Main, Supplemental, and Assistance Work in 5/3/1

Please note: This is not official 5/3/1 advice and is not associated in any way with Jim Wendler. If you want official 5/3/1 advice, buy the book.

Every 5/3/1 workout is built from three layers: the main work, the supplemental work, and the assistance work. Once you know what each one does, you can read any 5/3/1 template at a glance and build your own.

What is Main Work?

Main work is the three prescribed 5/3/1 sets on one of the four big lifts (squat, bench press, overhead press, or deadlift), run through the week’s rep scheme (5s, 3s, or 5/3/1) and finished with the AMRAP, or PR, set. This is the heart of the program and where your progress is actually measured.

What is Supplemental Work?

Supplemental work is extra volume done right after the main work, usually on the same lift or a close variation. This is where the named schemes live: First Set Last, Second Set Last, Last Set Last, Boring But Big, and Boring But Strong are all just different loading patterns for the supplemental work. It drives most of the size and strength you build beyond the main sets.

What is Assistance Work?

Assistance work is the accessory movements that round out the body and shore up weak points. Wendler picks it by category rather than from a fixed list, which usually breaks down into:

• Push (chest, shoulders, triceps): dips, push-ups, dumbbell presses
• Pull (back, lats, biceps): chin-ups, rows, face pulls
• Single-leg and core (plus low back): lunges, leg raises, back raises, ab wheel

A common guideline is 25 to 50 total reps per category, kept light enough to recover from.

How They Fit Together

Here’s a full bench day with all three layers:

• Main work: Bench Press, the three 5/3/1 sets ending in the PR set
• Supplemental work: 5 sets of 10 First Set Last (Boring But Big), or 10 sets of 5 (Boring But Strong)
• Assistance work: dips, rows, and curls for 25 to 50 reps each

That’s the whole framework. Every 5/3/1 template you’ll ever see is just a different choice of supplemental scheme and assistance volume bolted onto the same main work.

Resources

Here are some helpful discussions of how 5/3/1 work is structured:

• 5/3/1 Assistance Work: Making Progress (All Strength Training)
• 5/3/1 for Beginners (The Fitness Wiki)
• r/531Discussion (Reddit)

5/3/1 Glossary

Learn about other 5/3/1 terms in our 5/3/1 glossary.

5/3/1 Forever Book (Recommended Reading)

To best utilize the 5/3/1 training framework, the book is highly recommended. It’s a small investment for a lifetime of training knowledge.

About Kyle Risley

Kyle Risley founded Lift Vault in 2016 to make finding great powerlifting programs easier. Since then, the site has grown to include hundreds of programs for strength, bodybuilding, Olympic weightlifting, and more. He currently lives in Massachusetts and continues to compete in powerlifting.