5x5 routine

[crispybacon]

Is it ok to do a 5x5 routine doing 5 on 2 off? And could anyone recommend a particular routine, soon to start bulking cycle.

[arenawarrior]

5 rep with 5 sets? 5 days on and 2 days off?

Is that your question?

From what i hear.. 5 on 2 off is good. thats what i do at the moment

My reps.. are usually 4 sets of 14, 12,10,8 reps. for smaller groups...

For bigger muscle groups.. IE: Bench, squad, cleans, I do 10 reps 10 sets. ( usually by the 8 set.. i start failing but i push on)

[abbot138]

5x5 is good stuff....whatever on and off schedule is least taxing on your CNS will work fine, I like 2 on, 1 off. You really sholdnt lift more than 3 straight days, but if your schedule doesnt allow this, then you gotta do what you gotta do....If you are gonna do 5 on 2 off, make sure you seperate legs and back by at least a couple days i.e.- Legs-mon, Back- Thu....actaully now that im saying it I would need to see your actaul split to see if your allowing other muscles to recover properly (not hitting delts day before or after chest, not hitting tri's day before or after chest, etc....) As far as 5x5 goes there is a pretty decent sticky posted by Pinnacle at the top of this page that covers a ton of non-traditional training methods, 5x5 is covered in this post.

[crispybacon]

Thats what I was looking for advice on really what is the best way to break down muscle groups for this type of a routine, sorry badly phrased question first time! Doing a test/dbol/deca cycle do you think 5 on 2 off is to much maybe cut it down to 4 on 3 off doing cardio on the the 3 off??

[catdog]

I beleive he said 2 on and 1 off

[abbot138]

Thats what I was looking for advice on really what is the best way to break down muscle groups for this type of a routine, sorry badly phrased question first time! Doing a test/dbol/deca cycle do you think 5 on 2 off is to much maybe cut it down to 4 on 3 off doing cardio on the the 3 off??

Again, I would need to see your split....Here is my 5x5 split, a lot of diff ways to do it, did you check out that thread?

Mon- Legs/Calves, abs
Tues- Delts, Tris
Wed- Off
Thu- Back, Bis, Traps
Fri- Chest, Calves
Sat- Off
Sun- repeat........

[BITTAPART2]

5x5 is a staple for me putting on size. I usually go EOD in a split like this
Chest/Tri/Delts
5x5 incline dumbell bench press
3x12 pec dec
5x5 arnold press
3x12 side laterals/front laterals all one movement front then side =1 rep
5x5 close grip bench press
2x20 cable pressdowns

Back/Bis
5x5 weighted pullups
3x12 lat pulldowns
5x5 barbell curl
3x12 cable curls
5x5 deadlift
5x5 shrugs

legs
I never do 5x5 with legs because they dont respoind well to it for me, I may do 5 rep sets but ill do around 10 sets of 5 reps as opposed to 5 and with very little rest between sets. I always mix those high sets of 5 reps with 20rep burnouts
abs
never 5x5 either

[crispybacon]

Again, I would need to see your split....Here is my 5x5 split, a lot of diff ways to do it, did you check out that thread?

Mon- Legs/Calves, abs
Tues- Delts, Tris
Wed- Off
Thu- Back, Bis, Traps
Fri- Chest, Calves
Sat- Off
Sun- repeat........

Haven't done a 5x5 routine before, but yes have checked out the threads here on it and on another forum. Ive read conflicting opinions on the 5x5 routine some saying its more for strength and less for mass/size. Whats your break down of excercises per day, 5x5 for every one of them or incresing reps for some?

[abbot138]

A good 5x5 routine should mix aspects of strength and mass training. A typical chest day for me would look like this.

5x5 BB or DB Flat
3x8-10 Weighted Dips or Decline
3x8-10 Incline BB or DB
2x8-10 Cables or Pec Dec or Flat flye
2x8-10 Incline Fly

Some might call this overtraining, it works fine for me. 15-16 sets. never max out more than 2 sets per exercise, use drop sets on some exericises. Thats about it. The way I learned 5x5 is that each body part has one primary compound lift that should be the 5x5 portion of the workout and all auxillary lifts should be performed in the 8-10 rep range. As Bitta already stated smaller muscles like abs, calves, forearms can not be effectively trained in the 5x5 format. I use 5x15 for abs and calves and go heavy. Rest period is 2 mintues for the compound 5x5 lift and 1.5min for other lifts.

