I don’t use pyramiding. Only the top set and the backoff sets are pushed hard, and even then, I VERY rarely go to failure in training. Keep in mind; going to failure means going to the point that you actually fail a rep. Most folks don’t do this when they “go to failure”. They usually will stop before failure, OR, if they fail, they don’t even try to grind the rep out. They’ll push slightly, feel resistance, and give up on the rep. They most likely had another rep or 2 in them, but didn’t want to exert themselves enough to get it. This is typically why we observe low success rates in new trainees with minimal athletic experience, as they simply don’t know HOW to exert themselves, and their impression of “hard training” is drastically different from reality.
The difference between my style of training and 5x5 is that 5x5 forces you to stay in one rep range the entire time, which prevents one from developing strength across a spectrum of rep ranges. Just like I said with the bench press; if you artificially constrain yourself, you stagnate. The “secret” to success when it comes to training is to get better all over, and do whatever it takes to get there.
5x5 isn’t bad if it’s used as part of an overall plan. That’s called periodization. If you perform a cycle of 5x5, and then spend some time working higher volume, and then some time working on conditioning, and then some time working on maximal strength, that’s getting better across a range. The trap people fall into is that they decide they’re going to stick with 5x5 for the rest of their lives because it’s the “strength range”.
Well, again, I do 5/3/1, so each week the topset and backoff set will be a different weight than the previous week. So some weeks the topset might be for 12 reps, some for 8, some for 6, etc. The weight determines how many reps I do.
Oh okay. What about concurrent periodization? Does it work? So I’d do 5x5 on Push 1: and then 3x8 or 4x8 on Push 2 and progress weekly on 5x5? I watched AlphaDestiny on YouTube and he seems pretty legit.
I honestly don’t know. I don’t watch any youtube channels for lifting.
I prefer to let the weight dictate the rep range, rather than the other way around. I pick the weight and see how many reps I can lift it for, and then try to match or beat those numbers the next time around. Allows me to account for bad days.
In Canada now. No macros calculated for the week. Had to eat Subway and other trash the whole week. Hopefully in 3-4 days after I get settled in, I’ll start getting the cafe food.
I have a fat face. This really sucks because it pulls from facial aesthetics, but I guess I need to be satisfied with the fat face until I get some more muscle mass. Though, that being said, considering I’m 23-25% body fat, I’d say I’m chiseled (face) for my range lol.
Overall, this is probably a new starting chapter, since I was experimenting back home. No questions asked, I’m going to be eating and tracking 100% and following a PPLRPPR routine 2 times a week:
Push 1:
5x5 Bench
3x5 shoulder barbell press
3x10 DB press
3x10 rope fly
3x12 lateral raise
3x12 CGBP
3x12 tricep one arm dumbbell extension Pull (same both days since making good progress):
When I got serious about lifting, 5x5 squats 3x per week worked for me. Just squats, nothing else, and my quads and glutes got huge. A lot of coaches and successful lifters would recommend squatting multiple times per week (Arnold has been a big proponent of high volume for leg development). Its up to you though … I would look around at some programs like the ones that have been suggested to you already before trying to make your own.
Back at it again with a proper gym. Nutrition not on point yet since the lack of access.
On the bright side, everything will be in lbs now (Canada).
Training log: 3 Sept 2016
Push:
5x5 bench press - 90 lbs
OHP 4x6 - 55lbs
DB chest press paused reps 3x12 - 30 lbs/hand
Lateral raises 3x12 - 15lbs/hand
Tricep one arm DB extension 3x10 - 12.5lbs/hand
Goodish I guess, deloaded on everything, so a fresh start. Felt like a pussy today since everyone was lifting multiples of what I was, but I’ll get there some day too!
Feeling better. I think what I am going to try to do is 3x5 and then 5x5 the next day because improving 5x5 is too difficult honestly (for me at least). So I’ll give this a try.
Yes. It’s easier to increase strength in the 5 rep range. I am hoping to get to a 110 lb OHP for 5 and 155-175 for 5 bench until I switch over to 5 reps/8-10 reps.
There is no way in hell I can progress by 5lbs/week working in the 8-12 rep range. Period. I’ve tried it before and thats when I plauteaud for 4-6 weeks. Worst mistake I made, so I’m not doing that again. Instead I feel I am progressing better on the 3x5 bench on Day 1 and 5x5 bench day 2 with the same weight and then 5 lbs up.
I would like to get a reasonable 5x5 bench before I move to 8-12. I would like to work with 135lbs 8-12 so I really need a stronger base with 5 reps first.
Apologies for this, but I’m not sure if that was sarcasm or not lol? I was progressing well with 5x5 until I changed completely to hypertrophy so I stopped progressing completely.
FEELING GOOD GUYS!! I think I am progressing better now, here goes:
Push:
5x5 bench press 95 lbs
5x6 OHP 65 lbs (x6 because of the first rep from scratch/muscle).
1x12, 2x8 DB chest press 35lbs
4x12 lateral raises 17.5lbs
3x15 rope fly
3x12 straight bar pushdown
2x11, 1x10 one arm DB extension 12.5lbs.
This new scheme I’ve been doing with 3x5 and then 5x5 has been one of the best things. I am not progressing very fast, but progressing nevertheless. Hopefully it keeps going this way.
I stopped putting my meal plan things because I have no macros for them. So I estimate and eat around 3000.
2x6 squat, 1x5 squat (115lbs). I’m impressed that I hit 115 considering I havent trained legs in 3 months and when I stopped training I was at 110 for 8.
3x12 leg curl
3x12 hamstring curl
Might have been too much volume, but it doesnt seem like it. The DOMS ruined my life as I couldnt walk properly. Plus I had a fever from training everyday and not sleeping enough.
2x5, 1x6 bench press 100lbs. FUCK YES. I’ve been meaning to do 100 for over 4 months now. I plaueted hard, but glad to get to this. FUCK YES!
1x20 OHP 45lbs
4x12 lateral raise 17.5lbs
1x6 DB chest press 40 lbs, 1x10 DB chest press 35 lbs
3x12 straight bar pushdown 80 lbs
3x10-11 one arm tricep extension 12.5lbs
Didn’t go too high on volume, just recovered from too much training, not enough sleep fever. So I’m definitely not training > 5 times/week and I’m gonna try to get in 8 hours of sleep a day.