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Training Three Days a WeekBy Jim Wendler

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Acknowledgements

This book is dedicated to the Great Old Ones.

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Before you embark on any physical fitness program, pleaseconsult a doctor.

This book may not be reproduced or recorded in any formwithout permission of the author.

Copyright: © 2008 by Jim Wendler. All rights reserved.

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“Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.”

Machiavelli

Training Three Days a Week

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Like most people, I began my training career training three days a week.

And like many people I became overzealous and increased that to four

days a week and then five and even six days. Like any good American, I

thought more was better. More lifting would begat strength, which begat

bigger muscles, which begat more star power on the football field which

would eventually lead to more women. This obviously did not happen.

But after many years of training 4 days a week I returned to a more basic

3 day a week schedule. Not only did I make great gains, it was

incredibly practical for my life. My strength did not suffer despite training

one day less. And more importantly it gave me more time to recover.

Recovery is one of the last things that people ever take into account

when training but it is as important as the training itself.

There are two big problems that most people face when training 3 days

a week. The first is getting over the stigma that you are going to get

weaker. I have no solution for this; either you accept it or you don’t. The

second is how to lay out a program. For most of us, we have trained 4

days a week: 2 days devoted to upper body and 2 days for lower body.

Trying to combine four days into three is not only a headache but it is

damn near impossible. So what I tried to do in this book is give you

templates and programs that allow you to get stronger, get bigger and

offer a lot of variety – without sacrificing anything.

One of the best things about training three days a week is how flexible it

is. Normally I train on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is

because I need my Friday’s off for traveling. But some people have to

train on Saturday, Sunday and whatever weekday they can. Or even

Monday, Tuesday, Friday. So there is a tremendous amount of flexibility

to this kind of training.

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But most of all, this training schedule lends itself to people who don’t

have time to spare. These are people who have demanding jobs,

families or other responsibilities that take away time in the gym. You

don’t have to sacrifice your time in the gym for results – you just have to

train smarter and be willing to put your “more is better” mindset aside.

Enough with this crap – let’s get on to training.

Variation I – Captain Obvious

This variation is one that I first tried out and made great gains with. This

also was what my first article on 3 days/week training was about. Matt

Rhodes wanted to try training 3 days a week and this is what we came

up with. The great thing about this template is that you will really look

forward to training. And you will probably use more volume on your

assistance exercises because you will be able to recover better between

workouts. The training split is the 4 days/week training schedule spread

out over 10 days.

The downside of this training program comes at the expense of meet

prep. It’s kind of a pain in the ass to try to time your last few workouts

before the meet. So this is going to require some critical thinking on

your part. I would recommend that you work backwards from the date of

the meet and figure out when you want your last heavy squat, bench and

deadlift to occur and then work back from there. This is not really that

big of a downside if you plan correctly.

Another thing that I’ve encountered is that there are less training days

(obviously) before a meet. But when you consider that you don’t have to

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deload as much with this training plan, you end up having about the

same number of heavy sessions. Plus how many times have you had a

crappy training session and then chalked it up to fatigue or overtraining?

So it is not as bad as you think.

Week 1

Monday

Dynamic Bench Press

Accessory work

Wednesday

Max Effort Squat/Deadlift

Accessory Work

Friday

Max Effort Bench

Accessory work

Week 2

Monday

Dynamic Squat

Accessory work

Wednesday

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Dynamic Bench Press

Accessory work

Friday


Accessory work

Week 3

Monday

Max Effort Bench Press

Accessory work

Wednesday

Dynamic Squat

Accessory work

Friday

Dynamic Bench Press

Accessory work

Week 4

Monday


Accessory Work

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Wednesday

Max Effort Bench

Accessory work

Friday

Dynamic Squat

Accessory work

Variation I – A: The Triumvirate

I once wrote an article called “The Triumvirate”. The premise was to

train 3 days week with 3 exercises per day. One of the reasons why I

like this kind of training is that only doing 3 exercises per day forces you

to pick only the exercises that you feel benefit you and those that really

work; nothing extra. I still train with this kind of style today but not

exactly as listed below. Here is a 4 week program.

