How I Transformed My Strength in 5 Months
A progress report after 5 months of 5/3/1 strength training.
Introduction
For the past 5 months, I’ve been following the 5/3/1 for Beginners program. This is a barbell-focused strength training program designed around coach Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 system.
Although 5/3/1 is popular among intermediate and advanced lifters, I haven’t seen as many write-ups from beginners like myself. The program has worked incredibly well for me, so I’d like to share my thoughts and hopefully inspire other beginners to give it a try.
My Starting Stats:
After a lifetime of neglecting my physical health, I started exercising regularly in 2017. I’ve mostly stuck to running, but have occasionally dabbled in other exercises. I even gave 5/3/1 a try back in 2020, but didn’t manage to stick with it for more than a few weeks.
I started this program in December 2022 at age 35, and I’m now 36. Throughout the entire time that I’ve run this program, my body weight has been between 165 and 170 pounds (about 75–77 kg).
5/3/1 for Beginners focuses on 4 main lifts: Squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press. When I began, I tested myself on each of these lifts and used a calculator to estimate…
