Wendler 5/3/1 for Stalled Lifts

Once your lifts begin to stall out using our standard linear progression then it’s time to make some changes in order to continue making strength gains. The next step will be to switch to a higher volume linear progression called 5/3/1 developed by Jim Wendler. This program has been used by thousands of people with good success so I won’t rehash all the nuances here. The basic idea is that each session you’ll build up to one maximal effort set where you’ll attempt to do as many reps as possible. The number of repetitions changes each week and thus the loading changes as well.

Here’s a spreadsheet that does all the calculations for you – all you need to do is fill in your maxes. Note that there are 3 warmup sets listed at the bottom that you should do every week prior to your 3 working sets so that’s a total of 6 sets. Once you complete a full cycle you can add 5lbs to your press working max and 10 lbs to your squat and deadlift working maxes and repeat. Put your numbers in and PRINT IT OUT. Don’t come to the gym and ask me what weight and reps you should be using.

There are a few rules to follow if you want to maximize your chances for success:

1. Don’t overstate your maxes. Put in what you can do TODAY.
2. Do NOT go to failure on the final set each day – leave one in the tank. Typically the guys push too hard which can leave you incredibly sore/fatigued and the ladies don’t push hard enough. Be smart. If you’re not sure if you can squeeze out one more rep then just stop but don’t half-ass it either because it gets a little heavy.
3. Do not do too many reps on the last set. If your maxes are set too low then you might find yourself grinding out 15-20 reps during the 5+ rep session but that’s not what we’re looking for. Let’s set some reasonable caps – no more than 12 reps on the 5+ set, no more than 9 on the 3+ set and no more than 6 on the 1+ set.
4. If you hit the rep cap then you should use a larger increase for your working max when preparing for the next cycle. For example if you did 12, 9 and 6 reps of Press during weeks 1-3 respectively then instead of adding 5 lbs to your working max go ahead and add 10lbs. The opposite can be true as well. If you were barely hitting the minimums of 5, 3 and 1 reps then you might want to use a smaller increase for the next cycle.

If you have questions then hit me up at the gym and I’ll be happy to answer them…