5x5 Push/Pull Routine

Going back to uni next week and starting a new routine. My lifts have somewhat stagnated while I’ve been home, but hopefully I’ll get them going again with this 5x5 based Push/Pull Split. Any advice?

Push: Mon, Fri
5x5 Back Squats
4x6 Lunges
5x5 Military Presses
5x5 Dumbell Bench Presses
5x Push Ups to failure

Pull: Wed, Sat
3x2 Deadlifts
5x5 Hamstring Curls
5x5 Pull Ups
5x10 Hip-Folded Dragon Flags
5x Inverted Rows to failure

Hip-Folded Dragon Flags: Lie on bench with hips over the edge of the bench. Lift legs to vertical by folding at hips. Lower legs to below horizontal. Repeat.

looks okay.

Why doubles for deadlifts?

What’s your eating plan look like?

what i wouldnt do is squat then dead on consecutive days.
and 3x2 deads? come on now.

[quote]OrcusDM wrote:
Push: Mon, Fri
5x5 Back Squats (lower)
4x6 Lunges (lower)
5x5 Military Presses (upper)
5x5 Dumbell Bench Presses (upper)
5x Push Ups to failure (upper)
[/quote]
Good things about this:
Squats & DB Bench

Bad things about this:
Not much upper body work in here at all (or in total program).

Good things about this:
Deadlifts & Pullups

Bad things about this:
3x2 for deadlifts…6 reps total, really?
#1 for a newb, don’t try heavy doubles.
#2 three sets isn’t enough, you’d barely be warmed up.

While hamstring curl isn’t “terrible” there are better options; read more on this site.

Try and find (using search bar) the total body training (TBT) article and see what goes INTO a TBT split; you’ve got about 65.4% of it.

D-

oh, and doing mon-wed-fri-sat is gonna be tough.

that TBT program is good for a m/w/f and you’d be toast by the weekend.

if you HAVE to go on the weekend…do some little accessory things instead of big lifts.

  1. I wasn’t sure about the deadlifts because I’ve been having some problems with them. My lower body is quite a lot stronger than my upper, which has meant the last three weeks my deadlifts have been pulling my shoulder in a painful and awkward way, stopping me from doing them.
    How about I up them to 5x5 as well?

  2. I’m doing hamstring curls because I don’t wanna overload my back. I have to clean and press whatever I squat as my gym lacks a squat rack, and my lower back gets tired out.

  3. I was working on the training for beginners article advice to do lunges, and thought I should keep clean and pressing, squats, lunges and deadlifts separated as best I could.

  4. I did look at the TBT training, but it seemed to be a hypertrophy routine, and I’d rather work strength, for now at least.

This was just my reasoning, I’m not saying it’s right.

Food:
Breakfast: 2 Fried Eggs, 2 Bacon, 2 Sausages, 2 slices of brown toast.
Mid-morning: Peanut butter flapjack + 500ml whole milk
Lunch: Same as previous dinner
Mid-afternoon: Another peanut butter flapjack on off day; 750ml Isotonic drink and protein shake (30g whey, 5g leucine, 2g creatine)
Dinner: Pasta/Noodles + Vegetables + At least a chicken breast/ steak/ 2 pork loin steaks/ 3 large burgers/ fish fillet
“Supper”: 500ml whole milk + 50ml Casein

I also take 4g of fish oil through the day, 30mg of CoQ10 with dinner and ZMA before bedtime.
I know it seems a bit carb-heavy, but I’ve tried dropping the carbs, but I can’t concentrate on my work.

You might have a problem with your form on the DL if it causes you pain, in which case you would need more than 12 reps/week to reinforce good form… something like 8x3 with relatively light weight (start at say, 8-10RM) and ~1min rest periods (so that it doesn’t take 30+ minutes to do all 8 sets), or even 4x10 if you can maintain good form for 10 reps. 5x5 would also work, if you start light enough that you can focus on the movement. Hell, 6x6 would give you an extra 22 reps/week over 5x5. For working on form, there are a lot of options, you just have to find the one that you’re most comfortable with.

Of course, if you don’t think its a form thing, disregard that advice. I would still do more than 3x2, though how much more really depends on your goals.

Also, ditch hamstring curls for something more useful.

Possible replacements for hamstring curls:

  • step-ups
  • bulgarian split squats (possibly too similar to lunges)
  • Glute-ham raise (if you have the equipment)
  • ghetto glute-ham raise (if you don’t)
  • reverse hyper (if you have the equipment)
  • dumbbell or kettlebell swings

I would lean towards the latter four, and all of those I would personally do for higher reps, 4x8 or similar.

You can still do a TBT workout; just change the rep/set scheme.

The workouts that are posted on here by people/authors are only TEMPLATES…from there you have to form it to work for yourself.

Okay, I think I’ll go for the TBT workout, I don’t think I’m quite ready for making my own regime. Thanks for the help everyone.