By Dan Finck
This week we are beginning a new strength program. We will be spending the next 8 weeks focusing on the back squat, shoulder press, deadlift, and weighted pull up / ring row. Hopefully you were able to make it in last week for the CrossFit Total, 1 rep max for the back squat, shoulder press, and deadlift.
We will be using percentages so you’ll know exactly how much weight to put on the bar for every set. The program also tells you how many reps to do in each set except for the last one. You’re last set will be referred to as a “plus set.” In this set perform as many reps as possible, while maintaining good form.
We will explain the program in more detail in class, but here are a few things you should know about the 5-3-1 strength program before we get started from Jim Wendler’s 5-3-1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System to Increase Raw Strength:
Start Too Light
“My coaches emphasized this to me when I was in high school, but unfortunately, I didn’t listen.
Hopefully you will. Starting too light allows for more time for you to progress forward. Your lifts will go up for a few months, but then they’ll stall, and stall, and stall some more. Lifters get frustrated and don’t understand that the way around this is to prolong the time it takes to get to the goal. You have to keep inching forward. This is a very hard pill to swallow for most lifters. They want to start heavy, and they want to start now. This is nothing more than ego, and nothing will destroy a lifter faster, or for longer, than ego.”
Break Personal Records (PR’s)
“This is where the fun of this program begins and ends. This program allows you to break a wide variety of rep records throughout the entire year. Most people live and die by their 1 rep max. To me, this is foolish and shortsighted. If your squat goes from 225x6 to 225x9, you’ve gotten stronger. If you keep setting and breaking rep records, you’ll get stronger. Don’t get stuck just trying to increase your one rep max. If you keep breaking your rep records, it’ll go up.”
The Last Set
“You’ll notice that the last set of the day reads, ‘or more reps.’ This is where the fun begins. The last set of the day is the all out set. You’ll be going for as many reps as possible. I hesitate to tell anyone to do anything to failure, because that’s not what I’m after. This last set should be a ball buster, though, and it’s the one you really need to focus on. This is when you dig in and try to move the world; it should take some life out of you.”
Lastly, when you come to class please be prepared to lift. We will be trying to get a lot done during our hour class on Wednesdays and Fridays: 2 lifts plus a short, intense conditioning workout. Our goal is to get the 2 lifts completed within 25 minutes, this means that we will be timing your rest. You will be doing a set every 2 minutes, so please have your numbers ready. You can be prepared by uploading a copy the 5-3-1 Excel document (on our Facebook group page), enter your 1 rep max lifts and print out the second tab of the document. You can also download the “Big Lifts” app on your phone. This app allows you to enter your 1 rep max lifts, gives you the weights you need to lift for each movement, and gives you a place to enter and track your results. We will also have a percentage chart and a calculator at the gym if you’d like to do it the old fashion way.
We are looking forward to seeing some big strength improvements! Be consistent and hit your “plus sets” hard and your CrossFit Total numbers are going to go up.
