need to modify my 5x5 - any suggestions?

[Buddy_Christ]

i don't feel that the regular 5x5 just is enough for me. 4 weeks on it now and i'm not seeing any growth my diet is decent. i could clean it up a bit more, but i'm trying to bulk, so i'm eating lots of protein and double that in carbs. i'm eating a lot more than i was a few months ago, so you'd expect that i'd see some better gains, right? well, since the eating is all towards bulk and i'm not growing like i was on a low carb diet, i now have to look at the routine. my last routine was a bit more intense than 5x5 is. i was lifting 5 days a week and hitting every body part twice a week, except every 3rd week a body part would only get hit once. my size gains were great (at least i think they were), and i made good strength gains too.

My partner likes 5x5, and i don't want to throw him off too much. what i'm thinking about doing is keeping the compound movements to their regular days, but adding more direct work on other days. something like this:

Monday
Flat Bench 5x5
Incline Bench 2x10
Flies 2x10
Calf Raises 2x15

add to it

Dips 2x10
Incline Curls 2x10
Skull Crushers 2x10
Preacher Curls 2x10


Tuesday
Seated OHP 5x5
Side Laterals 3x10
Deads 5x5
Pullups 2x8-10
Shrugs 2x10
Seated Rows 2x10

add to it

Hack Squats 2x10
Leg Curls 2x10
Seated Calf Raises 5x10


Wednesday REST


Thursday
Close Grip Bench 5x5
Standing BB Curls 5x5
Dips 2x10
Incline Curls 2x10
Skull Crushers 2x10
Preacher Curls 2x10

add to it

Incline Bench 2x10
Flies 2x10
Calf Raises 2x15


Friday
Squats 5x5
Hack Squats 2x10
Stiff Leg Deads 2x10
Leg Curls 2x10
Seated Calf Raises 5x10

add to it

pullups 2x8-10
Shrugs 2x10
Seated Rows 2x10

Saturday & Sunday REST

i know some people are going to consider this overtraining while others are going to think it's fine. i can handle this much work though. if i can't, i'll back it off as necessary. i'm trying to be patient with the routine, but my patience is wearing thin.

suggestions GREATLY appreciated for this routine. i'm going to give my partner the option of increasing the routine or not, although i have a feeling he'll join me on any changes i make. the only reason i think i'm sticking to the compound movements as 5x5s is because my partner is only in the gym with me 2 days a week, so doing things like heavy negatives and forced reps, well, i'd have to recruit other spotters and what not, and that just makes things difficult for me. i'm thinking i can continue to increase the load on the 5x5 movements every week almost like a "benchmark" to keep myself in check that i'm progressing. i dunno, i'm just trying to put something additional together here to further my growth in strength and size.

thanks for any suggestions or comments!

 

[B0ARDIN087]

have you been increasing the wieght weekly? if you have then ur clearly doing something right...... growth may not be noticed immediately... but if ur lifts are going up then chances are u will grow soon enough. 4 weeks isn't very long......

 

[Buddy_Christ]

yes, been increasing weight on almost all of my lifts as i feel i can. i can feel my strength increasing. every week so far i've gone up on almost all my lifts, not just the 5x5s.

i'm really considering trying to add some more exercises to the routine like i outlined above. i origonally thought about condensing my 5x5 into 2 days and doing it twice a week, but that wouldn't work out very well, as i know i'd be pushing overtraining real fast. i'm thinking it wouldn't to add the isolation movements like i outlined above though. never hurts to try, right?

forgot to add forearm work in what i outlined above. they'll get done though.

 

[B0ARDIN087]

i would give ur current routine a go for another 3-4 weeks. keep eating and see where ur strengh and growth goes. then evaluate ur plan.

 

[Dial_tone]

I'm 4-5 weeks and just getting to the point where the pumps are really good. This next month should be interesting. I changed my chest routine so Incline bench is my chest 5x5 instead of Flat...made a tremendous difference.