Can I do 5x5 without squats?

[kethnaab]

yeah yeah, I know, dammit.

I love squats too. My leg pics up in the members section show what is left from my squatting days....5 fucking years ago.

so now squats. I can't even hold a bar on my shoulder due to the reconstruction surgery I had. It just doesn't work. Benches are real iffy as well @ 5 reps. 8 reps are somewhat iffy, haven't tried to even go past 265 with them.

so here's what we have. gimpy ole' me who refuses to admit he's broke.

Here's what I CAN NOT do

1) Squats - *pout*
2) Overhead presses - *pout*
3) Barbell bench presses - *pout pout*

Here's what I *can* do

1) DB presses - for at least the next 2 months, until I go back home and the gym only has 125 lb'ers.
2) deadlifts - I can actually do a bit of pulling
3) Pendlay rows
4) chins
5) Power shrugs


Is it possible to work a 5x5 out of just those piddly lifts? I have a feeling that 3 days of heavy deads will leave me toasted really fast.

Maybe 2 days of power shrugs, 1 day of deads?

how could I work this?

I can presently do 135lb DBs for 5 reps, 225 x 5 on the Pendlay rows, 180x5 on Pendlay T-Bars, I can do....several sets of 10 on the chin-em-ups, and 140 x 10 for DB power shrugs (rather easy)

Is it even worth it to try to 5x5 without the King?

 

[asdfzxcv]

I am not as knowledgeable about the 5x5 as many others here but cutting out the squats,overhead press and bench press will be basically neuter the 5x5.Those movements(especially the squats) make up the majority of the workload involved in the program,without them it is not really worth doing IMO.Hopefully madcow2 chimes in on the topic and offers his feedback as he will be able to tell you what to do better anyone else can.

 

[anotherbutters]

I hurt my back a couple of weeks ago, so I'm laying off squats for a while. Guinness5.0 pointed out this device to me: http://www6.mailordercentral.com/ironmind/prodinfo.asp?number=1220. I know it's a massive compromise from back, or even front squats, but it might be worth a shot. I ordered one a week ago, but I'm in the UK and it'll take a while to arrive, so I can't say how effective the neutered exercise is yet.

Does your shoulder allow you to front squat?

 

[blut wump]

Can you do hack squats? Basically, a deadlift with the bar behind your legs. It's much more a squat than a dead in nature.

If you have lemons, make lemonade. No routine is going to be as effective under a reduced load as with a full loading but the nature of the 5x5 is compound exercises done multiple times per week and that essence is worth following even if you're unable to follow the 5x5 as laid out.

It's likely going to take a little while to settle on your exercise set but it's still the better way to train.

 

[steig]

I hurt my back a couple of weeks ago, so I'm laying off squats for a while. Guinness5.0 pointed out this device to me: http://www6.mailordercentral.com/ironmind/prodinfo.asp?number=1220. I know it's a massive compromise from back, or even front squats, but it might be worth a shot. I ordered one a week ago, but I'm in the UK and it'll take a while to arrive, so I can't say how effective the neutered exercise is yet.

Does your shoulder allow you to front squat?

a friend at my gym ordered this piece of equipment to help him out with squats a few years ago. He was never able to get a lot of benefit out of it b/c most of his effort was spent working on keeping it balanced and if he got the weight swinging at all then you had a chance of inflicting some serious pain in the groin area.

 

[Madcow2]

Bottom line, no matter what you do - you have issues. The whole idea behind "5x5" isn't just running "the program" as there really isn't one single 5x5 program. It's about organization, planning, and making systematic progress at the best rate for an individual. And a lot of times it might not be 5 sets of 5 or squatting 3x a week or whatever. So think about what makes the program work, think about what you can do, think about what you'd like to accomplish within your current limits - and lay something out that makes sense.

 

[Jim Ouini]

a friend at my gym ordered this piece of equipment to help him out with squats a few years ago. He was never able to get a lot of benefit out of it b/c most of his effort was spent working on keeping it balanced and if he got the weight swinging at all then you had a chance of inflicting some serious pain in the groin area.

That does sound rather troublesome. I did see a pic of Magnus Sammuelson in the IM catalog doing hip belt squats but instead of a bar he just tied up a bunch of plates and let them hang. Like dips but he had to stand on a couple blocks to get his depth.

 

[kethnaab]

Can you do hack squats? Basically, a deadlift with the bar behind your legs. It's much more a squat than a dead in nature.

I have very short arms, and a monstrous ass.

my ranger of motion on this exercise is, literally, 2 or 3 inches and I have to put my heels up on a weight plate.