Critique this 5x5

[lucidblue]

I just started this workout yesterday. Let me know if it needs any tweeks. I've had some shoulder problems, so I've just starting adding exercises back in that were bothering it and keeping them light.

Day 1: Chest/Shoulders
DB Flat Bench 5x5
Hammer Strength Incline Press 2x8-10
Standing Cable Fly 2x8-10

DB Shoulder Press 5x5
Rear Delt 2x8-10
Lateral Raises 2x8-10
Rotator Rehab

20 min HIIT


Day 2: Triceps/Biceps/Abs
BB Curl 5x5
DB Incline Curl 2x8-10
Close Grip Bench 5x5
One Arm Tricep Pushdown 2x8-10

Hanging Leg Raises 3x15
Weighted Crunches 3x15
Weighted Oblique Crunches 3x15/side
Bicycle Upper Body Moving 3x30

30 min Stairmaster


Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Legs
Squats 5x5
SLDL 2x8-10
DB Lunges 2x8-10
Calf Raises 2x12


Day 5: Back/Abs
Lat Pulldown 5x5
Bent over DB Rows 2x8-10
DB Shrugs 2x8-10
Back Extensions 2x8-10

Hanging Leg Raises 3x15
Weighted Crunches 3x15
Weighted Oblique Crunches 3x15/side
Bicycle Upper Body Moving 3x30

20 min HIIT

 

[NWinters]

Id say a good routine, but I would do light cardio on your day off and not do any heavy cardio after you workout.

 

[Backlash]

Putting chest and shoulders on the same day is gonna be tough. Your shoulders will probably already be fried by the bench and inclines before you get to db press.

And then triceps the next day after all those presses? I'd re-arrange your days some, at least, if you really want chest and shoulders together.

Good exercise choices though.

 

[lucidblue]

Putting chest and shoulders on the same day is gonna be tough. Your shoulders will probably already be fried by the bench and inclines before you get to db press.

And then triceps the next day after all those presses? I'd re-arrange your days some, at least, if you really want chest and shoulders together.

Good exercise choices though.

Very true. I'll see how it goes tonight. I may move my back to day 1 and chest and shoulders to day 5.

 

[needsize]

not bad but I dont see deadlifts in there anywhere

 

[lucidblue]

Very true. I'll see how it goes tonight. I may move my back to day 1 and chest and shoulders to day 5.

Actually, maybe I'll just move shoulders to day 5.

not bad but I dont see deadlifts in there anywhere

Guilty as charged. I have not started doing deadlifts yet.

 

[lucidblue]

Should I add anything to Tricep/Bicep day?

 

[mr. sparkle]

I'm going to be kind of traditional and suggest that you not do arms all in one day, and put biceps with your back exercise and triceps with your chest exercise. Unless your goal is to work both muscle groups in your arms twice per week you might want to rearrange it so that you have the most recovery time possible, since you're doing a 5x5.

I very much agree with Backlash and think you should separate your shoulders day from you chest day a little more. And do you feel that the SLDL's on your leg day might affect your back exercises on the next day? I'd feel that I might be using my back muscles too much before I'm even scheduled to work my back, but it's all up to your personal experience with them.

My suggested split would be:
Day 1: Chest/Triceps
Day 2: Back/Biceps + Abs
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Shoulders
Day 5: Legs + Abs

Or you could switch Leg and Shoulder days if you feel you're too wiped from your Leg workout to do Abs.

Best of luck!

---Mr. S---

 

[needsize]

everyone responds differently but for myself, when I train arms after either back or shoulders, I get squat, mine need their own day or they dont grow

 

[lucidblue]

I'm going to be kind of traditional and suggest that you not do arms all in one day, and put biceps with your back exercise and triceps with your chest exercise. Unless your goal is to work both muscle groups in your arms twice per week you might want to rearrange it so that you have the most recovery time possible, since you're doing a 5x5.

I very much agree with Backlash and think you should separate your shoulders day from you chest day a little more. And do you feel that the SLDL's on your leg day might affect your back exercises on the next day? I'd feel that I might be using my back muscles too much before I'm even scheduled to work my back, but it's all up to your personal experience with them.

My suggested split would be:
Day 1: Chest/Triceps
Day 2: Back/Biceps + Abs
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Shoulders
Day 5: Legs + Abs

Or you could switch Leg and Shoulder days if you feel you're too wiped from your Leg workout to do Abs.

Best of luck!

---Mr. S---

Thanks. I used to use almost the same split you outlined (except it wasn't a 5x5), except I did legs and shoulders together. I just moved things around because I was getting bored. I'm going to give it a shot this week. see what happens and then i may combine exercises like you suggest.

 

[RusPA81]

everyone responds differently but for myself, when I train arms after either back or shoulders, I get squat, mine need their own day or they dont grow

Same with me. Also I have done, shoulders and chest on the same day. It wasn't that bad actually. I like that fact that my shoulders were warmed up from the chest work. I now do chest on Monday and back,shoulders on Tuesday. I can lift more this way and the shoulder work gets me pumped for deadlifts.

 

[FatRat]

I notice you are using DB's for 5x5 on pressing moves. Do you have some way of increasing these in small increments, or will it be 5lb jumps? If its the latter, I would suggest moving to a bar as you will not be able to add enough strength to cope with these increases and will plateau quickly.

Other than that, with the advice above it looks solid.

