Thought on 5/3/1 Progress after 3 Cycles

[wevie]

I started 5/3/1 boring but big at the beginning of the year and thought I'd share progress and ask for feedback/thoughts or simply drum up discussion out it.

I'm also dong a bend barbell row and assisted (hopefully non assisted by the end of the year) pullups twice a week. I also mix in some things for arms and other lifts as time permits and hit abs as often as possible.

Something else worth mentioning is I've been in a calorie deficit since the beginning of the year and have cut 20 pounds from 215lbs to 195lbs. I thought 195lbs was my goal weight but still see some fluff around the midsection/belly button so perhaps 5% more body fat will get me there. I'm 5'11" and 41 years old by the way.

So far I've not missed any reps on main lifts or the BBB but I will say it's certainly a challenge except for shoulders. I'd never spend a bunch of time doing overhead press so I didn't have good numbers to get a good read. I'm wondering if I should reset that to make it more challenging or just go with it. It also really feels like the week 4 deload is a waste but I get it. It's just the percentages are so low they often aren't even how much I warm up with.

For the Boring But Big portion of the workout I do that on a different day than the main lift as follows so I'm hitting those four lifts twice a week

Squat then BBB Deadlift
Bench then BBB OHP
Deadlift then BBB Squat
OHP then BBB Bench

BBB Percentages:

Week 1: 60%
Week 2: 65%
Week 3 and 4: 70%

Starting inputs:

Squat: 405 for 1 rep
Bench: 285 for 1 rep
Deadlift 455 for 2 reps
OHP: 135 for 6 reps

[Jtbny]

To answer your question on OHP - No, I'd stick with what your using and just keep going. Week 3 you're not blowing it out of the water.

As far as week 4 deloads there is no reason you can't skip it every other cycle if recovery isn't an issue. I'm assuming your last 3 columns are for 1rep max attempts or is that just the 1rm calculated using the reps you got on the last set? Either way, besides squats for cycle 2 and 3, you're making progress.

[wevie]

Sorry not quite sure which column you're referring to. If you mean the numbers in blue that is the number of completed reps on the 3rd set. The way it works is week one 3 sets of 5, week two 3 sets of 3 then week three is a set of 5, set of 3 and a set of 1. The idea behind is is the last set should be that number or more. So 5+, 3+ and 1+

[Jtbny]

Sorry not quite sure which column you're referring to. If you mean the numbers in blue that is the number of completed reps on the 3rd set. The way it works is week one 3 sets of 5, week two 3 sets of 3 then week three is a set of 5, set of 3 and a set of 1. The idea behind is is the last set should be that number or more. So 5+, 3+ and 1+

I know the program well. Ran about 18 cycles of it years ago. Was wondering what the right 3 column numbers were coming from. No worries, not important.

[wevie]

Which columns see you referring to?