Anyone do the 5x5 and only squat twice week?

[Lone Trooper]

Judging from your numbers, 100% do a 3x5 over a 5x5.

Order the book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore and study it like the Pope does the Bible.

You'll be bigger 5 months from now by using the 3x5 then you would be using the 5x5.

Numbers have nothing to do with it.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

my legs were sore as hell and hurting for about 3 weeks (3x week squatting)... after that I could squat and not be sore at all. Conditioning may take less or more time for you.

Once you have the conditioning, it's awesome to be able to go in and hit PR's and not be sore the next day

 

[bigred133]

1. The soreness is expected. Give it time. Maybe even a few months.

2. Additional soreness may be caused by not squatting correctly. Not going deep enough, not keeping the knees WAY OUT over the toes, and not driving up with the hips will cause additional soreness.

3. Order http://www.startingstrength.com/ if you do not already have it, and learn how to correctly do a full Olympic squat. The book also contains the 3x5 program.

4. While waiting on your copy to arrive, read the Guide to Novice Barbell Training, aka the Official Rippetoe-Starting Strength FAQ which also contains info on the 3x5 program.

5. Don't give up

 

[atp1000]

Thanks again guys. Trust me, I not going to give up totally. I am looking to make some adjustments.

However, I am aware of my current level of fitness and something just does not feel right in my legs. While stretching after the workout did help, I woke up the next day with these aching in my legs. Again, it is not typical muscle soreness. And yes, maybe it is from poor squat form, something I need to address.

I would like to believe that these leg cramps and aching will go away with time, but I don't want any serious problems to arise because I tried to be a tough guy.

So I see 3 options right now:

1. Continue on with the 5x5 and re-learn how to squat with very low weight 3x a week.

2. Continue on with 5x5 and squat 2x a week

3. Dump the 5x5 and start the 3x5

Any thoughts?

 

[bigred133]

You sound just like a guy who was training with me and was new to squats. He was having terrible hip flexor pain from bad form. He was about to quit until we started him over with the BAR ONLY and worked on correcting every little thing about his form "by the book." No more hip flexor pain. His weak adductors are sore now, and he is squatting a lot less weight, but he is learning better form squatting three times a week with the 3x5 program.

 

[atp1000]

You sound just like a guy who was training with me and was new to squats. He was having terrible hip flexor pain from bad form. He was about to quit until we started him over with the BAR ONLY and worked on correcting every little thing about his form "by the book." No more hip flexor pain. His weak adductors are sore now, and he is squatting a lot less weight, but he is learning better form squatting three times a week with the 3x5 program.

Ok, I am not new to squats and have been doing them for 2 years now. However, did I do them often in the past? No, only once a week for maybe 3-4 sets. Do I possibly have poor form and squatting 3x a week makes this more of a problem...probably.

So, based on your post and the information above, should I start over with the bar only and stay with 3x5 or 5x5?

 

[bigred133]

He was new to squatting correctly. He had done half squats in a Smythe machine for years.

I know you can squat I just don't know if you are squatting correctly.

What helped my friend (and may help you) was:
Reading Starting Strength and the FAQ page I linked.
Starting over with the bar only on the 3x5 program.
Making sure he could squat all the way down below parallel with feet shoulder width or a little more, toes out, knees way out over toes, feet flat, ass back, hip drive, low bar, straight wrists, chest up, etc...
Staying with the bar only for several workouts until he could do it right.

And having somebody stand there and tell him what he was doing wrong.

How do you make the decision between the 3x5 and the 5x5? Here's how:
If you can progress every 38 hours by adding weight (even a pound/kilo) to your squat every workout then you will get better results with the 3x5.

Since you are starting over with the bar and an instruction book, you can progress every workout on the 3x5. Just reset your other lifts minus ten percent (according to Practical Programming, Rip's second book.)

The 5x5 is designed for trainees who can no longer progress every 48hrs. Since you are starting over with squats that does not apply to you.

 

[Cynical Simian]

Judging from your numbers, 100% do a 3x5 over a 5x5.

Order the book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore and study it like the Pope does the Bible.

You'll be bigger 5 months from now by using the 3x5 then you would be using the 5x5.

+1.

We recently updated the sticky with a link to a new, far better online write-up of the 3x5 than the one cougar posted above, which was the one it replaced in the sticky.

 

[atp1000]

+1.

We recently updated the sticky with a link to a new, far better online write-up of the 3x5 than the one cougar posted above, which was the one it replaced in the sticky.

Is this +1 in favor of the 3x5 being better suited for me because of my 5 RMs?

 

[Cynical Simian]

Yes, but it's also for getting Starting Strength.

EDIT: Not because of your 5RMs, but rather because of your previous training experience. Like LT said above, numbers don't necessarily indicate training status (novice, intermediate, etc.), which is a measure of how rapidly you can make progress and how complex training has to be for you to make that progress.