Guides

Training explainers, written to answer the question rather than to fill a page.

Building your own 5/3/1 assistance programs

Wendler Log ships with eleven assistance templates, and every one of them is editable. Here is how to change them or build your own from nothing.

How to calculate your one rep max

You can estimate a one rep max from any hard set without ever testing a single. Here is how the formulas work, where they disagree, and which number to actually train off.

How to run Wendler 5/3/1 with Wendler Log

A walk-through of setting up your maxes, running a workout, adding assistance work, and reading your progress over a cycle.

Smolov: the Russian squat cycle that can add 100 pounds in 13 weeks

Smolov is the most brutal squat specialization program in common use. Here is how the thirteen weeks are structured, who it is actually for, and what it takes to survive it.