DFT 5x5

[Darkhorse]

I see some people are bored with the same old shit, and I think this would be VERY fun if more people tried this. 5x5 from Bill Star, legendary strength coach. Here it is. Hopefully other's will jump on the bandwagon with me so we can see results together. This is all the info I compiled over alot of different places far and wide. Makes for a very good thread. I'll start with the general open ended info, then what I'm doing from that info.

Basically, everything gets hit three times a week, HARD.

Bill Starr's 5x5, animal mass's version

The 5X5:

Monday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (same weight)
Benching 5x5 (flat, close grip or regular)(same weight)
JS Rows 5x5 (same weight)
Accessory (low volume triceps and abs)

Wednesday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (reduced 15-20% from Monday) or Front Squats 5x5
Standing Military Press 5x5 (same weight)
Deadlifts 5x5 (same weight) (if you pull 2.5x bodyweight do 3x5)
Pull ups 5x5 (use weight if you need it)
Accessory (biceps and abs)

Friday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (working up each set)
Benching 5x5 (flat or incline)(same weight)
Rows 5x5 (same weight)
Accessory (low volume triceps and abs)


The idea is simple: pick a weight you can do for 5 sets of 5, and if you complete all the sets and reps, then next time bump the weight up 5 or 10 pounds.

Before beginning the program it is important to establish 1 rep maxes for the squat, bench press, military press, and deadlift, and 5 rep maxes for the squat, bench press, rows, military press, and deadlifts.

The first week, it is important to begin very conservatively and prepare to set new 5 rep maxes on about the 4th-6th week, rather than the 1st or 2nd week. It will take some time for your body to grow accustomed to training this way, and in the beginning you’re gonna be sore as hell.

If you get all the sets and reps, then you increase the weight (5-10lbs) for the next week, and if not, you keep the weight the same.

Try and set new 5 rep maxes on weeks 4-6 for beginners , and weeks 3-4 for veterans and then move to a 3x3 for 2x per week.

Run the 3x3 for 2-3 weeks, drop the squatting frequency to 2x per week (or even every 4-5 days if you need the additional recovery), and try setting records on the 4th or 5th workout. (Also, weight increase are the important thing here).

Then cycle down to 1 set of 3 for 2 or 3 workouts, and maybe even go for a max single at the end.

So basically what you get is a 4-6 week prep phase, followed by a 3-5 week peaking phase.

One point – during the initial phase where 5x5 is being used you MUST stick to the required volume and frequency. Back off the weight if you have to, but always get in all 5 sets of 5.

cont...

[Darkhorse]

Switch to 3x3 of three, and drop the Friday workout altogether.

Your workout should look like this:

Monday:
Oly squats: 3x3
Bench: 3x3
Rows: 3x3

Wednesday (or move this workout to Thursday if you'd like, I usually did)
Light Oly Squats (70% of monday): 3x3
Deadlifts: 3x3
Military Press: 3x3
Chins:3x3

If you get all 9 reps, go up 5-10 pounds the following week. Do this for about 3-4 weeks.

Volume Phase 4 weeks
Deloading Period 1 week
Intensity Phase 4 weeks

Mon......Volume Phase...........................................De load/Intensity Phase
Squat.......5x5................................... ..............................3x3
Bench.......1x5................................... ..............................1x3
Row.........1x5................................... ...............................1x3

Wed......Volume Phase...........................................De load/Intensity Phase
Squat.......5x5 with 15-20% less than Monday.................drop this lift
Deadlift.....5x5.................................. ...............................3x3
Military......5x5................................. ................................3x3
Pullups.......5x5................................. ...............................3x3

Fri.........Volume Phase...........................................De load/Intensity Phase
Squat........1x5.................................. ..............................1x3
Bench........5x5.................................. .............................3x3
Row...........5x5................................. ..............................3x3

*5x5 & 3x3 = warm up to working set weight
**1x5 & 1x3 = pyramid weights through 5x5 or 3x3 with the final set being target set weight

[Darkhorse]

This next part is to show everyone the importance of planning well ahead. You need this because this program (5x5) combined with DFHT program needs delaoding periods. I don't recommend doing the DFHT training outlined below unless you can at least bench 1.5 times your bodyweight and squat AT LEAST the same, preferably more. This is coming from the creator of DFHT.


