my 5x5 cycle

[Gunghobro]

Well everyone I just completed my first week of the 5x5 routine. Here is what I did for the week.

Day 1
arms (weight on each side of bar)
close grip bench
barx10, 115x10, 185x5 for 5 sets

standing barbell curls
barx10, (10)x10, (20)x5 for 5 sets

overhead extensions db's
30x10, 30x10

incline db curls
30x10, 30x10

skull crushers w/ ez curl
(25)x10, (25)x10

preacher curls w/ez curl
(25)x10, (25)x10

Day 2
chest/calves
flat bench
barx10, 95x10, 135x10, 225x5 for 5 sets

decline flyes
35x10, 35x10

db pullovers
70x10, 70x10

standing calves
135x10, 225x10, 315x15 for 5 sets

Day3
off

Day4
legs
squats
135x10, 225x10, 365x5 for 5 sets

leg extensions
190x10, 190x10

leg curls
130x10, 130x10

stiff leg dead lifts
barx10, 225x10, 225x10

seated calves
135x15, 135x15

Day5
back/shoulders
deadlifts
135x10, 225x8, 320x5 for 5 sets

db rows
70x10, 70x10

reverse grip p/d's
155x10, 155x10

db press
25x10, 35x8, 55x5 for 5 sets

reverse barbell shrugs
135x10, 135 x10

days 6/7
off

I have to say that the db presses by far was the most exhausting workout for me. I felt a great pump on my arm workout by super setting bi/tri sets. I am thinking of switching my flat bench routine to incline bench next week. I am 28, 6'3" and weight 245lbs. I tried needsize's routine for abs on Day 1/4.

Give me some feedback please or some suggestions.

 

[pullinbig]

biggest flaw i see in this routine is that you doin stiff legs and legs on d4 then deads and back on day 5. you need at least three days between these movements. you will eventually overtrain or get injured. 5x5 is an effective training cycle but you have to spread the movements out so that you are recouped before hitting a similar body part again. you could drop the arm day and incorporate those movemnts on the back and chest day, move legs to monday, back on thursday then you be alright. just my .02, good luck

 

[Gunghobro]

Thanks for the reply. How does the exercises look for each bodypart?

 

[pullinbig]

I would do legs on monday. just pressing movements ie squats, leg prsses, hacks, box squats. include calves this day.

tuesday chest, shoulders and tris

thursday deads and back work with bis.

as long as you are doing the heavy core movements first in the routine the other exercises arent that important. what ever works best for you. I can tell you this, after pulling deads and doin heavy back work you will not need all those bi exercises, 1 or 2 at best if that. good luck.

 

[pullinbig]

read the "do deadlifts thicken waste" thread as well. there is some good stuff in there that may help you.

 

[Gunghobro]

Pullinbig,

I switched up the routine last week and did legs on monday, chest/shoulders/tri's on wednesday, and back/bi's on Friday. However, the chest/shoulder/tri workout was very exhausting and tuff. Especially for hitting the shoulders after chest. Any suggestions? My back/bi workout went ok, but I didnt get the same type of pump in my arms as I did when I did both tri/bi's on the same day.

 

[pullinbig]

just cause you are getting a pump dont mean you are getting the most out of your workout. as soon as you leave the gym so does your pump. quit worrying about your pump and just train heavy.

drop some of the shoulder movements. you only need 1 or 2 at most and dont do rear delts on shoulder day. they get spanked on back day. heavy back work fatigues your bis. this means they are getting pounded. dont use straps either. i dont do bis or tris at all.

a pump is over rated. it just means your muscle if full of blood and nothing else. you can pose and do that.

good luck

 

[Gunghobro]

Got it....Do you see a problem starting off with my shoulder workout first and then hit my chest followed by tri's? I am going to just do dumbbell presses for my shoulder exercise. The problem in the past was that I couldnt go heavy on db presses for 5x5 because I would start to feel a little drained from my previous chest workout. I am doing incline bench for 5x5 and 2 sets of 8-10 decline flyes for my chest routine, and sometimes I throw in 2 sets of 8-10 dumbbell pullover. Suggestions?

 

[pullinbig]

do chest first as this is a mass builder for chest, delts and tris. you should be doing some flat wide grip benching (index fingers on the rings) first. then incline if you wish and weighted dips. forget the pull overs and flies if you wanna put on mass. pull overs hit more lats than pecs anyway. try just upright rows for shoulders and then do some cable push downs for tris, they done been spanked anyway. you will get results with this and not overtrtain if you dont go crazy with reps and sets.

 

[needsize]

heres the split that I've been using for years
day 1 chest/calves
day 2 back/shoulders
day 3 rest
day 4 bis/tris/calves
day 5 quads/hams/abs
day 6 rest
day 7 back to chest/calves

A lot of people dont like doing shoulders the day after chest, but its always worked for me. And putting back and shoulders together is more efficient as you cant train one without the other anyway

 

[pullinbig]

heres the split that I've been using for years
day 1 chest/calves
day 2 back/shoulders
day 3 rest
day 4 bis/tris/calves
day 5 quads/hams/abs
day 6 rest
day 7 back to chest/calves

A lot of people dont like doing shoulders the day after chest, but its always worked for me. And putting back and shoulders together is more efficient as you cant train one without the other anyway

nothing wrong with that if your shoulders recoup. i quit doin direct shoulder work a couple of years ago because of constant pain. anterior and medial gets hit on bench day and posterior gets hammerd on back day. thats why i dropped them. i also dont do direct bi or tri work as they get hit in the compound movments.

 

[Gunghobro]

thanks for the feedbackguys.