Can you do 5x5 of 50?

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Nice! Interesting your 5x5 squat is close to that of dead lift.

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I've been doing 3x5. I keep them close intentionally because my maxes for both have always been similar. I actually switched to sumo dead lifts. It seems to put less stress on my back and I feel a lot more comfortable. We will see what happens in a few weeks when I start hitting walls.

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I read a report from a 17 yr old on another forum, kid was deadlifting 500 and squatting 500 at 170 lbs. He did sumo deadlifts, said he saw immediate results, and is now a big proponent of sumo style.

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I haven't maxed with sumo yet, but I have a feeling it will be much improved.

I can do 5x5 at 60.

How far along are you getting? Are you failing on the last set?

You could get 1.25 plates. Or try Dumbbells even to switch it up.

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How far along are you getting? Are you failing on the last set?

You could get 1.25 plates. Or try Dumbbells even to switch it up.

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Check the last few pages. We've already had a lengthy debate on how I can get better at bench.

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I can do 5x5 at 60.

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Then don't drop down to the bar, drop back to 60, and do it again.

Are you struggling at all with any of the reps on any of the sets at 60? If you're hitting all 5 sets easily, I'd actually see if you can get up to 6 reps per set, see if you can squeeze out one extra rep per set.

Had my first failure on overhead press.

Squat 140
OHP 95
Deadlift 150

I just realized I'm almost to my deadlift goal of 1.5x bodyweight. I'm going to have to come up with a new goal.

2x your bodyweight is next up

Nice job everyone. I don't do this but I love when people increase their strength and hit goals.

Finally making progress again!

SQ 285 LBS 5,5,5

BN 260 LBS 5,5,5

BOR 215 LBS 5,5,5

Making some progress. Will attempt 225 on DL next. Up to 180 on squat.

One issue I'm having is squats are so popular now that I'm having a hard time getting to use the racks.

I opted to deadlift before squat yesterday and really struggled with squats later, not shocking.

I do think I'm also going to have to opt for dumbell bench as the barbell bench are nearly always taken up.

Never have issue with getting space for DL/OHP/BOR.

I'm also curious to see how people handle the accessories. With the time it takes me to do these extra lifts would push workout time to 90min. Making this an every other day thing is fine, manageable, but still. What are people opting to do that are busy? Accessory type stuff on rest days?

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Finally making progress again!

SQ 285 LBS 5,5,5

BN 260 LBS 5,5,5

BOR 215 LBS 5,5,5

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Why did you switch to 3x5?

Got up above my body weight in both SQ and DL over the last week:

8/27: SQ 255 5x5, BP 155 5x5, ROW 155 5x5, Dips 6/6/5
8/29: SQ 260 5x5, OHP 110 5x5, DL 260 1x5, Pull Ups 5/3/5

I also got the garage gym just about completed - this has been put together specifically for doing 5x5, so we don't have a lot of extra equipment, but it works well for us.

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Finally making progress again!

SQ 285 LBS 5,5,5

BN 260 LBS 5,5,5

BOR 215 LBS 5,5,5

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Why did you switch to 3x5?

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I stopped progressing at 5x5 (12 months or so)

"Switch to 3x5. After you had to deload twice on a lift, you switch from 5x5 to 3x5 for that exercise. When that no longer works you switch to 3x3 and then 1x3. This drops the volume (stress) while increasing the intensity. There will be less technique practice, but by this time you should have had plenty.

Read more: http://stronglifts.com/what-to-do-after-12-weeks-of-stronglifts-5x5/"

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How can an individual go from 50 push-ups to 100 push-ups without a significant increase in strength?

Or put this way, who can do more push-ups, a 110 lb woman with a 65lb bench or a 120 lb woman with a 135 bench? If push-ups are some percentage of your 3RM or 5RM wouldn't it hold that the higher the 5RM, the higher volume you can do at lower weights (or body weight push-ups)?

In this case we are talking about push-ups that are approximately 90% of 5RM (assume 55lb knee push-ups vs 60 lb 5RM). An alternative to push ups might be to pick a more comfortable weight (say the bar or 50 lbs) and do 5 sets of 10 or 10 sets of 5. That is essentially what has been recommended in doing push-ups...tons of volume at around 90% of a 5RM. Yes, any somewhat untrained novice would see strength increases. But if one can accomplish strength increases with 5x5 or 5x3 or even 3x3 why do way more work in the gym (10x5)?

Look, the weight on the bar matters. It's the way to measure strength, or the ability to produce a force against a resistance.

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You are right, everyone else is wrong. The only way for her to increase her bench is to add smaller weights. Suggesting she do push-ups was a bad idea and will never help.

At the risk of incurring other posters' wrath regarding push up...the decrease in volume from 5x5 to 3x5 is what was recommended for you to continue progress on the bench.

Failures are likely occurring one of two ways: inability to finish all 5 sets or to finish 5 reps of even first or second set.

