5/3/1 for Beginners

5/3/1 is a popular, proven system for training that is effective for trainees of all levels first developed by Coach Jim Wendler with many common variants available for free online. Please see his website for more information.

Quick Program Overview

This section is a barebones overview of the program. Please read the full description for more info.

On each of the three lifting days, you will be doing the following:

• Quick warmup of jumping or throwing movements.
• Eight sets of your first Main Lift for the day. Your third set is an AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) set. Optionally, three more warmup sets can be done first.
• Eight sets of your second Main Lift for the day. Your third set is an AMRAP set.
• 50-100 reps of one Push, one Pull, and one Single Leg or Core exercise.

General Pre-Workout Warm Up

Before you do any of the lifting, choose one of the following and perform 10-15 total reps over 2-3 sets. This should not take more than 5-10 minutes at most.

• Box Jumps
• Broad Jumps
• Medicine Ball Throws

You can warm up for your work on the Main Lifts with the following sets. This is optional and can be done with minimal rest between each set.

• 5 reps @ 40%
• 5 reps @ 50%
• 3 reps @ 60%

Assistance Work

Each day, choose one exercise for each of the three categories below, and perform 50 – 100 reps of it. The number of sets you use to accomplish this is not important. You can do all of your reps for each category one at a time, or to finish your workout faster, you can cycle through a set from each category in a circuit. If you choose a bodyweight exercise and cannot complete at least 50 reps, you can choose a second exercise to finish the total out. If you choose a weighted exercise and cannot complete at least 50 reps, you chose a weight that was too high.

Don’t overthink your exercise choices, your weight selection, or your sets and reps – What’s important about this work is just getting a lot of full body volume done.

Push	Pull	Single Leg/Core
Dips	Chinups	Any Ab / Core Exercise
Pushups	Pullups	Back Raises
Flat DB Bench	Inverted Rows	Reverse Hypers
Incline DB Bench	DB Rows	Lunges
DB OHP	Cable Rows	Step Ups
Tricep Extension	Machine Rows	Bulgarian Split Squats
Tricep Pushdown	Face Pulls	KB Snatches
	Band Pull-Aparts	KB Swings
	Lat Pulldowns
	Curls

Progression rules

The suggested progression rules are already programmed into the workout exercises below.