Change up my LIfting Style

[MsBeverlyHills]

Thanks all. Ghetto your logic is sound, I can't really see my body putting on too much mass if I can only bench solid reps with 225. What if I did something like this, it uses the same numbers that the 5x5 calculator will give me.

Day 1: heavy 5x5 day

Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5
Row 5x5

Day 3: 5x5 scheme

Squat 4x5(light)
Military Press 4x5
Deadlift 4x5

Day 5:

Front Squat 4x5, 1x3(Working set)
Floor Press: working up to heavy 3, then heavy 1
Row 4x5, 1x3


Day 6
Could I add an extra day and do arms? I would then have a day of rest between that and my heavy day.


You guys are right who suggested 5x5, I love the 5 rep scheme. Its great for mass and power so I am leaning towards doing that with a slight variation. For those of you who are familiar with 5x5 can you tell me if it would be ok for me to substitute the regular bench on friday for the floor press, and front squat for squat? To keep things mixed up,

Mike- the 5x5 is still a powerlifting routine. bodybuilders generally train in the 8-12 rep range.

Would you rather look stronger than you are or be stronger than you look?

 

[miked8c]

Haha look stronger than I am, I'm happy enough with my numbers now that I dont mind sacrificing some strength gains for a BBing routine.

 

[Tblock1]

Haha look stronger than I am, I'm happy enough with my numbers now that I dont mind sacrificing some strength gains for a BBing routine.

ha so you want to be a showboat......weak as a kitten as thatbloke is always saying but jacked? Mike is falling to the dark side of bodybuilding

 

[miked8c]

ha so you want to be a showboat......weak as a kitten as thatbloke is always saying but jacked? Mike is falling to the dark side of bodybuilding

Haha I knew you would have something to say about this. I feel like a B saying that I want to look beefed up, but I'm sicking of having to prove my strength by lifting(which I am more than capable of doing) I want more people to just know.

 

[Tblock1]

Yeah I get you man. Personally I would go with the 5x5 for 9-12 weeks, get stronger, then switch to a bodybuilding routine and eat masses of food. You'll get that swole on for sure. If you stay at similar bodyfat but add 20 pounds of muscle you'll be fairly jacked for your age. Whats your bw at right now btw?

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Go 5-3-1 and use the bodybuilding assistance template.

This way you're gonna get steady upward progression with the heavy ass compounds which will insure overall size gain over time and then 2-3 bodybuilding exercises after for 3-5 sets each.

I guarantee this will probably trump any typical bodybuilder split in overall effectiveness both in the short run or long term.

Do yourself a favor and just check it out. 5-3-1

 

[SouthernLord]

ha so you want to be a showboat......weak as a kitten as thatbloke is always saying but jacked? Mike is falling to the dark side of bodybuilding

You need to have balance bro.

Would you rather be strong for your size and no one knows you work out because you have no size, or move a decent amount of weight around and look like a lifter even in baggy clothes?

We all have our own personal goals, but even the strongest guys in the world mix it up and do higher volume routines with sub max weights during te training year.

 

[SouthernLord]

I'm also going to go out in a limb here and risk potential flames (I'm right here btw )

You will never reach your full size potential training 5 reps or less all the time.

I've ran the 5x5 multiple times. I always get really strong, but the size gains do not come until after the 5x5 when I go back to more volume.

Everyone knocks high volume body part splits, but I bet all my karma that the biggest strongest guys at your commercial gym train exclusively with high volume splits

 

[miked8c]

Yeah I got the 5-3-1 ebook on myother comp.

I have never been too crazy about it though because it looks like its a little slow on gains. Maybe I'm just playing devil's advocate but it does'nt looks like it is an effective program for getting results compared to other popular programs.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Bro you couldn't be further from the truth.

5-3-1 is actually pretty intense in it's simplicity. It has more volume than it appears at first because of the assistance options.

I'm running the 4 day a week version so each major exercise gets hit once every 7 days. Alot of people also like running it 3 days a week so they hit each major exercise every 9 days.

People talk about it being slow on gains, but I honestly I don't think they have even done the program

Here's a quick comparison between it and my last bench workout on linear 5x5.

On the last 5x5 bench day I did 240x5-6 reps np.

I calculated my percentages exactly like Jim Wendler recommends. I tested my maxes. I then dropped to 90% of that number. Then I based my percentages off that 90% number and Jim was spot fuckin on.

On week 3 bench day of my first cycle of 5-3-1 I benched 243.5lbs 9 times and might have gotten a 10th if I had really wanted to.

My next cycle squat and deadlift percentages will be adjusted up 10lbs and bench and press 5lbs.

6 months from now that could mean I'll be benching roughly 275 for reps and squatting 60 more pounds for reps. That doesn't sound like slow progression to me.

Give it a shot. If you push your main lift sets right up close to failure where you have either no more reps left or "maybe" 1 in the tank and hit your assistance hard you will make excellent progress and be looking forward to your deload week every 4th or 5th week.

Try the program seriously for 6 months before you knock it. I've just finished my first 3 week cycle on it and can tell you this is a super program.