Week 1

Monday

Dynamic Bench Press – 8 sets of 3 reps @ 55%

4 Board Press – work up to 3-5RM

Face Pulls – 5x15

Wednesday

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Rack Pulls – work to 1-3RM

Good Mornings – 3 sets of 5-8 reps

Hanging Leg Raises – 3 sets of 20 reps

Friday

Floor Press – work to 1-3RM

DB Bench Press – 3 sets of 10-20 reps

Chins – 3 sets of 10 reps

Week 2

Monday

Dynamic Squat – 8 sets of 2 reps @ 45% + average bands

Lunges – 3 sets of 6 reps/leg

Weighted Sit Ups - 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Wednesday



Face Pulls – 5x15

Friday

Rack Pulls – work to 1-3RM (try to beat last week’s record)

Back Raises with bar behind neck – 3 sets of 5-8 reps

Ab Wheel – 3 sets of 15 reps

Week 3

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Monday

Floor Press – work to 1-3RM (try to beat last weeks record)

EFS Swiss Bar – 3 sets of 10-20 reps


Wednesday




Friday



Rear Laterals – 5 sets of 15-20 reps

Week 4

Monday

Safety Squat Bar to Parallel Box – work to 1-3RM

Pull-throughs – 3 sets of 20 reps

Side Bends – 3 sets of 10 reps/side

Wednesday

2 Board Press – work to 1-3RM

Standing Alternating DB Military Press – 3 sets of 10-20 reps

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Fat Bar DD Pulldowns – 3 sets of 15 reps

Friday


Belt Squat – 3 sets of 10-15 reps


Variation I – B: The Bodybuilder

This is for all you people that want to combine some powerlifting withsome bodybuilding. Remember both sports require briefs but used for

much different reasons.

Week 1

Monday


Standing Military Press – 4 sets of 10 reps

Upright Rows – 4 sets of 10 reps

Side Laterals – 4 sets of 10-15 reps

Barbell Curls – 4 sets of 10 reps

Wednesday


Chins – 4 sets of 10-12 reps

DB Rows – 4 sets of 15 reps/arm

Back Raises – 4 sets of 10 reps (with bar behind neck)

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Friday



Dips (weighted) – 4 sets of 8-15 reps

Flys – 4 sets of 12 reps

Triceps Pushdowns – 4 sets of 10-20 reps

Week 2

Monday


Hack Squat – 4 sets of 10-20 reps

Leg Extensions – 4 sets of 10-30 reps

Leg Curls – 4 sets of 10-15 reps

Weighted Sit-ups – 4 sets of 10 reps

Wednesday


Standing Military Press – 4 sets of 10 reps




Friday


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Week 3

Monday

Floor Press – work to 1-3RM (try to beat last week’s record)



Flys – 4 sets of 12 reps


Wednesday






Friday


DB Military Press – 4 sets of 10 reps

Upright rows – 4 sets of 10 reps


EZ Bar Curls – 4 sets of 10 reps

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Week 4

Monday


Lat Pulldowns – 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Barbell Shrugs (no straps) – 4 sets of 10-20 reps



Wednesday


Incline Press – 4 sets of 10-20 reps

Dips (bodyweight) – 4 sets of 15-30 reps

Fly’s – 4 sets of 12 reps

Triceps Extensions – 4 sets of 10-20 reps

Friday


Leg Press – 4 sets of 10-20 reps


GHR – 4 sets of 10-12 reps


Variation I – C: The Repetition

This is for people that don’t want to do dynamic work on either of the

squat day or the bench day. Damn the Dynamic!

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Week 1

Monday



Chest Supported Rows – 3 sets of 12 reps

Face Pulls – 5x15

Wednesday




Friday


Weighted Dips – 3 sets of 10-20 reps



Week 2

Monday


45 Degree Back Raise – 3 sets of 10 reps (bar on back)


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Wednesday



DB Rows – 3 sets of 15-20 reps

Face Pulls – 5x15

Friday


Back Raises with bar behind neck – 3 sets of 5-8 reps


Week 3

Monday

Floor Press – work to 1-3RM (try to beat last week’s record)




Wednesday

Walking Lunges – 30 total reps/leg

45 Degree Back Raise – 3 sets of 10 reps (bar on back)


Friday


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Pushups – 5 sets to failure



Week 4

Monday




Wednesday





Friday

Close Stance Olympic Squats – 5 sets of 10 reps @ 50%


Ab Wheel – 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Variation II – 1 For the Heavy, 2 For the Slow

This variation is good for people who can only get to a good gym twice a

week and finish their assistance stuff on their own or at commercial gym.

