Has anyone tried 5x5x5 training (five exercises, each done for one set of five, five times per week)? And if so, how did it work out for you?
I remember seeing it mentioned on this site, and it was attributed to Pavel Tsatsouline. However, I wasn’t able to bring it back up on a search. I’m just looking for feedback, as this seems like it would be a great workout for my situation, time-wise.
I tried it last year and made some initial progress and then stalled. I’ve had much better luck with full body 10x3x3; 5x5x4; 3x8x5. This is my three day a week program. If I can get in four days then I use the fourth day for speed or experimenting with some of the “exercises you have never tried”. The last number in each figure is the number of exercises. For example 10x3x3 is 10 sets of 3 for 3 different lifts.
[quote]nephorm wrote:
Has anyone tried 5x5x5 training (five exercises, each done for one set of five, five times per week)? And if so, how did it work out for you?
I remember seeing it mentioned on this site, and it was attributed to Pavel Tsatsouline. However, I wasn’t able to bring it back up on a search. I’m just looking for feedback, as this seems like it would be a great workout for my situation, time-wise.[/quote]
It’s a stength program that will afford little size. It’s purpose is functional strength while maintaining the same bodyweight. Not for bodybuilders, unless used for a short 3-4 week cycle, to prevent mass loss.
DH
Bump.
Thanks for the feedback. I guess I’ll look for another program, then.
Didn’t Nate Dogg and Tampa T have some experience with this program?
Hopefully they will see the thread…
Mufasa
Hey,
I’ve done the 5x5x4 routine before as well as the 10x3x3 and a number of other strength programs. The thing with the heavy weight, low rep, high set programs is they are awesome at maintaining muscle during dieting as well as helping you break through the traditional program plateaus.
If it’s hypertrophy and lean mass gain you’re looking for try cycling a strength training program for 3 weeks (10x3, 5x5, etc.) with a full body high rep, high intensity circuit for 2 weeks (Chad Waterbury has a great program for this), and then return to a traditional 8-12 bodybuilding routine for 3 weeks.
The key is to keep your body guessing and changing to try and keep up with the varied stress you put it under. That and follow a solid diet . . . as always.
Hope this helps.
Sasha
Found this on another site:
Excerpts from -
Beyond Bodybuilding
by Pavel Tsatsouline
Dragon Door Publications
Copyright 2005 Power by Pavel, Inc.
MIND OVER MUSCLE:
THE 5X5X5 PROGRAM
Select five basic exercises for your whole body, for instance, the
three powerlifts, pullups, and dumbbell side bends. Or
clean-and-presses, deadlifts, dips, barbell curls, and Janda situps.
You get the idea.
Perform all of them five days a week, Monday through Friday. Do only
one work set of five per exercise. It will feel very odd to wrap up a
workout when you still feel so good, but that is the way neural
training is. Steve Justa, a supremely strong and muscular man, once
said, “You should feel stronger at the end of every workout.”
The weight is ideal if you have managed it with a couple of reps to
spare. To establish that perfect poundage start every workout with a
couple of lighter singles. For instance, yesterday you squatted 300x5
and felt that you could have done 300x7. Today squat 225xl, 255xl, and
275xl. The feel of 275 should tell you whether you should stay with
300, go up, or go down. And don’t sweat it too hard if you do not hit
it right, occasional easier and harder sets will do you good by
introducing more variety. The usual 5x5x5 pattern is a very strong
start on Monday, a PR on Tuesday, Wednesday could go either way.
Thursday and Friday are downhill as fatigue builds up. By Monday you
will be rested and ready to smash new records.
Powerlifters and weight lifters have learned the hard way that trying
to continuously go up does not work. Through trial and error, they
have figured out that if one takes it easy for a week, after three
weeks of hard training, week five will be awesome. So unload in week
four. Use this simple technique: work up in singles to establish the
poundage for your usual set of five, then do only three reps with it.
In week five work up to a comfortable single on Monday. That means
whatever you can put up without getting psyched up, usually in the
ballpark of 90% 1RM. Russians call this poundage ‘the training max’
and Bulgarians lift it daily. Your Monday deadlift workout might be
315xl, 365xl, 385xl, 405xl.
Go for a max single on Tuesday. Repeat his Monday ramp-up and finish
it with a new PR or PRs. The lifter in the above example would pull
425xl, possibly 435xl, and, if he feels unstop pable, 445xl.
The Muscle Taper and Peak