5/3/1 for Joe's friends

5/3/1 is a popular, proven system for training that is effective for trainees of all levels first developed by Coach Jim Wendler with many common variants available for free online. Please see his website for more information.

More details here https://thefitness.wiki/routines/5-3-1-for-beginners/#Main_Lifts_Sets_and_Reps

Quick Program Overview

This section is a barebones overview of the program

On each of the three lifting days, you will be doing the following:

• Quick warmup of jumping or throwing movements.
• Eight sets of your first Main Lift for the day. Your third set is an AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) set. Optionally, three more warmup sets can be done first.
• Eight sets of your second Main Lift for the day. Your third set is an AMRAP set.
• 50-100 reps of one Push, one Pull, and one Single Leg or Core exercise.

General Pre-Workout Warm Up

Before you do any of the lifting, choose one of the following and perform 10-15 total reps over 2-3 sets. This should not take more than 5-10 minutes at most.

• Box Jumps
• Broad Jumps
• Medicine Ball Throws

You can warm up for your work on the Main Lifts with the following sets. This is optional and can be done with minimal rest between each set.

• 5 reps @ 40%
• 5 reps @ 50%
• 3 reps @ 60%

Main Variations

• Deadlift Variations

Trap Bar Deadlift Snatch Grip Deadlift Deficit Deadlift Block Deadlift Rack Deadlift Straight Leg Deadlift

• Squat Variations

Front Squat Box Squat Safety Bar Squat Leg Press Hack Squat

• Press/Bench Press Variations

Incline Press Dumbbell Bench Press Dumbbell Incline Press Dumbbell Press Swiss Bar (Football Bar) Bench Press Swiss Bar (Football Bar) Incline Press Swiss Bar (Football Bar) Press Close Grip Bench Press Floor Press

Assistance Work

Each day, choose one exercise for each of the three categories below, and perform 50 – 100 reps of it. The number of sets you use to accomplish this is not important. You can do all of your reps for each category one at a time, or to finish your workout faster, you can cycle through a set from each category in a circuit. If you choose a bodyweight exercise and cannot complete at least 50 reps, you can choose a second exercise to finish the total out. If you choose a weighted exercise and cannot complete at least 50 reps, you chose a weight that was too high.

Don’t overthink your exercise choices, your weight selection, or your sets and reps – What’s important about this work is just getting a lot of full body volume done.

Progression: – Last set is always AMRAP. Push it. – Start at a minimum of 10×5. If you can’t do this, do assisted reps using bands or a machine. – Work up to 10×10. – After you can comfortably do 10×10, start doing fewer sets with more reps. Work up to 5×20.

Push	Pull	Single Leg/Core
Dips	Chinups	Any Ab / Core Exercise
Pushups	Pullups	Back Raises
Flat DB Bench	Inverted Rows	Reverse Hypers
Incline DB Bench	DB Rows	Lunges
DB OHP	Cable Rows	Step Ups
Tricep Extension	Machine Rows	Bulgarian Split Squats
Tricep Pushdown	Face Pulls	KB Snatches
	Band Pull-Aparts	KB Swings
	Lat Pulldowns
	Curls

Progression rules

At the end of each three workout cycle, you progress by adding weight to the Training Max of your lifts:

Add 5lbs to the TM of upper body lifts (Bench Press and Overhead Press) Add 10lbs to the TM lower body lifts (Squat and Deadlift)

Stalling / Missing Reps

At some point as you’re running this program, you may reach a point where you are unable to complete the sets and reps for your main lifts, either at all or with clean, fast reps. When this happens, it is important to remember:

You may have just had a bad day, so don’t worry if it happens once or twice. It is an expected event in the process of training and getting stronger. It is not necessarily a reason to question, re-evaluate, or significantly change your training. If you find that you are consistently not hitting the sets and reps for a lift over a period of at least one full three week cycle, it is time to lower your Training Max for that lift. The general guideline for this is to reduce it by three cycle increments (15lbs / 30lbs). If you find yourself feeling discouraged by this, again, remember – Your Training Max is not a measure of your progress or your strength. You will continue to make progress and set rep PRs on the AMRAP sets after you deload.