MY GO TO 5/3/1 PROGRAM

I have been training 5/3/1 for a long time now. Over the years I have been through dozens of programs. Even though I'll try to shake things up a bit from time to time, the following is the one that I seem to keep going back to. It has given me a nice balance of strength and conditioning while keeping my body feeling healthy. For those who are familiar with 5/3/1 programming, I order my microcycles 3's week with AMRAP, 5's week no AMRAP, and finish up the 5/3/1 week with AMRAP. For those not familiar with 5/3/1, first welcome back from getting out from under that rock, then, it means I begin with the moderately heavy week, followed by a lighter week, and lastly, the heavy week. You'll notice I take the middle week off from AMRAP. I don't know if it's my age, or my level of lifting and experience, but I find I don't recover from doing AMRAP every week adequately. Having that middle week off from it has seemed to work well for me. MONDAY: OHP (using core blaster/viking handle setup) 5/3/1 w/3x5 fsl Plate raises 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps T-bar row 3-5 sets of 6-10 reps Shrug (using core blaster/viking handle setup) 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps Hammer curl 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps Underhand tri ext 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps WEDNESDAY: Deadlift (using dead squat/trap bar) 5/3/1 w/3x5 fsl RDL (using dead squat/trap bar) 3-5 sets of 10 reps Pulldown 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps 45° Back Raise 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps Roman Chair Situps 3-5 sets of 10 reps Calf Raises 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps FRIDAY: Bench 5/3/1 w/3x5 fsl Inverted rows 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps Dips 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps Rear lateral raise 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps Dumbbell tri ext 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps Curl bent or straight bar 3-5 sets of 6-10 reps SATURDAY: Squat (using safety squat bar) 5/3/1 w/3x5 fsl Lunge 3-5 sets of 10 GHR 3-5 sets of 10-15 Ab Wheel Rollouts 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps Banded Sissy Squats 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps Calf Raises 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps With assistance you'll notice a variety of rep ranges. When you see them set a little lower, the weight is definitely higher on those exercises. Conversely, the higher rep ranges are used with lower weight. I know this goes without saying for some, but I find I have lifters of all experience levels reading my blog. Hope this has helped some of you out. Thanks for reading.