Just finished my 2nd cycle of 5/3/1...I'm beat. I have been following many of the threads and figured there might be guys out there who are more my size and age and can relate to the aches, pains and frustrations of age ( 49 ). At 5' 9" and 176lbs it seems that I am way down on the small end of the scale, but loving the 5/3/1 gig! Hopefully, some old goats my size will surface and I can learn from them or anyone for that matter

I enter deload this week and need it. Not sure how guys avoid deload. After 3 weeks of punishment: its time to call the Budweiser gods and kick back with some BioFreeze and get recharged.

My starting training max numbers look like this:

MP: 145
Dead (sumo) 275
BP: 245
Squat 230 ( 15 inch box)


I have been using the triumvirate assist template and have kept my assist exercises the same for the first two cycles. I find I need the 6 weeks of work to get anywhere. Some I will change up going forward but for now it will basically stay as is. On MP day its been Dips and DB Rows, Dead Day has been snatch grip rack pulls and RDL's, Bench Day has been incline BB and chins and squat day has been Goblets and squats to a 13" box (tap and go).

On none lifting days I hit a complex for 4 -6 sets; usually 7 exercises at 6 reps, followed with a desire to hurl and then some intervals (15s work, 45s cruise) on an eliptical and some ab work that cycle thru ( Pallof Presses, Planks, SIde bridge, cable chops, captains chair etc).

Here is the fun part: I get to do this at 5AM! yea ha!! A couple of oz's of coffee, warm-up on a treadmill or bike, hit the foam roller and do dynamic stretching before the work begins. SO I don't (can't) eat before hand, if i did the other gym members would not be interested in helping with the clean-up. I train without a partner and keep my head down and ipod cranked so that the posers who somehow think its cool to get up at 4:30am to go to gym to chat while watching Sports Center highlights and do an occasional set of curls; leave me the alone. There are no gym bunnies (damn) to distract me and although there are no pink dumbbells they don't allow chalk or video cameras. One the good front, I am one of three guys who squat( not well in my case) so there is always a power rack available.

So I will start posting my 5/3/1 progress next Sunday. Until then, its deload, unload, and change the oil in the bike.

Peace

Welcome aboard!

Welcome, OG! I'm older, fatter, and more f*cked up than you, but I'm still liftin! I'm also doing some beer this weekend, but it's homebrew. Racked 10 gal last weekend, and 5 gal this weekend. That'll give me about 6 cases of the good stuff. :-)

I'm not doing 5/3/1, but they haven't kicked me off of the forum yet, anyway!

Welcome, OG!

Welcome OG. It's good to have another cat that gets up at the crack of dawn to train.

Welcome aboard! I'm 38, and I'm on my 3rd cycle. I have made progress each cycle, which is what I really like about 5/3/1. You track and record your progress, plus take a deloading week each cycle. Love it.

I keep my schedule very simple:

Sunday: squats + pull-ups + assistance exercises.
Monday: bench + assistance exercises.
Tuesday: sprints at local soccer field, + pull-ups. I usually do 100 or so pull-ups, just like he suggests.
Wednesday: deadlifts + assistance exercises.
Thursday: military press + pull-ups, + sprints.
Friday: off.
Saturday: Flag football!

krash,Math,Mcl,Jw, raven - Thanks for throwing out the welcome mat! Looking forward to getting advice, lessons and hate mail when I wimp out and make sad ass excuses for mediocre effort...

For those of you haven't: check out Dave Tate's book "Raising the Bar" it is something special. talk about looking in the mirror...holy crap it will touch you..

Yeah, I average around 300 pull-ups a week. I aim for 100 reps 3x per week. Usually takes me 15-20 sets or so to get there. It's really helped my arms and my abs, and of course my back.

Deload week is boring as hell, but so important for us old goats! this morning was day 1 MP's deload

5x75, 5x85, 5x95

dips 1x21 bodyweight 1x12x35lbs

dbrows 2x10x85

20 minutes steady state easy bike work..got home, family still asleep so I went into the back yard and carried the slosh pipe for 4 sets x 75 yards and done...as in scrape my scrawny ass off the lawn..speaking of which, damn I have to mow the freakin lawn today..

Peace

Hey OG, it looks like you and I have pretty similar numbers and are about the same size. I'm 5' 11" or so and around 185lbs. I've just started doing the 5/3/1 program with the BBB assistance. I've been considering adding the 100 pull ups throughout my lifting days(upper) so I can keep sled/hil work on non-training days.

Oh and like you one of my conditiooning days is flag football. Gotta game today as a matter of fact.

Welcome to the club and good luck with your training.

Combining Wendler 5/3/1 and sprint workouts throughout the week is one of the best fitness decisions I have ever made.

