#routinereview

[cnstrength]

nSuns 5/3/1

Happy New Year y’all. Thought it’d be nice to kick off 2018 with a review of the routine I’ve been doing the past few months. 

First, some background. nSuns is a pretty popular redditor who built his reputation through his unique spin on the 5/3/1 workout. He even has a subreddit dedicated to his workout routines (r/nSuns), that I frequently browse to share my experiences and also learn from others who are on the very same routine. nSuns 5/3/1 is the toughest program I have ever encountered to date, so the insight I gained from the subreddit was invaluable.  The routine was a natural step to take from my prior experience with the basic 5/3/1, and after seeing nSuns’ own claim that his lifts went from a total of 900 to 1200 in a few months, I was easily convinced this was the right path to take. 

The program begins with some calibration, as does any new routine. However, this program demands an insane (and dare I say sickening) amount of volume, and will not mesh nicely with ego lifting whatsoever. I had to begin at a low weight (85% of my true 1RM) as my 1RM to begin the routine. I chose to go with the 5 day variation as I aimed to hit the gym 5 times a week (difficult af goal). This variation was pretty appealing, as it allows one to hit bench twice a week, and also includes an OHP focused day.  There is a 6 day deadlift or squat variation, but after running this routine for a few months, I don’t want to go near that ever in my life lol (you’d be running either deadlift or squat twice a week which is insane given the volume of this program).

The workouts take a looooong time. Dont go with this program if you’re looking for a quick <1.5 hr workout, because my average workout times have been 2 hours. The Squat/Deadlift days take the longest - spanning about 2 hours, while OHP day is the quickest and can be done within 1.5. The basic premise of this workout is to pair 8 sets of a big lift (T1) with a consequent 7 sets of a complementing compound exercise (T2), which is then followed by accessories. Each of the set follow a different rep scheme, but generally speaking for the big lifts, it revolves around a pyramid of 5/3/1 reps. For the compounds, the scheme is strongly influenced by Sheiko programming (3/5/7/4/6/8 rep progression). The increase in your training max / 1RM numbers each week is determined by your performance in the prior week. There is a concrete way to calculate this increase, as opposed to the more improvised and inconsistent ones I’ve been used to in the past. Here, is a link to the routine to illustrate all that I’m talking about. 

DAY ONE : BENCH / OHP (LIGHT DAY)

So the week starts with a “light” bench day. Your max weight for the day is set  low - about 80% of your true 1RM. However, don’t be fooled about this day being easy whatsoever. Progression was fine for the first few weeks, but as I started at higher weights the 8 sets slowly became immensely difficult to finish.This day doesn’t employ the 5/3/1 rep format - instead it opts for a higher rep scheme. I call the 4 rep sets in the middle of the scheme the “Death Triad”. I honestly am still trying to figure out how to get past 200 lbs 3x4. Standalone those sets would be a breeze, but doing them after 2 sets of 8/6 are killer. Recently, I started doing just every other set bc it was nigh impossible for me to hit all 8 sets successfully. Given my lax adjustment to T1, I would hit my T2 harder. The light OHP sets not only help as an accessory to my bench, but as an accessory to the heavy OHP day coming later in the week. This, alongside all other T2′s utilizes the 3/5/7/4/6/8 rep progression as mentioned before. Alongside the absurd volume of this routine, this unique rep scheme was another refresher. I had a hard time memorizing the scheme, until I realized it was simply odd and even numbers. It’s a challenging scheme, but completely doable. the 7-4 rep transition is kind of like a break, and the 6/8 rep sets are where the challenges really lie, so keep your energy up for those! Really need to work on this day and these high rep ranges. 

ACCESSORIES: Flyes (Cable/DB Variations), Chest Dips, Weighted Pushups to further hit the pecs. Rows (any variation will do) to strengthen the scapula which is underappreciated during the bench. 

DAY TWO: SQUAT / SUMO DEAD 

Ok, on to one of the killer days. 8 sets of heavy squats? Nothing I’ve ever done. Wait, lets add 7 sets of sumo deadlifts right after. This day is great not only for powerlifters but for sadists. You’ll be wondering why you ever chose this program every time after this workout. No joke. I usually have to spend at least an hour in the squat rack, due to the CNS recovery I need to fit this immense scheme - I’d usually rest about 5-10 mins between the super heavy beginning sets, and up to 5 min during the down pyramid sets. I stopped getting sore after leg day for the past few months, but after starting this program, it came back and hit me hard. If you manage to get this day done, you’ll feel very very accomplished with yourself.

ACCESSORIES: Usually just alternate b/w Glute Ham Raises & Leg Curls to  target the glutes and hams.

DAY THREE: OHP / INCLINE BENCH

One of the easier days. It’s a breather in the middle of the week, especially for me as I excel in both of these lifts. I’d say at the moment this is probably my most improved lift after starting nSuns. The amount of OHP volume in this routine really helps, alongside with the incline bench. The rep scheme is very doable, but does lead to some difficulty during the incline bench sets where I needed a spotter even for the lower weights used (your anterior delts will be fried).

