The 5/3/1 Bench Routine for the Equipped Lifter
By
Jason Adams
This is a version of Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 routine that I modified to help my
competition bench. I needed something structured to stick to for a while to see
if could make some real progress with my bench. My bench always seemed to do
better when I did 3RMs and 5RMs instead of just 1RMs all the time.
The entire routine is structured around the strength curve that you would use
while benching in a good shirt. The main exercises are floor presses with
chains, 4-boards, 5-boards, and shirted bench work. I started this routine
sixteen weeks out from my meet. Each wave is four weeks long with the last week
as a deload week.
Week 1, wave 1:
Floor press with 80-lb chains, 3 sets of 5 reps with the last set being a
near but not total max. I started with 275 lbs plus the 80-lb chains for my main
last set. The other two sets were 185 lbs and 225 lbs.
Floor press, 4-board with 80-lb chains for two sets. Find a weight that you
can do 5–8 reps with. In my first week I couldn’t even do the same weight that I
could do with full range.
Floor press, 5-board with 80-lb chains for two sets. Add about 20 lbs to the
4-board weight and do 5–8 reps.
Week 2, wave 1:
Floor press with 120-lb chains, 3 sets of 3 reps. Stick with the same bar
weight for each cycle.
Floor press, 4-board with 120-lb chains. Same weight as last week. Keep the
reps to five.
Floor press, 5-board with 120-lb chains. Add about 20 lbs to the 4-board
weight and do five reps.
Week 3, wave 1:
Floor press with 180-lb chains. Work up to your base weight from the last two
weeks for one rep. Perform doubles or triples for your warm-up sets.
Floor press, 4-board with 180-lb chains. Same weight as last week. Keep the
reps to 3–5.
Floor press, 5-board with 180-lb chains. Add about 20 lbs to the 4-board
weight and do 3–5 reps.
Week 4, wave 1:
Floor press or regular bench with straight weight for 3 set of 5 reps with
60%, 65%, and 70% of your straight weight on a 1RM.
I do the main workout on Wednesday, and on Sunday, I do dumbbell bench or
regular 4-board for reps, whatever I feel needs work. My bench always feels
better on Wednesday if I do something on Sunday.
Week 1, wave 2:
Floor press with 80-lb chains, 3 sets of 5 reps. Add 5 lbs to last week’s
weight even on the two work up sets. If you started with 185, 225, and 275 in
the last wave, do 190 X 5, 230 X 5, and 280 X 5.
Floor press, 4-board with 80-lb chains for two sets. My weight on these went
up faster than the full range. Try to add 10 lbs and do 5–8 reps.
Floor press, 5-board with 80-lb chains for two sets. Add about 10 lbs to the
4-board weight and do 5–8 reps.
Week 2, wave 2:
Floor press with 120 lb chains, 3 sets of 3 reps. Stick with the same bar
weight for each cycle.
Floor press, 4-board with 120-lb chains. Same weight as last week. Keep the
reps to five.
Floor press, 5-board with 120-lb chains. Add about 10 lbs to the 4-board
weight and do five reps.
Week 3, wave 2:
Floor press with 180-lb chains. Work up to your base weight from the last two
weeks for one rep. Do doubles or triples for your warm-up sets.
Floor press, 4-board with 180-lb chains. Same weight as last week. Keep the
reps to 3–5.
Floor press, 5-board with 180-lb chains. Add about 10 lbs to the 4-board
weight and do 3–5 reps.
Week 4, wave 2:
Floor press or regular bench with straight weight for 3 set of 5 reps with
60%, 65%, and 70% of your straight weight on a 1RM.
Week 1, wave 3:
Floor press with 80-lb chains, 3 sets of 5 reps. Add 5 lbs to last week’s
weight even on the two work up sets. If the last wave was 190 lbs, 230 lbs, and
290 lbs, do 195 X 5, 235 X 5, and 285 X 5.
Regular bench with shirt for 2 sets of 2 reps, 80% of 1RM.
Floor press, 4- or 5-board with 80-lb chains for two sets. Add about 10 lbs
to last week’s weight and do 5–8 reps.
Week 2, wave 3:
Floor press with 120-lb chains, 3 sets of 3 reps. Stick with the same bar
weight for each cycle.
Regular bench with shirt for 2 set of 2 reps, 85% of 1RM.
Floor press, 4- or 5-board with 120-lb chains. Same weight as last week or if
you feel you are making good progress, go up to what you can do for a 5RM. Keep
the reps to five.
Week 3, wave 3:
Floor press with 180-lb chains. Work up to your base weight from the last two
weeks for one rep. Do doubles or triples for your warm-up sets.
Regular bench with shirt for 2 set of 2 reps, 90% of 1RM.
Floor press, 4- or 5-board with 180-lb chains. Do what you can for 3–5 reps
for two sets.
Week 4, wave 3:
Floor press or regular bench with straight weight for 3 set of 5 reps with
60%, 65%, and 70% of your straight weight on a 1RM.
Week 1, wave 4 (last wave before competition):
Floor press with 80-lb chains, 3 sets of 5 reps. Add 5 lbs to last week’s
weight even on the two work up sets. If the last wave was 195 lbs, 235 lbs, and
285 lbs, do 200 X 5, 240 X 5, and 290 X 5.
Regular bench with shirt for 2 sets of 1 rep, 85% of 1RM.
Floor press, 4- or 5-board with 80-lb chains for two sets. Add about 10 lbs
to last week’s weight and do 5–8 reps.
Week 2, wave 4:
Floor press with 120-lb chains, 3 sets of 3 reps. Stick with the same bar
weight for each cycle.
Regular bench with shirt for 2 sets of 1 rep, 90% of 1RM.
Floor press, 4- or 5-board with 120-lb chains. Do what you can for 3–5 reps
for two sets.
Week 3, wave 4:
Floor press with 180-lb chains. Work up to your base weight from the last two
weeks for one rep. Do doubles or triples for your warm-up sets.
Regular bench with shirt for 2 sets of 1 rep, 95% of 1RM or meet opener.
Floor press, 4- or 5-board with 180-lb chains. Do what you can for 3–5 reps
for two sets.
Week 4, wave 4:
Floor press or regular bench with straight weight for 3 set of 5 reps with
60%, 65%, and 70% of your straight weight on a 1RM.
If floor presses don’t feel like a productive exercise for you, try doing
regular bench presses with chains or bands and wave the tension the same way.
You could use the same tension every week and wave the bar weight. If you feel
you need more practice in the shirt, perform the shirt work first in the last
wave before the meet.
Jason Adams has totaled Elite in two weight classes in only five years of
powerlifting. In the 220-lb class, he has best lifts of an 800-lb squat, a
575-lb bench, and a 625-lb deadlift. His best total is 1900 lbs. Jason recently
moved to the 198-lb class and in two meets has already totaled Elite. He would
like to total 2000 lbs at 198 lbs and be recognized as one of the hardest
working and strongest lifters in his class.
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training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
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