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Wendler 5/3/1

Intermediate 12 weeks 4 days/week Powerlifting Strongman

5/3/1 is an intermediate powerlifting program that runs as repeating four-week waves at 4 sessions per week. It is built into Ægir Iron and free to load for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster.

What this program is

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 gives each main lift, the overhead press, deadlift, bench press, and squat, its own day. Every four-week wave runs three working weeks at rising percentages of a training max, and the final set of each working week is an AMRAP you push for extra reps, followed by a lighter deload week. The percentages come off a training max set at around ninety percent of your true one-rep max, which keeps the working weights submaximal and leaves room for quality reps. Boring But Big, five sets of ten on the main lift, is a supplemental after the main work; in Ægir Iron it is on by default and you can switch it off.

Week 1: 65% x5, 75% x5, 85% x5+
Week 2: 70% x3, 80% x3, 90% x3+
Week 3: 75% x5, 85% x3, 95% x1+
Week 4 (deload): 40% x5, 50% x5, 60% x5

At a glance

Discipline	Powerlifting, also listed under Powerbuilding and Strongman (as the barbell base under event training; it programs no events)
Experience level	Intermediate
Length	12 weeks (three four-week waves)
Training days	4 per week
Equipment	Barbell and rack
Loading	Percentage of a training max, resolved live from your maxes, with automatic AMRAP-driven progression.
Price	Free for individual lifters and rostered athletes

Free for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster. Coaches pay only for roster tools.

How it works in Ægir Iron

Ægir Iron ships 5/3/1 as a configurable program you load in a couple of taps. You choose whether your saved number is a true one-rep max, in which case the app takes ninety percent for your training max, or a training max you have already set, whether to keep Boring But Big (on by default) or run the main lifts only, and which of the four lifts get a day. The app prices every working set from your training max, rounds each to the nearest five pounds, and flags the plus set as an AMRAP. Each four-week wave is its own cycle, so when you finish one the app prompts you to advance. Wendler adds 5 lb to the upper-body and 10 lb to the lower-body training maxes each cycle. Ægir Iron proposes its own percentage step instead, larger when your AMRAP beats the target, which is our rule rather than his; edit the proposal to his 5 or 10 lb if you want the program as written. Accept it and the next wave reprices itself. No spreadsheet math and no rebuild. If you do not have a training max yet, add a quick estimate as you load the program, or just start logging and the app suggests a starting weight from your own history, a related lift, or your bodyweight.

Load 5/3/1 as is, or use it as a starting point and adjust the lifts, supplemental work, or loading to fit you. Save any version as a reusable template that a coach can assign in a couple of taps.

Original source

Ægir Iron's template is built from this source. Under it is what the template takes from it.

Wendler J (2009). 5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System to Increase Raw Strength. Self-published (Jim Wendler LLC).The 5/3/1 program: the four-week wave, percentages of a training max set at 90 percent, the AMRAP top set, and the per-cycle increments (5 lb upper, 10 lb lower)Boring But Big: 5x10 at 50 percent after the main workThe training max and AMRAP progression nSuns 531 LP descends from

Start 5/3/1

Open Ægir Iron, go to Program and choose New Program, then the Program Wizard. On the first screen pick your discipline, then choose 5/3/1 from the cards under WHAT DO YOU WANT TO RUN? It is free on iOS, Android, and the web, with your data synced across all three.

Load 5/3/1 free →