Building the Monolith is a 6-week strength and size program from Jim Wendler, the creator of 5/3/1. You train 3 days a week, and every session pairs a heavy lower body lift with a press and a pull. Loads run off a training max set at 85% of your true 1RM, which keeps the high-rep work like 5×5 squats and 10×5 pressing hard but doable.
It’s a brute-force plateau breaker. Standard 5/3/1 runs slow monthly waves; Building the Monolith front-loads a huge amount of squatting and pressing over six hard weeks to pack on muscle and work capacity fast. You can see its DNA in later high-volume templates like GZCL and nSuns. Wendler wrote it for lifters who had stalled and wanted a short, punishing block to shake things loose.
This one’s built for advanced lifters trying to break a plateau. You need a solid strength base and the recovery to handle the volume while eating and sleeping to match. If you’re a novice or still adding weight every week on a linear program, you’ll get more out of standard 5/3/1 for now. For a bench-focused take on the same idea, check out Benching the Monolith.
Table of Contents
- 1 Program Overview
- 2 Building the Monolith App on Boostcamp
- 3 Building the Monolith Spreadsheet (lb + kg) – July 2020
- 4 Building the Monolith Spreadsheet by /u/NoodleWeird (lb + kg)
- 5 Building the Monolith Spreadsheet (lb)
- 6 Building the Monolith Spreadsheet (kg)
- 7 Building the Monolith Reviews
- 8 Building the Monolith FAQs
- 8.1 What is Building the Monolith?
- 8.2 Who should run Building the Monolith (and who shouldn’t)?
- 8.3 How does it compare to standard 5/3/1?
- 8.4 What’s the difference between the 4 spreadsheet versions (and which one should I use)?
- 8.5 Is there a Boostcamp app version?
- 8.6 What accessory and conditioning work does it call for?
Program Overview
- 6 weeks in length
- 3x training sessions per week
- Each training session incorporates a lower body, pushing, and pulling movement
- A Training Max of 85% of a “true” 1RM is suggested – this helps when you’re supposed to hit 90% for multiple sets of 5 reps
- You need to eat, sleep, condition, and stretch with the same dedication used in training
For the full breakdown of the training, nutrition, and recovery needed , please see Jim Wendler’s Building the Monolith 5/3/1 for size. The spreadsheets here are not officially endorsed by Wendler in any way. They are interpretations of content he has shared publicly, linked above.
Building the Monolith App on Boostcamp
5/3/1 Building the Monolith - Boostcamp App
Prefer an app to a spreadsheet? If so, you're in luck!
Boostcamp has a free app version of the 5/3/1 Building the Monolith that you can use directly from your phone.
It tracks your progress and calculates your lifts, just like a spreadsheet.
Works on iOS and Android.
Building the Monolith Spreadsheet (lb + kg) – July 2020
New as of July 2020! Thanks to Lift Vault user Josh Planting for sending this in!
Building the Monolith Spreadsheet by /u/NoodleWeird (lb + kg)
This is probably the “cleanest” version of Building the Monolith I’ve found. If you go with one spreadsheet, make it this one.
Spreadsheet Source and Program Discussion
Building the Monolith Spreadsheet (lb)
Building the Monolith Spreadsheet (kg)
Building the Monolith Reviews
From Jim Wendler’s site:
“This program is amazing. To hit the reps, you have to find something in you that just doesn’t give a damn, but that’s okay because, by the final week, you’ve stopped caring: you’re hitting that 20th squat even if you burst into flame. The best part of the program is how simple it really is… it’s one of the most straightforward roads to size gains that I’ve used. The only time my back has gotten noticeably bigger like this was following the six weeks of Spinal Tap II with deadlifts. The surprise of the program is how much stronger this made me across every lift. I hit a new squat PR two days ago and (as I mentioned) the bench press PR yesterday. The confidence this program gave me also surprised me; when I walked out of that gym after each workout, I felt like I’d just climbed Olympus without a safety belt and bitch slapped Zeus.”
From Mythical Strength:
“I started the program weighing 194.8lbs at 5’9. In the final week, I weighed 200.2. This isn’t a significant amount of weight gained, but when you factor in that I’ve been training for 17 years and that I’m only 5’9, the fact I can eek out any more growth at this point in my life is amazing. I had been stagnant for a long time, and this is the first time in a while I managed to put on some clean weight.
I got much better at pressing, having only managed 205 for 3 in the first week to hitting 215 for 4 in the final week. This is pressing while under a significant degree of fatigue. My conditioning went through the roof as well, and by the end the workouts weren’t nearly as difficult as they were when I started. I truly gained some mastery over the programming.
Having not tested anything yet, it’s hard to objectively say if things got better or not. However, I definitely feel that I became a stronger squatter and deadlifter with all the sub-max work I put in. I had been hitting 1 big top set for so long that all these multi-set workouts really drove home something special.”
Building the Monolith FAQs
What is Building the Monolith?
It’s a 6-week size and strength program Jim Wendler built on top of his 5/3/1 system. You lift 3 days a week, and every session hits a heavy lower body lift plus a press and a pull. The squat and press get a ton of volume, backed up with high-rep accessory work like 100 chins, face pulls, dips, and curls. It’s a hard block meant to add muscle fast.
Who should run Building the Monolith (and who shouldn’t)?
Run it if you’re an advanced lifter who has stalled and wants a short, brutal push to break the plateau. You’ll need a real strength base and the recovery to handle the volume, plus the appetite to eat for it. If you’re a novice or still adding weight every week on a linear program, run standard 5/3/1 first. You’ll get more out of Monolith once that easy progress dries up.
How does it compare to standard 5/3/1?
Standard 5/3/1 is a long-haul system you can run for months, adding a little each cycle. Monolith takes the same training max idea and cranks the volume way up for six weeks. You squat heavy three times a week and press almost daily. Think of standard 5/3/1 as the base you live on and Monolith as a short specialty block you drop in when you’ve stalled.
What’s the difference between the 4 spreadsheet versions (and which one should I use)?
All four run the same 6-week program; they just differ in layout and units. The /u/NoodleWeird sheet (lb + kg) is the cleanest of the bunch, and it’s the one I’d grab if you only want one. Enter your maxes and it fills in every working weight. The lb and kg sheets lay the program out day by day with the conditioning days built in, so pick whichever matches your units. The July 2020 combined sheet is a percentage-based version if you’d rather work off a training max by hand.
Is there a Boostcamp app version?
Yes. There’s a free Building the Monolith app on Boostcamp that lays out every session and does the load math for you, so you can leave the spreadsheet at home. You’ll find the link in the Boostcamp section above.
What accessory and conditioning work does it call for?
A lot. On top of the main lifts you’re on the hook for 100 chins, 100 face pulls, 100 dips, and 100 curls spread through the week, plus shrugs and DB rows. Wendler also programs hard conditioning on your off days, so 3 lifting days really means training most of the week. The extra work is where a real chunk of the size comes from, so treat it as part of the program.
