5x5 Building Strength & Power
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5x5 Training Introduction
The 5x5 weight training workout is mostly used to greatly increase power across all the bodies muscle groups.
Many people have never ever heard of this training technique but it is one all powerlifters and weightlifters use to increase their strength dramatically.
The 5x5 workout works by lifting 5 reps for 5 sets on compound exercises using the heaviest weight you can. Normally you will lift 5 reps for 3 sets then the reps will lower for the last two sets. As you get stonger and can complete all 5 sets with 5 reps over the training sessions you add more weight to the bar and start again!
Many people have never ever heard of this training technique but it is one all powerlifters and weightlifters use to increase their strength dramatically.
The 5x5 workout works by lifting 5 reps for 5 sets on compound exercises using the heaviest weight you can. Normally you will lift 5 reps for 3 sets then the reps will lower for the last two sets. As you get stonger and can complete all 5 sets with 5 reps over the training sessions you add more weight to the bar and start again!
5x5 Training Contents
- Fitness Links
- Expecting Results!
- Muscle Power Book
- Season 1: Building the Foundations (Wk 1 - 13)
- Andy Bolton 1003lb Deadlift!
- Season 2: Cometh the Strength (Wk 14 - 26)
- Muscle Power Book
- Season 3: Assistance Improvement (Wk 27 - 39)
- Bench Press Video
- Season 4: Professional Lifting (Wk 40 - 52)
- Weightlifting Photos
- Disclaimer
- 5x5 Training Comments
Fitness Links
- Home gym equipment
- Find the best home gym equipment in the US at Home Fitness Equipment
- Muscle Power
- Learn about loads of great weightlifting tips and tricks at Muscle Power Shop
Expecting Results!
By completing the 5x5 workout you will see lots of positive gains in strength, increased muscle size, fat loss and general well being through improved health.
Within the first four to six weeks you should see your strength dramatically increase, large muscle gains and some fat loss occur. As you follow the 4 seasons 5x5 workout over the next few months you will start to see your body really change shape as your body fat percentage drops and your muscle mass increases.
Muscle Gains
Firstly you will notice that your legs, chest, back, arms and shoulders get bigger. This will be most noticeable through how your clothes fit as your tops will become tight around the chest and shoulders and your trousers become tight around your thighs from muscle!
Fat Loss
Over the weeks and months you will start to feel your trousers become loose as your body fat reduces which will reduce the size of your waist.
Improved Strength
By the end of the first season you will see a great improvement in strength in the Squat, Dead lift and Bench press while using the correct form for these exercises. It has been said that some people will see strength gains of up to 250%! I personally saw an increase of 133%.
General Wellbeing
From fat loss, muscle gain and eating a more healthy diet you will start to feel healthier and will gain a better sense of wellbeing and happiness.
Within the first four to six weeks you should see your strength dramatically increase, large muscle gains and some fat loss occur. As you follow the 4 seasons 5x5 workout over the next few months you will start to see your body really change shape as your body fat percentage drops and your muscle mass increases.
Muscle Gains
Firstly you will notice that your legs, chest, back, arms and shoulders get bigger. This will be most noticeable through how your clothes fit as your tops will become tight around the chest and shoulders and your trousers become tight around your thighs from muscle!
Fat Loss
Over the weeks and months you will start to feel your trousers become loose as your body fat reduces which will reduce the size of your waist.
Improved Strength
By the end of the first season you will see a great improvement in strength in the Squat, Dead lift and Bench press while using the correct form for these exercises. It has been said that some people will see strength gains of up to 250%! I personally saw an increase of 133%.
General Wellbeing
From fat loss, muscle gain and eating a more healthy diet you will start to feel healthier and will gain a better sense of wellbeing and happiness.
