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63 reviews for 5/3/1 Building the Monolith

5/3/1 Building the Monolith (BtM) was created by Jim Wendler, world renowned powerlifter and coach. BtM is designed for advanced athletes with many years of consistent training under their belt.

To learn more about Jim's famous 5/3/1 training philosophy, be sure to check out his 5/3/1 Forever book, which collects all of Jim's thinking on 5/3/1 training methods. Go to www.jimwendler.com to learn more.

5/3/1 BBB is free on Boostcamp App. Also check out 5/3/1 for Beginners or 5/3/1 Boring But Big, which are also free on Boostcamp.

Read the full 5/3/1 program guide below.

4.34 / 5

Anonymous

Man
a month ago

6 years of prior experience

More than expected strength gains

More than expected muscle gains

Significant modifications

.

James

Man
3 months ago

1 week complete

6 years of prior experience

As expected strength gains

More than expected muscle gains

Marginal modifications

This is a great program I added some accessories such as Lateral Raises and Abs

Jonathan B.

Man, 36
3 months ago

6 weeks complete

8 years of prior experience

As expected strength gains

As expected muscle gains

Marginal modifications

I was coming back to the gym after a year of very sporadic presence. This simple yet challenging program helped me get back on track and helped gain back some of the gains I lost. I will most likely revisit once I’ve gone through one or two more programs. Only modification I made were to do my chin ups on the cable machine cause I am not a 100 chin up man! I may have skipped the dips too by lack of time. Still glad with the changes I’ve seen in the mirror. Can’t give all the credit to muscle memory, the program really helped my regularity.

Tiffany D.

Woman
3 months ago

3 weeks complete

8 years of prior experience

As expected strength gains

As expected muscle gains

Significant modifications

I like the flow of the program. I modified it quite a bit to meet my general workout goals (mainly adding in additional accessory exercises to also target lower body muscle groups). I wish there was a longer duration of this program with 1RM testing and auto adjustments to lift weights.

jeskemason

Man, 19
5 months ago

3 weeks complete

6 years of prior experience

As expected strength gains

As expected muscle gains

Marginal modifications

Good stuff

Ligma B. Alls

Man, 39
5 months ago

6 weeks complete

3 years of prior experience

As expected strength gains

As expected muscle gains

Marginal modifications

I ran this a few months ago. Then I ran the TSA intermediate. Then NSuns. This one takes the cake (as long as that cake is actually just made of a dozen eggs and a kilo of ground beef). You will get big. You will get stronger. You must do the off day cardio. Must. Otherwise it will not work correctly. I learned to love the weighted vest. Some users say this is only good for people on juice. Those users are pussies. You don’t need anything other than sufficient caloric intake and a dedicated mind to make this work. I spread the dips and chins out over the full workout. Supersets are your friend. Your endurance will improve. The widow maker sets over 200lbs get sticky. If you’ve ever wondered if you could chase down a full grown yak and throttle it to death with your bare hands this program won’t get you to that point but it is a step in the right direction.

Fredrik H.

Man
6 months ago

1 week complete

8 years of prior experience

As expected strength gains

As expected muscle gains

Marginal modifications

This program is a tough nut. This is a program you run once and then ease of on a easier and less heavy couple of weeks. Remember not to run this indefinetly as it's better to do a couple of times a year.

Anonymous

Man
6 months ago

5 weeks complete

2 years of prior experience

More than expected strength gains

As expected muscle gains

Marginal modifications

Halve the number of reps for the first run and then keep repeating the program while gradually increasing the reps toward 100-200

Connor W.

Man, 32
6 months ago

3 weeks complete

8 years of prior experience

As expected strength gains

As expected muscle gains

Marginal modifications

This program is tough. Necessary to Eat right sleep well for recovery.

Chris A.

Man, 50
6 months ago

3 weeks complete

8 years of prior experience

More than expected strength gains

More than expected muscle gains

Marginal modifications

Great program