I have been training 5/3/1 for a long time now. Over the years I have been through dozens of programs. Even though I'll try to shake things up a bit from time to time, the following is the one that I seem to keep going back to. It has given me a nice balance of strength and conditioning while keeping my body feeling healthy.
For those who are familiar with 5/3/1 programming, I order my microcycles 3's week with AMRAP, 5's week no AMRAP, and finish up the 5/3/1 week with AMRAP. For those not familiar with 5/3/1, first welcome back from getting out from under that rock, then, it means I begin with the moderately heavy week, followed by a lighter week, and lastly, the heavy week.
You'll notice I take the middle week off from AMRAP. I don't know if it's my age, or my level of lifting and experience, but I find I don't recover from doing AMRAP every week adequately. Having that middle week off from it has seemed to work well for me.
MONDAY:
OHP (using core blaster/viking handle setup) 5/3/1 w/3x5 fsl
Plate raises 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
T-bar row 3-5 sets of 6-10 reps
Shrug (using core blaster/viking handle setup) 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Hammer curl 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps
Underhand tri ext 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
WEDNESDAY:
Deadlift (using dead squat/trap bar) 5/3/1 w/3x5 fsl
RDL (using dead squat/trap bar) 3-5 sets of 10 reps
Pulldown 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
45° Back Raise 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Roman Chair Situps 3-5 sets of 10 reps
Calf Raises 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps
FRIDAY:
Bench 5/3/1 w/3x5 fsl
Inverted rows 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Dips 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Rear lateral raise 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Dumbbell tri ext 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Curl bent or straight bar 3-5 sets of 6-10 reps
SATURDAY:
Squat (using safety squat bar) 5/3/1 w/3x5 fsl
Lunge 3-5 sets of 10
GHR 3-5 sets of 10-15
Ab Wheel Rollouts 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Banded Sissy Squats 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Calf Raises 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps
With assistance you'll notice a variety of rep ranges. When you see them set a little lower, the weight is definitely higher on those exercises. Conversely, the higher rep ranges are used with lower weight. I know this goes without saying for some, but I find I have lifters of all experience levels reading my blog.
Hope this has helped some of you out. Thanks for reading.
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