The Bodybuilding Version of The Strength Training Routine 5/3/1 - Presenting 8/6/3

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 strength training routine is a great tool for progression. He has a few books on the program and offers dozens of variations. One that is a true diamond in the rough is 8/6/3. After spending about 5 five months on 5/3/1, and seeing good gains in strength, I could see myself spending several more months on 5/3/1. I departed though from that route because I wanted more size. I'm sure I read somewhere in the 5/3/1 book about a variation that changed the rep scheme, because I changed it to 8/6/3, and adjusted the percentages for the different rep scheme, and then searched 8/6/3 online, and stumbled upon a T-Nation article about 8/6/3 with is own prescribed percentages (not by Jim Wendler).

I had done this right before I had started the program, and compared the percentages that I came up with and the author of this article did, and some of our numbers were the same, but his were most definitely higher. The way I started 5/3/1 was with a fair amount of breathing room from my real 1 rep max on percentages, and I think that helped welcome me to the program before getting challenged too hard, which could lead to injuries and a lack of easy progression to follow.

So having calculated the routine for myself, I realized the first month would be harder than what was my 5th cycle of 5/3/1. I may have started with too low of percentages on 5/3/1 when I started it, but I think I was trying to avoid injuries, and was doing many 1 rep maxes in the form of joker sets. I got much better at both Front Squats and High Bar Back Squats. My Bench Press has also become more of a staple, and has no longer cause any pain. So I think I was able to concentrate on technique while following progression albeit not the most I could lift, but in ramping up with my heaviest singles, I was using my intensity for the singles, which aren't going to cause much muscle growth, but strength. Now I'm redirecting that intensity toward building mass.

I finished the second week of my first cycle, and have really seen the glory of the program. I think it's working perfectly. I'm getting a little beat up, but I've decided that I'll take the deload weeks 100% seriously. When I first began 5/3/1, I did the first cycle's deload week, but I believe I skipped the rest after finding my bodyfat percentage rising too much, and boredom setting in, and having read that it's common to skip deloads, and I believe Jim even prescribes it as a variation.

The first week is 3 sets of 8, the second week is 3 sets of 6, the third week is a set of 8, 6, 3, and the fourth and last week is a deload with 3 sets of 8-10. To find the percentage for yourself, open Calculator on your computer, and take your 1 rep max, for instance, 200lb, and multiply it by the percentage given .7 (70%). Round the given answer up or down to the nearest 5lb. Every month you add 5lb to each set, or you could add 10lb on deadlifts and squats.

Depending on the amount of days you can or wish to go to the gym, you can run this on a multitude of lifts including: squats, front squats, bench press, incline bench press, deadlift, and military press (overhead pres). I'm going 5 days a week, and combining squats and incline bench press on one day. I have pull-ups and push-ups programmed 3x a week, and dips programmed 2x a week. I throw in Face Pulls for shoulder health, lateral raises, and dumbbell overhead presses. Add 5lb per cycle to the base number used to calculate the lifts (1 rep training max - 90% of 1rm).

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
70% x 6	65% x 8	75% x 8	40% x 8-10
80% x 6	75% x 8	85% x 6	50% x 8-10
85% x 6+	80% x 8+	90% x 3+	60% x 8-10