5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength (2nd Edition) (13 page)

The Simplest and Most Effective Trick for Getting Stronger and
Gaining Weight

No matter which plan you choose to gain weight and size there is one trick that will work wonders for gaining size and strength. This is key.

Ready?

Wake up in the middle of the night and eat a meal (pre-make this meal) or have a huge protein drink with milk or water. This is such a game changer for anyone that wants to up the ante.

Does it suck? It does for the first couple of nights. You drag your tired ass to the kitchen, barely awake and shove food and drink down your mouth. After a week, your body will get used to waking up and you will wake up hungry. This simple trick is amazing and like Keyser Soze once said, you have to be wil ing to do what the other guy isn’t. Check your level of dedication and see if you can man up to the challenge.

Eating to Lose Weight

This seems to be all the rage these days; eating to get lean. For the general public, I get it. For the older lifter who is already big, it makes sense. For the younger, skinny kid who has more bone than muscle…I just shake my head. I do not advocate skinny androgynous males; this is in direct opposition to everything I hold sacred. Men should not be in skinny jeans; men should be on a quest for jeans that can barely hold their thighs.

My eating plan for losing weight is very similar to the ones above; it’s a no nonsense approach for losing weight. It is terribly simple. I developed this plan when I was playing football at the University of Arizona. After years of suffering with Graves’ disease (this is a condition known as hyperthyroidism, an overactive thyroid) I had my thyroid removed. Needless to say, I gained a ton of weight. From late August to November, I went from 180lbs to 240lbs. All my lifts skyrocketed and I felt great. It was the first time in years that I wasn’t sweating profusely and never gaining weight. BUT it came with a price. As the doctors continued to mess with my Synthroid dose, I continued to gain weight. I got up to 255lbs and simply couldn’t move. I was way too heavy to run and thus too heavy to play footbal . Being a col ege student I wasn’t about to give up all the beer and pizza so I simply made a pact for myself. Before I ate anything, I drink a big protein drink. This fil ed me up quite a bit and instead of eating an entire pizza, I’d eat only until I felt full. I never over ate. I never ate until my stomach was rounded and bloated; I simply ate to satisfaction. For many this may seem contrary to habit but all it requires is discipline; if you don’t have that, no eating plan can help you.

After about three months, I had shed 30 pounds and got my body back on track. This change made all the difference in the world to me. Here is the simple plan.

1. 50g protein drink mixed with water.

2. Two or more servings of fruits and vegetables.

3. Palm sized portion of protein (this is usually about 4oz).

4. 30-50 grams of clean carbs (rice, potatoes and oatmeal) If you feel like you don’t have the discipline to eat clean al the time, I offer this simple advice.

Drink a large protein drink before any meal and snack. If you want to eat some Doritos, slam a protein drink. Before breakfast, protein drink. Before you go out to eat with friends, drink a protein drink. It’s so damn simple and easy. Everyone that fol ows this plan and eats with discretion (i.e. you eat only until you are satisfied) loses weight. The key is to have the discipline to know that you won’t finish every meal and you real y shouldn’t; I’ve never seen a portion size at a restaurant that deserves to be finished by an overweight person.

More on Diet

Let’s just al be honest with ourselves here. If you are over the age of 18, live in the United States and don’t know what foods are reasonably healthy and what foods you should probably avoid, your parents have failed you. In fact, I find it very hard to believe that the same people who can’t discriminate what food to put in their mouth are somehow al owed to right to vote for the President of the United States. After the age of 18, you are a responsible adult and thus should take responsibility for your actions. I get asked all the time what kinds of foods to eat, what diet to follow – if you are looking for a specific diet plan via book, I recommend the following books:

1 The Zone Diet by Barry Sears

Now after you read these books I want you to take a step back, ignore the scare tactics and look at the big picture. They both recommend a balanced diet, quality protein, fruits and vegetables (don’t believe that bananas or non-green vegetables are bad for you), some quality carbs and healthy fats. This is no different than any good, basic diet book. All diet books have gimmicks; it is how they appeal to the reader. But any quality plan is about the same. If you read enough books on the subject, things will start to mesh together and make sense. This is cal ed the “13th Warrior Phenomenon”. In the movie,
The 13th Warrior
, Antonio Banderas plays an Arab that must fight alongside Norsemen to help a vil age. Banderas’ character does not speak Norse but after weeks of listening in on conversations and watching the Norsemen talk, he slowly begins to understand what they are saying. This is the same with diet and training (and whatever subject you want to be knowledgeable on). You read enough and suddenly things begin to make sense. You just have to read a lot and learn how to read AND think critically. These two things will serve you for life.

Now take these books and apply things you have learned from lifters; from magazines and books. All have high protein diets. Much higher than what is recommended in the Zone book or Paleo books. This is because those books are written for the average person. We are not average people. You can argue this point until you are blue in the face, but the simple truth is that the biggest and strongest people have higher protein diets. There are exceptions but using exceptions to prove the rule prove more your ignorance.

