Strength program calculator
5/3/1 calculator — plan a full 4-week cycle
Enter your best set for each lift and get every workout of a 5/3/1 cycle, based on Jim Wendler's 5/3/1: training maxes, plate-friendly weights for all four weeks, the rep count each AMRAP set must beat, and next cycle's numbers. Free, instant, no sign-up.
Give us your best recent set per lift — weight and reps. One rep means it is a tested 1RM; two or more and we estimate one with the Epley formula. Leave a lift empty to skip it.
Your 4-week cycle
All weights in kg, rounded to 2.5 kg. Set percentages are of the training max, not the 1RM.
Squat
| Week | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 · 5/5/5+ | 95 × 5 65% | 110 × 5 75% | 125 × 5+ 85% · beat 10 reps |
| Week 2 · 3/3/3+ | 102.5 × 3 70% | 117.5 × 3 80% | 132.5 × 3+ 90% · beat 7 reps |
| Week 3 · 5/3/1+ | 110 × 5 75% | 125 × 3 85% | 140 × 1+ 95% · beat 6 reps |
| Week 4 · Deload | 60 × 5 40% | 75 × 5 50% | 87.5 × 5 60% |
Bench press
| Week | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 · 5/5/5+ | 67.5 × 5 65% | 80 × 5 75% | 90 × 5+ 85% · beat 9 reps |
| Week 2 · 3/3/3+ | 72.5 × 3 70% | 85 × 3 80% | 95 × 3+ 90% · beat 7 reps |
| Week 3 · 5/3/1+ | 80 × 5 75% | 90 × 3 85% | 100 × 1+ 95% · beat 6 reps |
| Week 4 · Deload | 42.5 × 5 40% | 52.5 × 5 50% | 62.5 × 5 60% |
Deadlift
| Week | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 · 5/5/5+ | 122.5 × 5 65% | 142.5 × 5 75% | 162.5 × 5+ 85% · beat 9 reps |
| Week 2 · 3/3/3+ | 132.5 × 3 70% | 152.5 × 3 80% | 170 × 3+ 90% · beat 8 reps |
| Week 3 · 5/3/1+ | 142.5 × 5 75% | 162.5 × 3 85% | 180 × 1+ 95% · beat 6 reps |
| Week 4 · Deload | 75 × 5 40% | 95 × 5 50% | 115 × 5 60% |
Overhead press
| Week | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 · 5/5/5+ | 40 × 5 65% | 47.5 × 5 75% | 52.5 × 5+ 85% · beat 11 reps |
| Week 2 · 3/3/3+ | 45 × 3 70% | 50 × 3 80% | 57.5 × 3+ 90% · beat 7 reps |
| Week 3 · 5/3/1+ | 47.5 × 5 75% | 52.5 × 3 85% | 60 × 1+ 95% · beat 6 reps |
| Week 4 · Deload | 25 × 5 40% | 32.5 × 5 50% | 37.5 × 5 60% |
The coach installs the cycle as your program, logs every AMRAP set against its target, and bumps your training maxes when the four weeks are done.
What is 5/3/1?
5/3/1 is Jim Wendler's strength program built on four-week waves. You never plan from your true 1RM: every number in the cycle is a percentage of a training max, deliberately set below your best. Each week has three working sets per lift — fives, then threes, then the 5/3/1 week itself — and the last set of each week is open-ended: you take it for as many reps as you have in you. Week four backs everything off so the next wave starts fresh. The design trades day-to-day heroics for progress you can still be making years later.
The training max — why you lift off 90%
The training max is the engine of the whole system: your estimated 1RM multiplied by the percentage you pick here, 90% by default. Working off a deliberately reduced max means every prescribed set is one you can complete on an ordinary day — bad sleep, small gym, no spotter — and the AMRAP sets stay fast and clean instead of grinding. If a cycle felt easy, resist the urge to raise this number; the program advances by adding weight to the training max between cycles, not by inflating the percentage.
The four weeks at a glance
Every lift runs the same wave. Percentages are of the training max; the '+' marks the AMRAP set, where the prescribed reps are a floor, not a ceiling. Week four is the deload — three light sets of five, no AMRAP, and no assistance volume — so you absorb the work you just did.
| Week | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 · 5/5/5+ | 65% × 5 | 75% × 5 | 85% × 5+ |
| Week 2 · 3/3/3+ | 70% × 3 | 80% × 3 | 90% × 3+ |
| Week 3 · 5/3/1+ | 75% × 5 | 85% × 3 | 95% × 1+ |
| Week 4 · Deload | 40% × 5 | 50% × 5 | 60% × 5 |
AMRAP sets and your rep targets
The last set of weeks one to three is where the program actually happens — everything else is warm-up and volume. This calculator turns each '+' set into a concrete target: the rep count that would push your Epley-estimated 1RM past its current value. Hit the target and you have objective proof you got stronger, at submaximal weight, without ever testing a true max. Fall short on a good day and it is early warning that the training max has crept too high.
After the cycle: small jumps, forever
When the four weeks are done, add 2.5 kg (5 lb) to the training max of the upper-body lifts and 5 kg (10 lb) to the squat and deadlift, then run the wave again. The jumps are small on purpose — they are per five weeks, not per session, and the lifter who under-progresses keeps setting AMRAP rep records while the one who rushes stalls by the third cycle. If an AMRAP set ever falls below its floor reps, reset that lift's training max to 90% of its recent best and climb again.
Boring But Big vs First Set Last
The main sets alone are not much volume, which is why 5/3/1 is usually run with an assistance template. Boring But Big adds five sets of ten of the same lift at 50–60% of the training max after the main work — brutal in the best way for muscle mass, start at 50% and earn the rest. First Set Last goes back down to the day's first working set for five sets of five — more practice at moderate weight, easier to recover from, better when strength is the only goal. Both are shown in your table above; the deload week keeps neither.