5 3 1 Calculator

What the 5/3/1 calculator does

5/3/1 is a hugely popular strength program built by Jim Wendler, and its whole appeal is simplicity: lift a few heavy sets, push the last one, and add weight slowly over time. This tool sets it up for you. You give it your one-rep max for a lift, and it lays out a four-week cycle in kilograms, with the weight and rep target for every set, including a lighter deload week at the end.

If you do not know your one-rep max, it can estimate that too, from a set you have actually done. So you can go from a recent gym session to a full month's worth of working weights in a couple of clicks.

How to use it

1. Enter your 1RM in kilograms, if you know it, then calculate the 5/3/1 cycle.
2. Or estimate it first. Put in a weight and the number of reps you managed with it, and the tool will work out your one-rep max, then use that for the program.

There is one important detail about which number to enter, covered further down, that makes the difference between weights that build you up and weights that grind you down. Press the relevant button to calculate, or Reset to clear the fields.

How your 1RM is estimated

If you do not want to test a true one-rep max, which is hard and a little risky, the tool estimates it from a set you took close to your limit:

Estimated 1RM = weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30)

This is the Epley formula, a long-standing and reliable way to predict a max. Lift 100 kg for 5 reps and it estimates a one-rep max of 100 times 1.167, which is about 117 kg. One caveat worth knowing: the estimate is most accurate for low rep counts, say up to about five. The more reps you do, the more the prediction drifts, so a set of 3 to 5 hard reps gives a better number than a set of 15.

The 5/3/1 cycle, week by week

The program runs in four-week blocks. Each of the first three weeks has three working sets at rising percentages, and the fourth week backs off to let you recover. The percentages, applied to your training max, look like this:

• Week 1, the fives: 65%, 75%, then 85% for as many reps as you can
• Week 2, the threes: 70%, 80%, then 90% for as many reps as you can
• Week 3, the five-three-one: 75%, 85%, then 95% for as many reps as you can
• Week 4, the deload: 40%, 50%, 60%, kept easy to recover

So with a training max of 100 kg, your first week opens at 65 kg and builds to 85 kg, while the heaviest single set of the cycle, in week three, sits at 95 kg. The weights rise within each week and across the three working weeks, then the deload gives your body a breather before the next block.

The top set, where progress happens

Notice that the last working set of each week, the heaviest one, is done for as many reps as you can manage, not a fixed number. This is the heart of 5/3/1. That final set, often written with a plus sign like 5+ or 3+ or 1+, is where you find out how strong you really are that day, and where the program measures your progress. The required reps are the minimum, and the goal is to beat them safely. Grinding out eight reps on a set that only asked for five is a sign your strength is climbing, even before you have added a single kilogram to the bar. Just stop with a rep or two left in the tank rather than going to total failure, which is how the program is meant to be run.

The training max, and why the tool applies it for you

Here is the single most important idea in 5/3/1, and the part people most often get wrong. The percentages are not taken from your true one-rep max. They are taken from a training max, which Wendler sets at 90 percent of it. The program is deliberately built to feel a little too easy at first, because that is what lets you keep adding weight cycle after cycle without stalling.

You enter your one-rep max, and this calculator multiplies it by 0.9 to get your training max before working out a single weight. The figure it uses is shown above the table, so you can see it. If you would rather work from a training max you already know, enter that number directly and mentally skip the conversion, remembering that the tool will take another 10 percent off it. Either way, start lighter than your ego wants and let the slow climb do the work.

Questions people ask

What is the 5/3/1 program?

It is a strength training system by Jim Wendler built around four-week cycles. You lift three working sets at rising percentages each week, push the last set for extra reps, and add a small amount of weight each cycle.

What number should I enter, my max or my training max?

Your training max, which is 90 percent of your one-rep max. The program's percentages are designed around that lower number, so entering your true max makes every weight about ten percent too heavy.

How does it estimate my one-rep max?

With the Epley formula, weight multiplied by one plus reps divided by 30. It is most accurate for low rep counts, so a hard set of 3 to 5 reps gives the best estimate.

What do the plus signs on the last set mean?

They mean as many reps as you can do, safely. The listed number is the minimum, and beating it is how you track progress. Leave a rep or two in reserve rather than going to failure.

References

1. Wendler, J. (2011). 5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength (2nd ed.). Jim Wendler LLC. The training-max approach and weekly percentage scheme.