The Krypteia program has been used by the high school and college athletes I work with, as well as members of the Private Forum. This is a review of the program by forum member Josh. The review was completed in two parts over time; both are included below.
Part I
Context
If you don’t have time to read the entire review, here’s the basic synopsis:
Awesome program for anyone who is physically able to complete it. It’s the closest I’ve come to a workout that actually balances conditioning and strength without leaving you feeling wasted.
This review covers Part I of Krypteia. I’ve been using 5/3/1 since 2011. I’ve used it while gaining strength or size, losing weight, improving conditioning, training without time restrictions and training when I had no more than 30 minutes. I’ve completed everything from the original program to Building the Monolith; I’ve used BBB, FSL, SSL, Spinal Tap x 2 and others I can’t remember.
I’m the opposite of genetically gifted: I get fat easily, put on muscle slowly, gain strength slowly and run slowly.
About the only thing in my favor is consistency. I have access to an athletics weight room at a small university, and I’m usually alone when I lift. It’s like having a huge garage gym with all the racks, bars and dumbbells I need.
I also used the campus gym a few times to see how the program might work for people training in a commercial gym. It was typically busy when I was there, and I saw plenty of strange things. One woman was doing dumbbell straight-leg deadlifts on a stability ball with a flat bottom. No clue why. Another lifter was squatting twice my weight through about a seven-inch range of motion—and that’s a generous estimate.
Initial Goals
Krypteia came into my life at the perfect time. I like to tell myself that Jim sensed my needs and Wendler Claus dropped it off for Christmas.
My goals for 2017 were pretty simple:
- Return to a place of strong conditioning. I’ve never been the fastest or strongest, but it’s rare that I’ve met someone who was faster and stronger for longer than I could go.
- Drop body fat. This wasn’t a “beach body challenge” goal. It was a quality-of-life issue. At 5 feet 10 inches, I like to operate at around 200 pounds. I started 2017 at 227 pounds after eight months of a crappy diet and a lot of work and personal stress. The fact that I managed to keep lifting during that time is the only positive I can claim. At least I stuck to a plan.
- Accomplish the first two goals without spending more than 60 minutes in the gym, including changing into workout clothes. This wasn’t about laziness; it was about not having time. I also needed a plan that would allow me to do my own programming for running. I know what I want and need from my hills, sleds and track work, so I needed a program that wouldn’t interfere with the running.
Review
I don’t know whether the idea of supersetting a main lift with alternating assistance lifts was Jim’s or whether it had been around for a while and I missed it. Either way, it’s a clever way to run a program built around shorter rest periods.
I was a little nervous during the first week because my conditioning was pretty bad by the end of 2016. It took a couple of weeks, but I adapted. The genius of the alternating supersets is that one part of your body gets just enough rest while another muscle group works.
I was also worried about four days per week of leg work, but that turned out not to be a big deal for me. In six weeks—two cycles using the same Training Max, per Jim’s instructions—I dropped six pounds. That doesn’t mean I happened to be six pounds lighter one morning after starving myself the day before. It was my average weight after weighing myself three times per week.
This was genuine weight loss. It wasn’t astounding, but what’s important is that I was still kicking ass in the gym. If you’ve ever tried to lift seriously and lose body fat, you know how difficult it is not to feel like crap about three weeks into the process.
This is a great program for anyone who needs a reality check about their conditioning or wants to kick ass in the weight room without spending more than an hour training. It’s focused and simple to follow. If I hadn’t also been trying to lose body fat, I suspect I could have used the program to push toward new PRs while still spending no more than 45 minutes in the weight room.
If you’re using a commercial gym, the bench press and overhead press days are easy to follow: grab your bench or rack, grab your dumbbells and go. If you move quickly, you’ll finish in about 30 minutes, so it shouldn’t create much of a problem.
The squat and deadlift days are another animal. If you can perform pull-ups without assistance, you can usually do them on your squat rack. I was lucky enough to find the dip station open or have someone let me work in for a quick set.
Program Setup
I followed Jim’s instructions to the letter, with one exception noted below. I also followed Jim’s rule about starting light. Maybe I started too light, but because one of my goals was to lose body fat, I felt it would be better to start very low and build back up.
The hope was that I would be ready to push heavier weights again when I reached a lower body weight. So far, it worked. My strategy for the main lifts was simple:
- Review my training logs for each of the four lifts.
- Identify the maximum weight with which I had completed five reps for each lift.
- Use that weight as my max.
- Take 85% of that weight to establish my Training Max.
Was this overkill? Maybe. It was also humbling to bench 150 pounds or deadlift 225 pounds for five reps. It’s especially humbling in a public gym when you’re a professor on campus with a reputation for being an athlete. Students see someone who looks like he can squat 500 pounds while he’s actually squatting 185.
It’s even worse when a 20-year-old squats next to you with twice as much weight on the bar and keeps adding more.
I needed that large serving of humility. It reminded me how easy it is to get caught up in looking strong instead of becoming someone who wakes up thinking about how to attack the day. When I had 185 pounds on my shoulders, the only things I could control were my form and effort. I may have looked weak, but no one could criticize the work.
Assistance-Work Progression
I started my dumbbell work at 20 pounds for 15 reps. Each session, I added five pounds. By the time I wrote this review, I was using 60 pounds. The purpose was twofold:
- Use short rest periods.
- Eat another serving of humble pie.
I’m pleased with the results. As soon as my main lift was done, I marked it in my training log and started the timer. Then I performed the assistance lift. I usually finished it between the 45- and 60-second marks.
During the warm-up and main-lift sets, I spent the remaining time changing weights. Otherwise, I had about 30 seconds to rest. Following this plan, I finished the upper-body days in approximately 30 minutes and the lower-body days in approximately 40 minutes.
