is this 5x5 shitty?

laxmel2

I'm kind of a big deal...
My training has been pretty irregular for some time, I have seen some good gains but it is hard for me to stay consistent. So im going to try this, let me know what you think of this fixed format routine I made up. I tried to focus on one main lift a day for the 5x5 and then 3-4 more lifts per muscle. How’s my split, is there a more effective way to do this. Any one have any better ideas. Im totally lost and just need a consistent workout for a few months.
Monday Back/Bis
Back- lat pull down 5x5
Cable row 3x8
Pull ups 3x failure
Bis- EZ bar preacher curl 5x5
DB hammer curls 3x8
Cable curls 3x8
Overhand straight bar curls 3x8
Tuesday- cardio
Wednesday Chest/tris
Chest- Flat bench 5x5
Incline flys 3x8
Incline machine 3x8
Decline machine 3x8
Tris- skull crushers 5x5
Rope pulldown 3x8
Dips 3x15
Thursday- cardio
Friday shoulders/Legs
shoulders- military press 5x5
Front raise 3x8
DB military press 3x8
Shrugs 3x15
Legs- Squat 5x5
Leg press 3x8
Quad extension 3x8
Ham curl 3x8
 
I am assuming that you have read NeedSize's 5x5 thread?

http://www.steroidology.com/forum/showthread.php?t=661

1. How long have you been training for? What is your age?

2. I would definitely cut down on the number of sets that you are doing, especially for some of the muscle groups you have listed there. For example, 14 sets for biceps is WAY too many. I would choose one exercise to complete the 5x5 for and then 2 for larger muscle groups and one other for smaller muscle groups like biceps, etc.

3. I would definitely train legs before shoulders on your third day. Hit your quads and hamstrings while you are at your strongest. As well, I would do a bit more work for hamstrings. Something like stiff legged deadlifts would be good.

4. Beyond that, it looks good. Try it out for a few weeks and see how you react to it. Then you can make adjustments as necessary.
 
20 yrs old training since junior year of high school. lifting seriousley for like 6 months.

can you explain( "I would choose one exercise to complete the 5x5 for and then 2 for larger muscle groups and one other for smaller muscle groups like biceps, etc.")
 
For example, for your bicep workout:

Bis- EZ bar preacher curl 5x5
DB hammer curls 3x8

That's all I would do. No need for so many sets, as you had listed. You'll end up overtraining the muscle and stalling your growth.
 
one more question, for a monday back/bi workout for example, would it be better to do all my bi's then all my back. or do one back one bi one back ect.
 
I would do the back exercises first. The back is a bigger muscle group obviously so the exercises are more strenuous, so you're best doing them first when you're fresh and have full energy. Another reason for doing back first is that all back exercises utilise the biceps, so you are warming up the biceps ready for their exercises. You won't need to do seperate biceps warm up exercises.
 
GTC said:
I would do the back exercises first. The back is a bigger muscle group obviously so the exercises are more strenuous, so you're best doing them first when you're fresh and have full energy. Another reason for doing back first is that all back exercises utilise the biceps, so you are warming up the biceps ready for their exercises. You won't need to do seperate biceps warm up exercises.
if you ask me, after heavy lat work i'd probably do just 3x8 of BB curls because the bicep is not merely warmed up but very heavily loaded during the lat exercises.
laxmel, i think the point of 5x5 is for bigger compound lifts - for instance squats, various BB bench presses, overhead presses, deads, rows, power cleans/olympic cleans
IMO for arms, your better off going easy like i described because these are very small muscles and can't handle the same 5x5 kind of load that the bigger muscles -pecs, delts,quads, hammies etc can handle. plus, they have already been worked heavily during heavy compound lifts.
what NS does mention however is that you attempt to make weekly progress on your 5x5 lifts. that should suggest is that arms are not to be done in this way directly because it's very difficult to make increments for 5x5 consistently on arms.
for tri's, may i suggest close grip bench press as a very good exercise.
PS: i've been over on elitefitness alot and i've always wondered about why NS hasn't been more specific in defining whether or not he recommends 5x5 for arms too. plus he doesn't specify how many times per week he'd work each body part. NS, bro, can you clarify those points please :)
 
slivershadow, im doing chest and tris on the same day. if i hit my bench hard, doing close girp bench is gona be rough, do i just suck it up, or make the split diffrent
 
laxmel2 said:
slivershadow, im doing chest and tris on the same day. if i hit my bench hard, doing close girp bench is gona be rough, do i just suck it up, or make the split diffrent
go heavy on chest and do backoff assistance sets of CGBP. your tri's will already be maxed out on the wider grip pressing (done HEAVY of course) and won't require/be able to handle much more load in any case. something like 3x8, not to failure - at a weight that is medium to heavy. i know each person is different, but as anecdotal evidence (for whatever it's worth): i had got back to the gym last sept after alot of weightloss because of various reasons (230 to 175 and then a fat 190 at 18% bf in sept). my arms were down to 15". today, i measured them cold and they were 17" (left was a tad under)... weight is up to 225 (at around 14% bf)
 
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