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5x5 questions

jj80

Member
For the bench....

What percent of your 1rm can you 5x5?

What break do you take between 5x5 sets?

What are the pros and cons of these basic rep schemes?-
- 5x5, choosing a weight where you can do 5x5
- 3 sets of as many as possible at some fairly high % of 1rm, e.g. 80%
 
Do not worry about percentages on 5x5. Start light, really light then work back up very slowly. Say your 1RM is 100kg then do like 70kg for 5x5 then add 2.5kg a session

Rest as long as it takes...

Progression will be faster with 3x5 than 5x5 but 3x5 may not be enough volume to illicit gains after a while. Having a 5x5 day on Monday and a 1x5 day on friday with a light session on wednesday works well
 
Pretty much what Oni, said. 5 x 5 has worked well for me apart from bench, just keep adding weight to the bar.
 
I'm currently doing 5x5 for heavy bench, squat and deadlifts with some light 3x10 work on bench and squats on seperate days.
It's actually working really well and I'm progressing nicely on all lifts.
 
Is there any assistance work with the 5x5 routine?

Or is it just squat, dead, bench?

Cheers.

I do:
monday - heavy squats 5x5
(if im at the gym i'll do some light leg press 3x15)

tuesday - heavy bench 5x5
(if at the gym i'll do some light chest press 3x15)

wednesday - heavydeadlift 5x5 (the week after i'll do 60% sumo dl)
rows - 3x10
weighted chins 3x10

Thursday - light squats 3x10 (60% of heavy day)
front squats 3x10
calf raises 3x15

Friday - light bench 3x10 (60% of heavy day)
incline bench 3x10
close grip 3x10
weighted dips 3x10
 
I was failing at 90kg for 5x5 bench, I did: 5,5,4,4,4 as my best. I think 87.5 might have worked.

My 1 rep max tested two days ago was 110kg

So.. for me 5x5 weight is around 80% of my 1 rep max, for bench.

Everyone is probably a little different. I seem to always get higher 1 rep maxes than those predicted using '1 rep max calculator' tools.
 
Ive found the 5x5 works well for my bench... in fact in the past Ive run a 5x5 and the a 2x7 as well and both combined worked well.... plus assistance work of course.

The 5x5 (and 2x7) gets to a point where it's HEAVY and your failing a few weeks in a row etc... in that case the options are to perhaps go back 2.5kg, do the 5x5 again then follow it up with say 3 or 4 weeks of either adding another set or adding another rep to each set - basically add more work.

If your adding either more weight, more reps or more sets your making progress.

Sometimes you need to go back to go forward...
 
Ive found the 5x5 works well for my bench... in fact in the past Ive run a 5x5 and the a 2x7 as well and both combined worked well.... plus assistance work of course.

The 5x5 (and 2x7) gets to a point where it's HEAVY and your failing a few weeks in a row etc... in that case the options are to perhaps go back 2.5kg, do the 5x5 again then follow it up with say 3 or 4 weeks of either adding another set or adding another rep to each set - basically add more work.

If your adding either more weight, more reps or more sets your making progress.

Sometimes you need to go back to go forward...

What sort of breaks do you take between sets?

If I took 10 mins I reckon I could 5x5 close to my 6rm max :p


BTW I dont mean to stick to Bill Starr's or whoevers it is workout, I am just using 5x5 as a rep scheme... was on 3x3, shaking it up (seems to have worked big time, 105kg to 110kg for me in 3-4 weeks on bench)

I'm also interested in the rep/set philosophies people use. There seem to be two basic ones:
1) 3+ sets of as many reps as possible of a certain weight, almost to failure each time
2) 3-5+ sets, each working sets, but keeping a few reps in the tank (and going to failure on the final set)

I guess there's also pyramiding. I find reverse pyramids the most fun, as you can go for heavy PRs on reps then add volume after.
 
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For my 5x5 and 2x7 I took as long as I needed to recover, it's heavy.

You could also if you wanted factor in rest periods to make it more difficult if you found you were stalling on the lift.

For example, if you failed 110kg 5x5 bench maybe step it back to 107.5kg and introduce a 5 min rest period, the following week a 4 min, then 3, then 2, then 1.

The idea is each week make it progressively harder. Try it.
 
Progressive overload? That'll never work

If something in your training isn't progressing you're going nowhere.

Of course things aren't always that simple but for a novice progressive overload works extremely well.

If you don't think so, that's you opinion. I know what's worked for me and is working very well for our athletes.
 
If something in your training isn't progressing you're going nowhere.

Of course things aren't always that simple but for a novice progressive overload works extremely well.

If you don't think so, that's you opinion. I know what's worked for me and is working very well for our athletes.

Did lol.
 
Do not worry about percentages on 5x5. Start light, really light then work back up very slowly. Say your 1RM is 100kg then do like 70kg for 5x5 then add 2.5kg a session

Rest as long as it takes...

Progression will be faster with 3x5 than 5x5 but 3x5 may not be enough volume to illicit gains after a while. Having a 5x5 day on Monday and a 1x5 day on friday with a light session on wednesday works well


Agreed 110%
 
Starr did an entire series of articles on 5x5 ill dig them out when Im back on my laptop
 
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