Starrs 5x5 - One exercising sticking

[ZGzaZ]

This hasnt happened yet, but if you get stuck on one exercise on 5x5, but the other big ones are progressing fine, should I keep trying it or would it be benefical to me to try only doing that exercise for like a 3x3 and the rest normally as the 5x5s? I was thinking I could try that for a few weeks, then reset the lift back to 5x5 and see if I can get past the sticking point.

 

[al420]

Is it bench? B/c everybody stalls on bench at some point.

 

[Protobuilder]

You usually "stick" in one exercise at a time, and then they slowly accumulate, until eventually you're sticking in a whole bunch. Unless it's teh squat, I wouldn't worry about it. Reset the particular lift and ramp it back up. No worries. If you stick on a bunch of stuff, you're running into a more holistic 'whole body' problem and it's time to regroup.

+1 on teh bench comment. It always goes first, for various reasons, most dumb. LoL

 

[ZGzaZ]

You usually "stick" in one exercise at a time, and then they slowly accumulate, until eventually you're sticking in a whole bunch. Unless it's teh squat, I wouldn't worry about it. Reset the particular lift and ramp it back up. No worries. If you stick on a bunch of stuff, you're running into a more holistic 'whole body' problem and it's time to regroup.

+1 on teh bench comment. It always goes first, for various reasons, most dumb. LoL

So you think I would be better off resetting just the 1 lift, rather than trying to run that lift at 3x3 for a little while, then resetting it back down to 5x5? If so, how far back should I reset?

 

[ZGzaZ]

Is it bench? B/c everybody stalls on bench at some point.

I understand, but I'm just looking for a way to keep progressing, not sure of the best approach.

 

[Vita]

just reset the one. this'll leave you with more for the rest and when you get back to where you were you should be able to get through it

 

[ZGzaZ]

just reset the one. this'll leave you with more for the rest and when you get back to where you were you should be able to get through it

how far back would you recommend reseting it? Like I said, I havent got stuck yet, but its slowing, so it will be soon. Just not sure if i should reset it like 10lbs or 30lbs....have no idea..

 

[Protobuilder]

There are a lot of options really. The simplest is simply dropping back to a weight you were using 4 weeks ago (assuming 4 weeks ago was a relatively easy weight), and then jumping 2.5-5 pounds/wk. again and moving past your plateau.

You could also go into a peaking stage, where you reduce the overall volume by doing 3x3 (9 total reps) with heavier weights. That might be enough of a deload on that lift to help you get back on track. So, maybe transition into 3x3 for a handful of weeks, followed by a week off on that lift, and then back to 5x5/1x5 setup, ramping up again. Just be cautious that you don't start really grinding and grinding rep after rep for weeks on end as you try to set new records on your heavy triples. You can burn yourself out pretty good. Hit some new PRs, then take a break.

 

[ZGzaZ]

There are a lot of options really. The simplest is simply dropping back to a weight you were using 4 weeks ago (assuming 4 weeks ago was a relatively easy weight), and then jumping 2.5-5 pounds/wk. again and moving past your plateau.

You could also go into a peaking stage, where you reduce the overall volume by doing 3x3 (9 total reps) with heavier weights. That might be enough of a deload on that lift to help you get back on track. So, maybe transition into 3x3 for a handful of weeks, followed by a week off on that lift, and then back to 5x5/1x5 setup, ramping up again. Just be cautious that you don't start really grinding and grinding rep after rep for weeks on end as you try to set new records on your heavy triples. You can burn yourself out pretty good. Hit some new PRs, then take a break.

Awesome, great advice. I'll try dropping it back 4 weeks first and see how that works, if I get back to sticking at the same point I'll try the 3x3 and see what happens, thank you.

 

[Protobuilder]

No problem. Hopefully that'll work. LoL This is a great opportunity to work through a particular problem and see the big picture here. Your body is reaching it's limit on that particular lift. You're starting to wear down. To fix this, you take a bit of a break. You can do that by taking a week off completely, or by just reducing your workload. You can reduce workload by dropping sets, or by reducing weight. That's why 3x3 might work, b/c you go from 25 total reps down to 9. They're heavier but it's still less tonnage. And by resetting the weight, yo'ure dropping tonnage as well for a few weeks, then building it back up and hopefully setting new records. Some people, when they stall, like to change to a totally new exercise, like maybe switching from back squats to front squats or from flat bench to incline bench. That's another approach, but it hasn't seemed to work for me. Lifts rarely "carry over" in my experience. Better to just revamp your sets/rep scheme and keep working the lift, just manipulating tonnage. Hope that makes sense in the long run.