[crispybacon]

Cheers bro I get the idea now I think, I wil try and make up a routine and will post it back up here for critique!

[green22]

Ive used 5x5 with lots of success. Ive used it on every body. Ill use it as my first movement and always with a barbell. then I use higher rep movements after that. Example 5x5 on squats then 10-15 reps for what ever other movements for quads.
I think 5x5 is great for deads, chest and shoulder presses, Close grip benches, BB curls, squats, stiffs,ect................

[crispybacon]

Mon-Legs/calves, abs

Squats-5x5
Leg extensions(single)-3x8/10
Leg extensions-3x8/10
Leg curls-3x8/10
Barbell calf raise-3x15
Decline weighted crunches-5x15
Lying leg raise-5x15


Tues-Delts, Tris

BB shoulder press-5x5
BB row-3x8/10
DB lateral raise-3x8/10
Military press-3x8/10
Skull crusher-5x5
Close grip bench press-5x5


Thu- Back, Bis, Traps

Deadlift-5x5
Shrugs-3x8/10
BB upright row-3x8/10
BB curls-5x5
Chin ups-3x8/10
Close-grip EZ bar curl-3x8/10
Hammer curls-3x8/10
BB bent over row-5x5
One arm DB row-3x8/10

Fri-Chest, calves

BB Flat bench press-5x5
DB Decline bench press-3x8-10
Incline BB bench press-3x8-10
Flat flye-2x8-10
Incline Fly-2x8-10
Calves same as mon

[crispybacon]

bump

[abbot138]

Move deads to back day, squats should be a 5x5 exercise.....Look at Green's post, those should be your 5x5 exercises.

[crispybacon]

check post, revised

[abbot138]

Much better, your getting closer....You only need one 5x5 exercise per body part. Also you dont need 2 press exercises for delts, throw in some rear delt work instead of doing the second press exercise. On tri day, do CG as 5x5 and then hit skulls(or weighted dips) for 3x10 and then do 2x10 on 2 other exercises.

[Jfew44]

Haven't done a 5x5 routine before, but yes have checked out the threads here on it and on another forum. Ive read conflicting opinions on the 5x5 routine some saying its more for strength and less for mass/size. Whats your break down of excercises per day, 5x5 for every one of them or incresing reps for some?

It depends on how your body responds. Any good routine you haven't done before will help you build size and strength. I incorporate a 5x5 routine for several weeks a couple times a year. My strength goes up, and when I start lifting for higher reps, my muscles grow from lifting more weight.

Try it out for a month and switch to a higher rep routine. You will be impressed.

[abbot138]

It depends on how your body responds. Any good routine you haven't done before will help you build size and strength. I incorporate a 5x5 routine for several weeks a couple times a year. My strength goes up, and when I start lifting for higher reps, my muscles grow from lifting more weight.

Try it out for a month and switch to a higher rep routine. You will be impressed.

Well said!

[crispybacon]

Mon-Legs/calves, abs

Squats-5x5
Leg extensions-3x8/10
Leg extensions(single)-2x10
Leg curls-3x8/10
Barbell calf raise-3x15
Decline weighted crunches-5x15
Lying leg raise-5x15


Tues-Delts, Tris

BB shoulder press-5x5
BB row-3x8/10
DB lateral raise-2x10
DB front raise-2x10
Close grip bench press-5x5
Skull crusher-3x8/10
Overhead barbell extension-2x10

Thu- Back, Bis, Traps

Deadlift-5x5
Shrugs-3x8/10
BB upright row-3x8/10
BB bent over row-5x5
One arm DB bent over row-3x8/10
Chin ups-2x15
BB curls-5x5
Close-grip EZ bar curl-3x8/10
Hammer curls-2x10
Concentration curls-2x10

Fri-Chest, calves

BB Flat bench press-5x5
DB Decline bench press-3x8-10
Incline BB bench press-3x8-10
Flat flye-2x10
Incline Fly-2x10
Calves same as mon

Now think thats it!! And Jfew44 you reckon do this for say 6-7 wks then change up to higher reps keeping the same excercises?

