Modifying 5x5 for hypertrophy?

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Magnanimity

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I know that this forum isn't for bodybuilding, but I am looking to change things up a bit with my regular SL5x5 routine and people on this forum probably have alot more experience with it than most bodybuilders.

My goal is try a little volumework until I change to 5/3/1 or something similair, but I have no experience with this type of training. The reason I want to modify my 5x5 to something like 4x8 is that I still want to keep things simple. But would it work? And what about overtraining? Can I deload and then keep adding weight like on the usual SL5x5?

Am I better off doing this or just trying to find a good program for german volume training or something like that?
 
Magnanimity said:
I know that this forum isn't for bodybuilding, but I am looking to change things up a bit with my regular SL5x5 routine and people on this forum probably have alot more experience with it than most bodybuilders.

My goal is try a little volumework until I change to 5/3/1 or something similair, but I have no experience with this type of training. The reason I want to modify my 5x5 to something like 4x8 is that I still want to keep things simple. But would it work? And what about overtraining? Can I deload and then keep adding weight like on the usual SL5x5?

Am I better off doing this or just trying to find a good program for german volume training or something like that?
Click to expand...

i wouldnt change it.

if youre going for more looks include more assistance exercises or something, or

531 boring but big.
 
If you're looking to switch to 5/3/1 why not do that and use the Big But Boring template? I've heard good things.
 
What about adding BB curls and triceps pulldowns once a week to SL 5x5, although not adding weights every session to these two exercises? You think it would lead to over training or mess the SL 5x5 program?
 
Stick to the 5x5 program and eat more and you will get bigger.
 
Magnanimity said:
I know that this forum isn't for bodybuilding, but I am looking to change things up a bit with my regular SL5x5 routine and people on this forum probably have alot more experience with it than most bodybuilders.

My goal is try a little volumework until I change to 5/3/1 or something similair, but I have no experience with this type of training. The reason I want to modify my 5x5 to something like 4x8 is that I still want to keep things simple. But would it work? And what about overtraining? Can I deload and then keep adding weight like on the usual SL5x5?

Am I better off doing this or just trying to find a good program for german volume training or something like that?
Click to expand...

IMO, the thing with SL and SS is that you just want to put all your energy into them, keep adding weight until the programme, as written, crushes you into the floor, and then switch to another programme. If you focus, it won't last long anyway and you'll be getting the best strength gains you'll ever get. Your next programme can easily accommodate hypertrophy work- 5/3/1 can have it, Madcow has it as part of the official programme, Juggernaut has a high rep phase.
 
JauntyAngle said:
IMO, the thing with SL and SS is that you just want to put all your energy into them, keep adding weight until the programme, as written, crushes you into the floor, and then switch to another programme. If you focus, it won't last long anyway and you'll be getting the best strength gains you'll ever get. Your next programme can easily accommodate hypertrophy work- 5/3/1 can have it, Madcow has it as part of the official programme, Juggernaut has a high rep phase.
Click to expand...

Alot of good answers, but I'll focus on this one.

I have been starting to feel the pressure from SL5x5 now that the weights have been going up for 5 months. Deloading still works, but I have gotten rid of all the assistance work that I used to do since I was always feeling overtrained.

I'm not done with SL5x5 but thinking ahead. So I'll look into 5/3/1 with Big. In my experience it's always better to go with something that is tried and tested than experimenting on my own.

To be honest I have been thinking about volume work because of some recent insecurity. Got sick when I was abroad this fall and lost alot of weight, and even though I have gotten about twice as strong since then I haven't managed to even get that weight back. My back and shoulders also feel alot larger than my chest and stomach. Guess I need to eat alot more, even though I always try to get about 3000 Kcal into me every day. And the imbalances will even out as long as I stick to a balanced programme?
 
Last edited:
mauasci said:
What about adding BB curls and triceps pulldowns once a week to SL 5x5, although not adding weights every session to these two exercises? You think it would lead to over training or mess the SL 5x5 program?
Click to expand...

I guess that it could work, I have been using things like weighted chins for assitance and it feels a bit too much now. But my arms aren't really the problem, I feel like my back, lats and traps are much bigger than my chest. I'm also having trouble getting past 75kg as working weight on the bench. What if i tried SmolovJr for benchpress?

