Bulking on 5x5

annaclaireblack
annaclaireblack Posts: 63 Member
edited November 14 in Fitness and Exercise
Right now I'm lifting 4-5 times a week and cardio 2-3 times with 160c, 135p, and 45f. I'm 19, 5'8 and 135lbs. I'm wanting to start bulking and I was wondering if the sting lifts 5x5 program is a good program for bulking? Obviously I'm going to change my macros but I'm wondering if I should just keep doing my 4-5 lifts a week and cut cardio back to 1-2 or do the 5x5?

Replies

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    I personally prefer something with a little more hypertrophy work if I'm going to be in a surplus of calories. What are your goals? Strength? Physique?

  • annaclaireblack
    annaclaireblack Posts: 63 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I personally prefer something with a little more hypertrophy work if I'm going to be in a surplus of calories. What are your goals? Strength? Physique?

    I'm looking to get stronger and get more mass. Just worried it won't be enough excercise to be bulking and eating more, you know what I mean?
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I personally prefer something with a little more hypertrophy work if I'm going to be in a surplus of calories. What are your goals? Strength? Physique?

    I'm looking to get stronger and get more mass. Just worried it won't be enough excercise to be bulking and eating more, you know what I mean?

    Sure it is. It's just not a hypertrophy program.
  • annaclaireblack
    annaclaireblack Posts: 63 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I personally prefer something with a little more hypertrophy work if I'm going to be in a surplus of calories. What are your goals? Strength? Physique?

    I'm looking to get stronger and get more mass. Just worried it won't be enough excercise to be bulking and eating more, you know what I mean?

    Sure it is. It's just not a hypertrophy program.

    Would you suggest a different one for what I'm wanting?
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    PHAT, PHUL
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I personally prefer something with a little more hypertrophy work if I'm going to be in a surplus of calories. What are your goals? Strength? Physique?

    I'm looking to get stronger and get more mass. Just worried it won't be enough excercise to be bulking and eating more, you know what I mean?

    Sure it is. It's just not a hypertrophy program.

    Would you suggest a different one for what I'm wanting?

    I don't know. Personally I'd want at least some accessory work in the 8-12 rep range. But I don't like running 5x5 with a crap ton of accessory work because it's taxing. I liked PHUL in a surplus...two days of power, two days of body building. You still get to deadlift, squat, bench and row heavy, but there's plenty of accessory work. This way you are building strength and getting some physique benefits as well.
  • jvs125
    jvs125 Posts: 223 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I personally prefer something with a little more hypertrophy work if I'm going to be in a surplus of calories. What are your goals? Strength? Physique?

    I'm looking to get stronger and get more mass. Just worried it won't be enough excercise to be bulking and eating more, you know what I mean?

    Sure it is. It's just not a hypertrophy program.

    Would you suggest a different one for what I'm wanting?

    I don't know. Personally I'd want at least some accessory work in the 8-12 rep range. But I don't like running 5x5 with a crap ton of accessory work because it's taxing. I liked PHUL in a surplus...two days of power, two days of body building. You still get to deadlift, squat, bench and row heavy, but there's plenty of accessory work. This way you are building strength and getting some physique benefits as well.

    You seem like you know your stuff! :) I'm just starting out weight lifting and my goal is physique. I'm at 133 right now and I'd like to lose some fat and gain some muscle. I keep reading about Stronglifts and other Strength programs, but really I'm looking for programs that will build a nice physique - I just don't know any. Any suggestions?
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    edited December 2016
    jvs125 wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I personally prefer something with a little more hypertrophy work if I'm going to be in a surplus of calories. What are your goals? Strength? Physique?

    I'm looking to get stronger and get more mass. Just worried it won't be enough excercise to be bulking and eating more, you know what I mean?

    Sure it is. It's just not a hypertrophy program.

    Would you suggest a different one for what I'm wanting?

    I don't know. Personally I'd want at least some accessory work in the 8-12 rep range. But I don't like running 5x5 with a crap ton of accessory work because it's taxing. I liked PHUL in a surplus...two days of power, two days of body building. You still get to deadlift, squat, bench and row heavy, but there's plenty of accessory work. This way you are building strength and getting some physique benefits as well.

    You seem like you know your stuff! :) I'm just starting out weight lifting and my goal is physique. I'm at 133 right now and I'd like to lose some fat and gain some muscle. I keep reading about Stronglifts and other Strength programs, but really I'm looking for programs that will build a nice physique - I just don't know any. Any suggestions?

    I personally like those programs for someone just starting out; it lays the foundation for future lifting. You can lose fat, retain and reveal your existing muscle with diet and running either of those two programs. Once you get a decent feel for lifting and want to branch out with more accessory work, then you can look at other programs that incorporate that, but you can change your physique a fair amount with SS or SL 5x5 and a good diet.
  • richln
    richln Posts: 809 Member
    annaclaireblack wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I personally prefer something with a little more hypertrophy work if I'm going to be in a surplus of calories. What are your goals? Strength? Physique?

    I'm looking to get stronger and get more mass. Just worried it won't be enough excercise to be bulking and eating more, you know what I mean?

    Another vote here for PHAT/PHUL. I also think PPL and 5/3/1 BBB are a good blend.
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
  • newbie3122
    newbie3122 Posts: 480 Member
    Stronglift 55 is a good program for beginners because it is simply structured, easy to progress, and proven to work.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Great question.

    I'm going to ramble a bit on a few things --

    First of all, if the goal is hypertrophy you should be looking at a reasonable amount of training volume however consider that the volume requirements to elicit hypertrophy are likely to be a bit lower in a newer trainee vs someone who is quite advanced.

    Fortunately with something like a 5x5 approach you can readily add in accessory volume to cover anything you feel is lacking from a volume standpoint to cover hypertrophy goals. Just be mindful of recovery.


    However there's another important consideration IMO: You should be selecting programs that have reasonable rates of progression and periodization models that at least roughly match your training age.

    Whether or not 5x5 will be a good approach for you will depend a great deal on your training age and capacity for improvement on the main lifts in 5x5. What I mean by this is, if you're an intermediate lifter then a 5x5 program is going to cause you to stall out rapidly. If you're a beginner it will likely be completely fine.



  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    You don't have to be in a specific range (8-12 vs 4-6) to have muscle growth. What matters is total volume. It might be easier to achieve greater volume at 8-12 but it doesn't mean it's required. But if your goal is to get as strong as possible, while gaining muscle, than looking for a program that is lower in rep count. Anything out of Layne Norton (PHUL, PHAT, PH3) is going to be solid. Wendler is really good for strength and I have been hearing a lot of good stuff on Mike Matthew's programs.

    How new to lifting are you? Are there any particular focus area you have? Generally if you are pretty new to lifting, a 3 day full body routine would be a good choice if you an handle the volume. A 4 day split is also a pretty good choice.
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