[abbot138]

Close bro, lol....I said rear delts, not front delts, front raises work front delts, which is already getting hit in your presses, not too mention on chest day....Do some bent over laterl raises, bent over cable raises, reverse fly....and upright row is primarily a delt/rhombi/traps workout, dont do it on back day, Deads and BB shrugs are enough for your traps, plus your back day is already loaded as is.....Other than that looks pretty solid....You dont have to put a def time period on how long you use this. The point was that you should always keep changing it up to shock your muscles, 5x5 is a great way to not only increase strength on your core lifts but also to shock your muscles by overloading them with heavy weight. Just be sure to increase the weight SLOWLY, in 5 or 10 lb incremments and dont increase weights until you have succeeded a 5x5 set for a given lift. After you start to plateau in strength gains switch over to the standard mass gaining rep scheme....A great body buidling quote and one of my favs, "Everything works, but nothing works forever."

[crispybacon]

Cool would you mind re-doing that last post with the routine and then we shall be done, thanks for the help much appreciated hopefully I will have something to contribute someday!!

[abbot138]

Mon-Legs/calves, abs

Squats-5x5
Stiff-leg deads 3x10
Leg extensions-3x8/10
Leg extensions(single)-2x10
Leg curls-3x8/10
Barbell calf raise-3x15
Decline weighted crunches-5x15
Lying leg raise-5x15


Tues-Delts, Tris

BB shoulder press-5x5
BB row-3x8/10
DB lateral raise-2x10
Bent over lateral raise-3x10
Close grip bench press-5x5
Skull crusher-3x8/10
Overhead barbell extension-2x10

Thu- Back, Bis, Traps

Deadlift-5x5
Shrugs-3x8/10
BB bent over row-3x8-10
One arm DB bent over row-3x8/10
Chin ups-2x15
Pull ups 2xfailure
BB curls-5x5
Close-grip EZ bar curl-3x8/10
Hammer curls-2x10
Concentration curls-2x10

Fri-Chest, calves

BB Flat bench press-5x5
DB Decline bench press-3x8-10
Incline BB bench press-3x8-10
Flat flye-2x10
Incline Fly-2x10
Calves same as mon

Now think thats it!! And Jfew44 you reckon do this for say 6-7 wks then change up to higher reps keeping the same excercises?

You will, everyone has to start somewhere, NO ONE started out already knowing everything. Bolded my changes, threw some stiff leg deads in on leg day, if youve never done them, check it out on youtube and make sure you go light, go slow, and get your form correct. they give a great burn and stretch to your hamstrings. and i threw some pullups in with your chin ups, great way to finish back, they are a must for width...Good luck homey.

[crispybacon]

Cheers bro, il try and get some pics up after cycle.

[crispybacon]

And actually one more question while im here is it ok to do cardio on the days off or should I rest completely?

[AdamGH]

And actually one more question while im here is it ok to do cardio on the days off or should I rest completely?

yes, you can do cardio on your days off.

[crispybacon]

Cool, cheers

[crispybacon]

abbot138 im back for some more advice!! Have been doing this routine for just over 6 wks and am looking to change it up a bit, have got excellent strength gains so far! any suggestions?

[abbot138]

Yup, now that you have your strength up use it to build mass with a more traditional method.....Something I like to do when in a growth phrase is alternate "heavy" and "light" every week. One week my rep scheme for most exerices will be 3 sets of 6 and then 1 set of say 15 or so (kind of like a burnout set). During this week I make sure to incorporate all of the heavier compound lifts, an example for heavy chest week would be:
BB flat- (6,6,6,15)
BB Incline- (6,6,6,15)
Weighted Wide Grip Chest Dips- (6,6,6) last set supersetted with Bodyweight dips
Incline Flyes- (8,8)
Flat Flyes- (8,8)

Then on the "light" week I would do just 4 sets of 12 reps. Typical chest workout would look like:
DB Incline- (12,12,12,12)
DB Flat- (12,12,12,12)
DB Decline- (12,12,12)
Cables side pecs(High to low, like a most-muscular pose)- (12,12)
Pec Dec- (12,12)

This assures that you never do the same rountine 2 weeks in a row. Of course as always, dont take all sets to failure, and play around with the order of the exercises from week to week to keep your muscles guessing. Play around with that and see what you can come up with.

[crispybacon]

Cool nice one your a legend!

[crispybacon]

Attached is heavy and light week routine

[abbot138]

Attached is heavy and light week routine

Perfect!

[crispybacon]

Im learning