Going to the gym to do my regular routine now.
 
how come he didnt get yelled at and i did? i even got dubbed for it!
ill do it. THIS ISNT BB.COM
*insert bouncing boobs here*
 
Magnanimity said:
Alot of good answers, but I'll focus on this one.

I have been starting to feel the pressure from SL5x5 now that the weights have been going up for 5 months. Deloading still works, but I have gotten rid of all the assistance work that I used to do since I was always feeling overtrained.

I'm not done with SL5x5 but thinking ahead. So I'll look into 5/3/1 with Big. In my experience it's always better to go with something that is tried and tested than experimenting on my own.

To be honest I have been thinking about volume work because of some recent insecurity. Got sick when I was abroad this fall and lost alot of weight, and even though I have gotten about twice as strong since then I haven't managed to even get that weight back. My back and shoulders also feel alot larger than my chest and stomach. Guess I need to eat alot more, even though I always try to get about 3000 Kcal into me every day. And the imbalances will even out as long as I stick to a balanced programme?
Click to expand...

If you are having trouble gaining the weight back then you need to eat more. More volume won't cause you to gain weight if you don't have the calories to back it up.
 
Magnanimity said:
Alot of good answers, but I'll focus on this one.

I have been starting to feel the pressure from SL5x5 now that the weights have been going up for 5 months. Deloading still works, but I have gotten rid of all the assistance work that I used to do since I was always feeling overtrained.

I'm not done with SL5x5 but thinking ahead. So I'll look into 5/3/1 with Big. In my experience it's always better to go with something that is tried and tested than experimenting on my own.

To be honest I have been thinking about volume work because of some recent insecurity. Got sick when I was abroad this fall and lost alot of weight, and even though I have gotten about twice as strong since then I haven't managed to even get that weight back. My back and shoulders also feel alot larger than my chest and stomach. Guess I need to eat alot more, even though I always try to get about 3000 Kcal into me every day. And the imbalances will even out as long as I stick to a balanced programme?
Click to expand...

3000 Kcal isn't much when you are lifting heavy- it's probably only a small surplus on maintenance levels. So that is probably why you haven't got a lot of that weight back.

This is a performance-oriented forum so people generally don't talk about aesthetics and proportions and so on. But I'd say that very strong guys who don't have too much body fat (the guys below heavyweight) tend to look good and are pretty well proportioned. They may be a bit thicker round the waist because of abdominal hypertrophy, and bigger in the legs, than the TV/movie/'Men's Health'-perpetuated idea, but personally I think that looks better than having a wasp-waist and legs like two balloons on a string. Anyway, if you are training properly I don't think it's the worst thing to slip in an exercise purely for vanity here and and there, as long as it doesn't take away the energy you need for real training.

Anyway, good luck finishing up SL and moving on to 5/3/1.
 
NoobyWhiteBelt said:
how come he didnt get yelled at and i did? i even got dubbed for it!
ill do it. THIS ISNT BB.COM
*insert bouncing boobs here*
Click to expand...

Didn't you get dubs for setting up an against-the-rules alt account?

Anyway, he asked about how/whether to incorporate a hypertrophy component into a real strength programme. You asked if it was good to do cross fit in order to get some gym muscles. His question was a more-or-less reasonable programming question, yours wasn't.
 
DrBdan said:
Stick to the 5x5 program and eat more and you will get bigger.
Click to expand...

I second this. Calorie surplus leads to hypertrophy. I did the 5x5 program as it was written and gained ten pounds in the first three months.
 
NoobyWhiteBelt said:
how come he didnt get yelled at and i did? i even got dubbed for it!
ill do it. THIS ISNT BB.COM
*insert bouncing boobs here*
Click to expand...

I didn't see what you got nailed for, but asking about hypertrophy isn't necessarily just a boobybuilding concern. Adding mass is a legitimate strength concern for a variety of lifters, from football linemen to seniors experiencing that first shrivel of decline. (Even Rippetoe, in one of his countless videos, discusses such things as the angular advantage more chest mass lends to the bench press, for example.) It's not all about tits and no ass.

To the OP, have you considered the 20rep squat routine?
 
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