Muscle Power Book
The Muscle Power book by the author of this article is live! Buy the Muscle Power book today for only $8.99
Season 1: Building the Foundations (Wk 1 - 13)
The idea behind season one is to build the foundations that will see your size and strength increase dramatically over the coming weeks and months. By laying a sturdy muscle foundation you will be sure to see the amount you lift in each exercise sky rocket in a short time.
Season 1 works on a two day 5x5 workout training split where you keep alternating through day one and day two, completing three training sessions a week. When you get to week thirteen you take a week off so your body can recuperate and your muscle can use this time to rebuild stronger.
From day 1 start with an empty bar concentrating on form to ensure you lift correctly, as you complete each workout lifting 5x5 successfully add an extra 2.5kg to the bar. You should see the weight being added to the bar every workout for the first 12 weeks.
During each week always ensure you have at least a days rest between each training day, this means training Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thu/Sat for example.
Equipment: For season 1 all you require is a barbell, weights, a power rack and an EZ bar.
Workouts: (Each workout should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes)
Day 1
Squat 5x5
Bench press 5x5
Barbell Row 3x15
EZ Curls 3x15
Crunch (Abs) 3x25
Day 2
Squat 5x5
Dead lift 5x5
Shoulder Press 3x12
Skullcrushers 3x15
Reverse Crunches (Abs) 3x25
Season 1 works on a two day 5x5 workout training split where you keep alternating through day one and day two, completing three training sessions a week. When you get to week thirteen you take a week off so your body can recuperate and your muscle can use this time to rebuild stronger.
From day 1 start with an empty bar concentrating on form to ensure you lift correctly, as you complete each workout lifting 5x5 successfully add an extra 2.5kg to the bar. You should see the weight being added to the bar every workout for the first 12 weeks.
During each week always ensure you have at least a days rest between each training day, this means training Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thu/Sat for example.
Equipment: For season 1 all you require is a barbell, weights, a power rack and an EZ bar.
Workouts: (Each workout should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes)
Day 1
Squat 5x5
Bench press 5x5
Barbell Row 3x15
EZ Curls 3x15
Crunch (Abs) 3x25
Day 2
Squat 5x5
Dead lift 5x5
Shoulder Press 3x12
Skullcrushers 3x15
Reverse Crunches (Abs) 3x25
Season 2: Cometh the Strength (Wk 14 - 26)
Season 2 is where the real strength starts to show, by now you should have built a very strong foundation from season 1 to work on and improve greatly.
By now your form should be good when carrying out exercises and you should have a good amount of weight on the bar. Season 2 builds you up to a 3 days split on 5x5 training, this will grow your training on each muscle groups so your strength increases dramatically.
During each week always ensure you have at least a days rest between each training day, this means training Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thu/Sat for example.
Equipment: For season 2 you require a barbell, weights, a power rack, cable column, dumbbells and leg press.
Workouts: (Each workout should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes)
Day 1
Bench press 5x5
Incline bench press 5x5
Shoulder Press 3x12
Skull crushers 3x8
Cable pushdowns 3x8
Crunch (Abs) 3x25
Day 2
Barbell row 5x5
Dumbbell row 5x5
Lat pulldown 5x5
Hammer curls 3x8
Barbell curls 3x8
Reverse Crunches (Abs) 3x25
Day 3
Deadlift 5x5
Squat 5x5
Leg press 3x8
Calf raises 2x12
By now your form should be good when carrying out exercises and you should have a good amount of weight on the bar. Season 2 builds you up to a 3 days split on 5x5 training, this will grow your training on each muscle groups so your strength increases dramatically.
During each week always ensure you have at least a days rest between each training day, this means training Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thu/Sat for example.
Equipment: For season 2 you require a barbell, weights, a power rack, cable column, dumbbells and leg press.
Workouts: (Each workout should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes)
Day 1
Bench press 5x5
Incline bench press 5x5
Shoulder Press 3x12
Skull crushers 3x8
Cable pushdowns 3x8
Crunch (Abs) 3x25
Day 2
Barbell row 5x5
Dumbbell row 5x5
Lat pulldown 5x5
Hammer curls 3x8
Barbell curls 3x8
Reverse Crunches (Abs) 3x25
Day 3
Deadlift 5x5
Squat 5x5
Leg press 3x8
Calf raises 2x12
Muscle Power Book
The Muscle Power book by the author of this article is live! Buy the Muscle Power book today for only $8.99
Season 3: Assistance Improvement (Wk 27 - 39)
Season 3 is all about assistance improvement, this means working on the smaller muscle groups to assist the larger groups you have already built on. By building the smaller muscle groups these will assist in your lifting by providing extra stability and strength to your lifts.
By now your body will be accustomed to lifting weights through the 5x5 training method so we can now move on to a 4 day training split.
During each week always ensure you have at least a days rest between each training day, this means training Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun.
This split does however meaning training on a Sunday and Monday every week and it is for this reason the fourth day is alot less strenious and only offers assistance and no big lifts.
Equipment: For season 3 you require a barbell, weights, a power rack, cable column, dumbbells, leg press, lat pulldown and chin up bar.
Workouts: (Each workout should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes)
Day 1
Deadlift 5x5
Squat 5x5
Leg press 3x8
Calf raises 2x12
Day 2
Bench press 5x5
Incline bench press 5x5
Shoulder Press 3x12
Skull crushers 3x8
Cable pushdowns 3x8
Crunch (Abs) 3x25
Day 3
Barbell row 5x5
Dumbbell row 5x5
Lat pulldown 5x5
Hammer curls 3x8
Barbell curls 3x8
Reverse Crunches (Abs) 3x25
Day 4
10 minutes exercise bike
Barbell shoulder shrugs s 3x12
Chin ups 3x12
Triceps dips 3x12
By now your body will be accustomed to lifting weights through the 5x5 training method so we can now move on to a 4 day training split.
During each week always ensure you have at least a days rest between each training day, this means training Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun.
This split does however meaning training on a Sunday and Monday every week and it is for this reason the fourth day is alot less strenious and only offers assistance and no big lifts.
Equipment: For season 3 you require a barbell, weights, a power rack, cable column, dumbbells, leg press, lat pulldown and chin up bar.
Workouts: (Each workout should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes)
Day 1
Deadlift 5x5
Squat 5x5
Leg press 3x8
Calf raises 2x12
Day 2
Bench press 5x5
Incline bench press 5x5
Shoulder Press 3x12
Skull crushers 3x8
Cable pushdowns 3x8
Crunch (Abs) 3x25
Day 3
Barbell row 5x5
Dumbbell row 5x5
Lat pulldown 5x5
Hammer curls 3x8
Barbell curls 3x8
Reverse Crunches (Abs) 3x25
Day 4
10 minutes exercise bike
Barbell shoulder shrugs s 3x12
Chin ups 3x12
Triceps dips 3x12
Season 4: Professional Lifting (Wk 40 - 52)
Season 4 will see you in tip top condition lifting a respectable and large amount of weight compared to others in the gym.
We now move on to the professional 5x5 training 4 days split in which we really push our body to make serious gains.
You should now be in a position to trial different exercises within this regime once you have used the 13 weeks cycle once.
Dont forget to take your one week rest at week thirteen!
Equipment: For season 4 you require a barbell, weights, a power rack, cable column, dumbbells, leg press, lat pulldown, chin up bar and exercise bike.
Workouts: (Each workout should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes)
Day 1
Deadlift 5x5
Squat 5x5
Leg press 3x8
Calf raises 2x12
Military press 3x10
Lateral flies 3x10
Rear delt raise 3x10
Day 2
Barbell row 5x5
Dumbbell row 5x5
Lat pulldown 5x5
Hammer curls 3x8
Barbell curls 3x8
Reverse Crunches (Abs) 3x25
Day 3
Bench press 5x5
Bench press lower partial reps 3x10
Bench press upper partial reps 3x10
Skull crushers 3x8
Cable pushdowns 3x8
Crunch (Abs) 3x25
Day 4
10 minutes exercise bike
Barbell shoulder shrugs s 3x12
Bulgarian Dumbbell Squat 3x12
Chin ups 2x12
Triceps dips 2x12
We now move on to the professional 5x5 training 4 days split in which we really push our body to make serious gains.