ACCESSORIES: Lat Raises, Front Raises, One Handed DB Shoulder Press, Arnold Press for the delts, Face Pulls as well to target the rear delt/traps. They are a great rowing exercise that helps with your bench too. Might throw in some bicep curls too from time to time. 

DAY FOUR: DEADLIFT / FRONT SQUAT

The rep scheme for deadlifts is based primarily on triples, which is appropriate given the exercise’s taxing nature. I excel in this rep range so I do find this day rather enjoyable. I actually yolo’d my 1+ set weight quite a bit throughout the past few weeks since I felt like I could lift much heavier - therefore I only followed the rest of the prescribed weights/sets. I’ve been progressing nicely (hit 425 easily a week ago) so I can’t say this straying off  is hampering me that much. Meanwhile for front squats, I’ve always had difficulty with my grip. My fingers always felt like they would rip off, so I avoided this exercise often. However, I knew it was an essential accessory to deadlifts and so much more like your back squat, core, and posture which made it an exercise I inevitably had to begin doing. Got some advice from a weightlifting friend who specializes in the front squat and started using a three fingered grip which has proven most comfortable. Additionally, I needed to learn not to put all the weight on my fingers (which is what led to the finger ripping sensation) and instead on the collarbone.  I’ve also been told that tricep mobility is important as well and loosening them up did indeed help. 

ACCESSORIES: Lat Pulldown & Trap Raises which hit the much neglected lower traps.  These help improve my lockout. Not necessarily an area which I sought to improve on, but I focused on back accessories since this routine itself doesn’t cater well to addressing the back muscles.

DAY FIVE: BENCH / CLOSE GRIP BENCH (INTENSE DAY)

The second bench day of the week. Benching twice a week definitely helps bench gains ALOT and is probably one of the most suggested tips for increasing numbers in this domain. For me, the lower rep range for this day was more doable than the light day, ironically. The close grip bench press will be light starting out, so I suggest taking extremely short breaks, and pushing yourself to failure here. Otherwise, you won’t feel much. 

ACCESSORIES: Tricep Pushdowns, Rows again. 

BENCH

WHAT I LEARNED:

Correctly breathing and bracing for the lift. Take a deep breath in, unrack, and lift.  I used to take new breaths throughout this process but realized I lost a lot of tightness so opting for keeping my breath in has helped wonders.  Importance of leg drive. Not that I didn’t know that it was important before, but I realized a deeper extent of its necessity for performing this lift. Also, recently realized how detrimental it is to miss out on back work. Rows are so critical for the bench press and it is easy to neglect within this routine. Over the past few BP days, I’ve definitely felt a lack of back stability which had stagnated my bench greatly. Thus, I will be putting much more focus on my back, doing more rows on push days, and even doing full back days (as a bonus day of sorts)

OHP

WHAT I LEARNED:

Same breathing technique learned for bench. 

SQUAT

WHAT I LEARNED: 

 Keep your breath locked in during the whole unrack -> walkout -> first rep. Helped resolve a lack of tightness, as described above.

DEADLIFT

WHAT I LEARNED:

A few weeks into nSuns, I got a callous injury from doing sumos. That led me to realize my grip with deadlifts have been wrong - I didn’t suffer from callouses before since I usually use straps when going heavy, but during sumos I went raw. This killed deadlift progression for a good month or so, sadly. However, I did manage to learn something and be aware of my mistake, which is always a good thing. I needed to put the weight of the bar more onto my fingers instead of my palm. Sounds unstable, but it does work and prevents any ugly callouses.

Conclusions

I’m not quite finished with this routine yet as I haven’t hit my 1K club goal, but I can definitely see it being accomplished very soon. I’d say I will run with it for another month and a half or so. I’ll be frank in that the sheer volume of nSuns has killed my motivation somedays but on the contrary, smashing PR’s is commonplace in this routine and can be a big booster for this rigorous training. As with any other training routine that ever exists, I have come to learn a lot, of which I am extremely grateful. Progression might not have been what I liked, but the nature of the program has given me a chance to demonstrate a larger focus on form rather than numbers. Why? The volume of this program inevitably leads to deterioration of form, thus forcing one to focus and maintain strict form to complete sets, which is a requirement to up the 1RM numbers. In every single lift I have adjusted my form and technique which will help deter injury and ultimately support my lifting career in the long run. 

nSuns has allowed me to finish 2017 strong. It has been a great year for gains overall with me growing the most I ever had in the entire span of my lifting career. Not only have my lifts, strength and physicality improved tremendously, I am grateful to have learned so much about powerlifting training.  I very much am looking forward to 2018 and can’t wait to smash new goals, learn more, and make it an even better year. Once I hit the 1k club using nSuns, I will switch over to what I call “The Triple C’s”, which are Calisthenics, Core, and Conditioning and make those areas a large focus for 2018. Also want to learn more mobility and band work techniques. So, stay tuned, extremely excited about this and will share more details on it later. See yall in the new year.