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This is also good for those that want to have only two intensive days a

week. My only caution would be the assistance work done on the third

day. Keep this day for low intensive/higher volume work – stuff that isn’t

going to kill you or require a lot of recovery. If you are going to do

heavier work for assistance work (for example, high board work for your

triceps or good mornings) than do it early in the week. But be careful not

to go overboard on this stuff.

Monday


Max Effort Bench

Wednesday

Dynamic Squat

Dynamic Bench

Friday

Assistance work for squat, deadlift and bench press

OR

Monday


Max Effort Bench

Thursday

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Dynamic Squat

Dynamic Bench

Friday or Saturday

Assistance work for squat, deadlift and bench press

Sample Training Week

Monday



4 Board Press – 3 sets of 3-5 reps

Thursday

Box Squat – 8 sets of 2 @ 55%

Bench Press – 8 sets of 3 reps @ 55%


Saturday

Belt Squats – 4 sets of 10 reps


Reverse Hyperextensions – 3 sets of 15 reps

Chest Supported Rows - 3 sets of 10 reps

Variation III – Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

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This variation was used by some very well known lifters that shall remain

anonymous due to the crap that will be thrown at them for their variation.

This is great for people that are beat up as hell, have only one day to

really train hard or are somewhat insane.

The point of this training is to put all the hard stuff on one day. For most,

this is max effort bench training, max effort deadlift training and

“dynamic” squat training. The dynamic is in quotations because recently

the use of bands in training dynamic squats has led most people to train

fairly heavy on this day. Plus, the bands are waved in such a way that it

is very similar to progressive overload.

Monday

Lower body assistance work

Wednesday

Upper Body assistance work

Saturday

Dynamic Squat

Max Effort Bench

Max Effort Deadlift (every other week)

Now you can change the rotation on Saturday; bench or deadlift first.

Doesn’t really matter. Just be prepared to spend a lot of time in the gym

on that one day.

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Variation IV – The Stein

This next variation is based on an observation that my good friend Kevin

Deweese pointed out to me many years ago. He said, “I can base mylifts on my dynamic squat training and max effort bench.” Basically the

two most important days for him were these days. Now like I said

before, dynamic squat training is a little different now so bear that in

mind. Also, your heavy pulling is usually done every other week. Some

people can do it every week while others do best by pulling every third

week.

If I were going to do a 3 day a week program and have it cycled over 7

days (and not 10 like the first few templates) this is what I’d do.

Monday

Dynamic Squat

Max Effort Deadlift (every other week)

Accessory work

Wednesday

Max Effort Bench

Accessory work

Friday

Assistance work for upper and lower body

12 Week Training Program for the Stein

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This 12 week training program is designed to take you through the circa

max phase of your training. The band phase on the squats is pretty

damn tough – but so is a meet so suck it up. Remember that some

weeks of squatting are going to be dynamic – others not so much.

Percentages are based on your best meet squat.

Week 1

Monday

Box Squat – 6 sets of 2 reps @ 50% + Average Band

Rack Pull #3 – work up to 1RM

Belt Squat – 5 sets of 10 reps

45 Degree Back Raises – 4 sets of 10 reps (weighted)

Wednesday

Floor Press – work up to 1RM

4 Board Press – 3 sets of 3 reps @ 85%

DB Bench Press – 5 sets of 10 reps


Friday


Triceps Pushdowns – 3 sets of 15 reps



Week 2

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Monday


Rack Pull #3 – work up to 90% for 1x1



Wednesday

Floor Press – work up to 90% for 1 set of 3 reps




Friday





Week 3

Monday


Rack Pull #3 – work up to 1RM (beat first week)



Wednesday

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Floor Press – work up to new 1RM (beat first week)

4 Board Press – work up to 1RM



Friday





Week 4 - Deload

Monday

Box Squat – 5 sets of 2 reps @ 60%


Reverse Hyperextension – 3 sets of 10 reps

Wednesday





Friday


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Week 5

Monday

Box Squat – 6 sets of 2 reps @ 50% + Strong Band

Deficit Deadlift – work up to 1RM



Wednesday





Friday





Week 6

Monday

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Deficit Deadlift – work up to 90% for 1 set of 1 rep



