Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below Well, I've been doing single factor 5x5 for 7 weeks now. I've been consistently adding 10lbs. weekly to both squat/deadlift. Bench/Rows were increasing 5lbs. a week but haven't increased in 3 weeks. How should I go about remedying this? I'm thinking maybe I should start doing 5 working sets for both bench and rows instead of working up to 1 working set. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
5x5 SF - Stagnant
- Thread starter Isolate-X
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Guinness5.0
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I'll second this with one catch: take the week off and push on with SF but perhaps a little lighter than the weights you're stuck at. SF is the way to go until you just can't gain from it.JL_204 said:
Has anything else changed? Stress? Sleep?
If you've packed on some size you'll need to increase cals to compensate.
Yeah, I'm still gaining from SF, just not so much with bench/row. On the other hand, squats/deads are soaring. Also, my diet is on point and I get 8hrs of sleep a night. Don't get how squats/deads and even hypers/situps/curls/skulls are on a steady increase, but bench/row won't budge. Hrm, when I first started SF, I wasn't doing the back-off sets and I added them 4 weeks ago. Do you think that could have anything to do with it? Maybe I should remove them.
Guinness5.0
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Are you keeping the volume low on the arm stuff? I'd bet that too mcuh arm volume would show up on bench/row before anything else.Isolate-X said:
Your backoff set hypothesis could be right though based on the timing. Try it for a while without 'em- maybe the extra volume is more than you need for now. If dropping the backoffs helps, then consider adding them back in if you get stuck again.
Doing 3x8 for the arms and heavy. Maybe I should go lighter or drop the back-off sets, or maybe even both.
Edit:
Forgot about the light incline bench on Wednesdays. Could doing heavy inclines be of any help? Maybe my chest isn't getting worked enough? I've yet to have my chest feel sore at all.
Edit:
Forgot about the light incline bench on Wednesdays. Could doing heavy inclines be of any help? Maybe my chest isn't getting worked enough? I've yet to have my chest feel sore at all.
Guinness5.0
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don't put too mmcuh stock in soreness- once you do any movement with a little frequency the soreness should be a memory. I was almost never sore even while setting PR after PR during my 5x5 runs.Isolate-X said:
You might sub out inclines for standing military- it's known to have some good carryover to bench and I'd guess it could help rows too as it hits the rear delts and rotators.
Guinness5.0
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you should work up to a heavy set of 5 and try to set PR's liek your other liftsIsolate-X said:
blut wump
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I'd suggest dropping the arm work entirely for a while. You need your triceps for the bench and biceps for rowing. Lose the arm work and see whether that helps.
Back in the day, the 'big three' exercises were squat, deadlft and overhead presses. I'm not sure when bench displaced OHP but I think it's still considered a much superior overall strengthener to bench press.
Back in the day, the 'big three' exercises were squat, deadlft and overhead presses. I'm not sure when bench displaced OHP but I think it's still considered a much superior overall strengthener to bench press.