So if you want to follow a diet plan, get on the Zone diet or Paleo diet and triple the protein requirements. Simple as that. Do so with protein powders and whole foods. Eat a ton of protein. Squat heavy. Push heavy objects. Have sex. Love life.

5/3/1 FAQ

Question:
Can I use chains or bands while using this program?

Answer:
I don’t recommend this, but here’s the easiest way to figure out how to work chains and bands into the program. First, pick the exercise. This could be benching with bands, squatting with chains, or whatever – there are many different options. Second, estimate what 80-85% of your max would be with that exercise (with the added resistance). Third, warm up to that weight and perform an all-out rep max. Finally, take this weight and these reps and plug them into the rep max formula to find you estimated one rep max:
Weight x Reps x .0333 + Weight = Estimated 1RM

After you get the estimated 1RM, take 90% of that number (1RM * .9) and use this as your new training max.

Question:
Why don’t you recommend the use of chains and/or bands?

Answer:
Accommodating resistances are a good idea on paper, but the practice has been popularized by strong individuals who all use equipment. The popularity of chains and bands has spread throughout the powerlifting world, and lifters have had great success with them. I’ve seen LOTS of athletes and regular lifters shit the bed with them, though, and this is for one main reason:

The strength curve for athletes/regular guys is heavy at the bottom and light at the top, so they need more low end work. The strength curve for geared lifters is light at the bottom and heavy at the top, so more high end work is needed.

Using chains/bands on a raw lifter will lower the use of bar weight and THUS lower the amount of weight that’s used at the bottom of a lift. Hence, the strength curve is al screwed up and not always suited for a raw lifter.

Question:
Do I need to deload if I’m a beginner?

Answer:
You don’t need to deload no matter who you are, but I highly recommend using a deload every fourth week, because it al ows your body and mind to rest. You’re not going to get weaker. If you do, it’s al in your mind.

Question:
Can I perform the bench and military press in the same day?

Answer:
You
could
do this, but I would highly recommend basing your military max on what you can do AFTER you bench, and not when you’re fresh.

Question:
Can I squat and deadlift on the same day?

Answer:
Yes. Again, pick which lift you’d like to do first, and make sure you base your second exercise on what you can do AFTER you perform the first. If you don’t know which one to perform, simply ask yourself which lift you want to improve the most. If you have an equal desire for improvement in both lifts, then find the time to give it an extra day.

Question:
If I max out on one lift, but the other three lifts are still improving, do I cut back all lifts 10% and start over? Or do I just cut back one?

Answer:
Just cut back one and keep the others moving forward.

Question:
Do I go for max reps on each set or just the last set?

Answer:
Just the last set of the day for the big exercise.

Question:
Do I go for max reps during my deload week?

Answer:
No. Limit these reps to 5, and deload!

Question:
How much time do you rest between sets?

Answer:
You should rest for as long as it takes to perform the set with good form, but not enough to get cold. For most lifters, this is about 3-5 minutes.

Question:
Do you ever take your assistance work to failure?

Answer:
Very rarely. The key to assistance work is doing enough to stimulate the muscle. Your assistance work should not affect your recovery and overall performance.

Question:
How long should you stick with assistance exercises?

Answer:
You can switch ever week if you’d like but I would recommend using the same assistance work for at least 4 weeks before switching.

Question:
Do you always stick with an assistance template or do you vary it?

Answer:
I vary it all the time. The most important thing is to get the work of the main lifts in.

Question:
How much time do you take between sets of assistance work?

Answer:
Anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. If a set is worth doing, it’s worth doing correctly. I’d rather do one good set than five bad ones with terrible form.

Question:
Do you always take the last set to absolute failure?

Answer:
No. Sometimes it’s best to do the required reps and move on, but rarely is a set done to absolute failure. In most cases, the set should be done
close
to failure, but with perhaps a rep or half of a rep left before failing. This is something you’l have to learn for yourself.

Question:
Do you ever take a true one rep max?

Answer:
You can do it whenever you want, but I’d recommend waiting at least 3 or 4 cycles to test it again. Never give up a training day to take a 1RM. Simply do the workout first, but don’t go for max reps on the last set. From there, try for a new max. While this program will improve your one rep max, the program’s success is not geared just toward one rep maxes. Structuring your training like this would be setting you up for failure. A one rep max is no better or worse than a five rep max.

Question:
I want to do curls. What day can I use for this?

Answer:
Whichever day you want. It doesn’t matter.

Question:
Can I use front squats instead of back squats for my big exercise?

Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Do you recommend decline presses as a main or assistance movement?

Answer:
No.

Question:
Can I use power cleans (or something similar) in this program? If so, where would you put them?

Answer:
Yes, this is a great idea. I’d recommend doing power cleans, hang cleans, power snatches or hang snatches if want to choose an Olympic movement. If you want to do these along with the regular training, I’d recommend doing them before you perform your squat or deadlift workout.

Question:
Can I use the trap bar instead of the barbell for deadlifting?

Answer:
Yes, this is the only acceptable deadlift option.

Question:
Can I use the push press or jerk in place of the military press?