Need Help with New Strength Routine

[Elementality]

I've been doing a 5x5 type of workout and I have been cycling it with another workout which I will list below. I have hit some plateaus and I'm hoping you guys can help me tweak my program to get out of some of these walls.

Current program, 3 day split

A: Chest/Shoulders/Tri's
5x5 Flat Bench
3x10, 1x5 Sitting down overhead press
3x10 Lateral raises
2x10 cable pulls for chest <light weight but squeezing and holding the muscle contraction>
<for triceps if i haven't been surfing a lot which kills my tri's, I'll do some pull downs or dips>

B: Legs
5x5 Deep Squat
3x10 Leg extensions
3x10 Ham extensions
4x5 Leg press <either horizontal or decline>

C: Back/Bi's
3x10 Pull ups with body weight <pull up to chest, fall down to arms stretched out>
1x12, 2x8, 3x5 Barbell rows
5x5 Deadlift from the floor
2x5 Cable seated Row
Finish off with 1 set of pull ups till failure

Looking for solid strength gains vs mass.

 

[desmond]

My only comment is that for strength routine,

(1) it seems odd to include 2 strength shoulder and 1 chest.

Replace lateral raise with dips or close grip bench press possibly?

(2) I wonder whether you could consider more strength leg exercises. I wouldn't associate leg extension/ham curls with such a routine, although yes for leg press/back squat.

Quad dominant exercises with more of strength element: quad sweep squats, front squats, even perhaps hack squats or static lunges
Ham/glute dominant exercises with more of strength element: SLDL, GHR, sumo deadlift, RDL

 

[NJL52]

Sigh............did you even read about the 5x5 at all?

It says, in a very explicit way, don't fuck with the 5x5, don't think about what would be better, don't do anything else. Yet you add in your own routine and ask how else it should be changed.

Go back and read the page in the sticky.

 

[SaiBoT]

I've been doing a 5x5 type of workout and I have been cycling it with another workout which I will list below. I have hit some plateaus and I'm hoping you guys can help me tweak my program to get out of some of these walls.

Current program, 3 day split

A: Chest/Shoulders/Tri's
5x5 Flat Bench
3x10, 1x5 Sitting down overhead press
3x10 Lateral raises
2x10 cable pulls for chest <light weight but squeezing and holding the muscle contraction>
<for triceps if i haven't been surfing a lot which kills my tri's, I'll do some pull downs or dips>

B: Legs
5x5 Deep Squat
3x10 Leg extensions
3x10 Ham extensions
4x5 Leg press <either horizontal or decline>

C: Back/Bi's
3x10 Pull ups with body weight <pull up to chest, fall down to arms stretched out>
1x12, 2x8, 3x5 Barbell rows
5x5 Deadlift from the floor
2x5 Cable seated Row
Finish off with 1 set of pull ups till failure

Looking for solid strength gains vs mass.

Define cycling!

 

[Elementality]

Ive done the 5x5 for over a year man I'm just trying to change things up, its boring to do the same thing all the time and it wasn't making me any stronger after a certain point.

Cycling i mean i kinda do 4 weeks one thing then switch to another.

I think I found my solution in another post though, thanks for the help anyways.

 

[b fold the truth]

You change your program to make it better for YOU. Never do something in your program unless you know WHY you are doing it. It should have a purpose.

I see wayyyy too much PLANNED stuff in there for a strength athlete. Anything where you PLAN every time to do X sets of 10 doesn't leave in for the times when you are sick, tired, or getting used to the exercises that you are doing. Anything that says 5x5, 3x10, 2 x 20, 4 x 8, etc...is lacking something GRAND in their training plans. After I leave the hospital tomorrow I plan to go to the gym and do bench press and board presses INTENSELY. I plan to go heavy and try to set 1-3 rep PR's if I feel strong and I'll do drop sets if I don't.

Where is your training that focuses on your weak points in your lifts? I don't see anything!

You want to squat, bench, OHP, and Deadlift big numbers...you need strong abs, core, triceps, and hamstrings. Never go to the platform without them and never leave the gym without training them the RIGHT ways!

 

[DaveTSI]

You change your program to make it better for YOU. Never do something in your program unless you know WHY you are doing it. It should have a purpose.

I see wayyyy too much PLANNED stuff in there for a strength athlete. Anything where you PLAN every time to do X sets of 10 doesn't leave in for the times when you are sick, tired, or getting used to the exercises that you are doing. Anything that says 5x5, 3x10, 2 x 20, 4 x 8, etc...is lacking something GRAND in their training plans. After I leave the hospital tomorrow I plan to go to the gym and do bench press and board presses INTENSELY. I plan to go heavy and try to set 1-3 rep PR's if I feel strong and I'll do drop sets if I don't.

Where is your training that focuses on your weak points in your lifts? I don't see anything!

You want to squat, bench, OHP, and Deadlift big numbers...you need strong abs, core, triceps, and hamstrings. Never go to the platform without them and never leave the gym without training them the RIGHT ways!

+1 great post bro

train your weaknesses, find them and target them, you are only as strong as your weakest link.

 

[DaveTSI]

my comments in red bro

A: Chest/Shoulders/Tri's
5x5 Flat Bench
3x10, 1x5 Sitting down overhead press when you are training for strength you should look to hammer your core whenever you get a chance, a solid core will make you stronger in every lift, do these standing with NO BELT
3x10 Lateral raises these nest two exercises dont really serve any purpose in strength training at all, you should change these exercises to hit something on your body that is a weakness
2x10 cable pulls for chest <light weight but squeezing and holding the muscle contraction>
<for triceps if i haven't been surfing a lot which kills my tri's, I'll do some pull downs or dips>

B: Legs I would add ab/core work this day(reverse hypers/incline situps/farmers walk). leg extensions are horrible for your knees, but if they dont bother you thats fine. Ham curls are ok, i would rather do straight leg deads or goodmornings though
5x5 Deep Squat
3x10 Leg extensions
3x10 Ham extensions
4x5 Leg press <either horizontal or decline>

C: Back/Bi's again, add ab/core work. To avoid overtraining your core i would do your days B,A, then C. You should be deadlifting first, thats the biggest compound movement of the workout, you need to be fresh.
3x10 Pull ups with body weight <pull up to chest, fall down to arms stretched out>
1x12, 2x8, 3x5 Barbell rows
5x5 Deadlift from the floor
2x5 Cable seated Row
Finish off with 1 set of pull ups till failure

Looking for solid strength gains vs mass.