Looks fine to me, but why chins instead of pullups? AFAIK pullups have more strength benefits.

Chinz for the gunz obv

Partially this.

But also, I can't find it right now, but I've read a few times that chin-ups are a better, more full body exercise. And many people say that because of this, pull-ups work your back better, but I've read that that's a myth and that chin-ups are better in pretty much every way.

But I have no idea if that's true. Would certainly love to hear some experts' opinions. Also Martin loves chin-ups...

EDIT: http://www.leangains.com/2010/05/10-...-training.html - check out #6

He is coming from a bodybuilding perspective, which is fine if you're into that kind of thing :P

Ah that would certainly make sense. Still, doesn't convince me to do pull-ups, as that's not the only site where I've read pro-chin things.

Got any pro-pull references?

from "Olympic Weightlifting" by Greg Everett

"The pull-up is quite possibly the single most important non-barbell exercise. It offers extremely important training effects such as shoulder girdle flexibility, joint stability and the balancing of pressing strength. For any athlete regularly performing overhead work, the pull-up is invaluable.

The pull-up is performed with the hands pronated (palms facing away from the athlete) and the chin-up with the hands supinated (palms facing the athlete). The primary difference is the greater bicep recruitment of the chin-up. If bicep development is a priority, the chin-up may be a better choice, but the more generally valuable exercise is the pull-up. The pull-up allows a greater range of motion for the shoulders, improving flexibility, connective tissue integrity, and shoulder stability, and is easier on the elbows and wrists. The pull-up should be performed with the hands outside shoulder width (approx jerk width). The motion of the pull-up should be very similar to the press in terms of position, movement and range of motion."

My deadlift stagnated for a good 5-6 months. Then I got really good at pullups and my deadlift completely blew up, along with my jerks. I agree wholeheartedly with what G. Everett said.

bump for non-archival purposes

So I've been cutting for the past month or so and plan on continuing the cut to try to get into single digit bf%. I'm probably like 16-17% at 188ish lbs right now. Got a long way to go, many many months. So enough girlish aesthetic complaining, but I wanted to lay that out before I continue.

I've been running RPT for the past month or so, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Also, recently I've been thinking about making a switch over to 5/3/1 because I've been very interested in it since the first day I read about it, and I was thinking (hoping?) the slower progression could work on a cut.

So should I just shut up and fight off the boredom of RPT and hope that maybe it starts working a bit better... or is 5/3/1 a semi-legitimate idea?

Thanks.

5/3/1 on a cut will really depend on the amount & type of assistance work you do I think. Not that I have any specific recommendations, but doing something like BBB would probably be ill-advised.

5/3/1 on a cut is fine, just set your training max's accordingly and pick your spots when you rep out.

Hm, I'd be curious as to your reasoning, although I wasn't all that interested in BBB anyway. It seems like the triumvirate is more geared towards powerlifting, which is where my interest lies.

Seems fair.

Thanks for the responses guys. 5/3/1 just seems like so much fun... you focus on one main lift for the day and then you get to do all the assistance stuff that you miss with other (full body) types of programs.

There have been some posts about "bastardized" (hybrid) programs. I'm putting together one such bastardized program. It's by no means original in its mixed template. Please critique:

Monday

Squats: 5x5x85%
5/3/1 Bench
3xFailure Pullups

Wednesday

Squats: 3x5x70%
5/3/1 Deadlift
3xFailure Weighted Janda Situps

Friday

Squats: 3x3x90%, 3x95%, 1x100%, 1x100+% (or PR attempt, whichever it ends up being)
5/3/1 Press
3xFailure Chinups

Add 5 lbs every week for the squat. Add 10 for the deadlift and 5 for the presses each cycle, as per 5/3/1.

Hard to imagine you can do 3 at 95%, hell a double at 95% sounds tough enough

That's what I have to do for four more days over the next two weeks. I did my first ever 3x95% last week, and did 2x3x95% yesterday. Saturday is gonna be 4x3x95%. Two more days of 4x3x95% next week, followed by 3x4x95% in two Mondays from next Monday.

It's insane, but certainly doable.

I don't know how long my setup is sustainable for, though. I might have to cut down on the 100% and more, and save those for a Friday where I skip the 3x3x90%, or just limit it to one set.

Any reason you don't use the TM setup for squats when you already have a volume day on Monday? Squat volume on Monday seems a bit excessive when you compare it to TM, which many has described as ****ing hard.

5x5x85% is pretty standard, except its 85% of your 5RM, not 1RM. I liked doing 5RM every Friday, it has been suggested to do that instead of a 1RM every week. I reckon that's because the training effect of a 5RM is greater than a 1RM.

ETA: Here's an article supporting 5RM over 1RM - http://www.reactivetrainingsystems.c...learn-to-grind

ETA part 2, you might want to consider swapping deadlift & press after you consider how much deadlifting that soon after volume day, and that close before max day would affect you. The obvious trade off is that if you deadlift on the same day as max squat you will be more tired before pulling.

Err, I meant squat volume on Friday. If the 90% in 3x3x90% is 90% of 1RM at least. Way more than TM when you include the 1 reps. It's also obv not too relevant to compare Smolov sets directly with a setup where you also DL, bench and press regularly.

Agreed

This seems like a recipe for disaster.

If you want a 3x/week Full Body program why not just do TM or Wendler's Full Body program?

Good link HS - RTS is a fantastic website.

I don't think the 5x5x85% (of 1rm) part is necessarily a problem, provided you are one of those people (like I am) that has a crappy 1rm compared with your 5rm. I've definitely done some volume squat workouts that involved 3-5 sets of 5 at over 85% of my 1rm. I wouldn't try for an extended period of time without a decent caloric surplus though.

5/3/1 deadlift 2 days before max effort squat is gonna be rough on the squat. If you're really intent on trying this, I'd consider dropping the 3x5x70% squat from the Wednesday workout entirely. At least that way you'll be pulling totally fresh on that day. I think it makes more sense to figure out a way to deadlift after squats on Friday though.

On Fridays, work up to your heavy single, then backoff for a bit more volume at a lower intensity. I'd still avoid a true 1rm though. Something like 1x90%, 1x95%, 1x98%, 2x3x94% (or 1x5x90%). All % off 1rm.

Can you really do 5x90% of your 1RM?

-Edited out sarcastic post-

Wow I guess a 1RM is higher than I thought, although I've never done anything intentionally <5 before. Wasn't there something about using your 5RM as your 90%1RM for you training max in 5/3/1 since it's close?

In 5/3/1 you use 90% of your "true" 1RM as the number that you use to calculate all the other percentages from.

As far as 5RM : 1RM ratio I use this formula:

1RM = ((Weight X Reps) X 0.0333) + Weight