5/3/1 for MMA & Combat Sports (2-day)

5/3/1 for MMA and combat sports is Jim Wendler's two-day 5/3/1 template for fighters and grapplers who train their sport most days of the week and need strength work that fits around it: squat and bench press on one day, deadlift and overhead press on the other, the standard 5/3/1 wave over a four-week cycle, and two or three assistance exercises per session. Hardy calculates every set from your training max and raises the max once per cycle from your logged sets.

Wendler's rule for the weight room is that "the time spent in the weight room must be devoted to getting stronger, not running around doing circuits": conditioning and skill work happen on the mat, the two lifting days build the base. He also scales it to the calendar: "the farther out you are from your fight, the more you can lift. The closer you are to the competition, the less you can do."

Weekly structure

Lift twice a week with at least two days between sessions; BJJ, wrestling, judo or MMA practice fills the other days.

• Day 1: squat and bench press for the week's 5/3/1 sets, then chin-ups 5×8–12 and dips 5×10–15
• Day 2: deadlift and overhead press for the week's 5/3/1 sets, then dumbbell rows 5×8–12 and hanging leg raises 5×15

The main lifts follow the 5/3/1 wave from the book: week 1 is 5 reps at 65 / 75 / 85 % of your training max, week 2 is 3 reps at 70 / 80 / 90 %, week 3 is 5 / 3 / 1 reps at 75 / 85 / 95 %, and week 4 is a deload at 40 / 50 / 60 % for 5 reps. The last set of each working week is an AMRAP; the deload sets are straight sets. Rest 3 minutes between main sets. 5/3/1 percentages by week lists every number.

Wendler keeps assistance to "2-3 exercises per day" and wants "plenty of lat and upper back work, arm work or anything that you need personally for injury prevention"; the four rows above are exactly that, and you can swap them in the editor. "A third day can be added for additional assistance work (if time and energy allow)", never a third main-lift day.

Progression

Your training max is 90 % of your 1RM (what the training max is and why 90 %). After the deload week Hardy adds 2.5 kg (5 lb) to the bench and press training maxes and 5 kg (10 lb) to squat and deadlift; the change is shown for review after the session. If a week-3 top set is missed, that training max drops by 10 % and you rebuild. Assistance runs on double progression: once every set reaches the top of its rep range, the weight goes up one step (2.5 kg / 5 lb) and the reps start over at the bottom of the range.

Tips

• Fight camp: keep the two days, stop the AMRAP sets at the prescribed reps and cut assistance to one exercise; the deload week can land on fight week.
• New to the barbell? Run 5×5 for Combat Sports first, the two-day 5×5 that adds weight every session, and move to this 5/3/1 2-day split when it stalls.
• Even less time? 5/3/1 I'm Not Doing Jack Shit is the same cycle with one lift per session and no assistance; in the off-season 5/3/1 Boring But Big adds the volume back.
• Read Wendler's 5/3/1 and MMA article and buy his books for the full method.