Well i have been doing rippetoes starting strength for 3 months now…
before that I did scrawny to brawny with which I gained 25 pounds
I was told by many (from all different sites) to do rippetoes strength when i finished s2b and so I did…
I was told also to do 5x5 rather than 3x3 with the workouts because I wasnt a beginner and that it would be better…
I have gained only 10 pounds in the past 3 months, but
I figured it was because I started college and its harder to eat all the nutrition
it was going ok and I was definitley getting stronger, I was lifting 5 pounds more each week with almost every workout and I never thought twice
in fact I added bicep curls and a few other little things to my workout program and everything was fine…
until yesterday…
yesterday I was doing the workout and I felt like I had gotten weak… in fact when it came time for military presses (my second workoout after squats, which went ok…) I could barely lift the amount I had done the week before… I went down 20 pounds until I was able to perform it properly!!! that pissed me off!!
after that I felt very drained and…I just stopped working out…I have never done that before… I mean not that early into my workout…
it was weird… I always feel a bit worn out after my workout, but this time I just felt I couldnt…
a few days ago someone told me I shouldnt do 5x5 and that its too much… i began to think…
is it? I mean I have been doing it fine for 3 months…
but perhaps its hurting me?? maybe its not letting me grow?
perhaps its too much?
it is the longest workout routine I have ever done. it takes me at least an hour and a half to do all 5x5 sets for all exercises, sometimes even longer!
I thought feeling worn out was ok and normal…
there was a problem I ignored: that by the end of the workout when I did my last exercise (power cleans or deadlifts depending on the day) I would sometimes do them carelessly because I was just all ugh! and couldnt wait to get out of the gym!
maybe 5x5 is hurting me? or maybe its just yesterday that I had a really bad day because I didnt get enought sleep the day before…
I didn’t read that whole thing but 5x5 is good. There are a lot of programs and pretty much all of them work and none of them are perfect. Just pick what you like. Consistency is the key.
Several popular intermediate programs are built around 5x5. All have some sort of periodization built in, such as heavy, light, medium days. Starting Strength does not. It’s heavy every day. 5x5 is too much to go heavy every day.
Be careful with adding too much volume or you will not recover quick enough to progress. Adding a little arm isolation (esp. biceps) to a 5x5 is okay but don’t fuck with the compounds and don’t add tons of isolation, it defeats the purpose of the program.
Sorry, just read Stu’s post and Starting Strength is probably a better program for you. Once you’ve milked that for all it’s worth, if you like the full-body WO then try madcow.
ok I read it…
looks good!
but it looks like I wont be making big gains very fast loike the rippetoe version, where I was lifting 5 pounds more each week!
this wants me to go up only like… 2.5 a week right?
I tried understanding it but it was a bit confusing…
So…
I’m suppose to do
A
back squats 5x5 (starting small and going up to my 5RM)
bench press (same as above)
barbell row (same as above)
I do not understand day B so well…
it says:
back squat (First 3 sets are the same as Monday, the 4th set is repeating the 3rd set again)
what the heck does that mean??
military (same as A)
deadlift (same as A)
day C
Squat 4x5, 1x3, 1x8 (first 4 sets of 5 are ramping up like monday, the 3rd wave… I dont understand… I think thats where I increase to 2.5… then i do 8 more of those??)
The normal progression is 2.5% a week so on a 200lb lift, that would be 5lbs/wk.
Each exercise is ramped weights so if your work set is 200, you do a set at 120, 140 , 160, 180 and 200.
Weds is a light day for squats. In this case you would do 120, 140, 160 x 2.
Friday is the heavy day, you do 120, 140, 160, 180, 205 (3 reps), 160 (8 reps). The next Monday, 205 is your work set.
There is a lot of reading involved with this program and you do need to understand it. The program works very well and once you get used to it, it’s not complicated.
i plan on switching the workout days to sunday tuesday and thursday… its easiest for me…
So on wednesday I dont go all the way up to my max? ok I see and the other workouts that day are the same, as in I only go up to the fourth ramp?
and friday is heaviest day where I do those 4 sets of five ramping up only to fourth ramp
then I do 3 sets of one but at a new amount adding 2.5%
and then 8 of the third set in mondays…
did I get that right??
right now I squat at 155 pounds but I have been going up 5 pounds a week or almost
every week…
I’ve been doing Starting strength since November. But doing heavy squats three times a week just got to be too much. I started the 5x5 last night. It’s not “easier” (the weight on a set 1x5 is higher than a 3x5) but it feels like something I can keep adding weight on to.
Sure, you won’t be putting 15 pounds on your squat every week like you did with starting strength, but you should be at a point where you just physically can’t continue to do that, anyway.
