Enter the second 12 weeks

I have come to the end of my week off from training and am very eager to get back into it on Monday 5th April. I have been wanting to train for the last week, but the rest will have done my body good. I go into the next 12 week training cycle with big goals to achieve and a new drive to achieve them. Come the week ending the 27th June, 2010, I want to hit a 140kg Bench Press, 190kg Squat and a 240kg Deadlift for a more important overall 570kg total at 90kg body weight.

Having had the time off, I have thought over what I was going to do over the next 12 weeks. I needed something that would help me with my training the best. I am an unequipped (belt only) power lifter. I needed something therefore that would work best for me. I had previously done a Westside Barbell split in the first quarter of this year, which worked well, but had its flaws. This being that Westside Barbell compete in powerlifting suits and knee wraps. The training is then geared to meet the goals of the suits and that type of lifting. They are also long sessions, which took up too much time.

As an unequipped (raw) lifter, I needed something that targeted the raw lifter in training. My friend who is a powerlifter and looking to compete next year is using a split by Jim Wendler. He is a former powerlifter and competed in non-raw competitions. Jim Wendler came up with the idea of this program, because, "I was burned out from competitive powerlifting. I was tired of bench shirts, box squats, bands and being fat." He wanted something that was simple and allowed him to be in and out of the gym within 45 minutes, but at the same time got him strong.

This is something that I want as I am very busy myself. The program is called 5/3/1 and is based around the four major lifts of the Standing Barbell Press, Deadlift, Bench Press and Squat. I can't wait to do it and hopefully it will be as effective as the reviews from the hundreds of other people who have done it before. Time will tell, 12 weeks to be exact, and hopefully I will have a new set of PRs.

Harry