T Nation

5X5 + What else?

Bodybuilding
#1

Hey all. For those of you who occasionally do programs based around a 5X5 protocol, do you do any additional work beyond the 5X5’s for the bodyparts thus trained? If so, what? I recently did an upper body 5X5-centered program where I did the following:
Day 1:Back: 5X5 weighted chins, 3X6 1-arm dumbell row
Chest: 5X5 decline barbell press, 3X6 incline dumbell press
Day 2:Biceps: 5x5 EZ-Bar curl, 3X8 Hammer curl
Triceps: 5X5 close grip bench, 3x8 lying dumbell tricep extensions


I made great strength gains on this program. However, I’m wondering if people who base their routines around 5X5 normally do extra work as I did, or if doing so is overkill and would set me up for overtraining were I to continue in a similar fashion for an extended period of time. I realize that everyone’s different, yadda, yadda - I’m just wondering what’s considered customary on 5X5 programs. Thanks,
Zev

#2

i’ve been doing the main lift for 5x5 and then about 3 other sets for that muscle group and try to keep the reps in the 4-6 rep range. for example, chest: 5x5 flat bench, 2x5,5 (superset) incline db fly, incline db pressing (so that’s five reps for flying, then straight into five reps of pressing) and then i’ll do 1 set of weighted dips for 4-6 reps. i had asked the same question pretty much not too long ago regarding the volume beyond the main 5x5 exercise and was told that this was pretty good, and you shouldn’t go beyond that. also, i do chest/tris and back/bis on the same day, so i only do 3-4 sets for tris or bis since they get worked with chest or back respectively. hope this helps you out.

#3

I had questions about 5x5 also… I tried re-reading the maximal weights article a ton of times, I’m still kinda confused. For example I’ve been doing 2 or 3 exercises for each group of muscles, Chest: flat bench & flyes. Shoulders: seated presses, seated lateral raises & shrugs. Keep in mind these are different workout days, I’m just giving you an example of each workout. I go from one exercise to the next only resting enough to get into position for the next exercise, that is 1 set (I’m aiming for 5 reps each time) and I continue this process until I hit 5 sets. My resting times between sets is 2 minutes. So my question is am I doing the program properly??? Have I got the basics down???

#4

BUMP