Nate, I liked your 5x5 program, but just a few questions. How long have you been trying it? Good results? Also, for your overhead press, standing or seated? Barbell or dumbells? Finally, are the chins wide grip? Thanks.
VCreed, I started doing the 5x5 program about five weeks ago. Prior to that, I was doing an Ian King type of program that progressed from control/stability to hypertrophy to neural/hypertrophy. I started doing that after the Orlando Seminar in Feb, as I was trying to overcome injuries (and still am). That type of training only seemed to aggravate my injuries. That’s when I decided that I needed to get my strength back and find something that didn’t cause pain.
I’ve made great progress on the 5x5. I’m getting stronger, bigger and adding 5-10 pounds each week on most exercises. Now remember, I had injuries prior to this. So my strength levels were extremely low. So I started out using fairly light weights. I’ve added 5-10 pounds to all my lifts each week. This past week was the first time I didn’t make all five sets of five. I stalled in deadlifts, close-grip benches and weighted pull-ups. So I’ll be doing the same weight next week. But I have made a lot of progress. I only started squatting three weeks ago, so right now, that lift is behind all the others. In fact, I’m benching more than I’m front squatting at this time. But my squat should catch up quickly. I’m also getting close to matching some of my best lifts for sets of five that I haven’t done in about two years!
As for the overhead press, I do it standing with a barbell. The chins are actually pull ups. I’m doing a medium-width pronated grip. I chose this width because it was the one Pavel Tsatsouline recommended working if you’re interested in functional strength. As it is the grip most often used for climbing fences, walls, etc.
I’d be happy to share my actual weights being used, even though they are not very heavy yet. If that’s something you want to know, just tell me. But like I said, many of my lifts are not even close to where I used to be. Only my deadlifts, close-grip bench, flat bench press, dips and overhead press are close to my all time bests at this time. If things go right, I’ll be matching and/or beating my best lifts in those exercises within 3-4 weeks. 
Thanks for the info. One other thing I was wondering was, what does your warm-up progression look like on these exercises? Reps? % of max weights? Etc. Thanks.
VCreed, my warm-ups are similar to what Poliquin and Staley recommend. All are low rep and increasing weight. I do my first set with five reps, my next set is three reps, then two reps, then one rep. I may repeat the one rep set for up to three sets. It depends on how heavy I’m going. For example, on deadlifts I do 135x5, 185x3, 205x2, 225x1,1,1. I rest for three minutes and then do my five working sets with 255. This is how I do all my warm up sets. On bodyweight exercises like dips and pull-ups, I just do mulitiple sets of just bodyweight for one rep until I’m warmed up. Then I strap on weight and do my work sets. I also stretch and do abs prior to all the work sets. Sound good to you?
That looks pretty good. My last deadlift workout was: 184x3,277x3,316x3,343x3, and 371x3. Less warm-ups than you, but also less work-sets. Not that I’m unhappy with my routine, but I thought yours looked good too, so I figured I’d get the details in case I wanted a change. Thanks again.