The 5/3/1 program, explained

5/3/1 is a strength program built on three heavy sets per lift, taken from a number set a little below your best. It runs in four-week cycles across four lifts: the squat, the bench press, the deadlift and the overhead press. You lift three or four days a week, one of those lifts per day, and the weight goes up by a small fixed step each cycle. It was written by Jim Wendler, a powerlifter and coach, and first published in an article in 2009 (opens in a new tab).

It suits a lifter who already knows the four lifts and wants to get stronger at them over months. Its author's test of whether it is working is simple: the same weight for more reps than last time.

The training max

Every percentage in the program is taken from a training max, not from your one-rep max. The original article sets the training max at 90 percent of your true max (opens in a new tab). If you bench 315, the number everything is worked out from is 285.

The reason is the heavy week. The third week ends with a single at 95 percent of the training max, which is about 86 percent of your real max. That is heavy enough to build strength (opens in a new tab): a meta-analysis of training studies found the largest gains in maximal strength come from loads above 60 percent of a one-rep max, and the whole wave sits above that. It is also light enough to repeat every cycle without grinding. The article puts it plainly: you do not need to operate at your max to increase your max.

Later material from the author lowers the starting point. His own site says 90 percent was the recommended start, later books mention 85 or 80 (opens in a new tab), and the training max should follow your goals rather than stay tied to your true max. The beginner version uses 80 to 85 percent (opens in a new tab), with the advice to err on the side of too light. If you have not tested a max recently, estimate one from a set of three to five reps and take 85 to 90 percent of that.

The four-week wave

Each week has three working sets of the main lift. The first two weeks build, the third is the heaviest, and the fourth is light. The reps fall as the weight climbs: fives, then threes, then a five, a three and a single. These are the percentages from the original article (opens in a new tab), as shares of the training max.

Read the transcript

Start from your max: a 225 lb bench. Your training max is 90% of it: 203 lbs.

Week 1: three sets of 5. 65% for 130, 75% for 150, 85% for 170, or more reps.

Week 2: three sets of 3. 70% for 140, 80% for 160, 90% for 180, or more reps.

Week 3: sets of 5, 3 and 1. 75% for 150, 85% for 170, 95% for 190, or more reps.

The heaviest set is in week 3: 190 lbs. On a 45 lb bar that is 45, 25 and 2.5 lbs a side.

Week 4 is the deload: three light sets of 5. 40% for 80, 50% for 100, 60% for 120.

Then the training max goes up 5 lbs, to 208. The wave starts again from the new number.

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Week 4 of 4: Deload

The last set of the first three weeks is marked "or more". You do the reps listed, then keep going until the next rep would be slow or ugly. That set is where the program measures you. Five reps at 85 percent of the training max in week one is the baseline. Eight is progress. Three means the training max is too high. It is the only set in the program that asks for a judgment call.

The routine builder prints all four weeks from your maxes, with the warm-up sets and the plates to load on each side of the bar.

The deload

The fourth week is three light sets, and nothing else. The original article is clear about what it is for: you are giving your muscles a break, not trying to set records (opens in a new tab).

Planned reductions in training volume are well studied in athletes before competition. A meta-analysis of tapering found that cutting volume by 41 to 60 percent for about two weeks, while keeping intensity and frequency (opens in a new tab), improved performance. A deload week is the same idea applied in the middle of a program rather than at the end of one. The original program takes it every fourth week. The author's later books move it to after two three-week cycles, which his site calls the 7th Week Protocol (opens in a new tab). Either way it is on the calendar.

Progression

After the deload, the training max goes up: 5 pounds for the bench press and the overhead press, 10 pounds for the squat and the deadlift (opens in a new tab). Then the four weeks run again from the new number. That is 120 pounds a year on the squat if every cycle goes well.

The rule for when it should not go up comes from the beginner article: if any rep in the cycle was slow, grinding or not done with good form, you do not increase your training max (opens in a new tab). The later books add a planned reset so a stalled lift does not stay stalled. The author's site describes moving the training max up for five cycles and then back by three (opens in a new tab), which puts you a little below where you were and lets you build back up.