Wednesday

3 Board Press – work up to 90% for 1 set of 3 reps




Friday





Week 7

Monday


Deficit Deadlift – work up to 1RM



Wednesday


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4 Board Press – work up to new 1RM



Friday





Week 8 – Deload

Monday



Reverse Hyperextension – 3 sets of 10 reps

Wednesday




Friday





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Week 9

Monday

Box Squat – 3 sets of 2 reps @ 50% + Strong Band/Average Band



Wednesday


5 Board Press – 3 sets of 5 reps



Friday



Low Rows – 3 sets of 15-20 reps


Week 10

Monday




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Wednesday

2 Board Press – work up to 90% for 1 set of 3 reps




Friday





Week 11

Monday


Deadlift – work up to 90% of 1RM

Wednesday

2 Board Press – work up to new 1RM




Friday

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Week 12 - Deload

Monday

Box Squat – work up to 1x2 @ 80%

Deadlift – work up to 1x1 @ 85%

Wednesday




Friday





Variation V – Two in the Pink

This is a two day/week variation for those of you with very limited time,

recovery abilities or much too gordo to train a lot. If I were going to train

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two days a week this would be the split. One hard upper body day and

one hard lower body day. Again, you can deadlift every week, every

other week or every third week.

You can use the same basic template as the program above (The Stein)

and just knock out the accessory day and add in some extra assistance

work on your training days.

Monday

Dynamic Squat

Max Effort Deadlift

Accessory work

Thursday

Max Effort Bench

Accessory work

Variation VI – Two in the Stink

This is for someone that wants to stick to the true Westside training

protocols but train two times per week.

Monday

Dynamic Squat

Dynamic Bench

Upper body assistance work

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Thursday

Max Effort Squat/DL

Max Effort Bench

Lower body assistance work

Variation VII – Deeper in the Stink

This variation is something I just thought of off the top of my head. You

have the essential stuff on Monday and the “whatever” stuff is done onThursday. My initial thinking is that this split sucks but I guess I can see

its potential.

Monday

Dynamic Squat

Max Effort Bench

Thursday

Max Effort Squat/DL

Dynamic Bench

Variation VIII: The Ultimate Supreme Deluxe Training

Split

If you only have one day/week to train this is how I would do it.

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Oneday

Dynamic Squat

Max Effort Bench

Max Effort Deadlift

Accessory work

Variation IX – The Mulatto

This program gives separate days for the max effort, dynamic effort and

repetition effort for the upper and lower body. This is ideal for people

that want a lot of variety, have trouble recovering or just want some

change in their training.

Here is the basic template:

Week 1

Day 1 - Dynamic Bench

Day 2 - Max Effort Squat/Deadlift

Day 3 - Repetition Bench

Week 2

Day 1 - Dynamic Squat

Day 2 - Max Effort Bench

Day 3 - Repetition Squat/DL

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And here is a 7 week program to give you and idea about how to lay it

out.

Week 1

Day 1

Dynamic Bench - 8 sets of 3 reps @ 55%

4 Board – work up to 3RM

Chin ups – 4 sets of 10 reps


Day 2

Box Squat Safety Squat Bar – work up to 1RM

Rack Pulls – work up to 1 RM

Reverse Hypers – 4 sets of 10 reps


Day 3



Face Pulls – 3 sets of 15 reps

DB Curls – 3 sets of 10 reps

Week 2

Day 1

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Glute Ham Raises – 3 sets of 10 reps

Reverse Hypers – 3 sets of 12-15 reps


Day 2

Floor Press – work up to 1RM

Barbell Front Raise – 3 sets of 10 reps

DB Rows – 3 sets of 20 reps

DB Rear Laterals – 3 sets of 20 reps

Day 3

Barbell Step Ups – 4 sets of 6 reps/leg

Back Raises – 4 sets of 25 reps

DB Side Bends – 3 sets of 15 reps


Week 3

Day 1


3 Board – work up to 3RM


Band Pushdowns – just do a ton of reps

Day 2

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Box Squat Safety Squat Bar – work up to 1RM (try to beat old 1RM)

Rack Pulls – work up to 1 RM (try to beat previous 1RM)

Pull throughs – 4 sets of 10 reps

Med Ball Slams – 3 sets of 8 reps

Day 3


Chest Supported Rows – 5 sets of 12-15 reps

Band Pullaparts – 3 sets of 25 reps

Barbell Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Week 4

Day 1


Romanian Deadlift – 3 sets of 8 reps

Two Handed KB Swings – 3 sets of 20 reps


Day 2

Floor Press – work up to 1RM (try to beat previous 1RM)

