To return to the question, I want to think about the one asking the question. There are some common traits among the people who ask what program they should do. They are usually younger and inexperienced lifters who lack both size and strength. This leads me, perhaps even unfairly, to some circular, vicious circle of reasoning in that they not only do 5x5 and 5-3-1 because they want to get bigger and stronger, but they are also slight and feeble because they do 5x5 and 5-3-1.
I should add, at the risk of weakening my argument, that I have seen people make gains on 5-3-1 but these guys used the Boring But Big template and did 5 sets of 10 reps for their squats, deadlifts and presses. Other guys I have seen go crazy on other lifts because they said the 5-3-1 format doesn't give them enough volume.
Volume is the key word here. It is the volume that will pack on size and strength and that is why I will list below the training routines of some of the world's strongest and largest men who happen to have a high volume, high frequency approach to training. So, if your training is not geared towards a specific weakness but the fact that you are weak all around and lack the muscle to move bigger weights, soak up the following routines and look for the common traits.
Bill Kazmaier
Monday
Bench (heavy) warm up, then 4 sets x 10 reps
Wide Grip Bench 3 sets x 10 reps
Narrow Grip Bench 3 sets x 10 reps
Front Delt Raise 4 sets x 8 reps
Dumbell Seated Press 4 sets x 10 reps
Side Delt Raise 4 sets x 10 reps
Lying Tricep Push (after 2 warm up sets) 6 sets x 10 reps
Tricep Push Down 4 sets x 10 reps
Tuesday
Squat (heavy) warm up, then 4 sets x 10 reps
Deadlift (light) warm up, then 3 sets x 10 reps
Shrugs 2 sets x 15-40 reps, 1 set x 10-20 reps
Seated Hammer Curls 4 sets x 12 reps
Standing Curl 4 sets x 10 reps
Close Grip Chin Ups 3 sets x max on each set
Seated Row 4 sets x 10 reps
Leg Extensions 3 sets x 10 reps
Leg Curl 3 sets x 10 reps
Calf Raise 3 sets x 15-25 reps
Thursday
Bench (light) warm up, then 3 sets x 10 reps
Wide Grip Bench 3 sets x 10 reps
Narrow Grip Bench 3 sets x 10 reps
Dumbell Seated Press (heavy) warm up, then 4 sets x 8 reps
Front Delt Raise 4 sets x 10 reps
Tennis Backhand Cable Extensions 4 sets x 10 reps
Prone Tricep Extension 4 sets x 10 reps
Saturday
Deadlift (heavy) warm up, then 4 sets x 8 reps
Squat (light) warm up, then 4 sets x10 reps
Shrugs (heavy) 4 sets x 10-15 reps
Seated Hammer Curl 4 sets x 8 reps
Concentration Curl 4 sets x 12 reps
One Arm Row – 3 positions 3 sets x 10 reps
Wide Grip Pull (down to chest) 4 sets x 10 reps
Leg Extensions 3 sets x 10 reps
Leg Curl 3 sets x 10 reps
Calf Raise 3 sets x 15-25 reps
(Ab Work When Possible)
Jon Pall Sigmarsson
Monday
Squat (5-6 reps)
Bench Press (5-6 reps)
Leg work
Chest/Tri work
Tuesday
Deadlift (5-6 reps),
Back/Bicep work
Wednesday
Clean and Press (5-6 reps)
Push Jerks (triples)
Shoulder work
Thursday
Olympic Squat (7-10 reps)
Bench Press (7-10 reps)
Leg work
Chest/Tri work
Friday
Sumo Deadlift (triples)
Back/Bicep work
In summer
Running, grip and stone lift added, singles in deadlift and clean and press.
Magnus ver Magnusson
Monday
Military Press
Bench Press
Chest work
Shoulder work
Triceps work
Tuesday
Bent Over Rows
High Pulls
Back work
Bicep work
Wednesday
Squat (one week powerlifting, next week Oly style)
Step-ups (10 per leg), then Leg Presses for one minute
Stiff Legged Deadlift (double overhand grip-no straps)
Leg work
Thursday
Bench Press
Press Behind Neck
Chest work
Shoulder work
Triceps work
Friday
Partial Deadlift
Hammer Curls
Back work
Bicep work
Mostly 5-8 reps, before comp brings deadlifts in and goes to 10 reps on squats and 3-5 reps on military and bench. Every exercise done very strict.
Mariusz Pudzianowski
Monday
Morning Training Session
Back Squat:
Warm-up – 8 sets, pyramiding from 60 to 160kg
Work sets – pyramiding from 160 to 280kg, reps going from 6 down to 2
Mariusz performs his squats olympic-style, he uses knee wraps and a belt.