If can't finish all 5 sets (with the assumption that one is recovering properly between workouts and resting sufficiently between sets) dropping to 3x5 (e.g. Starting Strength model) can allow you to continue to add weight to the bar and then subsequently 3x3 if needed. Once linear progression with decreasing work volume is exhausted a reset can occur which will allow you to work at 5x5 or 5x3 again, but at a higher weight than where you fell off the first time.

If struggling to get 5 reps in even at early work sets, then 5 lb jumps may just be too high now and you can consider microloading (increase 1-2 lbs per workout vs. 5 lbs) to allow work to continue at same volume (5x5 or 3x5) while increasing load.


Edited to add link to article that provides some additional information; lengthy, but could be helpful.

Training Female Lifters Neuromuscular Efficiency

No...the best way to increase the bench press is to add weight to the bench press.

I think we can probably all just agree that I'm never going to get better at bench. That should stop the debate.

Then what would the boys argue about?

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I think we can probably all just agree that I'm never going to get better at bench. That should stop the debate.

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Have you actually tried the bench press exercise yet?

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I think we can probably all just agree that I'm never going to get better at bench. That should stop the debate.

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Have you actually tried the bench press exercise yet?

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Well I have been doing the program for 3 months, which does include the bench press exercise.

I was being sarcastic. Sorry.

smiley face isn't the correct sarcastic emoticon

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I think we can probably all just agree that I'm never going to get better at bench. That should stop the debate.

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Have you tried flat bench dumbbell press?

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Nice! Interesting your 5x5 squat is close to that of dead lift.

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I've been doing 3x5. I keep them close intentionally because my maxes for both have always been similar. I actually switched to sumo dead lifts. It seems to put less stress on my back and I feel a lot more comfortable. We will see what happens in a few weeks when I start hitting walls.

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I read a report from a 17 yr old on another forum, kid was deadlifting 500 and squatting 500 at 170 lbs. He did sumo deadlifts, said he saw immediate results, and is now a big proponent of sumo style.

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Depends on how you squat. A low bar squat is going to work your hamstrings and lower back, whereas a high bar squat is going to be mostly quads. Therefore, a low bar squat is going to to directly help your deadlift, especially a sumo.

Bump to get back on page 1.

Tonight's WO
360, 3x5, squat
170, 3x5, oh press
365, 1x5, deadlift

Still haven't had a failure this time around on the main lifts.

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Bump to get back on page 1.

Tonight's WO
360, 3x5, squat
170, 3x5, oh press
365, 1x5, deadlift

Still haven't had a failure this time around on the main lifts.

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Where did you run into failure last time?

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Bump to get back on page 1.

Tonight's WO
360, 3x5, squat
170, 3x5, oh press
365, 1x5, deadlift

Still haven't had a failure this time around on the main lifts.

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Where did you run into failure last time?

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I had a few failures here and there building up.

My personal stronglift bests last time around were:
350 Squats
175 OH Press
185 Row
365 Deadlifts
Almost 270 Bench (5/5/4) - I probably didn't have a spotter so I didn't push it.

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Bump to get back on page 1.

Tonight's WO
360, 3x5, squat
170, 3x5, oh press
365, 1x5, deadlift

Still haven't had a failure this time around on the main lifts.

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Where did you run into failure last time?

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I had a few failures here and there building up.

My personal stronglift bests last time around were:
350 Squats
175 OH Press
185 Row
365 Deadlifts
Almost 270 Bench (5/5/4) - I probably didn't have a spotter so I didn't push it.

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Already passed your previous best on squats, good job!

hurricanejake02 said:

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Cane, how's that rack working out for you on squats? I'm about to pull the trigger on getting a rack set for the house, and I've seen some of those for sale, but wasn't sure how well they would work out for those times you would have to bail out on a squat.

And 90+% of the time, I'm going to be by myself. So that's why I'm placing emphasis on the safety bars.

Thanks

It's working great for me so far.... but I haven't had to bail, either. Wife has bailed once or twice on hers, which are still pretty low weight, but the safeties work well. Just make sure you adjust them to the right height for your workout (don't get lazy and leave them low to bench and then they're too low for squats) and know that you have to bail forward, and you should be good to go.

I think throwing the weight back or being able to just sit on the floor is a safer way to fail than to fail forward...and I've failed quite a bit.

I generally won't back squat without safety bars. Most people can bail out of a squat if it is too heavy, but the real risk is when you injure a hamstring or quad. One leg gives out and because of the bar's position in your back, it is coming down on top of you at a weird angle.

I think I'm going to move to a LP PPL program. Probably the most popular one:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/

I'm getting frustrated with 5x5. I feel like I'm spending far too much time dicking around in the gym being exhausted from set to set, and spending an hour and a half to make 50-75 reps.

This one has me in the gym more and is more accessory based. It keeps the core 5x5 lifts and puts them first.

Any thoughts?