Athlean-X Maxx Shred

I got access to the Inferno program but never ran it. It looks needlessly complicated and requires a lot of equipment my small gym doesn't have. I like Jeff's videos, but for a guy who makes fun of bodybuilding magazines and all their crazy amount of exercises, his programs sure don't follow that line of thinking.

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ol ole chicken leg Jeff

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What?

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On week 10 of AX2 right now and not the biggest fan of it

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I did AX1 and found it incredibly boring.

How hard is it compared to AX1?

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It’s pretty tough honestly

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It's very tough, I know each day going into a shred workout I'd be dreading it. And in the middle of each shred workout I am like "shite, I am not even halfway done with this?!?!"

Definitely kicks your arse. Which is a good thing. You want to have your arse kicked. Too many men these days are afraid to hurt and work in the gym. They'd rather just do low volume 3x5 Jim Wendler bullshite so they can feel good about themselves.

That's my main issue with AX2. A lot of workouts I feel like I wasn't worked hard enough or wasted my time. And a lot of the workouts in AX2 are structured where its hard to push yourself.

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They'd rather just do low volume 3x5 Jim Wendler bullshite so they can feel good about themselves.

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Or it could be they actually like to train not just workout to feel like they did something especially some bullshite Jeff c came up with.

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They'd rather just do low volume 3x5 Jim Wendler bull shite

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5/3/1 is a periodized way of structuring your big 4 lifts. The rest is up to the lifter to program and Jim assumes the people running it have more than a room temp IQ. People also argue that this is a program for advanced lifters, yet Wendler has used it successfully with high school kids. However, calling it low volume bullshite that's for pussies who are too afraid to work hard is ignorant.

There are nearly limitless templates across Jim's 4 books and blogs. Let's take a look at one - 5sPRO, Boring But Strong. Here's an example a lifter with a training max of 405 lbs. in the deadlift.

Warm up by doing several jumps, throws, and mobility work (box jumps, medicine ball throws, and foam rolling)

305 for 1x5
345 for 1x5
385 for 1x5
245 for 10x5

After that you then go do 50-100 reps of a Push/Pull/Leg (or core) exercise.

DB Press (Push): 55s for 100 reps
Chins (Pull): 100 reps
Core: 100 incline crunches

Finally, you go do some conditioning (hard or easy depending on the day). We'll assume it's a hard conditioning day.

Hill Sprints 20 min.

I don't care how you spin it, but that's a damn good day's work for the average lifter. Calling it a pussy low volume program is completely dishonest. There are certainly ways to customize it to be a low volume, low frequency, low intensity program for people rehabbing an injury or older lifters but that's probably less than 5% of the templates Jim provides.

Another example from Jim's blog is called Building the Monolith. Here's Monday for a lifter with a 315 squat and 135 OHP.

SQUAT
220 for 1x5
250 for 1x5
285 for 5x5

OHP
95 for 1x5
110 for 1x5
120 for 3x5
95 for 1xAMRAP

Chins: 100 reps
Face Pulls: 100 reps
Dips: 100-200 reps

Conditioning: 20 min of pushing the prowler or hill sprints

If you can get off the toilet or reach something on the top shelf with any semblance of grace the next day after this, then you're a better man than most.

Program accounts for very little in overall fitness (commitment and nutrition are far more important). There's hard work being by powerlifters, bodybuilders, CrossFitters, distance runners, even yoga practitioners. There are many different ways to kick your own arse when it comes to fitness and 5/3/1 is no doubt among them.