Jim Wendler - Letter to My Younger Self

[BendtheBar]

T NATION | A Letter to My Younger Self

Lifting
A Letter to My Younger Self

I want you to follow the lifting schedule below. As for the sets and reps of the main lifts, I've attached the 5/3/1 training book. Follow it to a "T" – do not start too heavy (you're not impressing anyone, trust me) and don't overestimate your maxes.

You have four years of high school ahead of you so be patient. Your strength will come. You don't have to bench press 300 pounds tomorrow or next month! Just one rep more or five pounds better. I guarantee you'll be stronger than you could ever imagine if you follow the training and principles in this program. This is perfect for someone like you – someone that's a true Lifer and knows that you're in it for the long haul.

Remember in sixth and seventh grade when you ran cross country? And in the summer between the seventh and eighth grade you began lifting? What happened? You went from being slow to being the fastest kid in the school. It's amazing what happens when you strengthen your body.

Remember walking back from track practice amazed at your new speed? Remember looking up at the sky and thinking, "Making my body stronger made my body faster?" Don't worry, this secret is safe with us as few people seemed to have grasped it, "experts" included.

I listed some assistance work below the main work but you can do whatever you want. Or you can do nothing. The only assistance exercises that I think you need to do are the back extensions, sit-ups, and chins. Keep at these three no matter what you're doing and even during the in-season. You never had a problem picking out what to do or what not to do. Just make sure you have the same focus on the main exercise and the rest will take care of itself.

This is called The Process. When you focus on the process and the work, everything falls into place. Do your homework and pay attention in class and you'll get good grades. Train hard, smart, and run and you'll be ready to play football.

Training, school, and life are not terribly complicated. They're not easy, but like I said, they're not complicated either. Especially as a white male living in America. You really have no excuse to not succeed at whatever you want.

Monday
Exercise Sets Reps
A Squat 3 5/3/1
B Bench press 3 5/3/1
C Dips 3
D Chin-ups 3
E 4-Way nec 3
F Sit-ups 3 20
Wednesday
Exercise Sets Reps
A Power clean 3 5/3/1
B Deadlift 3 5/3/1
C Incline press 3 10
D Barbell curls 3 10
E Back extensions 3 20
Friday
Exercise Sets Reps
A Front squat 3 5/3/1
B Press 3 5/3/1
C Rows 3 10
D DB press 3 10
E 4-Way neck 3
F Sit-ups 3 20

Just so you know, all those people you train with in high school? None of them keep up with training. But don't stop writing them workouts they'll never use; it's great practice for later in life. Trust me.

Now during the football season, I want you to cut your training down to two days/week. You can continue to train three days/week during basketball and track season but let's recover a bit during football.

The in-season training will now look like this:

Monday
Squat
Bench Press
Assistance work

Wednesday
Deadlift
Press
Assistance work

For assistance work, I recommend doing back extensions, sit-ups, chin-ups, and dips. If you have time and energy for more, go ahead and do whatever you want. Don't think that training only two days/week is too little. You're running seven days/week and wear pads/hit four days a week. This is very stressful on the body and you'll be surprised how strong you'll get when you train smart and train with purpose.

[Off Road]

Don't we all wish we had read that in High School...And believed it.

I mean, could you imagine starting a good routine your Freshman year, and sticking with it throughout the four years (five for some of us). You would make great progress no matter what your potential was.

I also appreciate his note on in-season training. I was kind of wondering what to do with my son when the season started.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Off Road

I mean, could you imagine starting a good routine your Freshman year, and sticking with it throughout the four years (five for some of us). You would make great progress no matter what your potential was.

I wish I had good advice as a teen. I spent 3 years lifting plastic weights in a clueless manner. Complete waste of time.