5/3/1 July 2012

Today, I finished another 5/3/1 cylce. Tomorrow, I'll be on my way to Poland for a short vacation with my family. Good time for a deload week.

The Program

 I've covered the basic idea of 5/3/1 as well as my tweaks in quite a couple of posts, so here I'll just present the weekly schedule:

• Monday: Power Snatch from Hang, Power Clean from Hang
• Wednesday: Deadlift, Bench Press
• Friday: Squat, Shoulder Press

I didn't always manage to stick to those days, so this week, for example, I had to work out on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. However, the general idea should be clear.

For energy system work, I did the following:

• Tuesday: Anaerobic capacity (stationary bike sprints, I1/I3)
• Thursday: Aerobic capacity (steady state stationary bike, I1)

Also, this time I tossed in some assistance work. After each 5/3/1 session, I'd do 4 sets of pullups to technical failure with 90 seconds of rest in between sets.

The stats

As a base for my calculations, I used the following 1RMs:

• Power Snatch from hang: 60kg
• Power Clean from hang: 70kg
• Squat: 145kg
• Bench Press: 92.5kg
• Deadlift: 145kg
• Shoulder Press: 62.5kg

So here's what I did over the last three weeks in terms of max strength training:

Session #	Exercise	Set	% 1RM	Weight	Reps	H1RM*
1	Snatch	1	65	40	5
		2	75	45	5
		3	85	52,5	4	57
	Clean	1	65	47,5	5
		2	75	52,7	5
		3	85	60	5	68
2	Deadlift	1	65	95	5
		2	75	110	5
		3	85	125	5	141
	Bench Press	1	65	60	5
		2	75	70	5
		3	85	80	5	90
3	Squat	1	65	95	5
		2	75	110	5
		3	85	125	6	145
	Press	1	65	42,5	5
		2	75	47,5	5
		3	85	55	7	66
4	Snatch	1	70	42,5	3
		2	80	50	3
		3	90	55	5	62
	Clean	1	70	50	3
		2	80	57,5	3
		3	90	65	6	75
5	Deadlift	1	70	100	3
		2	80	115	3
		3	90	130	6	151
	Bench Press	1	70	65	3
		2	80	75	3
		3	90	82,5	6	96
6	Squat	1	70	100	3
		2	80	115	3
		3	90	130	4	142
	Press	1	70	45	3
		2	80	50	3
		3	90	57,5	6	67
7	Snatch	1	75	45	5
		2	85	52,5	3
		3	95	57,5	4	63
	Clean	1	75	52,5	5
		2	85	60	3
		3	95	67,5	4	74
8	Deadlift	1	75	110	5
		2	85	125	3
		3	95	137,5	6	160
	Bench Press	1	75	70	5
		2	85	80	5
		3	95	87,5	4	95
9	Squat**	1	75	110	5
		2	85	125	3
		3	95	130	3	138
	Press	1	75	47,5	5
		2	85	55	3
		3	95	60	2	62

* hypothetical 1RM, as calculated with [http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/OneRepMax.html]
** had a video shooting the day before and just couldn't squat below parallel with 137.5kg, so I used 130kg instead

The future

 So when I return to Austria on August 1st, I'll jump right into another cycle. However, I'll tweak the system a bit, so it suits my needs even better:

• I'll probably ditch the power cleans and do weighted pull-ups instead. In his book, "advances in functional training", Boyle points out that it's a common mistake not to treat pull-ups as a strength exercise. So, instead of doing high rep ranges (12+), I'll just make them a part of my 5/3/1 training and follow a GTG-approach on non-lifting days. I felt anyway that Wender's original program - as great as it is in terms of strength gains - is awfully lacking any pulling movement whatsoever. So here the loose ands come together...
• Since I won't be doing pull-ups as assistance anymore, I'll toss in a couple of sets for the core. That'll aid my kicks in that a strong core handles power transfer better. 
• I guess I'll swap the stationary bike for two days of hard kettlebell snatching - Viking Warrior style!

As I'll fight again come September, I won't be doing too many grinds then. Rather, I think I'll focus on snatches, cleans (probably even the full olympic version) and pull-ups, all in a 5/3/1 format.

Guess there'll be a lot going on in Poland, so stay tuned!
So long,

take care