# 5x5 Stronglifts



## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

Just came across this and was wondering what you guys think of it? Have you tried it and did it give you good gains? Also I've been using extreme nutrition for a while and it's helped me lift a lot stronger along with proper diet.

mr. Extreme can you clear something up for me? I use extreme mass and noticed there's aspartame in it which people claim to be bad. Confuses me because it's found even in diet coke or 7up and no one seems to care about that. Why is it bad I've never noticed anything bad, only good gains and amazing taste from the product haha.


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

5x5 is good but personally wouldnt even consider squatting 3x aweek or the like..

good format just needs modifying to suit recovery


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

TheCrazyCal said:


> 5x5 is good but personally wouldnt even consider squatting 3x aweek or the like..
> 
> good format just needs modifying to suit recovery


yeah squatting 3x a week sounds really exhausting but it looks promising, i just wanna know if people have tried it and how its helped them to see if i should go on and try it


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

its not so much exhausting as youre not training flat out evry time BUT it will cane your lower back..

i have a mate who poo poo my concerns assuring me was fine on 3x aweek, he now has a very fcuked back lol

the format of 5x5 is very good tho especially if you use 1kg increments.


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

TheCrazyCal said:


> its not so much exhausting as youre not training flat out evry time BUT it will cane your lower back..
> 
> i have a mate who poo poo my concerns assuring me was fine on 3x aweek, he now has a very fcuked back lol
> 
> the format of 5x5 is very good tho especially if you use 1kg increments.


1k? is that possible? my gym only has 1.25kg as the lowest plate hehe


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

it is you buy some 

i just did a cycle like this and to say im happy with the results is an understatement..


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

I've done pretty well on 5x5 (as in my clothes fit me better, t-shirts tighter in the shoulders and arms and I haven't done a bicep curl in months&#8230; feel i have a bit more energy but that prob comes from regular exercise)

My PBs have increased so happy.

You need to get some 0.5kg plates so that when you eventually start to stall you can use them adding 1kg to the bar not 2.5kg.

I've been fine so far with the 1.25kg plates adding 2.5kg every work out&#8230; its only when you start to stall or your form suffers you need to deload the weight and increase your rest periods.

I've been ok with squatting 3x a week and remember you only deadliest 1 time per week and only for 5 reps (but this exercise has a higher weight than the others) after squatting 3times a week your glad you only need a warm up set and a working set for deadlifts!!

Just make sure you start with an empty bar get your form **** on, I annoyed the "Personal trainers at my gym asking for them to watch me all the time (probably still not doing it right though lol)

in the early stages you could use the 2.5kg plates to get the weight up to something you feel a challenge.

Use the iPhone app and follow it to the letter, it times your rest periods which is pretty handy, you can have the workout done in less than 40mins.

Everyones different so may or may not work for you, but its worth trying it for 12weeks or so...


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

oh i think it`ll work for everyone ghost assuming your interpret the routine correctly, sounds like you got it nailed.


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

TheCrazyCal said:


> oh i think it`ll work for everyone ghost assuming your interpret the routine correctly, sounds like you got it nailed.


yeah, I got the lifting of various pieces of metal various numbers of times right&#8230; just the rest and diet required&#8230; (so missing around 80%) it would be nice to have diet and be able to keep to it.

I'm out in Saudi at the moment and the gym here doesn't have a squat rack!!!! So I've resorted to cleaning the bar and doing front squats my kgs have dropped dramatically though! Adapt and over come


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

i think 80% is too high..

ive eaten appallingly recently, rested like a king  and still nailed my goal in my bench cycle.

adapt & overcome indeedy!

OooooooH Rahhh!


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## DANthirty (Jan 28, 2011)

Hi Cal hows it hanging bigboy!!! what sort of rest period are you having between sets?

cheers Dan


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

DANthirty said:


> Hi Cal hows it hanging bigboy!!! what sort of rest period are you having between sets?
> 
> cheers Dan


not cal but:

90seconds if it was easyish

3mins if it was pretty tough

5minutes if I fail a rep.


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

yeah tbh similar to ghost.

i try not to increase rest periods too much, but allways 3 mins, if i`m trying to hit numbers, 5 mins rest when it gets super hard, or its squats or deads ( i allways take longer on those).

back and bi`s tend to get 1 mins rest and trained to failure for 3 sets each.

the trick really is to pick a variable or rest period and keep it consistent.

i wouldnt expect the same amount of increases on the bar with 1 mins rest as a 5 min rest..

personally i like longer slow workouts that allow me to lift heavier.

its a less painful way to train.


