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
New member
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
New member
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
New member
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.
anotherbutters
New member
Haven't got much time, gotta run...!
Quickly though, if your squat is still increasing, then carry on. I think the others are right on the arm work - drop out the beach work and keep the back off sets. My guess is that you're doing too much on arms.
I do military rather than incline bench and go heavy just like the other lifts, trying to set PRs week on week, ramping up to one heavy set.
Quickly though, if your squat is still increasing, then carry on. I think the others are right on the arm work - drop out the beach work and keep the back off sets. My guess is that you're doing too much on arms.
I do military rather than incline bench and go heavy just like the other lifts, trying to set PRs week on week, ramping up to one heavy set.
I tend to agree with what the others have already said regarding the arm work.
One thing I will add though, is that you should see if you can get some 0.5kg microplates. Increasing your bench and row by 1kg for an indefinite amount of time seems far more realistic than increasing it by 2.5kg indefinitely.
Also, I think Anotherbutter posted a quote from Mark Ripptoe somewhere on these boards. I can't remember the exact quote, but the gist of it was that each time you go to the gym, theoretically you should be a bit bigger than last week, so theoretically you should be able to increase the weight week to week in small increments.
One thing I will add though, is that you should see if you can get some 0.5kg microplates. Increasing your bench and row by 1kg for an indefinite amount of time seems far more realistic than increasing it by 2.5kg indefinitely.
Also, I think Anotherbutter posted a quote from Mark Ripptoe somewhere on these boards. I can't remember the exact quote, but the gist of it was that each time you go to the gym, theoretically you should be a bit bigger than last week, so theoretically you should be able to increase the weight week to week in small increments.
Becoming stagnant on a routine can be from a few things.
Diet, make sure you are getting enough protein and calories. Some people think they are eating enough, when actually they are far from it. Go for a gram of protein per lb. body weight.
Rest, not just sleep, but make sure your energy is going towards lifting. My friend wondered why he couldn't gain lifting, and he was biking/running a lot on off days. He was using up too much of his recovery energy on other things besides lifting.
Routine, Your body gets used to the same routine after awhile. Its not a shock anymore and your body doesn't respond to the stress. Sometimes you need to change up the rep ranges or add/remove exercises.
In your case I think it might just be routine. I would do a deload week Maybe do a 3x3 with the same weights you used the week before for 5x5. Take it easy and don't go to failure on anything.
Diet, make sure you are getting enough protein and calories. Some people think they are eating enough, when actually they are far from it. Go for a gram of protein per lb. body weight.
Rest, not just sleep, but make sure your energy is going towards lifting. My friend wondered why he couldn't gain lifting, and he was biking/running a lot on off days. He was using up too much of his recovery energy on other things besides lifting.
Routine, Your body gets used to the same routine after awhile. Its not a shock anymore and your body doesn't respond to the stress. Sometimes you need to change up the rep ranges or add/remove exercises.
In your case I think it might just be routine. I would do a deload week Maybe do a 3x3 with the same weights you used the week before for 5x5. Take it easy and don't go to failure on anything.
anotherbutters
New member
DJBJ has a good point - increasing your bench by 5lb per week won't continue for very long as you're not using big muscle groups like your legs or back. Try to get hold of some of the microplates that are 1lb each, then you can make smaller increases.
It's easier to keep making small increases than it is to stall on bigger increases and trying to get going again. The small increases add up very quickly.
The quote DJBJ referred to was Mark Ripptoe referring to setting PRs every week in the gym. A person new to lifting that's putting on weight is basically a different person each time he/she goes into the gym as they're a little bit bigger. So their PRs don't really make sense as they can generally beat them every week just by trying to lift a slightly heavier weight.
When your squat slows down, you might want to try a 5lb per week increase.
It's easier to keep making small increases than it is to stall on bigger increases and trying to get going again. The small increases add up very quickly.
The quote DJBJ referred to was Mark Ripptoe referring to setting PRs every week in the gym. A person new to lifting that's putting on weight is basically a different person each time he/she goes into the gym as they're a little bit bigger. So their PRs don't really make sense as they can generally beat them every week just by trying to lift a slightly heavier weight.
When your squat slows down, you might want to try a 5lb per week increase.