FYI, I’m currently on:

Mon - Legs
Tues - Chest, abs, rotator cuff
Wed - Off
Thurs - Shoulders / Back
Fri - Arms

Has been working great! Good luck...

 

[JKurz1]

I go:

Chest/Bis
Back/Tris
Legs
SHoulders/Trps/Abs
Repeat

with cardio first thing in the am every day and training at night.....

 

[FatRat]

I go:

Chest/Bis
Back/Tris
Legs
SHoulders/Trps/Abs
Repeat

with cardio first thing in the am every day and training at night.....

But we know that we would all burn out if we trained with your frequency and volume...

 

[lucidblue]

I notice you are using DB's for 5x5 on pressing moves. Do you have some way of increasing these in small increments, or will it be 5lb jumps? If its the latter, I would suggest moving to a bar as you will not be able to add enough strength to cope with these increases and will plateau quickly.

Other than that, with the advice above it looks solid.

FYI, I’m currently on:

Mon - Legs
Tues - Chest, abs, rotator cuff
Wed - Off
Thurs - Shoulders / Back
Fri - Arms

Has been working great! Good luck...

For now I can increase with smaller than 5lb jumps... but that will end soon and I will probably have to switch a bar.

 

[lucidblue]

I go:

Chest/Bis
Back/Tris
Legs
SHoulders/Trps/Abs
Repeat

with cardio first thing in the am every day and training at night.....

I wish I had the energy to go to the gym 2x per day. I lack both strength and endurance in the morning.

 

[lucidblue]

So far I really like the 5x5 workout. After trying it for a week, I decided to switch some stuff around. Here's what I'm going to do.

Day 1: Back/Shoulders
Lat Pulldown 5x5
Bent over DB Rows 2x8-10
DB Shrugs 2x8-10
Back Extensions 2x8-10

DB Shoulder Press 5x5
Rear Delt 2x8-10
Lateral Raises 2x8-10
Rotator Rehab

20 min HIIT

Day 2: Legs/Abs
Squats 5x5
SLDL 2x8-10
DB Lunges 2x8-10
Calf Raises 2x12
Seated Calf Raises 2x12

Hanging Leg Raises 3x15
Weighted Crunches 3x15
Weighted Oblique Crunches 3x15/side
Bicycle Upper Body Moving 3x30

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Triceps/Biceps/Abs
BB Curl 5x5
DB Incline Curl 2x8-10

Close Grip Bench 5x5
Tricep Pushdown 2x8-10

20 min HIIT

Day 5: Chest/Abs
DB Flat Bench 5x5
Hammer Strength Incline Press 2x8-10
Standing Cable Fly 2x8-10

Hanging Leg Raises 3x15
Weighted Crunches 3x15
Weighted Oblique Crunches 3x15/side
Bicycle Upper Body Moving 3x30

30 min Stairmaster

 

[Serea]

Back/Shoulders is much better than Chest/Shoulders, imho. The anterior delt gets too fried with chest/shoulders.

Good luck on your routine, dude. :thumbsup:

 

[lucidblue]

I've had a full week of the revised 5x5. I really like this workout... a bit concerned about chest after tricep day though. My shoulder was starting to ache a bit. We'll see.

Also, I've added skullcrushers to my tricep workout. I could really feel my triceps after doing those!

 

[CobraUTAH]

Lucid your revised plan looks way better, and not just because it resembles my split. I tried the chest tri's and back bi's split myself at first but you find out real quick that when your doing 5x5 you want to avoid using the same major groups twice in a workout. I keep chest and tri's seperate and back and bi's seperate. This allows for maximum effort in each area. When I did tri's after chest I didn't have enough left for full effort but putting tri's with bi's and super setting the routine it's perfect.

The second part of my reply is aimed at needsize. He asked you where your deads were and I'm wondering in my own post that is specifically asking this question where can I add them in. I can't figure out where to put them without dropping something or running the risk of over training. So needsize please check my post and reply. I truly appreciate the 5x5 and need some help.

 

[shwaym]

do not do cardio right after or before weight training. youll be taking the nutrients your body needs to build muscle/recuperate and using it for cardio energy which makes no sense.
plus how long does it take you to do the weight routine? if that takes about an hour + 20-30 minutes of cardio thats way too long without a protein shake.

heres what i do: weights 2 hours after meal 1 for a lttle less than 1 hour.
cardio (if i do it at all) is at least 4 hours and 2 meals later.


the other minor thing is that id switch back to bentover BB rows 5X5. close underhand rows 2x8-10. and lat pulldowns 2x8-10.

are replace bb rows w deadlifts and eliminate pulldowns altogether

 

[lucidblue]

Ok switching some more around. On back day instead of lat pulldowns as my 5x5, I'm switching to BB rows.

 

[PolishHammer1977]

What does your rotator cuff rehab entail?

 

[lucidblue]

What does your rotator cuff rehab entail?

I had been doing more, but I'm down to just external rotations. I probably should continue the rest of the exercises (I injured my shoulder the first time in high school. I've been doing the thera-band exercises I was given them with light DBs or cables).

 

[PolishHammer1977]

Read This

http://www.dolfzine.com/page391.htm

 

[FatRat]

I didnt notice that you had Tris the day before Chest, personaly I would never do that, is that how you still have it?

 

[lucidblue]

Read This

http://www.dolfzine.com/page391.htm

This is a great article. I will definitely incorporate some of the exercises into my routine. Next time I'm need a long break from a regular workout, I may incorporate his entire one month plan.