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.
Spinal Tap is a high-frequency 5/3/1 variant where you compress all nine main-lift working sets of a normal three-week cycle into a single workout. Each week becomes its own mini cycle, so you raise the training max every week instead of every three.
Table of Contents
What is Spinal Tap?
Normal 5/3/1 spreads its nine main-work sets across three weeks, three sets per session. Spinal Tap stacks all nine into one session on a single lift: the 5s sets, the 3s sets, and the 5/3/1 sets, back to back. Because you cover a full cycle’s worth of work every time you train that lift, you bump its training max each week.
This is an advanced, high-volume variant, not a starting point. It demands real recovery, and it sits much closer in spirit to a program like nSuns than to vanilla 5/3/1.
Spinal Tap Example
Say you have a bench press training max of 200 lb. A Spinal Tap session runs all nine sets in order (off the standard 5/3/1 percentages):
- 5s sets: 130 x 5, 150 x 5, 170 x 5+
- 3s sets: 140 x 3, 160 x 3, 180 x 3+
- 5/3/1 sets: 150 x 5, 170 x 3, 190 x 1+
That’s a complete 5/3/1 cycle in one workout. Next week you raise the training max and do it again, one notch heavier across the board.
Who Should Use It
Spinal Tap suits advanced lifters who recover well and want the strength gains that come with high frequency and volume. If you’re newer to 5/3/1 or already feeling beat up, stick with the standard three-week cycle. The whole appeal of vanilla 5/3/1 is that it’s hard to overdo, and Spinal Tap throws that safety margin out.
Spinal Tap Resources
Here are some helpful discussions of the Spinal Tap variant:
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.
The most up-to-date and complete collection of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 programming framework. Contains dozens of templates to keep 5/3/1 fresh and adaptable.
