My Seasons in the
Abyss: A two year case study of Jim Wendler’s 5,3,1 method
Or
How I increased my
squat 100lbs in two years
This paper will document my two year trial of the 5,3,1
method, specifically my progress in the Back Squat.
Subject: 30 year old male, prior weight training experience:
18 years
Prior Athletic experience:
Prior high school and college multi-sport athlete (soccer
and basketball); competed in power lifting (installation/command level meets)
and Strongman (NAS local shows and military, police, firefighter championships
in 2008) after college. Active duty
military since 2003.
Bodyweight: June 2010—235
June 2012—210
Height: 6 ft 2 in
Background: As stated
above I have competed in running, basketball, soccer, powerlifting and
Strongman, at a fairly high level.
Nothing spectacular, but I know I left each practice or training session
spent. Meaning I gave it my best
effort--win or lose. I mention my
background for two reasons: to give a point of reference, and more importantly,
most of the people who will read this have common backgrounds and interests. The following is how I accomplished a goal;
looking back I have learned a lot—even though I have a lot left to learn—and I
hope that one of you will pick up something for this paper.
Bottom Line up front:
I increased my eight rep squat 100lbs in two years.
Sometimes you just need to go all in….
So
basically I was tired of messing around.
Since the 5,3,1 came out in 2008 my training partners and I had been using it mostly with some
modifications for our strongman training.
Things went well, we got stronger, and better at the events, but we
never really used the 5,3,1 as it was written.
We followed the weeks and we deloaded but we always used different lifts
(ft squat, 18in deadlift, push press and incline bench). So I decided that since I was going to be in
one place for a while to “cut the foreplay and just ask” myself if I was ready
to commit. So I did. I started with Squats like any red blooded
lifter would, and let things play out.
(Below is my squat training from the first day, I started with a super
low training max)
June 10th 2010 Squat Training:
Squats 235x8
Squats 5x10x185
Back ex 4x8x90
Side bends 4x8x75
Grip work
After
this sorry performance I dragged myself back to my villa (I had expected to
smoke this weight AT LEAST 15 times) and began to build my squat back up. I know 235 doesn’t sound like much, but it
was all I had that day—so in my eyes it was a good indicator that I needed to
do something differently. Prior to this
session, I had some problems with my form (Knees coming in, and losing my arch)
which needed work, and the 100 banded knee-outs that I was doing each day were
not helping my cause. So I decided to
lighten the weight and decided to see where it would take me.
For me
this was a major paradigm shift, I had basically lived and died by max effort
lifting for quite a while—even while using the 5,3,1 I had my training maxes
too high-- and to lighten up the weight was a big step for me. I began to buy into the idea that training
lighter would lead to better gains in the long run—which it did, and will
continue to do until the end of time.
Around this time I started to actually listen to what all the guys on
elitefts.com were saying, and to apply it to my training. The over arching message I got from the site
was to minimize your training, lift with good form, work hard and give it time. This was a HUGE step for me because for years
I had been looking to find a magic exercise that would help me do x
better. It was only after realizing that
there is no magic exercise, and I have all the magic I need inside me, and that
I was in control of my training; did things start to really take off.
Training:
As far as my squat
training, “all” I did was my regular 5,3,1 day going for rep maxes, and the a
weight 5x10 (not 50% or 60%, just what I could get for 5 sets of 10) then some
ab work and low back work. For my
Deadlift I followed the same approach. For
a period of time I also worked in some lower reps, and pause squats. But the foundation was made with 5x10.
On my upper body days
I did the main movement followed by dips or pull ups (reps/sets according to
Harry Selkow) and rows depending on the day.
I did conditioning on days when I didn’t lift—mostly HIIT Sprints. Once again, pretty straight forward.
Mental:
Another big step that I had to
take was to cut out the distractions of my life, and to realize that it was
going to take time to get stronger/smarter/be a better public speaker. In other words, to do things I was afraid of
doing before or to just let the *uck go of any of my predetermined biases; let
go of my cluttered life, let go of the distractions. So I did, I committed myself to working
harder than I ever had, studying more, working a second job, taking advantage
of every moment, realizing that conditioning wouldn't hurt my squat or
deadlift, and to getting rid of the
“Debbie Downers” that surrounded
me. I cultivated an environment (i.e I
made myself do things that I hated) that would highlight my fears, and give me
no choice but to crush them—to kill that evil, angry little monster that says
“maybe you shouldn't do that” or “wow that looks hard—you can’t do it.”
Diet:
During
this time I changed my diet. My diet
consisted of Chicken breast, Steak, rice, Oatmeal, broccoli, bread, hummus,
Whey, natural Peanut butter and olive oil.
And no “cheat” meals for about the first year. This was easy for me as food doesn't have any
power over me, but I can see how most people would need to eat different things
more often. Again the decision was all
up to me. I had the power. Once again nothing earth shattering—it’s just
what I did—and still continue to do.
Goals/Goal setting/inner game:
Once again I listed, and finally understood, what was being
said on elitefts.com, and by everyone around me. I wanted to be where they are, so I started doing the things they did. Most importantly I wrote down my
goals, and looked at them at least three times a day. I saw myself breaking them, and when I did I
crossed it out. I became consumed with breaking
my goals and succeeding. I was actually starting to believe in myself...I did this because if I didn't believe in myself no one would!
The Big day:
Now
it’s two years later June 10th 2012; I do the dynamic warm up, foam roll, work up and when I
get to 335 (my working weight for the day); I smoked it eight times. I knew I was going to smoke that weight; I
had decided that I was going to do it YEARS before I walked into the weight
room that day! Remember:
As you think; you shall become. This was of course followed up by squats 5x10 and some ab work.
So
there you have it! A two year period of
my life summed up in a little under 1300 words.
I would also like to say that I didn’t do anything “new” or
“fancy”. No Crossfit, no sandbags, no
peri-workout nutrition (hell my post-workout meal was usually oats and whey…or
chicken and rice) no Zumba; just me, my demons, Slayer, and a barbell.
