Question: I've being doing the 5/3/1 full body routine that has me squatting 3 times a week for a while now. Very enjoyable, makes you feel like a man! About to move onto Phase 2. I like the sound of the 3 month BBB challenge, what are your thoughts on including that BBB template with the full body routine? If thumbs up, you got any pointers/dos & don'ts?
Answer: Don’t. Either pick one or the other. Don’t try mixing and matching templates and programs. You will get half the program and no results. Programs (my programs) are written for a reason; for the end goal. It’s not like I randomly picked things out of the air and lumped it into the program. Exercises,reps and sets were picked for a reason.
As said many, many times - don't combine programs.
Question: I am currently doing the 5/3/1 BBB 3 days a week due to my schedule and i am trying the flipping of assistance like in the 3 month challenge. However on the deload week its hard to do the assistance exercises like that without it having to carry over to the following week. Is this fine or would that be detrimental to my progress or is there another approach? Any suggestions? And any info is greatly appreciated. Also, thanx for all of yer insight, articles, books ect...everything has been very helpful. And thank you for yer time for that alone i am grateful!
Answer: The BBB 3 Month Challenge is made for a 4 day/week training, not 3 days. I don't know what you mean by "flipping assistance". The BBB Challenge is a challenge and will be difficult for some people. You don't get to change the challenge so that it fits your life. Either do it as written or don't do it at all.
Question: I was looking all over for the answer since I too hate answering the same question multiple times. For the 3rd month of the challenge (70%). I missed on the final 3 sets by 2 reps. I did a 6th set of 6 to get to 50 with the idea of lowering/removing that the next week since I technically failed the challenge (but still feel damn strong). I think what I'm asking for is affirmation that this makes sense and that I'm on the right track in my way of thinking. I've made incredible gains in the past 3 years since I was first introduced to the 5/3/1 and the proper way to thing about training. Thanks again and keep up the grind.
Answer: Don’t be dissuaded by missing some reps – this is the hardest part of the challenge (Read: CHALLENGE!) and shit is going to get hard. If it was a walk in the park then all we’d have to do is stroll to get strong. Keep pressing through this part and do whatever you can to get your training on course; eat more than ever and prepare yourself mentally for the battle beneath the bar. Once this phase is over, you will move forward to another phase of training; so push through and see yourself through it. Remember a challenge is not supposed to be easy.
Question: I've been on/off training for 3 years now and haven't been able to train at all for the past 6 weeks but I'm ready for a big change. I feel like a weak slob and I wonder if doing Boring But Big is a good choice because maybe I can turn some of this fat right into muscle with all that volume. (I'm about 50 lbs over weight) I'm committed to the days and the work. Do you think it's doable for me? And if not, is there a better template for my situation?
Answer: No, don't do it. Not every program is for everyone. For someone that is out of shape or trying to get their "weight room legs", I would advise someone to go through a basic 5/3/1 program with limited assistance work, easy conditioning and plenty of mobility work. Once the habits are built and you are donning your armor, go ahead and try the challenge. But no sense in doing the BBB Challenge without a base of solid training underneath you.
**A Note For New Readers**
Boring But Big is a popular training program that was published in the 5/3/1 Book. This book also contains 5/3/1 For Beginners programming and Full Body Training Template.
For more advanced lifters the Beyond Book has 9 additional Boring But Big variations as well as the Boring But Big Challenge and tons of other stuff. But if you're not more advanced or if you have to ask what "more advanced" means, then you should just start with the 5/3/1 1st or 2nd Editions.
