Beyond 5/3/1: Simple Training for Extraordinary Results

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I believe that I’d get strong by doing 531 for years, but I can’t see myself managing to stay committed to it for long enough to ever find out.

Well, that might be true if I was 21, or 31, or 41, or maybe even 51, but at 61, and with a lower right lumbar area that tweaks out on me on an all too regular basis, I don’t see how I’d be able to make use of all of the different programs Wendler lays out. However, once you remove your heavy sessions, maximum exertions, dynamic movements, speed work and gruelling endurance sets, and replace them with just three sets of 5, 3 or 1…there’s hole in your workout, dear reader, dear reader. I've always had a hard time exercising restraints on the weights or the intensity I use, so this program is perfect for me. In an entire month, you experience only three tough sets of an exercise – and only one of them is above 85% of your true maximum. Running a half marathon is far from impossible for most healthy individuals, but does require careful training.

However, unlike Tuchscherer’s Reactive Training Systems, Wendler hasn’t yet figured out how to systematize autoregulation so that anyone can use it.

He does that for many very good reasons, but it means that your first week involves doing sets of 5 at 54%, 63% and 72% of your actual max. Only those who are brave enough, or as Wendler may put it, “man enough” should read this book or be satisfied with an average complacent life.You will definitely need to read his first book "5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength" so you know the basics of the program. In Week 11, where even all the assistance is cut out, you ensure full recovery going into Meet Week. Unless you’re absolutely KILLING yourself in those three working weeks, deloading that frequently is completely unnecessary.