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

TheCrazyCal said:


> yeah tbh similar to ghost.
> 
> i try not to increase rest periods too much, but allways 3 mins, if i`m trying to hit numbers, 5 mins rest when it gets super hard, or its squats or deads ( i allways take longer on those).
> 
> ...


my 3x a week 40min sessions (isn) still wreck me lol!


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

i bet they do.. sounds too painful for me lol


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

thanks guys, I'm doing this workout now. I must say it does get me pretty exhausted, I didn't realise how effective this could be at higher weight. Will update with results


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

muhammadali said:


> thanks guys, I'm doing this workout now. I must say it does get me pretty exhausted, I didn't realise how effective this could be at higher weight. Will update with results


Yeah stick at it!

The gym in the compound where i live has an Argos special barbell.. and I've maxed the weight out already (only 56kg) so been cutting rest periods down to 30 seconds&#8230; think I'm gonna start 20 repping soon see how long i last.


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

Ghost said:


> Yeah stick at it!
> 
> The gym in the compound where i live has an Argos special barbell.. and I've maxed the weight out already (only 56kg) so been cutting rest periods down to 30 seconds&#8230; think I'm gonna start 20 repping soon see how long i last.


The one thing I was unsure about was say..my work weight is 100KG for example. Do I warm up like this?

2x5r empty barbell

1x3r 40kg

1x3r 60kg

1x3r 80kg

5x5r 100kg?


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## Plod (Nov 11, 2013)

Downloaded the 5x5 app on my phone, as might try this in the new year


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

10-20 reps for empty bar

10 reps at 40kg

6 at 60kg

3 at 80kg

and if i was within 5% of my max weight for 10 reps and a pb i`d do a single rep at 97.5kg

i always think its better to be thorough with warm ups and even now second set feels harder than first on occasion.

plod id work into any heavy rep scheme over a period of time bud (injury thing) id have no probs taking 3 months to go from 3x10 - 3x5 etc

ive never actually tried less than a 10 rep set on my squats.


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

muhammadali said:


> The one thing I was unsure about was say..my work weight is 100KG for example. Do I warm up like this?
> 
> 2x5r empty barbell
> 
> ...


I do 10mins rowing at a semi decent pace on workout B days (squat, bent-over row, bench press)

and 10mins on the cross trainer on workout A days (Squat overhead press, deadlift)

I always start with an empty bar and do 6-10 reps.

Then put 50% of the working weight for another 6-10reps, then straight into the 5x5 first exercise (squats) at the working weight as you progress you get use to it

At the end of workout B I would do 3 sets of 10 chin ups, workout A was 3 sets of 10 pull ups (final set usually assisted as the weights grow in the 5x5) workouts should take an hour or less.

I find as the timer for recovery is counting after the reps stretching helps.



Plod said:


> Downloaded the 5x5 app on my phone, as might try this in the new year


Start with an empty bar and just concentrate on your form when starting, don't be afraid of using an empty bar in front of the other guys (think thats the hardest thing, not lifting with your ego)

There should be an update for the app soon as the IOS7 doesn't let you change body weight or exercise weights :/



TheCrazyCal said:


> 10-20 reps for empty bar
> 
> 10 reps at 40kg
> 
> ...


Completely agree with cal regarding taking your time, I got semi obsessed about ROM and performing reps slowly, like you always say "stop over thinking it and lift!"

The 3x5 comes after the 5x5 weights get too much, think its "marketed" as madcow or smolov


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

try a high % weight for 1-3 reps to get yourself ready for the work weight bud, i call it the deshocking rep prior to work sets..

going from 50-100% weight is a big shock to the bod


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

TheCrazyCal said:


> try a high % weight for 1-3 reps to get yourself ready for the work weight bud, i call it the deshocking rep prior to work sets..
> 
> going from 50-100% weight is a big shock to the bod


probably right, I've been doing it for months now, but unfortunately in an under equipped gym so had to shake it up a bit.

you should give 5x5 a shot! if you can get the full spreadsheet for free still its worth a look, if not drop me a pm i'll send it over.


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

the new App is out now for IOS 7 . its pretty good/useful.


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

Currently been sticking to this workout and I must say after coming back from holiday in December, I can squat 100KG for 5 sets which for me is unreal because I used to struggle just doing that for ONE set. So it's definitely giving me strength I think with patience and hard work I can even go maybe 140-180 soon which is my long term goal!!!


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