Current Lifting Program
Somebody the other day asked about my current lifting program. It’s roughly Wendle’s 5-3-1 but more sloppy because I don’t always end up getting 4 days a week.
How to interpret the junk below
- 5x5+ : Five sets of five or more repetitions.
- @ 75-80% : The weight is seventy five to eight percent of my one-rep max. One-rep max is the highest amount of weight that I can handle with mostly proper form on that particular lift.
- This setup is generally done for 3 weeks + 1 week to “deloads”, which is essentially a break/lighter load week. Half the time I ignore deload weeks since I have plenty of times I miss a random few days or week because of life.
The schedule
Monday:
- Basic arm/shoulder warm ups
- Alternate Each Week: Push Press/Strict Overhead Press.
- 5x3 @ 50-65% warm up sets
- Numbers: 3x5+ @ 75-80% first week, 3x3+ @ 80-85% second week, 1x5, 1x3, 1x1+ @ 90-95% third week.
- Dumbbell accessories (fly’s, shoulder movements, etc.)
Wednesday:
- Lower body/core warm ups, including calve stretches, ankle mobility movements while holding a 45 plate, and other basic stretch movements.
- Deadlift.
- Numbers: 3x5+ @ 75-80% first week, 3x3+ @ 80-85% second week, 1x5, 1x3, 1x1+ @ 90-95% third week.
- Bent-Over Barbell row accessory, relatively low weight. 4-5 sets of about 7-10 reps.
Friday:
- Basic arm/shoulder warm ups
- Bench press
- Some combo of close-grip bench, dumbbell movements for the arms, dumbbell movements for the mid back
- Numbers: 3x5+ @ 75-80% first week, 3x3+ @ 80-85% second week, 1x5, 1x3, 1x1+ @ 90-95% third week.
Saturday or Sunday:
- Lower body/core warm ups, including calve stretches, ankle mobility movements while holding a 45 plate, and other basic stretch movements.
- Squat. Usually high bar, but playing around with low bar recently since I’m lousy at getting depth.
- Front squats for 3-4 sets, 5-7 reps each.
- Numbers: 3x5+ @ 75-80% first week, 3x3+ @ 80-85% second week, 1x5, 1x3, 1x1+ @ 90-95% third week.
I would like to incorporate some more Strongman style lifts. More to come of course though.