Are you curious about Jim Wendler jumps and throw workouts?
Do you wonder how the creator of 5/3/1 uses these explosive movements to build size and strength?
Then you’ve come to the right place.
In this comprehensive guide, I will show you how to use Jim Wendler’s dynamic jumps and throws to take your training to the next level!
Introduction
- Part 1: Jim Wendler Jumps And Throws
- Part 2: The 5/3/1 Training Program
Jim Wendler is one of the most successful strength coaches in the world today, and it’s easy to see why. He spent many years competing as a football player and professional powerlifter.
He even had the chance to train with Louie Simmons and the Westside Barbell powerlifting team. However, his big break came when he invented the 5/3/1 training program, which he calls “the simplest and most effective way to build size and strength.”
One of the things that separates Jim from other coaches is he understands how to customize his workouts to train for many different athletic qualities at the same time.
For example, Jim knows how to program jumps and throws into his 5/3/1 workouts to build overall explosiveness to make faster athletes!
Jim Wendler Stats
- Date Of Birth: February 13th, 1975
- Height: 5 Feet 10 Inches
- Weight: 240 Pounds
- Body Fat: About 15 Percent
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Jim Wendler Jumps And Throws
Jim Wendler likes to use jumps and throws at the beginning of his 5/3/1 workouts.
They are essentially part of his warm up that he performs before his heavy strength-building exercises.
Jim says that using jumps, throws, conditioning work, mobility work, and other general exercises that develop overall athletic ability are absolutely essential – especially for competitive athletes.
He says when he was a competitive powerlifter he could squat over 1,000 pounds in competition. However, that was about all he could do. He says he got out of breath just walking up a flight of stairs!
Today Jim programs jumps, throws, conditioning work, and mobility work into all of his programs because he knows you need to be strong, conditioned, and explosive!
“It’s just been my experience that a strong, explosive, mobile, well conditioned person is far superior physically to someone who just lifts weights.
It’s about the TOTAL program, not just chasing numbers.”
So how does Jim Wendler incorporate jumps and throws into his 5/3/1 program?
Jim says that you should perform jumps, throws, and other explosive exercises as part of your general warm up. Specifically, he wants you to perform mobility work, Joe Defranco’s “Agile 8” warm up, medicine ball throws, and jumps, in that order.
Here is how Jim structures his overall 5/3/1 warm ups:
The Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Warm Up
- Step #1: Mobility
- Step #2: Agile 8
- Step #3: Medicine ball throws
- Step #4: Jumps
Jim says step 1 may consist of different mobility exercises, such as light static stretches, dynamic stretches, and so on.
Step 2 consists of performing Joe Defranco’s Agile 8 warm up. This is a very specific mobility warm up that the world-renowned strength coach Joe Defranco developed for his athletes.
Next Jim wants you to perform explosive medicine ball throws. This may consist of performing explosive overhead throws, or explosive horizontal throws with a relatively light medicine ball.
Remember, the point of these throws is NOT to lift as much weight as possible! Instead, Jim wants you to focus on using a relatively lighter weight and moving the medicine ball as quickly and explosively as possible.
Finally, Jim wants you to perform some simple jump training. This may consist of explosive box jumps, or other more advanced plyometric exercises.
If you perform this general warm up, then you will be in a perfect position to perform your heavy 5/3/1 strength training workouts!
The Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Training Program
Jim Wendler says using explosive jumps and throws is not enough to build size and strength. You also need to use a great training program!
Of course, Jim Wendler recommends that you use his 5/3/1 training program. After all, he calls 5/3/1 “the simplest and most effective way to build raw strength.”
Jim says that his program is all about helping you get stronger on 4 main exercises: the squat, the bench press, the deadlift, and the overhead press. He says these are 4 of the classic strength-building movements that have stood the test of time.
If you get stronger over time on these basic barbell exercises, then you are going to be a big, strong dude!
Jim says the best way to program these exercises is to train 4 days per week with 1 major exercise per exercise. Check it out:
The 5/3/1 Training Split
- Day 1: Squat
- Day 2: Bench Press
- Day 3: Deadlift
- Day 4: Overhead Press
As you can see, Jim’s program features 4 major workouts per week. You have a squat day, a bench press day, a deadlift day, and an overhead press day.
