changing up the 5x5.....thread..

[needtogetaas]

out of the bro's doing the 5x5 what changes have you made to it and how has it worked for you.....I have bin doing it about 5 weeks now and I have added a lot
of weight to my dead lift squat,curl,dips, but next to nothing on my bench and mp "I went with the mp rather then the incline bench"......was also just wondering if people were adding any thing to the program on other days switching it up at all or any thing like that......post up.

 

[al420]

Micro loading bro - you are far along in your weight training corect? WHat is your current BW and Bench max - I'm betting it's decent at the very least. If this is so I think special attention has to be placed on the rep/set scheme. I like to do some triples and a back off set weekly - these two things seem to help my bench from stalling all that bad - and micro loading is crucial IMO.

 

[Kabeetz]

If you are in week five... you should have only hit your current pr's this week. Which it sounds like you didn't follow, and that is probably the reason why your chest has stalled.

You need to subtract 10% from your current PRs and then add 2.5% each week... week 5 is the first week you should be setting PRs.

Yes, that is the same thing said two different ways.

 

[needtogetaas]

If you are in week five... you should have only hit your current pr's this week. Which it sounds like you didn't follow, and that is probably the reason why your chest has stalled.

You need to subtract 10% from your current PRs and then add 2.5% each week... week 5 is the first week you should be setting PRs.

Yes, that is the same thing said two different ways.

well then I know I am doing it wrong.I was setting pr'2 by week 2.shit I have added 10-20 bl's a week 20 my dead lift and squat.but I did stick to only 5bls a week to my bench and I have just hit my pr's on my bench barely...so I guess I need to do the micro thing like al said....I have added lots to my squat dead lift and even felt this week like I could add a hole lot more so I know thats working for me....I have bin working out for 10 years off and on bin in the army 4 years and hove bin working out religiously for the past 2 years and never slacked of on my cheat.I used to work 4-6 deferent excersize
on my chest twice a week for the last year or so...switching to the 5x5 only doing chest 1 exersize once a week as bin kind of a big dloud for me.lol

 

[needtogetaas]

Micro loading bro - you are far along in your weight training corect? WHat is your current BW and Bench max - I'm betting it's decent at the very least. If this is so I think special attention has to be placed on the rep/set scheme. I like to do some triples and a back off set weekly - these two things seem to help my bench from stalling all that bad - and micro loading is crucial IMO.

bw 197 max bench now is 365 for the 3 rep.used to be 365 for 1 so I have gained some and I guess I am right were I should be in the 5x5 program my bench has bin the huge problem for me I have bin stuck right around 365 for the past year allmost and the main reason I started the 5x5 to see if it would help.

 

[al420]

Well adding weight to your sqaut and dead will only have positive carry over to your bench - more muscle on the bench = more weight pressed IMO.

Do wat Kab said - reset to week one or two and ramp up easily, slowly if you will...

On squats and Deads, especially if you have not been pushing them hard, will sky rocket.

 

[needtogetaas]

Well adding weight to your sqaut and dead will only have positive carry over to your bench - more muscle on the bench = more weight pressed IMO.

Do wat Kab said - reset to week one or two and ramp up easily, slowly if you will...

On squats and Deads, especially if you have not been pushing them hard, will sky rocket.

so just start over on the hole thing or just my bench part.....I love the gains I have bin making on the dead and squat and I know you know what I am thinking."I dont want to stop adding lol"

 

[al420]

Just the bench part - treat each lift as it's own demon - reset at will to prevent overload, overtraining, or stalling.

 

[needtogetaas]

Just the bench part - treat each lift as it's own demon - reset at will to prevent overload, overtraining, or stalling.

ok this sounds good I can do that.I figerd my bench would be my hardest part to gain on any way.before I was only doing squats once a week and dead once a week if that so I can see why my gains in them are way more then with the bench.....what about that fact that I went with the mp rather then the incline bench dos that make a huge deference?????

 

[needtogetaas]

what about adding or doing other things well on 5x5...I can do cardoi on my off days right.

 

[al420]

Cardio is fine - if it gets in the way of a lift you gotta nix it for a while.

Mp's are fine. I think Incline leads to the flat stall more so thatn MP's do.

Everybody stalls on bench first - Madcow has a write up about it on the geocities website.

 

[needtogetaas]

Cardio is fine - if it gets in the way of a lift you gotta nix it for a while.

