What's next after 5x5 for you??
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symba1130
Posts: 248 Member
I know there is a sticky about this and has all kinds of info, but I wanted to hear from YOU!
I have been doing 5x5 for 5+ months now. I am certainly not done in the manner that I have maxed out my weight, but I am finding myself a little bored. And I know myself that when I don't enjoy it, I wont do it!
I was thinking of doing 3x5 + accessory work. I still need to fit it into about an hour per session.
What have you progressed to from the original SL 5x5??
I have been doing 5x5 for 5+ months now. I am certainly not done in the manner that I have maxed out my weight, but I am finding myself a little bored. And I know myself that when I don't enjoy it, I wont do it!
I was thinking of doing 3x5 + accessory work. I still need to fit it into about an hour per session.
What have you progressed to from the original SL 5x5??
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Well, I've been doing 3x5 for a long time now. I also do stomach work and stretches. And a lot of walking.0
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I'm in the market to tweak my program. I'm thinking about something similar since five sets of five is getting to be a little much and I'd like to incorporate some accessories to spice things up. No decisions yet, though.0
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I'm still currently doing 5x5, but I also do accessory work and abs (when I'm not being lazy).
I'm contemplating switching to Mad Cow in April though, which will be after the New Year's rush and after a big vacation I have planned in March. Plus, by that time, I'll probably need to change it up to start progressing in my lifts. I'm getting close to stalling out on some of my lifts (OHP and bench) at the moment.0 -
I'm looking at either ICF or NROL4W. I have minor qualms about both and will be doing couch to 5k in spring too, so we'll see.0
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Before 5x5 I did AllPro Beginner's routine. It was progressive 3x8/9/10/11/12 so you only increased in weight every 6 weeks. It had other accessory lifts as well. At some point in time I might consider going back to it.
Currently I also bike, treadmill, do fitness blender and mix in bicep/tricep work into routines.0 -
I'm not ready to move on from 5x5 yet, but have briefly looked at this program since it's similar but has "built-in" accessories:
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/jason-blaha-ice-cream-fitness-5x5-novice-workout
Plus, ice cream.
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I did 5x5 for a while, then switched to 3x5 with accessories, then did a few Wendler's cycles + accessories, then a few Madcow cycles, then some hypertrophy routine (not a set program, just some crap I made up), and now I'm back on Wendler's + accessories. Wendler's is the easiest for me to do while eating at a defecit, and I'm going to TRY to stick with Wendler's for the whole year, but who knows for 2016. Maybe Sheiko or something??
Edited to add: Ooooh, I forgot about Strong Curves! That's a possibility, too...0 -
I did 5x5 and then dropped to 3x5 when the volume got to be too much. Then I got sick of the program and did strong curves. I did that for a while and then did a glute challenge (also by Bret Contraras). I've managed to have an injured tailbone for about 5 months now, and it still hurts to sit down, so no squats or deadlifts for now. I'm actually itching to get back to 5x5; I miss having the benchmark of seeing where my big lifts are.0
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I was doing 5x5 and added in some of the moves from SCs. My original plan was to do 5x5 for at least 6 months then switch to Wendler's 5,3,1 so I could lift with my hubby. But then I found out I was carrying a bodysnatcher and had to stop lifting alltogether.
After this baby gets out and I get the Dr's approval, I'm going to restart 5x5. You all will be onto bigger and better things by then, and I can't wait to read about them!0 -
LOL at "body snatcher"0
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I did 3x5 and accessories, then tried wendlers and now I am on a modified 5x5 (on DL days I do a lighter squat). I don't know what program to look into next, I will probably go back to 3x5 and accessories or concoct my own upper/lower split.0
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I like that ICF is similar to SL but with just a bit more added. However, the row every day... *grumbles* There are some lifts I haven't done yet though so could be interesting. With NROL4W, I'm not sure if my gym has all of the equipment. I could get through stage one if I got over my issue with using those exercise balls in public and my wrist cooperates on the one move. But then there is the whole finding a box for the deadlift, and I might miss squatting every day. Though trying to do 2 sets of 12 on deadlift could be interesting, or doing the rep test at the end of stage one. hmmm
So, I'm undecided for now.0 -
Great idea for a thread.
I'm taking a week of lifting. I just feeling grumpy with it and neither my heart nor my muscles seemed to be in it. I had toyed around with adding some core/abs additions but this thread has made me think about doing 3x5 in order to find the time to do some core/abs properly.
Reading your posts has also made me think that actually I don't have to lift progressively. I could just lift and then do a bit more of the cardio I love and cut down on for the sake of making some gains.
So, Question is there such a thing as not lifting progressively and is there any point?0 -
@logg1e, do what you think is best for yourself. To quote the great singer Selina Gomez, the heart wants what it wants. You can always change your mind and come back. It's ok to focus more on other exercise routines and it's perfectly healthy. Hope you stick around the group, though
As for your bolded question, lifting progressively is a general term. If you're making progress by adding more weight, more reps, having an easier time, feeling better, getting stronger, etc. then you're lifting progressively. If you want to shift focus, what you'll no longer be doing is strict progressive loading upon which SL is built. Progressive loading is continually adding weight until you struggle or fail your sets. The goal is to get stronger and be able to lift more over time.0 -
Love all this input!!! I sure hope I get to stay in the group if I am not doing 5x5 strictly. You ladies are all so awesome!0
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I have done this program previous to 5x5 (because I never do anything like anyone, rofl! My first program was a bro-split, so hush xD) and it's an upper/lower split that actually worked well for me in the beginning - I even managed to run it with wendler's 5/3/1 in a way (I would do the 5/3/1 on power days and accessories on hypertrophy days)
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/phul-workout
Just figured I'd throw it out there since it's also another type of split that could be interesting for some of you.
I do really enjoy Wendler's basic program on its own because you can pair it with anything. The 5/3/1 sets rarely will take up much more than 20-25 minutes to get through. The BBB template with opposite lifts (so doing 5x10 squats on deadlift day) works pretty well for hypertrophy but I don't know that doing more than 3 sets really changes anything at that point. I know it buried me when I tried to do it and was at a deficit, so if you're trying to lose weight, not a good plan.
But as you've all seen my thing is more towards crossfit-like workouts (with reasonable progressions programmed into it, not just any random WOD). Some strenght and power focus, some skill work, and some form of conditioning. Keeps things fresh and interesting. However, I actually paid for the programs I follow (although if you ask reaallyy nicely I could share the pdfs >_>) and they include oly lifts and stuff not all of you guys would want to try (I HAVE been called crazy
) so that may not be everyone's cup of tea 0 -
MissHolidayGolightly wrote: »Progressive loading is continually adding weight until you struggle or fail your sets.
Read this as "until you struggle or fall on your *kitten*." Which really isn't necessarily that different.
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