Guide
5/3/1 with an AI coach
5/3/1 tells you exactly what to lift. It doesn't tell you what to do when a week goes sideways. That's the part a coach is for.
5/3/1 in one minute
Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 is built around four main lifts: squat, bench press, deadlift and overhead press. Each gets one main day a week.
- Training max. Start from about 90% of your one-rep max. Every weight in the program is a percentage of this number, not your true max.
- A three-week wave, then a deload. Week 1 is sets of 5, week 2 sets of 3, week 3 works up to a single heavy set. Week 4 is light.
- The plus set. The last set each week is "as many good reps as you can". That set is where you set rep PRs.
- Slow progress on purpose. After each cycle, add 5 lb to the training max for bench and press, and 10 lb for squat and deadlift.
| Week | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (5s) | 65% x 5 | 75% x 5 | 85% x 5+ |
| 2 (3s) | 70% x 3 | 80% x 3 | 90% x 3+ |
| 3 (5/3/1) | 75% x 5 | 85% x 3 | 95% x 1+ |
| 4 (deload) | 40% x 5 | 50% x 5 | 60% x 5 |
Percentages of the training max. After the main sets comes assistance work; a popular version is "Boring But Big", 5 sets of 10 at a lighter weight.
Where lifters get stuck
Reading the plus sets
A plus set with way more reps than the target says your training max is light. Grinding out the minimum, cycle after cycle, says it's too heavy. The program has rules for this, but you have to notice and apply them.
Real weeks
Travel, a late shift, a missed day. A spreadsheet doesn't move your week 2 bench when your Tuesday disappears.
Assistance work
The main sets are fixed. The work after them is where people guess: what to pick, how much, and when to change it.
Keeping the numbers
Training maxes for four lifts, rep PRs at every weight, the cycle you're on. Most people keep it in a notes app or a spreadsheet and lose track by cycle three.
What a coach should change, and what it should leave alone
Leave alone
- The percentages and the wave.
- Slow training max increases.
- The deload.
Help with
- Telling you the goal of every set, including the last one.
- Moving sessions when your week changes.
- Choosing and adjusting assistance work.
- Keeping every number, so you never do the math.
Running 5/3/1 in Aldo Coach
Tell it you run 5/3/1. Tell the coach you run 5/3/1 and it builds your program around it.
The plan and the log are one thing. Log a set and the coach already has it. Nothing to paste.
Every set has a goal. The coach tells you what each set is for: the reps to hit, or, on your last set, as many good reps as you have.
It answers under the set you just did. Log a set with how many reps you had left, and the coach says what it means for the next one, and why.
It plans around your real week. Sync your Apple Calendar and a work trip or a late shift becomes part of the plan.
It remembers. Your PRs on every exercise, and the lifts you like and don't.
The coach is Claude. Claude Opus writes your program and Claude Sonnet coaches you set by set. There's an Apple Watch app for logging on your wrist.
I'm a powerlifter. Coming back after my first meet, I had nobody at the gym to ask "do I add weight today?" I used ChatGPT and then Claude as my coach, but my sets lived in a separate workout app.
I spent my time copying training from one to the other. So I built one app that is both: the log and the coach.
Questions
What is a training max in 5/3/1?
A number a bit under your true one-rep max, usually 90% of it. Every weight in the program is a percentage of the training max, which keeps the work submaximal so you can keep progressing.
Can an AI coach run 5/3/1?
Yes. The percentages stay the same. A coach helps with the parts you'd otherwise work out yourself: the goal of each set, fitting the weeks around your schedule, and choosing assistance work.
Is Aldo Coach affiliated with Jim Wendler?
No. 5/3/1 is Jim Wendler's program. For the full method, read his books.
Is Aldo Coach free?
Yes, right now, with nothing for sale in the app. Every set you log goes to Claude, which costs money per user, so paid tiers will come later.
Aldo doesn't track food, and it's in English only. The App Store app covers the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Iceland and Norway; anywhere else, it runs in your browser.
Keep the program. Add a coach.
Your 5/3/1, your log and your coach in one app.