5th week 5x5, bit confused

[blut wump]

It's the choice of whether you want to keep training for conditioning and hypertrophy and get started on a fresh run from week1 asap or want to take the grind of an Intensity phase. I look at the Intensity phase as my reward for getting through the volume.

If you go for the 3x per week then dive straight into it. You don't sound as though you're suffering from loading and there's not really a lot of difference in weeks 5 and 6 for deloading between the two. As such, stick with 3x from the start so as to get accustomed to the 1x3 lifts. If you're feeling really beat up then a week (or even two) of 2x per week can work wonders but you don't seem to be in need of that.

 

[Kane Fan]

I read what I can about 5x5's whenver I can but I'm always confused to

 

[sublime35]

I'm coming up on the same dilemma myself. I'm on week 4 and couldn't decide if I wanted to go to the 2x or 3x a week w/o. What did you decide on Micker? I think i'll go w/ the 3x. But when I get to week 6 or 7, if I decide I need 2 deload weeks, do I go down w/ the weights from week 4/5 and work them back up or do I just slowly increase from weeks 4/5? sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread.

 

[Guinness5.0]

If the 3x/week intensity phase is gettin rough you can take 3 weeks to get through weeks 8/9.

I.E. week 8 you'd train squat/bench/row mon, then dl/ohp/chins on thurs, then what would normally be your friday workout would be moved to the next monday (techinically week 9).

So you do the same number of workouts in three weeks instead of two.

But cross that bridge when you get there. Go by feel and be your own coach.

 

[Micker]

Yeah, i'm gonna do 3x a week. If I feel i'm getting a bit overworked towards the later weeks, i'll take and extra day or two off. Like guinness said, i'll go by what I feel. Gotta make sure I get enough sleep and eat right the next few weeks.

I really enjoyed the first 4 weeks, its a needed change from what I was doing. It was kinda nice to have goals and a good structured program to follow. One of the main things I wanted with this was to bring my overall core strength up. I had been neglecting my legs a lot and this forced me to do squats/deads, which I love to do, but just never got around to it. My main short term goal is to bench 275, might hit it by the end!! If not, i'll hit it next time around.

 

[blut wump]

I'm coming up on the same dilemma myself. I'm on week 4 and couldn't decide if I wanted to go to the 2x or 3x a week w/o. What did you decide on Micker? I think i'll go w/ the 3x. But when I get to week 6 or 7, if I decide I need 2 deload weeks, do I go down w/ the weights from week 4/5 and work them back up or do I just slowly increase from weeks 4/5? sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread.

Seriously, don't worry about it. The drop in volume from week4 to week5 will seem like a holiday. Week6 really isn't going to feel much harder than week5. Week7 will start to feel like a workout again and then 8 and 9 will be hard work.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Good information in this thread. One thing that caught my eye was this:

It's the choice of whether you want to keep training for conditioning and hypertrophy and get started on a fresh run from week1 asap or want to take the grind of an Intensity phase.

This is a good point, something I never thought of. A lot of people shoot for this routine in an attempt to add mass, since it's touted as doing so very well. The thing is, sets of triples aren't too conducive towards hypertrophy. While the added strength and later be applied to higher rep ranges, the four weeks of the intensity phase are more or less strength-oriented. Someone shooting for sheer mass gains should probably run the volume phase, deload with the 2x/week for 1-2 weeks, then run the volume phase again. Rinse and repeat until you feel you've added enough mass.

Of course, an alternative to those trying to get big would be to work with the 5x5 routine until strength levels are where they want them to be (or at least past the novice level) and then switch their training to HST. For HST to work well, you need a strength base for the load progression. Once you have this, you can make some nice gains in mass. After reaching your ideal size you can then turn around to train for strength or power until you retire from lifting.

Just a rant. Take it as nothing more.

 

[blut wump]

If you do start to run them back to back, I wouldn't recommend more than about three without some goodly period of lighter training to allow your body to adjust.

You can also drop the volume period down to three weeks after the first one if running them consecutively. This, obviously, makes it a little harder since you're then looking to hit fresh PRs in weeks 2 & 3. Not for the faint-hearted and definitely not recommended until you learn to train through fatigue.

Once you get to that stage, though, DFHT is waiting with open arms.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core9.htm

 

[swordfish151]

isnt week 6 when you start increasing the weight again...im reading that week 5 and 6 are the same?? im on week 4 did my squats/deads/military/chins yesterday...friday is squat/chest/row...love this program..seeing a huge difference in weight, composition and lifts...next week i begin week 5 going to go with 3X like before (dropping squats for wednesdays split of course)...with the 1X3 and 3X3...didnt realize at this point you could do just 2X workouts...

 

[Guinness5.0]

Swordfish-
here's a link that describes the 2x deload:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4497645&postcount=11

As I understand it you would use the 2x deload if you wanted to jump into another volume phase of the 5x5 rather than concentrate on strength increase, or if you think your joints won't be able to handle weeks of heavy triples, or if you're really beat up form the volume and it seems that going heavier would be a bad idea. There are many viable alternatives to the intensity phase based on your needs/goals.

So if you're not whipped by the deload week you'll probably be better off with the full-on intensity phase (3x/week, ramping weights weekly, matching PR's week 8 then bettereing them week 9). But a lot of it is individual. I'm glad I did it and I would recommend it in general barring physical limitations such as joint pain.