I recently finished my 14 week program and plan to start a 5x5 program in the new year. Rather than take a couple weeks off I decided to just switch to full body workouts for a couple weeks, but I’ve never done them before and want to know if I’m setting them up properly. These are the 3 I’ve done so far… any recommendations would be appreciated. I do have rest days in between, usually do some type of cardio on those days.
[quote]Lateralus44 wrote:
I recently finished my 14 week program and plan to start a 5x5 program in the new year. Rather than take a couple weeks off I decided to just switch to full body workouts for a couple weeks, but I’ve never done them before and want to know if I’m setting them up properly. These are the 3 I’ve done so far… any recommendations would be appreciated. I do have rest days in between, usually do some type of cardio on those days.
Do the ab/core work as the last exercise in the workout. What set/rep scheme are you planning on using? Also, how are you performing your dips? Depending on your form, you may not have a chest exercise in this workout. Finally, close grip pushups aren’t a good choice, as it gets really though to increase load with them (even if you have a partner to put the weight on your back). I’d suggest doing close grip bench press instead.
Once again, do the ab stuff at the end. You also most likely don’t need back extensions if you’ve already done deadlifts. Personally I’d suggest pairing bench press with either pull ups (and dropping back extensions and wide grip seated rows) or wide grip seated rows (and dropping back extensions and pull ups.
Abs at the end. You also don’t need to do both pull ups and chin ups in the same workout. You’ve also already done dips and chin ups (and possibly pull ups) so why not throw in some other exercises. I’d suggest maybe trying wide grip reverse bench press on the Smith Machine,
it’s the last exercise on the video. Also, I’d do which ever of the two back exercises that you didn’t do in day 2’s workout (either pull ups or wide grip seated rows) on this day.
Finally, once again you didn’t mention sets/reps for any of your workouts. In my experience, unless you’re a beginner, you’ll need to do different set/rep schemes for each day.
For example:
Day 1: 8 sets of 3-5 reps
Day 2: 4 sets of 6-8 reps
Day 3: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
I’d also suggest not going to failure with this high of frequency.
For the most part my sets are 3x8, but body weight exercises are usually higher reps. The close grip pushups were 3x20, the dips 3x15. Pull ups are still really tough for me. I’m a former fatty, and i’ve just lost enough weight and gained enough muscle to be able to do pullups.
Is there a reason why you recommend core work at the end? Normally i do a set of core work with each 2 exercise pair i do. I go from one exercise to the next just about non stop, so the core work gives me an extra 30-60 seconds to rest the other muscles i’m working.
My overall goals are fat lose while maintaining muscle. I’ve got about 10-15 more pounds to go before I work on muscle gain. I’m down to 195 from 230. Want to hit 180ish before I start trying to add muscle.
Thanks for all the tips Sent, i’ll definitely look at mixing up the set/reps in the future
[quote]Lateralus44 wrote:
My overall goals are fat lose while maintaining muscle. I’ve got about 10-15 more pounds to go before I work on muscle gain. I’m down to 195 from 230. Want to hit 180ish before I start trying to add muscle.
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When you’re on a 5x5, you should be eating a ton. If you’re dieting on this type of program, you’ll burn out very quickly, and it won’t work. If you maintain (or even increase) your caloric intake, you’ll almost certainly lose fat and gain muscle.
Your body situation is similar to mine when I started doing a 5x5 a year ago. When I started, I weighed 205 and wore 37" pants; now, I weigh 245 and wear 34" pants. I also probably eat at least 50% more than I did a year ago.
For exercise selection, check out the Bill Starr 5x5. You’ll find it on Google.
Honestly? I think it looks great. You’re doing pullups every workout. That takes balls, nice.
The idea of leg-curling supersetted with deadlifting seems like overkill. Maybe calf-raises instead? (I know you’re already doing calf raises on monday, but come on, you can never have too much calf work).
All in all, it looks solid. That’s a lot of work. I wish you luck.