Side Laterals – 3 sets of 15 reps



Day 3

Barbell Lunges – 4 sets of 6 reps/leg

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Band Goodmornings – 4 sets of 25 reps



Week 4

Day 1


Triceps Death – 1 set


Day 2

Box Squat – work up to 1RM

Deadlift off elevated platform – work up to 1 RM

Band Leg Curls – 4 sets of 12 reps


Day 3

Push ups – 4 sets of 25-30 reps

Rope Chin ups – 4 sets of 5 reps


EZ Bar Curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Week 5

Day 1


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KB Snatches – 3 sets of 12 reps


Day 2


Front Raises/Side Raises/Rear Raises – 2 giant sets of 15 reps per

exercise

Day 3

DB Walking Lunges – 2 sets of 15 reps/leg

Back Raises – 2 sets of 15 reps


Week 6

Day 1

Dynamic Bench - 3 sets of 3 reps @ 60%, 3 sets of 3 reps@ 65%, 1x1@

70%, 1x1@80%, 1x1@90%



Triceps Pushdowns

Day 2

Box Squat – work up to 1RM (try to beat previous record)

Deadlift off elevated platform – work up to 1 RM (try to beat previous

record)

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Day 3

Dips – 100 total reps

Chins – 50 total reps

Band Pullaparts – 150 total reps

Week 7

Day 1


Glute Ham Raises – 3 sets of 10 reps

Reverse Hypers – 3 sets of 12-15 reps


Day 2

2 Board Press – work up to 1RM (try to beat previous record)

Barbell Front Raise – 3 sets of 10 reps

DB Rear Laterals – 3 sets of 20 reps


Day 3

DB Step Ups – 4 sets of 6 reps/leg

Band Pullthroughs – 3 sets of 15 reps


Crunches – 3 sets of 30 reps

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Variation X – The 5/3/1 Method: For the Raw Lifter

This is the program I’ve been using for quite awhile now and have made

great gains. The program is designed for a raw lifter, but not necessarily

a competitive powerlifter. I just want to be cock strong. That’s it. And I

want to do it on my own terms – I wear a belt, wrist wraps and knee

wraps. So if that is not your definition of raw make up your own. I

choose to lift the way that I want to. You can do this program three days

a week or even four. I have used it for both and have success with both

of them.

Also this program involves increasing your rep maxes, too. So I’m not

just concerned with my one rep max – I want to get stronger all around.

The program revolves around 4 basic lifts: the bench press, military

press, squat and deadlift. You don’t have to use these exact lifts but use

variations if you want. I chose these lifts because you can’t go wrong

with these four; they build a great strength base and have worked since

the dawn of training.

Week 1

Monday – Military Press

Wednesday – Deadlift

Friday – Bench Press

Week 2

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Monday – Squat

Wednesday – Military Press

Friday – Deadlift

Week 3

Monday – Bench Press

Wednesday – Squat

Friday – Military Press

Week 4

Monday – Deadlift

Wednesday – Bench Press

Friday – Squat

Sets and Reps

This is pretty simple and I’m certainly not reinventing the wheel. But

maybe that is the beauty of it – lack of complication.

Week 1 – 3 sets of 5 reps

Week 2 – 3 sets of 3 reps

Week 3 – 5/3/1

Week 4 – Deload, 3 sets of 5 reps

Now the sets aren’t done at random – there is a percentage assigned to

each set. There are two variations to this. One is a little more intense

than the other. Remember that these sets are the work sets – you still

have to perform warm-up sets.

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Variation 1

Wave 1

75% x 5

80% x 5

85% x 5

Wave 2

80% x 3

85% x 3

90% x 3

Wave 3

75% x 5

85% x 3

95% x 1

Wave 4 (Deload)

60% x 5

65% x 5

70% x 5

Variation 2 - This one involves a little less volume on the first two

weeks.