The lifts and the week

There are four lifts, and each gets its own day: the squat, the bench press, the deadlift and the overhead press. The original article has you train three or four days a week, with one core lift per workout (opens in a new tab). On four days each lift gets a day. On three days the four lifts rotate, so each one comes round every fourth session.

A workout is short. Warm up, do the three working sets, do the assistance work, leave. The routine builder on this site prints the four-day version, with the overhead press, the deadlift, the bench press and the squat each on their own day.

Templates

The three working sets are the same in every version of the program. What changes is what you do after them, and that is what the templates are. Two of them have been there since the original article, one came later, and the routine builder on this site produces the first two.

The Triumvirate

The original article's sample workouts use what it calls The Triumvirate: three exercises per workout, one of them the main lift (opens in a new tab). After the working sets you do two assistance exercises for several sets each, such as dips and chin-ups on a pressing day. It is the plainest version of the program, and in our view the one to run first. The builder's "Two Accessories" option produces it.

Boring But Big

The most popular template, by the author's own account. After the working sets you do five sets of ten of the same lift at 50 to 60 percent of the training max (opens in a new tab), or of the opposite lift, so a squat day ends with five sets of ten deadlifts. The official page tells anyone new to it to start around 30 percent (opens in a new tab), because five sets of ten squats will leave you more sore than the weight suggests. On the deload week it keeps the sets at five by ten or cuts them to three by ten (opens in a new tab). The builder's "5x10 Volume" option produces it.

It adds muscle and work capacity. It is also the most tiring version of the program, and the official page's one warning is not to add anything to it (opens in a new tab).

First Set Last

After the three working sets, go back to the weight of the first set and do five sets of five there (opens in a new tab). It is the author's choice for beginners, and his comparison of the two is direct: Boring But Big makes you a bit bigger, and five sets of five is easier to recover from (opens in a new tab). The sets should move fast. If they do not, the training max is too high.

The builder does not produce First Set Last. To run it, generate the routine with no assistance and add five sets of five at the week's first working weight after the main lift.

The later books add more ways to run the main sets and the assistance; this guide covers the three above.

The templates side by side

Which one should you run

• New to 5/3/1, or coming back after a layoff: the Triumvirate, with the training max at 85 percent. One cycle to learn the rhythm.
• You want to get bigger and can sleep and eat for it: Boring But Big, starting the five by ten around 30 percent and working up over three cycles.
• You want more practice with the main lifts and less soreness: First Set Last.
• You are a beginner with less than a year of lifting: the author's beginner version, three full-body days, two main lifts per day, First Set Last for both. It is on the official site (opens in a new tab).
• Your last set is grinding: none of them. Lower the training max first.

Common questions

Do I need to test my one-rep max first? No. The original article suggests working up to a heavy set of three or four instead, since a three-rep max is about 90 percent of a one-rep max. The calculator on this site estimates a max from any set of up to 20 reps, and the estimate is most accurate at ten reps or fewer.

Can I run 5/3/1 three days a week? Yes. The original article says three or four days, one main lift per day. On three days the lifts rotate, so each one comes round every fourth session.

What if I cannot get the listed reps on the last set? The training max is too high. Do not raise it after the cycle, and consider resetting it lower. The program is built to be repeated with more weight each cycle.

Should I skip the deload if I feel fine? The original program schedules it every fourth week. Later versions take it after two cycles instead. Either way it is planned, and feeling fine in week three is partly what the earlier light week is for.

Is 5/3/1 good for beginners? The author has a beginner version. It is three full-body days a week, two main lifts per day, with five sets of five at the first set's weight after each. It uses a lower training max and the same four-week wave.

Sources

1. 5/3/1: How to Build Pure Strength, by Jim Wendler (the original article, 2009) (opens in a new tab), T Nation
2. The 5/3/1 Philosophy for Beginners (opens in a new tab), the official 5/3/1 site
3. Boring But Big (opens in a new tab), the official 5/3/1 site
4. First Set Last vs Boring But Big (opens in a new tab), the official 5/3/1 site
5. The Training Max: What You Need to Know (opens in a new tab), the official 5/3/1 site
6. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training, a meta-analysis (opens in a new tab), Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2017, on PubMed
7. Effects of tapering on performance, a meta-analysis (opens in a new tab), Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2007, on PubMed

Related

• What a training max is, and how to set yours
• More programs guides
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