You should now be in a position to trial different exercises within this regime once you have used the 13 weeks cycle once.
Dont forget to take your one week rest at week thirteen!
Equipment: For season 4 you require a barbell, weights, a power rack, cable column, dumbbells, leg press, lat pulldown, chin up bar and exercise bike.
Workouts: (Each workout should take no longer than 45 to 50 minutes)
Day 1
Deadlift 5x5
Squat 5x5
Leg press 3x8
Calf raises 2x12
Military press 3x10
Lateral flies 3x10
Rear delt raise 3x10
Day 2
Barbell row 5x5
Dumbbell row 5x5
Lat pulldown 5x5
Hammer curls 3x8
Barbell curls 3x8
Reverse Crunches (Abs) 3x25
Day 3
Bench press 5x5
Bench press lower partial reps 3x10
Bench press upper partial reps 3x10
Skull crushers 3x8
Cable pushdowns 3x8
Crunch (Abs) 3x25
Day 4
10 minutes exercise bike
Barbell shoulder shrugs s 3x12
Bulgarian Dumbbell Squat 3x12
Chin ups 2x12
Triceps dips 2x12
Disclaimer
With any form of exercise it is important to perform all exercises correctly to reduce the possibility of injury. Weight training has been proven to be one of the safest sports with fewer injuries sustained through weight lifting than through other sports such as football.
Taking this into account it is important to seek the advice of a qualified medical practitioner before embarking on any exercise regime. I accept no liability for injury or illness sustained through the information held within this lens.
Your exercise program is entered into entirely at your own risk.
Taking this into account it is important to seek the advice of a qualified medical practitioner before embarking on any exercise regime. I accept no liability for injury or illness sustained through the information held within this lens.
Your exercise program is entered into entirely at your own risk.
5x5 Training Comments
Like what you read or have any questions then why not write something below in the guestbook.
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workoutdvdworld
Dec 7, 2011 @ 12:34 am | delete
- Thanks for this comprehensive strength training guide. It's really broken down in a simple enough way for even a beginner to understand. I love a challenge. go 5x5!
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vic
Jul 24, 2011 @ 6:11 pm | delete
- Hi! good day ...this is Vic , this is an awesome workout , i stopped lifting weights 4 yrs ago and i tried this 5x5 workout last june 2 , 2011 now i can squat 170 lbs / deadlift 190 lbs / bench 160 and going stronger , compared to what i've been lifting 4 yrs ago .... fantastic workout ... every workout i make sure i can add at least 5 lbs ...
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vic
Jul 24, 2011 @ 6:20 pm | delete
- by the way .. is this correct when i performed the 5x5 workout for ex ( squat ) 170 lbs
i will breakdown the weights for 5 reps until i reached 170 lbs
88x5 / 120x5/ 140x5 / 160x5 / 170x5 ? tnx
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Michael
Jun 6, 2011 @ 11:53 am | delete
- Hello
Your program is great and I'm already progressing. I have a question regarding weight from season 2 and on.
How much weight shall be added each week?
Thanks
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mugshot
Jun 6, 2011 @ 1:54 pm | delete
- Hi MIchael,
Im glad to hear your progressing well and enjoying the 5z5 workout!
As long as you have achieved the 5 reps on all 5 sets keep adding 2.5 kg each week, this might not sound much but thats an addition of 10 kg in one month if you achieve the 5x5 each week.
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by mugshot
mugshot
I am a 31 year old who enjoys weightlifting and history. I have a passion for writing and while I write on Squidoo for fun I am also a paid writer for... more »
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