5x5 Upper/Lower

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hello all!
Been lifting for a little over a year. Have enjoyed splits and full body routines. After being primarily on a 8-12rep hypertrophy based P/P/L routine as of late, I have decided to go back to a routine closer to the 5x5 I started out with. I have decided to base my routine around a 5x5 but instead of 3x a week full body I would try a 2x a week Upper/Lower still centered around 5x5 linear progression.

I will be using a 5lb weekly increase to bench and OHP and a 10lb weekly increase to squat and deadlift. My 5x5 will be 5 reps for 5sets straight across at around 80-85% 1RM, with the exception of Deadlift which will be ramping sets to a 3rep max at 85-90% 1RM. For accessories I will be increasing the reps from 8-9-10-12 through the span of a four week cycle, then I will increase the weight and rinse and repeat the 8-12 rep scheme.

My accessories will also all be superset with one another to cut down on gym time and to keep my conditioning up as I will not be doing any specific conditioning work with this program except for a couple basketball pickup games per week.

The routine will be as follows:

Monday:
5x5 Bench Press
5x5 Barbell Row
3x8-12 Seated DB Press / 3x8-12 One Arm DB Row
3x8-12 Skull crushers / 3x8-12 BB Bicep Curls

Tuesday:
5x5 Squat
5x10 Weighted Crunches
3x8-12 Lateral Raise / 3x8-12 Standing Calf Raise
3x8-12 Leg Ext. / 3x8-12 Leg Curl

Thursday:
5x5 BB Overhead Press
5x5 Leverage High Row
3x8-12 Decline Bench / 3x8-12 Leverage Horizontal Row
3x8-12 Tri Rope Pushdown / 3x8-12 Rope Hammer Curl

Friday:
5x5 Squat
5x3 Deadlift (Ramping Sets)
3x8-12 Barbell Shrug / 3x8-12 Standing Calf Raise
3x8-12 Leg Ext. / 3x8-12 Leg Curl

Been lurking on this site for a while now, but this is my first post. Have really appreciated all of the knowledge and tips that I have gained from you all. Critiques, thoughts and suggestions wanted!

Thanks for reading!

1 Like
2

When I did 5x5 (Madcow and Texas Method), I got a much higher quality of a workout when I started splitting it into upper lower much like you have. I really like your routine and exercise selection, but I’d like to do chins or pull ups in place of one of those rows. Do you think abs 1x a week is all you need?

3

[quote]Zeeko101 wrote:
Hello all!
Been lifting for a little over a year. Have enjoyed splits and full body routines. After being primarily on a 8-12rep hypertrophy based P/P/L routine as of late, I have decided to go back to a routine closer to the 5x5 I started out with. I have decided to base my routine around a 5x5 but instead of 3x a week full body I would try a 2x a week Upper/Lower still centered around 5x5 linear progression.

I will be using a 5lb weekly increase to bench and OHP and a 10lb weekly increase to squat and deadlift. My 5x5 will be 5 reps for 5sets straight across at around 80-85% 1RM, with the exception of Deadlift which will be ramping sets to a 3rep max at 85-90% 1RM. For accessories I will be increasing the reps from 8-9-10-12 through the span of a four week cycle, then I will increase the weight and rinse and repeat the 8-12 rep scheme.

My accessories will also all be superset with one another to cut down on gym time and to keep my conditioning up as I will not be doing any specific conditioning work with this program except for a couple basketball pickup games per week.

The routine will be as follows:

Monday:
5x5 Bench Press
5x5 Barbell Row
3x8-12 Seated DB Press / 3x8-12 One Arm DB Row
3x8-12 Skull crushers / 3x8-12 BB Bicep Curls

Tuesday:
5x5 Squat
5x10 Weighted Crunches
3x8-12 Lateral Raise / 3x8-12 Standing Calf Raise
3x8-12 Leg Ext. / 3x8-12 Leg Curl

Thursday:
5x5 BB Overhead Press
5x5 Leverage High Row
3x8-12 Decline Bench / 3x8-12 Leverage Horizontal Row
3x8-12 Tri Rope Pushdown / 3x8-12 Rope Hammer Curl

Friday:
5x5 Squat
5x3 Deadlift (Ramping Sets)
3x8-12 Barbell Shrug / 3x8-12 Standing Calf Raise
3x8-12 Leg Ext. / 3x8-12 Leg Curl

Been lurking on this site for a while now, but this is my first post. Have really appreciated all of the knowledge and tips that I have gained from you all. Critiques, thoughts and suggestions wanted!

Thanks for reading![/quote]

Like it, but I’d change a few things.
Mon:
5x5 bench
5x5 pendlay/db row
Db press/pullups or chinups amrap (leave a couple in the tank)
Arms
Pushups&facepulls

Tues looks good but I’d drop the laterals and extensions, and throw in some single leg work

Thurs:
5x5 ohp
5x5 weighted chins/pullups (whatever you didn’t do Monday)
Inc, cg or db bench & db row
Arms
Pushups/band pull aparts

Fri looks good but I’d dead first then do front squats and get rid of shrugs and extensions and sub a different single leg movement.

4

I’m using a 5x5 program myself, I think once you start with the heavier weights squats and deadlifts back to back might be tough going. Also heavy shrugs after heavy deadlifts will be tough on the lower back.

Overall though a sound routine just because I would struggle with the points I made doesn’t mean that you will, good luck with your program :slight_smile: