Started the 5x5 yesterday, I need ADVICE!

[WORKOUTGUY]

Let me just start by saying this forum is very helpful. So me and my buddy started it yesterday and holy shit is it tough! the bench part was ok but the squats were killer and so were the rows.
It took us about 1:45 mins to get through it which i think we could do in about an hour and a half.

My question is this. When doing the pyramid weights. were u get up to your top 5 by increasing weight, it says that each weight should be like 20% less then the next. This ends up me starting at like 97 pounds for bench for 5. Is this on purpose like a warmup or did i not do it right. seems wicked light for a set to acomplishg anything.

Also when it says your top 5, im confused if its supposed to be 95% of your max 5 reps or is it your max 5 reps. this was for monday squats and rows where the wording is a bit confusing. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Lorenz]

My question is this. When doing the pyramid weights. were u get up to your top 5 by increasing weight, it says that each weight should be like 20% less then the next. This ends up me starting at like 97 pounds for bench for 5. Is this on purpose like a warmup or did i not do it right. seems wicked light for a set to acomplishg anything.

Yup you are reading it correctly. Although I'm not 100% sure of the reasoning behind starting so light, it is part of pyramiding, and I assume it has some physiological reasoning. Although I'm sure, following you're example, that doing 100 lbs for 5, or 105 lbs for 5, isn't going to hurt anything. Unless you're gym stack's 1 lb weights...

Also when it says your top 5, im confused if its supposed to be 95% of your max 5 reps or is it your max 5 reps. this was for monday squats and rows where the wording is a bit confusing. Thanks for any advice.

I'm a little confused by you're wording here to be honest, but once you reach you're last set in the pyramid scheme, with a 5x5, you should be doing 5 reps, with about 95% of what you have in the tank... ie. you wouldn't be able to get in another rep.

Hope this helps, I'm a newb to the 5x5 aswell.

 

[WORKOUTGUY]

I'm a little confused by you're wording here to be honest, but once you reach you're last set in the pyramid scheme, with a 5x5, you should be doing 5 reps, with about 95% of what you have in the tank... ie. you wouldn't be able to get in another rep.

Hope this helps, I'm a newb to the 5x5 aswell.

2) Squats - After maybe 1-2 warmup sets of 3 reps, you will perform 5 sets of 5 reps with approximately 90% of your top 5 weight for squats. Be sure to rest 5-7 minutes here.

this is takin from the stickied routine in the FAQ. Does this mean that im not doing my max five rep weight but do 90% of whaetever weight i can do 5 times.

Example, if i can squat 250 five times, i should be going 225 for my last set????

 

[Lorenz]

Ah ok I see what you are saying now. It looks like you're refering to a Squat day that isn't actually a Heavy day, but more of an heavy-maintenance day. Soooo yes, you would take you're last Heavy squat day (So the last PR you set for 5 reps), and then do that, at 90%, for 5 reps, for 5 sets.

 

[WORKOUTGUY]

ok great, me and my buddy did that but werent sure if it was right. Thanks.

 

[Lorenz]

2) Squats - After maybe 1-2 warmup sets of 3 reps, you will perform 5 sets of 5 reps with approximately 90% of your top 5 weight for squats. Be sure to rest 5-7 minutes here.


Example, if i can squat 250 five times, i should be going 225 for my last set????

BTW, using this example, no, you would do the 225, or whatever 90% is, for 5 sets, not just the final one.

 

[Bullitt68]

It took us about 1:45 mins to get through it which i think we could do in about an hour and a half.

Keep in mind that the 5X5 isn't about how fast you can complete each day's lifts. It's not a race.

It's not a bad thing to take long[er] rest periods between the heavy sets, especially on squats and deadlifts.

 

[WORKOUTGUY]

BTW, using this example, no, you would do the 225, or whatever 90% is, for 5 sets, not just the final one.

yeah thats what i meant. Thats what we did, i noticed that it chnages by excersise by day which i like some days its intensity others volume. thansk though.

 

[WORKOUTGUY]

Keep in mind that the 5X5 isn't about how fast you can complete each day's lifts. It's not a race.

It's not a bad thing to take long[er] rest periods between the heavy sets, especially on squats and deadlifts.

We took long rests 5-6 minutes when it was called for. But we also had to wait for racks and bars a few times so it took a bit longer then i htink it would. But thanks for the advice.

 

[JPC]

On the days where you are ramping up the weight, to one top set, I would not use 20% jumps, but 10%. 20% seems excessive. That would put you starting out at only 20% of your top weight. You must be remembering it wrong. Do the ramping sets like this, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%. So for a 250x5 squat, the first four sets would be 150, 175, 200, 225.

 

[Hardac]

On the days where you are ramping up the weight, to one top set, I would not use 20% jumps, but 10%. 20% seems excessive. That would put you starting out at only 20% of your top weight. You must be remembering it wrong. Do the ramping sets like this, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%. Do volume sets @ 5 sets of 90%.

This is the best explanation of the 5x5 I've seen. If you're a numberphobe like me warm up with moderate weights then do the actual 5x5 at nearly your max.

 

[vince89]

If youre a beginner, dont pyramid. You need volume to make gains. Also, in regards to rest periods - take as long as you need. Its better to get all 5 reps than to not. If you need 10 minutes to recover. Fuck it, take a fucking nap between sets. You wont get stronger by missing reps, so take as long as you need to make sure you land all your reps.

 

[noahfor]

Which 5x5 are you talking about?

 

[noahfor]

Which 5x5 are you talking about?

 

[TheCuttlefish]

If youre a beginner, dont pyramid. You need volume to make gains. Also, in regards to rest periods - take as long as you need. Its better to get all 5 reps than to not. If you need 10 minutes to recover. Fuck it, take a fucking nap between sets. You wont get stronger by missing reps, so take as long as you need to make sure you land all your reps.

Uh oh now you've done it. Iconoclasm will not be tolerated.

In the Bill starr 5x5 there is a volume day AAAANNNNDDD a pyramid day. The Pyramid is still valid as part of a full program even for weaklings.

 

[WORKOUTGUY]

On the days where you are ramping up the weight, to one top set, I would not use 20% jumps, but 10%. 20% seems excessive. That would put you starting out at only 20% of your top weight. You must be remembering it wrong. Do the ramping sets like this, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%. So for a 250x5 squat, the first four sets would be 150, 175, 200, 225.

Ok thanks, the eclips sayed to do that, we didnt we started heavier because it seemed pointless. but i think ur advice of 10 will be perfect.

 

[ronin0352]

Have you thought of starting a training log? you've got 3 threads asking questions all right next to each other, and it's only been a couple days. You could start a log and ask questions as you go. Then people could look at exactly what you're doing and base advice on that.

 

[w0cyru01]

This is what I have been doing for the past couple of weeks:

Monday:
Squat - Warmup w/2 sets...then perform 3x5 of working weight (same weight)
Bench - 5x5 pyramiding to top weight (last workout was 140,150,165,175,185)
BOR - same as bench (last workout was 125,135,145,155,165)

Wednesday:
Deadlift - warmup then 5x5 with working weight (same weight)
OHP - warmup then 5x5 with working weight (same weight)
Pullups or lat pulldowns - 3x10 or 5x5 for pullups

Friday:
Squats - 5x5 pyramiding to top weight (usually 5-10 lb higher then working weight on Monday)
Bench - warmup then 5x5 with working weight (usually whatever weight I used for the 3rd or 4th set on monday)
BOR - same as bench

 

[vince89]

Uh oh now you've done it. Iconoclasm will not be tolerated.

In the Bill starr 5x5 there is a volume day AAAANNNNDDD a pyramid day. The Pyramid is still valid as part of a full program even for weaklings.

From first hand experience, pyramiding is useless (for a beginner). Im still a beginner myself (about 6-7 months of lifting) and the only thing that has gotten my squat up is VOLUME! Also I believe it builds a good work ethic in regards to lifting, making yourself get all the reps and all the sets builds character and gets you to stop saying "I give up" when things get tough. Thats just my opinion.

If youre pyramiding and your 5 rep max is still below 1.5x your bodyweight, your first 3 or even 4 sets youre going to find ridiculously light (basically a warmup weight). So essentially youre only doing 1 work set, say you do this 3 times a week. Thats 15 heavy reps per week compared to doing 75 heavy reps per week. Which one do you think is going to make you grow and get stronger?

 

[Gavin LeFever]

On the days where you are ramping up the weight, to one top set, I would not use 20% jumps, but 10%. 20% seems excessive. That would put you starting out at only 20% of your top weight. You must be remembering it wrong. Do the ramping sets like this, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%. So for a 250x5 squat, the first four sets would be 150, 175, 200, 225.

20% is how you should do it because of two things.

- You want to finish very heavy today, possibly a PR in the mix, so you're saving your strength for the end and this progression is a warm-up.

- You get your volume training on the volume day, not on this pyramid day. You're not aiming for two volume days.


If you're a noob, it doesn't really matter 10-20%. I'd still do 20%. Just remember, you should only need the full 5-7m rest on your biggest sets, so these warm-ups are where you rest only as much a you need, like 2-3m.

Also, if you're a noob, the weight will be very light for you, so again, you can do 10% increments.