Jim says that you should spread these workouts out as much as possible during the week.
For example, you could train on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. This will maximize your overall recovery ability while running this program.
Of course, Jim knows that not everyone has the recovery ability to train 4 days per week. This is especially true if you include some explosive jumps and throws as part of your 5/3/1 warm up phase, as outlined in this article.
For this reason, Jim says you can also train 3 or 2 days per week using this program. For example, here is Jim Wendler’s 3-day training split:
The 3 Days Per Week 5/3/1 Training Split
Week #1
- Day 1: Bench Press
- Day 2: Squat
- Day 3: Overhead Press
Week #2
- Day 1: Deadlift
- Day 2: Bench Press
- Day 3: Squat
Week #3
- Day 1: Overhead Press
- Day 2: Deadlift
- Day 3: Bench Press
Week #4
- Day 1: Squat
- Day 2: Overhead Press
- Day 3: Deadlift
As you can see, the workouts rotate from one week to the next. You just keep rotating through your 4 different types of workouts even though you are only training 3 days per week.
Jim also has a very simple 2-day training split that you can try. Check it out:
The 2 Days Per Week 5/3/1 Training Split
Week #1
- Day 1: Bench Press
- Day 2: Squat
Week #2
- Day 1: Overhead Press
- Day 2: Deadlift
Jim says that this 2-day training split is great for hardgainers, or anyone who has below-average recovery ability. Some of you may be saying that you can’t actually make progress just training 2 days per week.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
Jim says you can get incredibly strong with this simple 2-day training split. For example, Jim Wendler hit an all-time deadlift PR of 710 pounds using this training split!
Keep in mind that Jim’s best deadlift as a professional powerlifter was just 700 pounds in competition.
Now let’s look at the famous 5/3/1 training cycle. As you may already know, Jim Wendler recommends you perform different set and rep schemes each week. Check it out:
The 5/3/1 Training Cycle
- Week #1: 3 sets of 5 reps
- Week #2: 3 sets of 3 reps
- Week #3: 3 sets of 5, 3, 1 reps
- Week #4: 3 sets of 5 reps (Deload)
As you can see, the sets and reps change for each of the training weeks.
Jim says that rotating your rep ranges each week is one of the reasons his 5/3/1 training program is so effective for building long-term strength gains.
For the first training week, you are going to perform 3 sets of 5 reps. For the second week, you are going to perform 3 sets of 3 reps. For the third week, you are going to perform 3 sets of 5, 3, and 1 reps.
Finally, for the 4th week you are going to perform 3 sets of 5 reps with lighter weights.
This final week is technically a “deload week,” and is designed to help you recover from the previous few weeks of heavy lifting.
So how heavy do you lift each week?
The truth is Jim Wendler uses specific training percentages for each training week. Check it out:
Week #1 Training Percentages:
- Set 1: 65% x 5
- Set 2: 75% x 5
- Set 3: 85% x 5+
Week #2 Training Percentages:
- Set 1: 70% x 3
- Set 2: 80% x 3
- Set 3: 90% x 3+
Week #3 Training Percentages:
- Set 1: 75% x 5
- Set 2: 85% x 3
- Set 3: 95% x 1+
Week #4 Training Percentages:
- Set 1: 40% x 5
- Set 2: 50% x 5
- Set 3: 60% x 5
These are the exact training percentages that Jim Wendler uses in his incredibly popular 5/3/1 training program.
Jim says that using training percentages forces you to pick your weights very carefully. It also allows you to map out your long-term progress, while avoiding physical or mental burnout.
One of the unique things about Jim Wendler’s program is that he has you use a “training max” for your workouts, rather than your actual 1-rep max.
The training max is 90% of your 1-rep max. If your actual 1-rep max on the bench press is 330 pounds, then you would use 300 pounds as your “training max” for the purposes of this program.