Wave 1

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65% x 5

75% x 5

85% x 5

Wave 2

70% x 3

80% x 3

90% x 3

Wave 3

75% x 5

85% x 3

95% x 1

Wave 4 (Deload)

60% x 5

65% x 5

70% x 5

Now the trick to making this work is to set a goal and then work back

from there. The problem with goals is this:

1. People don’t have them.

2. If they do have goals, they are incredibly unattainable.

A good example of #2 is when people want to increase their bench press

from 250 to 315 in a summer. This just isn’t going to happen without the

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assistance of drugs and a bench shirt. I’m happy with a 5lbs increase in

any lift over 2 months. And so would many of you. Hell, I’d be happy

with 15lb on my bench press in one year. Those of us in the game for a

long time realize how hard it is to increase your lifts and this kind of

methodical approach seems to work best for me; maybe it will for you.

When I first started using this program, I purposely made my maxes 10%

less than what they really were. For example, my deadlift was around

600lbs when I started and I began working off of a 550 max – not exactly

10% but you get the idea.

Every four week cycle I increased my deadlift “max” (what I based my

percentages on) by 10lbs. The interesting thing is that even though I

wasn’t operating with my true max my deadlift shot up – after 3 months I

could pull 610 for 3 reps. Now don’t get too excited because I wasn’t

sure if my deadlift max was exactly 600lbs but it sure as hell wasn’t

610x3.

Now many of you may think that operating at such a low percentage is

way too easy. I can agree with that. But this is what I did; my goal of the

day was to fulfill each set and rep. I knew that I had a yearly plan

mapped out and that to reach the big goal at the end I needed to reach

the small goals for the day.

But what I also did was go for an all out rep max on my last set of the

day. This was an awesome feeling and sometimes on my 3 sets of 3

day I would get 7-8 reps on my last set. That didn’t change my maxes at

all – all it did was cement in my mind that I was on the right track. So

don’t get overzealous if you have a good day and think you can bump up

your maxes. There are going to be some days where that last set feels

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like shit and all you can get is your prescribed reps. This is ok too. You

fulfilled the goal of the day.

So you can choose to begin slightly lower than your max for your first

cycle or start with your actual max; just make sure that it is your real max

and not what you could’ve done, have done or would like to have done.

And if you are going to err, err on the side of being too light.

Accessory Work

The Nothing

This is when I simply do the exercise for the day and leave. This is lazy

as hell but can be effective on a tight schedule.

The Triumvirate

This is what I usually do. Here is a template that I use:

Military Press

Shoulder exercise, 3-5 sets of 6-20 reps (pick one)

Dips

Pushups

Upright rows

Side Laterals

Hammer Machine Military

EFS Swiss Bar

Cambered Bench

Incline Press

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DB Bench

DB Incline

Upper Back exercise, 3-5 sets of 10-25 reps (pick one)

DB Rear Laterals

Seated DB Clean

Muscle Snatch

Face Pulls

Cable Rear Laterals

Band Pullaparts

Shrugs

(You can also use a lat exercise on this day, too)

Deadlift

Lower Back/Hamstring exercise, 3-5 sets of 5-30 reps (pick one)

Good Mornings

Back Raise

45 Degree Back Raise

Pullthroughs

Kettlebell Swings

Reverse Hyperextensions

Glute Ham Raise

Straight Leg Deadlift

Leg Curl

Ab exercise, 3-5 sets of 10-50 reps (pick one)

Ab Wheel

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Crunches

Sit ups

Weighted Sit ups

Hanging Leg Raises

Side Bends

Bench Press

Shoulder exercise, 3-5 sets of 6-20 reps (pick one)

Dips

Pushups

Upright rows

Side Laterals

Hammer Machine Military

EFS Swiss Bar

Cambered Bench

Incline Press

DB Bench

DB Incline

Lat Exercise, 3-5 sets of 6-30 reps (pick one)

Chins/Pull ups

DB Rows

Bent Over Rows

Chest Supported Rows

Chest Supported DB Rows

Low Rows

Squat

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Quad exercise, 3-5 sets of 6-20 reps (pick one)

Lunges

Step Ups

One Leg Squats/Bulgarian Squats

Hack Squats

Belt Squats

Leg Press

Leg Extensions

Ab exercise, 3-5 sets of 10-50 reps (pick one)

Ab Wheel

Crunches

Sit ups

Weighted Sit ups

Hanging Leg Raises

Side Bends

Bodybuilding

This is pretty much cut and paste from the Bodybuilder split from above.

I can’t lie to you.

