm work to make

up for

the lack of upper-body volume.

Monday

• Squat – 5/3/1 sets and reps

• Press – 3 sets of 10 reps @ 60% of your training max

• Pulling Exercise – choose one lat exercise for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps

• Biceps Exercise – choose one biceps exercise for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps

• Ab Exercise – choose one abdominal exercise for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps

Wednesday

• Bench Press – 5/3/1 sets and reps

• Pulling Exercise – choose one lat exercise for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps

• Barbell Shrugs – 5 sets of 10-20 reps

• Triceps Pushdowns or Extensions – 5 sets of 10 reps

• Ab Exercise – choose one abdominal exercise for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps

Friday

• Deadlift- 5/3/1 sets and reps

• Press- 5/3/1 sets and reps

• Pulling Exercise – choose one lat exercise for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps

• Biceps Exercise – choose one biceps exercise for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps

• Ab Exercise – choose one abdominal exercise for 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps

Prowler Challenge – Conditioning for Weeks 1--‐4

Weeks 1-‐‐3
–10, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds. Do not time the

rest periods. Get the work in and just be sure to get all 10 sprints in.

Remember that you will do this three times per week.

Week 4

Day One

• 10, 20-yard sprints with 180 added pounds. Do not time rest

periods. Day Two

• 10, 20-yard sprints with 140 added pounds. Do not time rest periods.

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Day Three

• 10, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Prowler Challenge – Conditioning for Weeks 5--‐8

Week 5

Day One

• 10, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Day Two

• 6, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 90 seconds rest between

sprints. Day Three

• 4, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 90 seconds rest between

sprints.

• Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 8, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Week 6

Day One