Don’t worry, this will all make more sense after we look at an example. Check it out:
Week #1 Training Percentages:
- Set 1: (65% x 300) = 195 pounds x 5 reps
- Set 2: (75% x 300) = 225 pounds x 5 reps
- Set 3: (85% x 300) = 255 pounds x 5+ reps
Week #2 Training Percentages:
- Set 1: (70% x 300) = 210 pounds x 3 reps
- Set 2: (80% x 300) = 240 pounds x 3 reps
- Set 3: (90% x 300) = 270 pounds x 3+ reps
Week #3 Training Percentages:
- Set 1: (75% x 300) = 225 pounds x 5 reps
- Set 2: (85% x 300) = 255 pounds x 3 reps
- Set 3: (95% x 300) = 285 pounds x 1+ reps
Week #4 Training Percentages:
- Set 1: (40% x 300) = 120 pounds x 5 reps
- Set 2: (50% x 300) = 150 pounds x 5 reps
- Set 3: (60% x 300) = 180 pounds x 5 reps
These are the exact weights that you would use each week, assuming your 1-rep max is 330 pounds and your “training max” is set at 300 pounds.
Jim says that picking the right training max is absolutely essential for maximizing your long-term progress.
Of course, one of the most important factors in the 5/3/1 training program is making long-term strength gains. In order to do this, Jim Wendler has you increase your training max by a little bit each month.
Specifically, he recommends that you increase your upper body training max by 5 pounds each month, and your lower body training max by 10 pounds each month. Doing this will allow you to make consistent, long-term strength gains using Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 training program.
For example, here is how you might increase your 5/3/1 training maxes over several months:
Month #1 Training Maxes
- Overhead Press: 150 pounds
- Bench Press: 300 pounds
- Squat: 400 pounds
- Deadlift: 500 pounds
Month #2 Training Maxes
- Overhead Press: 155 pounds
- Bench Press: 305 pounds
- Squat: 410 pounds
- Deadlift: 510 pounds
Month #3 Training Maxes
- Overhead Press: 160 pounds
- Bench Press: 310 pounds
- Squat: 420 pounds
- Deadlift: 520 pounds
As you can see, your training maxes slowly increase over time. If you perform this correctly, then you should make slow but steady progress over long periods of time.
This is especially true if you use the correct training percentages, and perform your deloads properly!
Now let’s look at some sample 5/3/1 workouts that you can perform. Of course, I will be including the warm up phase for the workouts, including the explosive jumps and throws, so you can see how everything fits together in Jim’s program. Check it out:
Triumvirate Squat Day
- Exercise #1: Squat, 3 sets of 1-5 reps
- Exercise #2: Leg press, 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps
- Exercise #3: 45 degree back extension, 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps
Triumvirate Bench Press Day
- Exercise #1: Bench press, 3 sets of 1-5 reps
- Exercise #2: Weighted push ups, 3 sets of 8-15 reps
- Exercise #3: Rows, 3 sets of 8-15 reps
Triumvirate Deadlift Day
- Exercise A1: Deadlift, 3 sets of 1-5 reps
- Exercise B1: 45 degree leg press, 3-5 sets of 8-10 reps
- Exercise B2: Glute-ham raise, 3-5 sets of 8-10 reps
Triumvirate Overhead Press Day
- Exercise A1: Overhead press, 3 sets of 1-5 reps
- Exercise B1: V-bar dips, 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps
- Exercise B2: Pull ups (narrow / neutral grip), 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps
These workouts are performed using Jim Wendler’s triumvirate template. The basic idea is to perform 2 accessory exercises for your upper or lower body.
If you want to learn about Jim Wendler’s other accessory work templates, then check out the following article:
Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Program | The Ultimate Guide!
Conclusion | Jim Wendler Jumps And Throws!
Jim Wendler is one of the most popular strength coaches in the world today, and it’s easy to see why.
He has a gift for designing simple but effective strength building workouts that almost anyone can use to make rapid progress. He also has a great understanding of how to incorporate explosive jumps and throws into his workouts, thanks to his extensive experience competing in American football.
If you are looking for a new way to incorporate jumps and throws into your workout program, then you have to give the Jim Wendler 5/3/1 program a shot.
It may be just what you need to take your training to the next level!