Military Press- (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)

DB Military Press – 4 sets of 10 reps


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Deadlift- (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)





Bench Press- (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)





Squat- (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)





Military Press- (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)

Hammer Machine Military – 4 sets of 10 reps

Rope Upright Rows – 4 sets of 10 reps



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Deadlift- (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)

Lat Pulls – 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Bent Over Rows – 4 sets of 15 reps/arm



Bench Press- (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)

DB Incline Press – 4 sets of 10-20 reps




Squat- (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)





Boring But Big

This training template is sure to give you a lot of strength and mass but

it’s not exactly the most exciting training known to man. You will be

doing only the very basic lifts and very few assistance exercises.

Military Press - (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)

Military Press – 5 sets of 10 reps @ 50-60%

Chins – 5 sets of as many reps as possible

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Deadlift - (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)

Deadlift – 5 sets of 10 reps @ 50-60%


Bench Press - (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)

Bench Press – 5 sets of 10 reps @ 50-60%


Squat - (sets and reps the same as the 5/3/1 Method)

Squat – 5 sets of 10 reps @ 50-60%

Leg Curls – 5 sets of 10 reps

Variations on a Theme

There is little doubt that the military press, bench press, squat and

deadlift are the kings of strength and muscle building but you don’t have

to limit your training to just these lifts. Another template you could follow

is to pick 2 variations of these lifts thus giving you 3 total exercises to go

through.

So for the first 4 waves you can use the military, bench, deadlift and

squat.

For the 2nd and 3rd waves you can choose from these variations.

Deadlift Variations

Rack Pulls

Trap Bar

Deficit Deadlift (deadlift while standing on elevated platform)

Snatch Grip Deadlift

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Bench and Military Variations - I include these in the same class as

they are both pressing movements. So feel free to mix and match any of

these on the pressing days.

1 Board Press

2 Board Press

3 Board Press

Incline Press

Floor Press

Close Grip Bench Press

Squat Variations

High Box Squat

Low Box Squat

Parallel Box Squat

Safety Squat Bar Squat (box or no box)

Cambered Bar Squat (box or no box)

Front Squat

10 Week Training Cycle

Here is training cycle based on the above variations. The lifter will go

through 2 different training cycles. The lifter has best lifts of:

Bench Press – 225

Squat – 300

Deadlift – 400

Military Press – 155

Remember that the training will take place on a 3 day/week schedule.

So your week will look like this:

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Week 1

Monday – Military Press

Wednesday – Deadlift

Friday – Bench Press

Week 2

Monday – Squat


Friday – Deadlift

Week 3

Monday – Bench Press

Wednesday – Squat

Friday – Military Press

Week 4

Monday – Deadlift


Friday – Squat

The first training cycle will consist of the standard 4 lifts: bench press,

squat, deadlift and military press. If you can, try to set a rep max on the

very last set of the squat, bench, deadlift or military press. But don’t go to

failure! This first section will consist of accessory exercises based on

the Triumvirate.

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Week 1

Monday

Military Press – 105x5, 120x5, 135x5

Dips – 3 sets to failure, bodyweight


Wednesday

Deadlift – 260 x5, 300x5, 340x5

KB Swings – 3 sets of 20 reps

Sit-ups – 3 sets of 25 reps

Friday

Bench Press – 170x5, 180x5, 195x5

DB Bench – 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Chin-ups – 3 sets of 6-12 reps

Week 2

Monday

Squat – 195x5, 225x5, 255x5



Wednesday


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Bent Over Row – 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Friday

Deadlift – 280x3, 320x3, 360x3

Back Raise – 3 sets of 25 reps with bodyweight

DB Side Bends – 3 sets of 10 reps/side

Week 3

Monday

Bench Press – 180x3, 195x3, 205x3

Incline Press – 3 sets of 10-12 reps


Wednesday

Squat – 210x3, 240x3, 270x3


Hanging Leg Raise – 3 sets of 15 reps

Friday


Dips with weight – 3 sets of 6-10 reps


Week 4

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Monday

Deadlift – 300x5, 340x3, 380x1

Good Morning – 3 sets of 8 reps

Sit-ups – 3 sets of 25 reps

Wednesday

Bench Press – 170x5, 195x3, 215x1

DB Incline Press – 3 sets of 10-15 reps


Friday

Squat – 225x5, 255x3, 285x1



Week 5 (Deload)

Monday

Military Press - 95x5, 105x5, 110x5

Pushups – 2 sets to failure


Wednesday

Deadlift – 240x5, 260x5, 280x5

Squat – 180x5, 195x5, 210x5


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Friday

Bench Press – 135x5, 150x5, 160x5

DB Military – 2 sets of 10-15 reps

Shrugs – 2 sets of 15 reps

The second phase of this cycle will consist of rack pulls, incline press, 2

board press and parallel box squat.

