Adding some speed work to 5x5...

[fastgain]

I'm training for strength and size. I'm currently 6' and about 185, pretty lean. B: 245 S: 285 D: 335

Here's my current split:

Monday:
Flat Bench - 5x5
Incline DB - 2x8-10
Incline DB Fly - 2x8-10
Rotator Cuff, Abs, Calves

Tuesday:
Deads - 5x5
Pullups - 2x8-10
DB Rows - 2x8-10
Shrugs - 3x8-10

Thursday:
Military Press - 5x5
Side Laterals - 2x8-10
Rear Raises - 2x8-10
Close Grip - 5x5
Skulls - 2x8-10
Pushdowns - 2x8-10

Friday:
High-Bar Close Squats - 5x5
Leg Press - 2x8-10
Ham Curls - 2x8-10
Grip Work

Lately my bench has been stagnating a little bit (my chest is also lagging in size), and I'd like to add some speed bench work in order to help my bench along. I've been thinking about dropping the close grip bench since my tri's get hit pretty hard by the military press anyway and the close grip messes with my wrists. The other option is to add some speed benching on Friday after doing the squats. What do you think of doing this?

I've also thought about doing flat bench 5x5 twice a week, anyone think that is a viable option?

 

[CobraUTAH]

Fastgain I love your split, it looks almost exactly like mine. Anyway as for the bench you may be like me and being tall 6'3" bench is by far my weakest lift. The 5x5 routine helped that a ton though I went from a 260 max to 290 in three months of hard training. I don't see anywhere that you are over lapping or over working any particular area, and certainly not the bench movements. I'd have to see where your at with your 5x5 on flat bench. When I started I used 190 for 5x5 and worked up to 245 very steady at 5 pounds per week. I started nice and light to make sure that I stayed with the progressive resistance and didn't fail. You can also try 5x3 for a few weeks and then go back to the wait that you failed with doing 5x5 and see if that helps.

 

[FatRat]

I have been looking to do exactly the same thing. I have just started:

Mon - Legs
Tues - Chest
Wed - Rest
Thurs - Shoulders / Back
Fri - Arms

My plan is to add Speed bench as my warm-up for Tri’s on Arms day

 

[gettinlarger]

How long have been on the program? Did you start off light and easy? Progressive resistance is what the 5x5 is about. Did you add 5 lbs each week?

 

[fastgain]

I just had my chest day, I tried 195 again for 5x5 on flat bench. Again I didn't make it for the third week in a row. One thing I did notice, I had no problem getting it off my chest about 6 inches, I would get stuck right when I had to start using my tri's alot. I also have been adding weight each week these past few weeks on my incline db presses, which is interesting since I believe they work the chest a great deal more than flat bench. The other interesting thing, is the dumbells felt ridiculously light for the bottom half of the lift, like I could have had 10 more pounds in each hand, but I had trouble locking out my tris. This leads me to believe that I might be overtraining my triceps and maybe front delts. I'm thinking about dropping the close-grip this week and not adding any speed work either. Give the tri's some rest and see what happens next monday. We'll see. I would still like to start adding some speed work so I'll probably just drop the close-grip for awhile and add it in on Thursday.

 

[fastgain]

Gettinlarger:

I worked all the way up from 135 to 195 pretty consistently adding 5 pounds every week. I took a week off from time to time to make sure I wasn't overtraining. Deads and squats are still going up 5-10 pounds every week.

 

[gettinlarger]

Gettinlarger:

I worked all the way up from 135 to 195 pretty consistently adding 5 pounds every week. I took a week off from time to time to make sure I wasn't overtraining. Deads and squats are still going up 5-10 pounds every week.

Okay. Just making sure you were following the program correctly. Try switching to a 5x3 method. Drop the weight down some, maybe 20 lbs, and do 5 sets of 3. Work your way up with that until you plateau again.

 

[CobraUTAH]

Here's a thought that might help. I had a hard time deciding when to do what lifts but came up with this split.

Monday
chest abs
Tuesday
bi's tri's
Wednesday
rest
Thursday
back shoulders
Friday
legs calves

The reason for the split is that I do my tricep lifts at the first of the week so they have tons of rest before they are used again. I know that they work on shoulders but not nearly as much as during an chest or tricep workout. I really think that helped my bench and allowed for plenty of recovery. It looks like you started plenty low and kept the 5 pound gains consistent. You just hit a plateau and need to make a change. I really think and gettinlarger backed my up that you should switch to 5x3 for a while and see if the weight keeps going up.