The main difference was allowing myself a little extra time during the main lifts on lower-body days to catch my breath.
Other Notes
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I made one change to the program. The weight room I used didn’t have a way to perform dips, and bench dips bothered my shoulders. I substituted close-grip push-ups. I can already imagine people screaming about following the program exactly, but this was the program I needed. It didn’t make sense to abandon it because of one assistance exercise.
I did use the campus gym for lower-body training a couple of times, so I performed the dips on those days. - If I had extra time during Days 1–3, I walked with a weight vest or performed light sled pulls. On Day 4, I did some biceps curls and heavy shrugs because I was using lighter weights for some of the dumbbell work. None of this was mandatory. It wasn’t part of the program, but I had the time and it didn’t interfere with my recovery, so I felt it remained within the spirit of the program.
- On two of the days I didn’t lift, I performed conditioning. The specifics were personal to me and wouldn’t be useful to everyone. I kept the work reasonable and focused on improving my overall conditioning and supporting fat loss through hills, sled pulls and timed mile runs.
- My diet would otherwise have been Jim-approved, but I couldn’t eat red meat because of cholesterol concerns. I ate plenty of chicken, fish, vegetables and black beans.
Part II
Setting Up the Program
- As usual, I read the guide several times, wrote my plan in a spreadsheet and then reviewed it to make sure I had everything right. The program isn’t complicated, but it’s easy to write down the sets and reps while overlooking another detail.
- I kept my Training Max the same instead of raising it, so technically I remained on Cycle 1 of the 5/3/1 plan. Keeping the Training Max the same is probably a good idea if you want to emphasize conditioning.
- I scheduled time for recovery each day because I suspected I would need it. Setting a specific time on my calendar—and having my kids do it with me—made recovery a priority.
- I set my BBB weight at 40% of my max, with the intention of adding five pounds each week.
- I planned to continue adding five pounds to the dumbbell work as long as I could complete ten reps per set without compromising the main lifts.
Who Would Benefit From This Program?
I think almost everyone who isn’t following a program for rehabilitative, medical or professional reasons should try this at some point. At minimum, it will provide a change of pace and make you consider how much unnecessary work you tend to add to a program. I didn’t lose size, and my arms didn’t become toothpicks.
Jim has said that this program isn’t intended for powerlifters. As a former distance runner, I would add that Part II isn’t the program to combine with marathon training. You would have to change so much that it would become a different program. That doesn’t mean you can’t run while using Krypteia.
I’ve been a runner for most of my life—not a fast or particularly good one—so perhaps I was better prepared. I still ran twice per week, as outlined below.
If spending an hour lifting, or approximately 90 minutes at the gym in total, isn’t an option but you want to remain strong, conditioned and generally healthy, this is an excellent program—assuming you’re physically prepared to handle it.
The Program
- Monday: Squats with BBB supplemental work and Krypteia assistance work.
- Tuesday: Fifteen minutes on a stationary bike at the university gym, followed by three timed half-mile runs on the track. The goal was to beat the previous week’s time by one second. These weren’t sprints, but they were hard runs.
- Wednesday: Bench press with BBB supplemental work and Krypteia dumbbell assistance work.
- Thursday: Ten minutes on a stationary bike, followed by a timed mile run with the goal of beating the previous week’s time by one second, then another ten minutes on the stationary bike.
- Friday: Deadlifts with BBB supplemental work and Krypteia assistance work.
The weekends were mine. I had plenty to do and didn’t sit around all day. There was always a tree to cut up, logs to split, cars to wash and vacuum, or time to spend running around with the kids.
Thoughts and Results
Fat Loss
I started Part II at about the same time I began taking medication for hypothyroidism. I had gained 30 pounds in 60 days—from November 1 to January 1—so I was due for some weight loss. Because the medication and training began at approximately the same time, I can’t attribute every result to Krypteia alone.
I lost ten pounds in five weeks. I think Krypteia is a great program for someone who wants to begin or continue 5/3/1-style lifting while improving conditioning and losing body fat.
If you set the weights appropriately, you’ll be able to complete your reps, continue adding weight to the bar each cycle and improve your conditioning. You may not immediately set a PR, but I believe I’ll work my way back to where I was while being in much better condition.
Size and Strength
This program can deliver both size and strength—just look at the volume. I’ve made size and strength gains using less volume. If you follow Krypteia for several cycles and take longer rest periods than I did, you’ll have a 45-minute program that continues pushing you toward new PRs.
I think this would be especially useful for a young lifter, someone returning from an injury, or a lifter who needs to lose body fat and improve conditioning without sacrificing strength.
It’s easy to program and allows you to combine strength training with conditioning at a level you can handle.
Final Assessment
This program is simply amazing. The praise I gave Part I still holds for Part II. I’m sweating after a couple of rounds, and I leave the gym feeling like I completed serious work.
My longest workout is the deadlift day, and it usually takes 35 minutes. The squat and bench-press sessions move faster because changing weights during the first half of the workout is easier. The BBB portion of the deadlift workout also requires approximately 20 additional seconds of rest.
If you haven’t tried a program like this, begin with 5/3/1 for Beginners. It places a similar emphasis on keeping rest periods under control and will prepare you for Krypteia better than a traditional lifting routine.
Be serious about recovery. Krypteia includes a lot of leg work in every workout, and you don’t want to begin deadlift day with sore legs. Use the recovery methods that work for you, including easy stationary-bike work, mobility and stretching.
Read the Full Krypteia Program
The complete Krypteia program and its progression are published in 5/3/1 Forever. Follow the program as written, start with an appropriate Training Max and earn the right to progress.