Also, some days you just have a crappy workout. That’s all there is to it. IMHO, you shouldn’t change your whole program just because you didn’t perform well on one workout. Bad eating, mental distraction, lack of sleep, sickness or any number of other factors can hurt you when you get under the bar.
Thanks
yeah well I decided to take a break this week… I need to catch up on sleep and get ready to start the 5x5 hopefully by next week…
I also have to start eating more…
ever since like a month ago I got food poisining and it got hard eating more…
and now I seem to be having problems…
I think im having too much milk and nothing else to drink so my stomach hurts somedays…
anyhow anyone have a link to barbell rows? I never did one before…
if you also get gas and want to poop really badly then you are lactose intolerant like me.
pendlay rows are the pull version of the bench press since its supposed to be directly in front of your chest.
likewise there is
military or overhead press is the push/pull ups is the pull
bench press is the push/ pendlay rows is the pull
dips are the push/power cleans are the pull
first is vertical upwards, second is horizontal, third is vertical downwards.
no I think I was just drinking milk all day and nothing else… I think if I drink other liquids I’ll be fine… I hope…
so… whats the difference between a BBrow and a pendley they look the same??
And according to the 5x5 from bill star
I’m supposed to start my program with 3-4 weeks worth below my 5RM and in the 5th week I reach my 5RM and keep going up.
Are those 4 weeks necessary? cant I just start ramping up to my 5RM now?
so I squat at 155 for my 5RM
so this week Im supposed to do:
1 set of 65
1 set of 85
1 set of 105
1 set of 125
1 set of 145 (below my 5RM)
Pendlay Rows are a strict version of the BB Row. It’s the version recommended by Marc Rippetoe although he doesn’t like that name for them. Glen Pendlay works with Rippetoe and they both used them long before they acquired that name. The key feature is keeping the back horizontal to the ground. You should deload between reps and pull the bar to your chest explosively with no movement at the hips.
There are other ways to do the BB Rows that are less strict that are quite common. You should save them for later.
So… I keep my back perfectly horizontal?
do I have an arch in my lower back at all times? and do I bend my knees at all times?
I have never done them before and I dont want to hurt myself…
the BBrow link you sent me above…is that how it should look?
The first thing that I thought of when I read his post was that he hasnt deloaded at all over the 3 months he pumped up his volume. I reckon he should have stuck to whatever he was getting his massive gains on, and just deloaded before beginning again!
Rows… I have never done them before but damn!!
I dont know if Im doing them right… because-
its been 20 minutes since my workout…AND MY BACK IS KILLING!!!
is that bad or good… did I row wrong…
I have never done rows before… But from searching around the internet I found a few things and it gave me an idea…
I’m supposed to be parallel to the floor as I lift the bar into my abs and pull back my shoulder blades…
How am I suppose to keep my lower back arched when I am 90 degrees and parallel to the floor? I’m not sure if my lower back was arched enough…I dunno…it was arched but only a little…not like when I stand up…
are there stretches I can do to make me more flexible?
and about the assistance exercises: regular situps or unanchored? and anyone have a link to hypers??
(a few weeks ago I looked up a lot about posture and found that your not even suppose to have a big arch in your lower back…your supposed to pull your pelvic in and hold your abs tight all day…)
@the guy above me…
Everyone gains a lot when they first start out… and it was in the summer…when I had nothing better to do but eat!
Anyhow I did s2b in the beginning -is that what your talking about?
because its a beginner program… its different then others… you dont go back to one of the phases… the first one uses no weight… the second phase is 5x5 and the 3rd phase is weird stuff… the next phase requires lots of machines which my gym didnt even have…
I asked people if I should move on and buy the next set of phases (they sell more phases for s2b) and I was told not to waste money when there are better programs out there…
anyhow… I worked out tonight… it was an easy workout!! I didnt really break a sweat… I guess its because im not even ramping up to the 5RM yet… Im suppose to do that in a few weeks over progression…
IF your back feels like it might spasm thats a bad thing, but if its just burning and weak its not bad at all. To help with your Bent over rows you should stretch your hamstrings, remember to turn your hips not your lower back, your lower back should stay the same as when you are standing up straight.
When I said deload, I meant to lower the weights you used by half for a week to help let your body recover from significant long term strain, most body builders deload once every two months or so, this way they plateau at a slower rate in the long term. So, lets say you deload in your 5x5 phase you would simply do what you normally do, just use half the weight (you shouldnt be straining when you deload), then the next week you simply resume where you were up to.
Other people simply take a week off completely - I have done this myself and I have actually improved my strength by the end of my deload week.