Question...

[Tony75]

Was wondering if IA or anyone else for that matter could answer me something...Have been thinking about doing the 5x5 routine as have read a few good reports regarding it..Is there a set rule to follow or programme as such for this or do you just incorporate the 5x5 method with the routine you currently do?? Is there certain bodyparts needed trained on specific days etc..If someone could answer this please

[zengland]

There are a number of different specific 5x5 routines.
One of the best known is here

[Tony75]

Thanks for the reply as had forgotten all about this.....Sorry I was meaning say a certain routine you were following ie say Deadlifts,squat,weight pullups,weighted dips etc etc would it be beneficial to do the 5x5 routine with them exercises...
I am currently doing this routine and wanted to know peoples thoughts/views etc on..so here goes it has a bit of the logic behind the 5x5 method in a way and were I feel I can achieve more follow 3x8...feedback welcome please :-)
Feel also my Bi's are a bit lagging and wondered if there was any point in hitting them on my days off ie on Tuesday/Sat or Tues/Thurs,would there be any benefit in this or not??
And what range/time wise spent on them etc would be suffice...

Monday (Back/Traps/Biceps)
1) Deadlift ? 5x5 (I have just changed this too seated lat P/downs)
2) Barbell Row (substitute with dumbbell or machine row if necessary) ? 3x8
3) Close Grip Chins with Palms Facing ? 4x6
4) Olympic Barbell Curls-3x8


Wed's (Quads/Hams/Calves)
1) Back Squat ? 5x5
2) Stiff Legged Deadlift ? 5x5
3) Dumbbell Lunges ? 3x8
4) Calve Raise ? 3x12

Friday (Chest/Shoulders/Triceps)
1) Weighted Dips ? 5x5
2) Incline Bench Press ? 3x8
3) Upright Row ? 3x8
4) Skull Crushers ? 3x8

So fire away people and thoughts/views etc all welcome,good or bad

Thanks

T75

[idk]

nah,the back movements should give the biceps enough at this point in the routine. trust me your arms will grow.

[wildman1717]

Originally Posted by zengland

There are a number of different specific 5x5 routines.
One of the best known is here

I agree.

[legaljuicer]

Here is another 5x5 routine

(Best of Meso) Best of JohnSmith articles
TOPIC 1: HIS INFAMOUS 5X5:

---5X5---
Monday: Squats, Benching, Rows
Weds: Squats, Military Presses, Deadlifts, Chins
Friday: Squats, Benching, Rows

Courtesy of bill starr bill starr, the greatest strength coach who ever lived, popularized this in the 70's with his great book, The Strongest Shall Survive, which was aimed at strength training for football. I believe he had essentually two different programs which both are 5 sets of 5. The first, which is more suitable for beginners, is to simply do 5 sets of 5 with similar weight jumps between each set so that your last set is your top weight. When you get all 5 on the last set, bump all your weights up 5 or 10lbs. Example for squat... 185 for 5, 225 for 5, 275 for 5, 315 for 5, 365 for 5. If you get 365 for 5, move all weights up. This is especially good for someone who is just learning a particular exercise like the squat, because the amount of practice with light but increasing weights is a good way to practice form.

For more advanced lifters, he advocated a warmup, then 5 sets of 5 with a set weight. For example, the same athlete used in the other example may do 135 for 5, 185 for 5, 225 for 3, 275 for 2, 315 for 1, then 350 for 5 sets of 5. When successfull with all 25 reps at 350lbs, bump the weight up the next workout by 5 or 10lbs.

This is not outdated, and is a good program for gaining strength. Many elite athletes still use it during at least part of the year. I in fact do 5 sets of 5 on squatting for 4 weeks as part of an 8 or 10 week training cycle. Personally, i do it 3 times a week, but most people will probably make better progress doing it 2 times per week, or even doing version 1 once a week, and version 2 once a week.

In any event i described a system in a post a while back that goes something like this:
Monday use the heaviest weight you can for all 5 sets (same weight each set)---- in other words when you get all 5 sets of 5 reps up the weight (most workouts you will get 3 or 4 sets of 5- and maybe your last one will be for 3 or 4 reps)

Wednesday use 10-20% less weight- in other words if you used 200lbs on monday use 160-180lbs on wednesday- actual amount depending on your recovery

Friday work up to a max set of 5-

In other words lets say that your best ever set of 5 is 215lbs and you used 200lbs on monday for 5 sets and 170lbs on wednesday. On friday your workout might be like this 95 for 5 135 for 5 175 for 5 200 for 5 then attempt 220 for your last set of 5.

This tends to work better as a long term program than doing the same thing 3 times a week. On exercises where you only do them once a week like deadlift you can just do the 5 sets of 5 like i described. On monday on exercises that you are only doing twice (rows) you could do both exercises like the monday workout or lighten one of them depending on your recovery ability. Be conservative with the weight when you start- that is important.

Also i have used this program VERY often with athletes and it IS result producing. However many of your gains will show up after you use it for 4-6 weeks and you switch to training a bit less frequently and lower the reps and volume. However this is one program i have had a LOT of success with. In fact i rarely if ever use it with athletes who are at the top of their weight class because it causes too much weight gain unless you severely restrict your food.

[Tony75]

Originally Posted by idk

nah,the back movements should give the biceps enough at this point in the routine. trust me your arms will grow.

Well to be honest m8,for the time I have been training(7-8 years),think they arent growing with the rest of my body..Pretty crap tbh..Hence the reason for wanting to hit them a bit more....
@legaljuicer, I had read that routine m8 and personally doing squats 3 times a week is too much for me...I can just about recover doing them once..
But I have heard great reviews on the above routine but tried incorperating his routine with the 5x5 theory on exercises that I already had been doing..
As for the routine I posted above anyone gives feedback on their thoughts as to if it needs tweak/changed etc....Thanks

[Tony75]

Hi guys and happy new year to you all....

I need a bit of help here and hopefully gets peoples views..Right have now thought about changing the 5x5 routine I had started and wanted peoples views on this thought of training now...

I currently train Mon,weds,Fri at the mo and just started to cycle my days which bodypart I train...ie I training legs mon,back n bis wed,and chest shoulders fri..Then I change the next mon to back n bi's,weds chest n shoulders and frid legs,then again if you get what I mean...I have been toiling with this idea for a while but wondered if there would be any real benefit of doing so,as dont want to waste my time when someone whos more knowledgeable than me could point out otherwise..I am thinking of adding a thursday night also into it and then would try n hit the same muscle group twice and by that I mean mon, back n bi's then fri again,,alternating them every week,so they all get hit twice in 1 week every so often..Does that make sense or isnt there any point in doing this type of routine lads...
I just want to try n hit this year as best I can and get a bit more out of my training...Hope someone can help here

Thanks for reading

tony

[Tony75]

God, thought I would have had some sort of response in here..Nevermind

[Swellin]

Well bud, why not just bump the post asking for a reply instead of being insulting? You would do much better that way.

Ever read a post and attach a voice to it?

I just read your last post, and the wording sure made it sound like Napolean Dynamite.


As for your question, I tried rotating them once because by Friday I had less energy to workout. If I missed a session, it was always the friday session. So I rotated them. It also helps keep things fresh to you by being a different day. Honestly, that is a change and can throw you for a mental loop. So it can be beneficial for several reasons.

On the other hand, if you don't experience any of the problems I mentioned...it might not matter one bit to you. Honestly, it's an individual thing for the rotation. it might matter to you and it might not. It's certainly a 5% type thing anyway.