Mp's are fine. I think Incline leads to the flat stall more so thatn MP's do.

Everybody stalls on bench first - Madcow has a write up about it on the geocities website.

my gym dont have micro plats the smallest they have is the 2 1/2bl weights...
I should just go buy my own 1lb and 1/2lb weights or maybe them links.

 

[Protobuilder]

Collars add .5 lb. to 1.5 lb's. depending on which ones you use. I weighed mine at home and if I put both sets on (4 collars total), it's 1.5 lbs extra on the bar.

BTW, in terms of change, you can make one squat day a diff't "type" of squat (e.g., box squat on Friday). You can do front squats on M/F and light back squat on Wed. Etc. Same for presses. And same for pulls really. The key is picking good movements and training them progressively over a long enough time that you get "good" at them and can add weight.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Needto:

For where you're at, you may benefit most from the advanced version of the 'Madcow' 5x5. Be sure and read up on it though, as periodization can be a bit daunting at first.

 

[needtogetaas]

Collars add .5 lb. to 1.5 lb's. depending on which ones you use. I weighed mine at home and if I put both sets on (4 collars total), it's 1.5 lbs extra on the bar.

BTW, in terms of change, you can make one squat day a diff't "type" of squat (e.g., box squat on Friday). You can do front squats on M/F and light back squat on Wed. Etc. Same for presses. And same for pulls really. The key is picking good movements and training them progressively over a long enough time that you get "good" at them and can add weight.

so I could switch a squat day like say wensday for a leg press day.cause I really
miss my leg press I fucking diesel the leg press at like 1,100lb and I know I can add like 10-20 lbs a week to that if I got back into it.

 

[Protobuilder]

Heh. Well there are reasons people are told DON'T FUCK WITH THE PROGRAM but they don't apply if you're dealing w/ someone who knows what they're doing. But in your case, yeah you could use leg press as your "squat" movement for one day. As long as you don't get too far into isolation type stuff, most changes are fine. Just train progressively and apply the basic framework to new exercises. Note thought that leg press may/may not help your back squat poundage. And that drives the program. So you wind up w/ Monday (back squat), Wednesday (front squat or light back squat), Friday (leg press). Hopefully your back squat will just go up week to week on its own. Because normally, you'd have a volume squat day (5x5) to drive the intensity squat day (1x5). EVentually, you're into the advanced versions and doing 5x5 sets across on Monday AND Friday b/c you need the extra volume to push your top set up. So lets say you're at this point. But you're doing a leg press day. So you're not really using something to push your back squat. You could come in Monday and do 5x5 back squat, then do the rest of your stuff through the week. Next Monday, maybe try for a new 1x5 PR. Then the next Monday, try a new 5x5 PR. Dunno. Just an idea. Or you could just keep doing 5 sets of 5 every Monday and see how it goes. Or try 5x5 on Monday, then next Monday, 6x5 w/ the same weight, then 7x5 w/ the same weight the next week, and then add 10 pounds and go back down to 5x5 or something. Lots of ideas really once you get the big picture.

 

[Kabeetz]

Just again..if you reset a lift starting next week, u shouldn't hit your current PR until 4 weeks from now to build the necessary momentum..and then you should skyrocket past that for at least 4-5 weeks..Al has hit huge chains of progress, I did when bulking and many others on here. Starting too heavy is the biggest mistake u can make in the program.

 

[needtogetaas]

Just again..if you reset a lift starting next week, u shouldn't hit your current PR until 4 weeks from now to build the necessary momentum..and then you should skyrocket past that for at least 4-5 weeks..Al has hit huge chains of progress, I did when bulking and many others on here. Starting too heavy is the biggest mistake u can make in the program.

I think thats what I did on my chest I tride to jump to fast.I will delode and start over.thanks guys.

 

[al420]

I see a conditioning issue w/ adding in Leg Press - I think the load is potential for CNS overload - I like a decent Monday, an easy Wednesday, and a killer Friday - but that is me, and I ain't fucking around...lol

 

[needtogetaas]

I see a conditioning issue w/ adding in Leg Press - I think the load is potential for CNS overload - I like a decent Monday, an easy Wednesday, and a killer Friday - but that is me, and I ain't fucking around...lol

well on the squat and dl I have bin going all out every time adding weight every time and its bin great doing it like this I add 5-10 each work out.but on the bench I have bin just trying to add 5lb a week or less.