Flag football is the shit. By the time I'm done warming up, and then playing a game, I average around 20+ full speed sprints. I aim for two sprint workouts a week, and then flag football on Saturdays. I've been doing that for about a year, and this is the best I've felt in conditioning ever. I have not run farther than 400m for at least a few years...I'm done with Long Slow Distance on a treadmill or on the sidewalk.

Hi OG, like you I am an older guy (55 in my case) and I am relative 5-3-1 newbie. I am on my second cycle, just now entering a very welcome deload week. I am a 6' 1", 190 pounds. The key for me is recovery. I have dropped the dead lift day since my legs were getting over trained and my dead lift is my strongest lift so it does need much work. I do the modified 531 template as follows:

Monday: military press plus assistance
Tuesday: barbell complexes plus 20 minutes steady state cardio
Wednesday: squats plus assistance
Thursday: off or 20 to 30 minutes steady state cardio
Friday: bench plus assistance
Saturday: maximum sprints (typically 30 to 60 yards each, with full recovery in between)
Sunday: off

For my assistance exercises I follow the bodybuilding template that Wendler posted in an online magazine (might can find the link if you need it). I tend to change the assistance exercises fairly often to stave off boredom. For the deload I follow the 531 template for the main lifts and I do half as many sets for the assistance lifts. So for so good and I seem to be making progress.

It would appear to me that you do a lot more volume than me, particularly on off days. Personally, I cannot do complexes more than one day a week without having significant recovery issues, especially given the neuraly intensive sprints at the end of the week. Therefore, you might consider backing off on the volume on the non lifting days and see how that works for you on the next cycle.

JoeGood, TN - This is great we have some old goats chiming in and some guys our size: exactly what I hoped for. I think having some like aged guys is key because younger guys don't get how much longer recovery takes for the goats..no matter what shape you are in!

TN- Probably a good idea., appreciate the thought.

Joeand TN- Let me know how your training goes. Hopefully we can learn from each other as well as the other guys who have stopped by.

Joe- Good luck with 100. when I do them I do 50. the 100 takes me too long and I am limited on time because I workout pre work hours.

Tomorrow is deadlift deload..

Another cultist! Is there no stopping the spread of 5/3/1? Soon I won't be able to understand any of you. Kidding, and welcome. We've got different types of training but I'm primarily here to provide insight on life, answer JWs questions of the day, pull Docs chain, and provide morale support. In common, I often work out early and almost always on an empty stomach except for coffee. Look forward to your thread.

Hel- I could use a lot of insight on life!

Deadlift deload this AM..not sure if my eyes were open or not. My damn dog who is older than I am can no longer make it through the night without a pee break ( come to think of it neither can I) or two....
Deads: 135,145,155,x5
Snatch grip rack pull: 1x10x205
RDl: 1 x10 x135

10 min rowing machine: easy 10 min bike at a moderate pace.

Have a great day

Peace

welcome aboard

Its a revolution not a cult. Great workouts OG. Glad to see you joined the over 35 club.

None lifting day for the Goat.

BB Complex : 4 x 6 x 85lbs. Dead, RDL, Bent over row, Hang Clean, Front Squat, MP, Back Squat.. 90 sec rest
Locate trash bin incase of bodily fluid ejection..Stuff heart back down throat.

12 minutes intervals on eliptical 20sec work/40 sec cruise

Pallof Press with Iso Hold: 2(side) x 3 x 70lbs 10 sec hold
Planks: 2 x 90 sec., Side Bridges 2(side)x 45 sec.

peace

Zippety Do Dah it was BP deload Day! 105, 130, 155 x 5

Inclince BP : 2 x 10 x 115lbs

Seated Cable Row: 2 x 12 x 100lbs

20 minutes moderate pace bike..

About as boring and uninspiring as a deload can be!

Peace

Hey if the American Heart Association comes out with a finding that indoor cardio is bad for you..call me immediately...I hate bikes, treadmills and ellipticals! But until they do:

20 minutes treadmill, 12 minutes intervals (15sec work, 45 sec cruise)

planks 3 x 2 minutes

plate loaded front squats 2 x 10 x25lbs

Tall kneeling cable chops 3 x 12 x90lbs

Peace

the deload has become my favorite part...

Got a question for the Old Goats out there. What are you guys doing for supplements? When , how much, what?

I have a protein shake (Muscle Milk) with a little creatine after the morning beat down and then hit 2 protein bars ( 1 in mid Am and 1 mid afternoon)..some fish oil at night and that's it.

Just curious if anyone found something that actually works..Thanks

Peace

MJ- Couldn't agree more..without deload, I would be toast!

Peace

Nice work I like the complexes.

Deload is in the vernacular the shit.

im pretty conservative with supplements, a post work out shake or if my recover is bad
Ill do another one during the day.
Fish oil in huge dosages, vitaman D, Zinc, and curricumen500 seems to really help with joint inflamation.
and I take another joint supplement, MSM when I remember.