My thoughts on the 5x5 after 4 weeks

[SDHW]

Hey bros,

I have run the 5x5 for 4 weeks now, and i thought I would share my thoughts on it.

At first glance I thought it was going to be an easy program, and to tell you the truth I thought i was a little advanced for it. Well...This program will burst your bubble quick..lol. I was worried about all the time off from the gym, and let me tell you... I need that time off.

I have really done 5 weeks of this program, but the first week was more of trying to get a feel for it, and adjust my weights. the first real week. I wasnt sure I was going to like it as much, due to the fact that I didnt get a pump after lifting, and i felt like I wasnt even working out.

I found out quick that my lift numbers pretty much suck, and I have a lot of areas to work on. I dont have as much strength as I thought, although Im coming off of a knee injures I guess you need to start somewhere. Basically all the sets I did before are now my warm up sets for the 5x5 working sets. tell me that doesnt kick your ass..lol.

Here are some issues I have been having.

First, with all the squatting, my knees have been hurting me, feels like tendonitis, I have had it before, due to football. I know people will yell at me for making substitution in the program, I substituted box squats at parallel for the reg squats. I want to make sure im not driving my knees way over my toes, and I want to make sure i have good form on my squat. The knees have been really killing me. Any suggestion on this would be great, im not sure if I should work on some quad strengths or ham strength.

Second, my low back, I have been getting some serous pumps/pain in my low back after squatting. To the point where just standing makes it hurt. Im sure this is a weakness being exposed. Im not sure if I should hit up some extra work on Rev hypers or just let it go. It really effects my Wednesdays workout when I have to do deadlift right after. Its a struggle to get through them.

Third. My grip strength sucks, I have trouble with deads due to this. Im not sure if I should use straps, and work on grip stuff, or if I should go with out straps and let my deads take the hit, in order to get more grip strength up?

I did have to take a de-load week this weeks. I wasn’t planning on it. but I thought that with the knees and low back, I dont want to push it too much. so I did a 3x3 on Monday/and Wednesdays workout.

Over all I am really loving the program, its got me squatting and dl again. The weight is really starting to move up quickly, im sure it wont stay like this, but im going to enjoy the time that is does. Im not planning on a de-load week any time soon, im going to try to run the program and increase weight each week if possible. If my body tells me to take a break I will. My next step when knees start feeling better, is to hit up some cardio on the off days.

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks in advance for any tips and help

 

[ZGzaZ]

I'm sorry to hear about your knees, I know how frustrating that can be, as squats are one of the most important aspects of the program. I say if you absolutely cannot do them, then substitution is all you can do to continue the program, so your choice is much better than just saying "I'm not doing any squatting movement at all." It will somewhat hinder your results, but not as much as cutting them out altogether.

The increase in strength on the program is great for me so far also, my bench is up 50lbs in 4 1/2 weeks, as well as my squat up 70lbs, although my numbers were incredibly low to start. I hope you stick with it, and ride it until it stops helping you increase. Best of luck to you bro, keep us updated.

 

[45lbBar]

Excellent post bro, I had/have some of the same issues as you do. I also thought this was going to be an easy program, but that is certainly not the case. I had pain in one knee after I started the program, but that went away when I started squatting below parallel and transfering the weight more to my hips. So that may help with your knees. The lower back problem is one I'm still having problems with. Its a combination of a severe pump and pain. I would have trouble loading and unloading the bar for deadlifts. If any of you bro's have a remedy for pain in the lower back, post em up.

 

[Lifting N Tx]

About the knees, what ZGzaZ and 45lbbar said.

I have one knee that occasionally causes problems--it can be from sprinting or weights. Doing ATG squats seems to be best for me. As someone once said, if you're not doing ATG then you're using your knees for brakes and they'll wear out eventually. If you are doing ATG, maybe play with how much you're turning the toes out, width of feet, etc.

I'm doing more Olympic style than PL style and don't feel it a lot in my back, but my back is stronger than my legs. Sorry, don't have a lot to suggest about the back issue unless you're leaning too far forward and maybe can put the bar higher on the traps instead of low on the back.

 

[Tweakle]

very frequent training causes me to have bad, bad tendonitis. And if your joints hurt, you can't lift, so maybe look to sub some exercises that don't irritate the knees... boxes are excellent, try varying the box height, 10-12-14" and alternate the pause with a light tap.

all that squatting might tear up your elbows too if you're a close grip-squatter

 

[SDHW]

Today was a great workout, my knees felt better, not totally pain free, but much less than it has been, although my damn low back was really bad today, im not leaning forward, and I drive my neck/trap into the bar on the way up, so I dont lean forward when going up. The pump/pain was so bad I had to cut back my 5x5 squat by 20lbs, just to finish, and I had to wait like 5+mins between sets. at one point I had to lay down on the bench..
other than that, my bench and row was good.

 

[SDHW]

bump

 

[blut wump]

Ensure that you stretch out your hamstrings after every workout. It can help to take tension away from the lower back. Aside from that, I think you just have to work to strengthen the area. I often suffer similarly and find that throwing in a few sessions of Good Mornings usually helps.

I also stretch my back out over the back of a chair until I feel an adjustment. I'm not sure that I'd really recommend this, though, since you might do more harm than good. Your lower back discomfort could be a sign that you need to go and visit a chiropractor.

Regarding deadlifts, grip and straps. Use the straps if you need to but I'd suggest avoiding them for as many sets as feasible. Don't lose part of the workout due to weak grip but make an effort to improve it. Try to use a double-overhand grip more. I found that it helped.

 

[SDHW]

Ensure that you stretch out your hamstrings after every workout. It can help to take tension away from the lower back. Aside from that, I think you just have to work to strengthen the area. I often suffer similarly and find that throwing in a few sessions of Good Mornings usually helps.

I also stretch my back out over the back of a chair until I feel an adjustment. I'm not sure that I'd really recommend this, though, since you might do more harm than good. Your lower back discomfort could be a sign that you need to go and visit a chiropractor.

Regarding deadlifts, grip and straps. Use the straps if you need to but I'd suggest avoiding them for as many sets as feasible. Don't lose part of the workout due to weak grip but make an effort to improve it. Try to use a double-overhand grip more. I found that it helped.

Thanks for the tips. Im also going to try using a belt on some of my last sets of squats, and see if that will help. I also use the double over hand grip, and will force myself to go as long as i can without straps.

 

[Lifting N Tx]

In thinking about the other issues I forgot to reply to the grip issue. I have one myself, in that my left hand has a couple of fingers that were injured years ago, that cause problems for my grip.

I've been doing exactly as blut wump suggests. Also, I will take a time when I do heavy shrugs or power shrugs to also work my grip. I do a set of shrugs with straps, then let go the straps and do a static hold a few inches above the pins in my power cage for 15-20 seconds. If the bar starts to slip I can quickly set it on the pins and not be ruining a set. So basically I superset the shrugs with static holds, getting grip work done without adding a lot of extra time to my workout.