Leg Curl, 6 sets of 20 reps
Leg Extension, 6 sets of 20 reps
Pull Up, 6 sets of 15 reps
Chin Up, 6 sets of 10 reps
Behind-the-neck Pulldowns, 4 sets of 15 reps
Barbell Rows, 4 sets of 15 reps
Abs
6 sets of 30 reps exercises used (haging leg raise, bends, various)
Afternoon Training Session
Sandbag Carry (130kg on back) 3 times 170 meters
Conan’s Wheel (290kg) 3 times 2.5 revolutions
Tire Flip 3 sets of 10 flips
Tuesday
Morning Training Session
Front Squats, work up to 250
Calf Work, 6 sets of 15 reps
Standing Military Press, Warm-up sets – 7 sets of 60 to 100kg
Work sets – 6 sets pyramiding up from 110, 120, 130, 140kg for 5-4 reps
Deadlifts, Warm-up sets – 6 with 200kg
Work sets – work up to 300kg
Good Mornings, 8 sets with 100kg
Afternoon Session
Bushman’s Walk, 300 kg 3 x 15 meters
Presses with Machine Used in Competition, 3 sets of 10 reps with 120kg
Parallel Crucifix, Hold 40kg weights for 30 seconds
Wednesday
Morning Training Session
Bench Press, Warm-up sets – work up to 180kg in 8 sets
Work sets – work up from 150kg to 220kg, going from 8 down to 2 reps
Barbell Extensions, work up to 80kg
Standing French Press
Afternoon Training Session
Same as Monday but add power stairs and parallel stairs
Same as Monday but add power stairs and parallel stairs
And here is the routine of a bodybuilder who was big and strong, Sergio Oliva
Monday
Bench Press supersetted with Chinning Bar.
Set 1. Bench Press 200 x 8, 15 reps on chinning bar
Set 2. Bench Press 220 x 8, 15 reps on chinning bar
Set 3. Bench Press 260 x 8, 10 reps on chinning bar
Set 4. Bench Press 300 x 8, 10 reps on chinning bar
Set 5. Bench Press 320 x 8, 8 reps on chinning bar
Set 6. Bench Press 350 x 8, 8 reps on chinning bar
Set 7. Bench Press 380 x 8, 5 reps on chinning bar
DB Flyes supersetted with Dips.
5 sets of 15 reps with 80 pound dumbbells, supersetted with dipping. The set, rep and weight scheme for dipping was not provided by Sergio Oliva.
Tuesday
Shoulder Press. 5 sets, 15 reps with 200 pounds
Extending Heavy Curls. 5 sets, 5 reps, 200 pounds
French Curls. 5 sets, 5 reps, 200 pounds
Scott (Curls) Bench. 5 sets, 10 reps, 150 pounds
Scott (Curls) Bench with Dumbbells. 5 sets, 5 reps, 60 pound dumbbell
Sitting Down Triceps. 5 sets, 5 reps with 60 pound dumbbell, supersetted with Tricep Press Downs
Wednesday
Situps. 10 sets, 50 reps
Leg Raises. 5 sets, 20 reps
Side Bends with Bar Behind Neck. 5 sets, 200 reps
Squats. 300 x 5, 400 x 5, 440 x 5, 470 x 5, 500 x 4
Standing Heel Raises. 10 sets, 8 reps, 300 pounds
Thursday
Bench Press. 200 x 5, 220 x 5, 260 x 5, 300 x 5, 320 x 5, 350 x 5, 380 x 5
Press Behind Neck. 5 sets, 5 reps, 250 pounds, supersetted with Rowing Machine, 200 pounds
Sitting Press with Dumbbells. 80 pound dumbbells. No set and rep scheme provided
Dipping Bar. 5 sets, 8 reps with no weight
Friday
Press. 3 sets, 5 reps, 200 pounds
Extending Heavy Curls. 3 sets, 5 reps, 200 pounds
French Curls. 3 sets, 5 reps, 200 pounds
Scott Bench for Triceps. 3 sets, 5 reps, 200 pounds
Scott Bench for Triceps with Dumbbell. 3 sets, 5 reps, 50 pound dumbbell, supersetted with Tricep Press Downs.
Chinning Behind Neck. 5 sets, 5 reps
Chinning Bar with Closed Hands. 5 sets, 5 reps, supersetted with Tricep Machine Pull Downs
Saturday
Situps. 5 sets, 10 reps
Leg Raises. 5 sets, 10 reps
Side Bends with Bar Behind Neck. 5 sets, 50 reps
Squats. 3 sets, 3 reps with 300 pounds. 2 sets, 3 reps with 400 pounds. 3 sets, 20 reps with 250 pounds.
Front Squats. 5 sets, 10 reps, 200 pounds
Sitting Heel Raises. 5 sets, 5 reps, 200 pounds
And hopefully you get the picture. The constant here is volume. You can go back and look at the routines of other strongman like Derek Poundstone, Zydrunas Savickas and Brian Shaw and you will that these guys train alot. These men use lots of reps and lots of sets and lots of frequency to build size and strength. They also use lower rep sets of 2-5 to build strength so don't think the two are mutually exclusive in your training.
So, to answer the question, what kind of problem should you follow? Peruse the templates of the best and look for what the common denominators are:
1. High volume. This can be high frequency, high set counts, high reps in some combination.
2. Heavy. Try working up to a heavy set then backing off and working your reps in the classic pyramid scheme. Derek Poundstone also says this will activate more muscle getting you bigger and stronger.
3. Weaknesses. Don't forget to be well rounded so you can avoid injury or being that guy who benches more than he squats. Also, if you have goals slightly more specific than simply getting bigger and stronger in general, then you need to pull out your thinking cap and be more judicious in your exercise choices and plan the different modalities of your training.
I found the programs above on a site called workoutsoflegends.com. I believe I have seen these in other places online as well.
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