2 Board Press – 245

Parallel Box Squat – 275

Rack Pull – 440

Incline Press – 185

For the accessory work, we will use the bodybuilder template. Because

there is a big increase on volume do not take any of the assistance work

to failure or even near failure. Just concentrate on getting a big pump.

As always, go for as many reps as possible on your last set of your 4 big

lifts.

Week 1

Monday

Incline Press – 125x5, 140x5, 160x5

Upright Row – 4 sets of 10 reps

DB Military – 4 sets of 12 reps

Rear Lateral – 4 sets of 15 reps

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DB Curl – 4 sets of 12 reps

Wednesday

Rack Pulls – 290x5, 330x5, 375x5



Back Raise – 4 sets of 25 reps


Friday

2 Board Press – 185x5, 200x5, 210x5

DB Bench – 4 sets of 10 reps

Dips – 4 sets of 20 reps

DB Fly’s – 4 sets of 10 reps


Week 2

Monday

Box Squat – 180x5, 210x5, 235x5


Leg Extension – 4 sets of 12 reps

Leg Curl – 4 sets of 12 reps

Sit ups – 4 sets of 25 reps

Wednesday


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Side Lateral – 3 sets of 12 reps

Front Raise – 3 sets of 12 reps

Rear Raise – 3 sets of 15 reps

Barbell Curl – 3 sets of 12 reps

Friday

Rack Pull – 310x3, 355x3, 400x3

Lat Pulldown – 4 sets of 10-20 reps

Bent Over Row – 4 sets of 8-12 reps



Week 3

Monday

2 Board press – 200x3, 210x3, 225x3

Floor Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Pushups – 3 sets of 20-30 reps

Incline DB Fly’s – 3 sets of 12 reps

Triceps Extensions – 3 sets of 10 reps

Wednesday

Box Squat – 195x3, 220x3, 250x3

Hack Squat – 3 sets of 15 reps


Glute Ham Raise – 3 sets of 12 reps


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Friday


Upright Row – 3 sets of 10 reps

DB Military – 3 sets of 12 reps



Week 4

Monday

Rack Pull – 330x5, 375x3, 420x1

Chins - 4 sets of 10 reps




Wednesday

2 Board Press – 185x5, 210x3, 235x1


Dips – 4 sets of 25 reps

DB Fly’s – 4 sets of 10 reps


Friday

Box Squat – 210x5, 235x3, 265x1

Leg Press – 4 sets of 10 reps


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Glute Ham Raise – 4 sets of 10 reps


Week 5 – (Deload)

Monday




Wednesday

Rack Pull – 265x5, 290x5, 310x5

Box Squat – 165x5, 180x5, 195x5

Chins Ups – 2 sets of 10 reps


Friday

2 Board Press – 105x5, 160x5, 175x5

Pushups – 2 sets of 25 reps

Triceps Extensions – 2 sets of 12 reps

One More Variation

The last template that we are going to talk about is fitting all four of the

lifts in one week. There are several variations of this.

Variation I

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Monday – Deadlift and Military Press

Wednesday - Squat

Friday - Bench Press

Variation II

Monday – Deadlift and Military Press


Friday – Squat

Variation III

Monday – Squat and Bench Press


Friday – Deadlift

Of course there are riffs on all of these but basically you need to

combine an upper and lower body lift on one day. On the other days you

simply do one lift.

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Who the hell wrote this?

Jim Wendler really likes Unearthly Trance.

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Get all your training equipment, powerlifting gear,articles, bands, chains…whatever you need to get

stronger and faster at Elite Fitness Systems.

www.EliteFTS.com

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Coming soon from Jim Wendler

Hardcore Conditioning

Raw Training

Training the Yoke

Weak Point Training

Exercise Index Book

Workouts I’ll Never Do Again

A Man, A Plan and a Rack

Max Effort Manual

Training for High School Football Complete 5/3/1 Method

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“Before all else, be armed.”

Machiavelli

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