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However you choose to bench press, make sure every single rep, regardless of weight is done with perfection. This goes for the squat, deadlift, press and any other big barbell lift. I've never seen any strong, experienced lifter take any set lightly - they demand perfection from the bar to their max. Think back to the last time you bench pressed - did you have a perfect set-up on the very first rep with the empty bar? Did you treat it with the same importance as your last max attempt? The beginner still thinks there must be some kind of special secret or trick. A veteran lifter always makes sure the simple things are taken care of; they aren't ever sexy but they always work.

One of the keys of doing grip work is to make it economical - there is no point in doing direct grip work when you can EASILY add to an exercise you would already be doing. And the BIGGEST excuse is "but I can do more weight if I don't use overhand grip or X". Well, guess what? If your grip ain't strong, it won't matter what you can tug. You are simply WEAK. Get over your own ego and do things right.

I needed to rely on my gut and my experience, and certainly not any trends. I had to start by being brutally honest with myself and realize that I was plain weak. Weak everywhere. Everything needed to get stronger. Weak Point Training, while good in theory, suggests that you have "strong points." I'm sorry, but few people with such glaring holes can really classify themselves as strong, period. So I resolved to make everything strong.

Once you've been using 531 for a while you should get to a point where your training max (TM) doesn't have a direct correlation (percentage) with your actual max. The 90% rule was the recommended starting point, Beyond 531 may mention 85% or 80% or whatever but the bottom line is you manipulate your TM based on current training goals, current programming, current level of strength, etc. There is no hard rule for your TM. In my opinion the more progress you can achieve out of a low TM the better.

I recently got a text from a good friend of mine who is a university strength and conditioning coach. He is the head coach for all sports and works directly with the baseball team. For 2.5 months (about 3 cycles) he used the 5/3/1 BBB training plan and reported the following...

Before we start with the simple process, let me define the Kroc Row. Named after everyone’s favorite Polish American Powerlifter, Matt Kroczaleski, the Kroc Row has quickly become a staple exercise in many lifting circles. In its infancy this exercise was simply a single set of high rep dumbbell rows with the heaviest weight possible. Matt did this because of necessity – the dumbbells he had access weren’t heavy enough to perform the requisite “10-12” reps that is often prescribed. To combat this, he just did a ton of reps with the heaviest dumbbell available. Initially done to build his upper back for his bench press, this exercise also gave him great deadlift lockout strength as well as grip strength.

The best thing about the fitness and strength industry is that you can always rely on it for some really good laughs. The fact that unilateral exercises have sparked such heated debate is amusing, and as always, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. First, let's examine the pro-unilateral crowd:

I messed up my leg (Stress fractures in femur, pelvic bone, and i pulled my hip flexor) When I got back I didn't want to be a pussy though, and immediately tested my bench and did a cycle of 5/3/1 for bench only because my leg still hurt too bad for the other lifts. Now...

Without a doubt, the Boring But Big is the most popular assistance template for the 5/3/1 training program.  This is because it is easy to program, easy to use and great for both strength and size.  There are two basic ways to do the Boring But Big template: