What Works and What Doesn't?

I had another question come in from Instagram that I thought was going to drive me one way and it shifted me in the other.

Can 5/3/1 be used for an Elite Lifter?

Of course it can BUT if someone is an Elite Lifter they SHOULD already know what works and what doesn't work for them!

Just look at anything that you are good at. Raising children? Driving? Teaching? Sleeping? Surfing Netflix? I bet you have a method that you've found over the years that works for you. If you are an Elite Lifter you either SHOULD know what works for you or you need to be doing some deep dive searching.

Can I make 5/3/1 work for me? I absolutely have. When I hit my all-time best box squat of 957 with suit straps down and no knee wraps I was using a 5/3/1 program for over 2 years, maybe closer to 3-4 years at that point. Was wearing Gear in the original book written plan? No! What about box squats? Nope! Bands and chains? No way! I even got Jim Wendler ON THE PHON/E one day and he made it really freaking clear that his 5/3/1 program was ABSOLUTELY NOT for geared lifting. But...

I knew that box squats worked. I knew that squatting in gear with my straps down and no knee wraps worked for me. I knew that using bands and chains worked for me. So why would I EVER take out those factors?

So what did I learn from a 5/3/1 adventure:
I needed to do some serious Dynamic Effort work with bands/chains (mostly chains) if I wanted a 900+ box squat and to retain explosive squatting power.
My 5's week I'd normally hit 7-8 reps and the 7-8 reps made my legs and squat GROW more than the heavier weights.
I needed the heavier weights to dial in technique.
My deload week would be a submax single or reverse band single AND I would push accessories like crazy.
I only needed to use straight weight for 4-16 weeks out of a 2 year cycle to dial things in for a huge lift.

So sit down with a pen and paper and start writing down things that you absolutely can't live without in your program. Things that every time you've pulled them out that your performance has decreased...and make sure that they never leave (at least not for very long). List things that you've done that did not work for you, time and time again, and keep them on the side and figure out WHY they didn't work. Were the stupid or did you just do them wrong?

You probably know what to do. If you don't...find someone who can help you determine these thing.

Clint