5/3/1 Boring But Big

The main sets follow Wendler's 5/3/1 percentage scheme. Training max is 90% of true max. Week 1: 65/75/85% for sets of 5. Week 2: 70/80/90% for sets of 3. Week 3: 75/85/95% for sets of 5/3/1+. Week 4 is deload. Training max goes up 5 lb for upper lifts and 10 lb for lower lifts after each cycle.

The Boring But Big supplemental work is where the hypertrophy stimulus lives. After the main 5/3/1 sets, you do 5 sets of 10 reps at 50-60% of training max on the same lift. The weight feels light early and brutal by set 4. The 50 total reps at moderate load drive muscle growth without interfering with the main strength work.

The template runs indefinitely. Wendler recommends starting supplemental sets at 50% and adding 5% every cycle until you hit 70%, then backing off. Four days per week: Monday squat, Tuesday bench, Thursday deadlift, Friday press — or any similar split with at least one day of rest between lower-body days.

• Squat→
• Bench Press→
• Deadlift→
• Overhead Press→

1. Day 01

   Day 1 — Squat

   Squat — 5/3/1 main sets · Squat — 5×10 @ 50-60% TM (BBB) · Leg Curl — 5×10

2. Day 02

   Day 2 — Bench

   Bench Press — 5/3/1 main sets · Bench Press — 5×10 @ 50-60% TM (BBB) · Barbell Row — 5×10

3. Day 03

   Day 3 — Deadlift

   Deadlift — 5/3/1 main sets · Deadlift — 5×10 @ 50-60% TM (BBB) · Hanging Leg Raise — 5×15

4. Day 04

   Day 4 — Press

   Overhead Press — 5/3/1 main sets · Overhead Press — 5×10 @ 50-60% TM (BBB) · Chin-up — 5×10

• BBB is a hypertrophy template, not a peaking program. Expect slower progress on the 5/3/1 main lifts than with lower-volume templates like Triumvirate or First Set Last. Accept that trade — you are trading some top-end strength progression for muscle growth.
• Do not start supplemental work above 50%. The volume is the stimulus. Ramping too fast means grinding through the last two sets, which is not the point. Five clean sets of 10 at 50% produces more growth than three grindy sets of 10 at 65%.
• If 5×10 on both squat and deadlift in the same week wrecks your recovery, swap to the BBB variant where supplemental work uses the opposite lift — squat supplemental after deadlift main, and vice versa. Wendler explicitly includes this option for lifters who struggle with the combined lower-body volume.