AAS and the 531 "Boring But Big" program

[Oct_]

Hello all. I wanted to post my current routine and see if anyone else had any luck with this and perhaps if maybe I should mix things up.

For the past 7 months, I've been running Jim Wendler's "5/3/1 Boring, But Big" program. Original tnation article here (https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/5-3-1-how-to-build-pure-strength/) and you can buy his books here (https://www.jimwendler.com/collections/books-programs). I've had decent strength gains but visually I don't really think it made much of a difference. I can tell a little in the mirror but nobody else can honestly. Also, on the deadlift day, I'm totally gassed by set 4 or 5. Accessory work for me consists of body weight dips or chinups and some low intensity cardio (such as treadmill on an incline or jogging), about 100+ reps per week of each assistance exercise and about 120 minutes of cardio.

I'm wondering if anyone has run this program before while on a cycle and if they liked the results. Yes or no, why or why not?

 

[samgraves82]

I've never ran it but it's a strength program so it's not really geared toward a "visual" result. Then again, if ur stronger, there almost certainly more muscle tissue under there. If you want a little of both try a powerbuilding program(I have one posted here somewhere) or look up Jeff nippard, Dave Tate and mountain dog recently made one just before Jon died, and I have another template in my phone stored as.well. diet will also play a HUGE ROLE in the appearance as well, obviously.

 

[selfmademonster]

How much are you eating? I've run 5/3/1 primarily for the past 10 years, different variations of course and plan to once again when my garage is set up. It is primarily a strength routine as mentioned but I've definitely have had some success with it visually, I think for versatility and results no matter your sport it's hard to beat

 

[Bft84]

I did it years ago and I grew. What I did though was every last set on the main compound lift was to failure so as many reps as possible. The problem with 5/3/1 is that it starts you out with basically warmup sets and keeps you too far away from effective reps for way too long. I’ll bet if you make that one change you’ll start to grow.

 

[Oct_]

How much are you eating? I've run 5/3/1 primarily for the past 10 years, different variations of course and plan to once again when my garage is set up. It is primarily a strength routine as mentioned but I've definitely have had some success with it visually, I think for versatility and results no matter your sport it's hard to beat

I've been trying to hit maintenance calories at ~2600 kcal /day with 200g protein, not really tracking anything else. I'll be honest, on the weekend I usually go way over for one day (typically Friday night). Yeah I was initially drawn to it as "size plus strength" middle ground. I'm not as lean as I would like to be but I know it's not a cutting program. I picked this one because it was just really easy for me to mentally wrap my head around (today is Bench day, tomorrow is Squat day). Programmed the sets in excel and saved it on my phone, idiot proof.

 

[Oct_]

Note to Mods: Apologies for double post - waited too long on edit and missed window to include both in my previous post, feel free to remove if too much spam.

I did it years ago and I grew. What I did though was every last set on the main compound lift was to failure so as many reps as possible. The problem with 5/3/1 is that it starts you out with basically warmup sets and keeps you too far away from effective reps for way too long. I’ll bet if you make that one change you’ll start to grow.

I still do the AMRAP sets from the first book. And I also still de-load every 4th week as I am getting up there in the years ... I find it helps ... I know that Wendler has tinkered with the program and I actually find this more confusing than anything else. What workout program needs fucking patch notes ... only this one apparently.

One adjustment I made was adding "grease-the-groove" sets throughout my day of whatever accessory for the day. On deadlift and squat days, my accessory is dips, so every 30 minutes I do 7 or 8 dips and easily get to 100+ by the end of the day. On OHP and bench press days, my accessory is chin-ups; I'll superset those in between sets and also "grease-the-groove" throughout the day, same deal get to 100+ by end of day. I noticed a lot of improvement in my chest when I added more dips, but my biceps didn't really respond to the chinups. Post-workout I'll do about 30 minutes of LISS cardio on the treadmill. That's all.

I'm thinking that if I run a more "legit" cycle, there's just not enough volume in there outside of deadlift volume. And with deadlifts, as I progress in weight, it's getting harder and harder to finish those 5x10 sets ... IDK. You're probably going to say I need to eat more or run a different program if I want to cut, and I wouldn't disagree.