You can begin to think about longer programs and structures to address specific needs. The 5x5 is basically 2 mesocycles (4 weeks each but they can range from 3-6 weeks). For reference a microcycle is 1-2 weeks (or look at a macrocycle as 4 semirelated microcycles although this is unnecessary for the 5x5 program or anything that general) and a Macrocycle is closer to a year and this is what I'm getting at although for a non-competitive lifter it's unnecessary to plan to that degree. Anyway, you are looking at stringing together a series of meso/micro cycles into an abbreviated macrocycle (yeah a lot of bullshit terms but you'll see the sense).

So, assuming you wanted to run 2 5x5s back to back (we'll just assume you will deload a week and start at the next one) and then continue into the other dual factor program (DFHT) and for the sake of fun you wanted to run a two week specialty program to address something else before beginning the core 5x5 again you'd have something like this:

Mesocycle 1:........................5x5 Loading
Mesocycle 2: Microcycle 1:.....5x5 Deload Week
Mesocycle 2: Microcycles 2-5:.5x5 Intensity Weeks
Microcycle 1 (separate):.........Deloading - 1 week
Mesocycle 3: Microcycles 1-3:.DFHT Loading
Mesocycle 3: Micocycle 4:.......DFHT Deloading
Microcycle 2 (separate):..........Specialty work - 2 weeks
Repeat

This is roughly 4 months or 16 weeks

DFHT: By Matt Reynolds

DFHT Training

Upper Body Workout One:

1./// Barbell Bench Press: (flat or incline, primarily wide grip, hypertrophy reps; ex. 4x10 with the same weight for each set)
2./// Dumbell Press (flat, incline, or decline for 3x8-12 same weight)
3./// Horizontal Lat Work (Barbell JS Rows, 5x5)
4./// Shoulders/ Traps (emphasis on medial delts - Shrugs, High Pulls, Dumbell Cleans, Lateral Raises, Shoulder Horn, Face Pulls – pick 1-2 exercises for 4-6 sets total)
5./// Tricep Extension (skull crushers, French presses, JM Presses, rolling dumbbell extensions, Tate Presses, Pushdowns – pick one exercise for 3x10-12)
6./// Biceps (1-2 exercises, 3-5 sets total)

Lower Body Workout One:

1./// Heavy Squats (butt to ankles, 5x5 working up each set to a 5rm, or try for a 3rm or even an occasional 1rm)
2./// Goodmornings (3x5 same weight or work up to 5rm)
3./// Pullthroughs (3-5 sets of 10-12, some arched back, some rounded back)
4./// Glute Ham Raises or Hamstring Curls followed by Leg Extensions (2 sets each)
-or-
4./// Leg Presses (3-4 sets of 10-12) –or- Occasionally a Hack Squat (for 3-4x10-12)
5./// Weighted Abs/ Obliques (5x10 total – weighted situps, ab pulldowns on high cable or with bands, dumbbell side bends, etc.)
6./// Calves (most of you know what works best for your calves)

Upper Body Workout Two:

1./// Flat Barbell Bench Press (close or regular grip – heavy work 1rm, 3rm, 5rm, or 5x5)
2./// Board Press/ Floor Press (5rm usually start where you left off on bench press)
3./// Overhead Press (Standing military press, push press, dumbbell overhead press – various rep schemes – 5rm, 5x5, 4x10)
4./// Dips (2-3 sets)
5./// Vertical Lat Work (Lat Pulldowns or Pullups – 5+ sets – if on lat pulldown use different bars and work different planes)
6./// Tricep Extension ((skull crushers, French presses, JM Presses, rolling dumbbell extensions, Tate Presses, Pushdowns – pick one exercise for 3x10-12)
7./// Biceps (1-2 exercises, 3-5 sets total)

Lower Body Workout Two:

1./// Lighter Squats (back squats or front squats for 5x5 or 4x10 with the same weight)
2./// Deadlifts (conventional deadlifts or deadlifts standing on 2-3” box, mat, or 100lb plate - 1rm, 3rm, 5rm, or 3x5 same weight, )
3./// Pullthroughs (3-5 sets of 10-12, some arched back, some rounded back)
4./// Glute Ham Raises or Hamstring Curls followed by Leg Extensions (2 sets each)
5./// Weighted Hyperextensions (2-3x10-12 )
6./// Weighted Abs/ Obliques (5x10 total – weighted situps, ab pulldowns on high cable or with bands, dumbbell side bends, etc.)
6./// Calves (most of you know what works best for your calves)

[verbatimreturned]

havent gotten a chance to read all of the information but i definatly will later on tonight. thanks for sharing the great info though

[Darkhorse]

Here's a very good article written by Matt Reynolds about DUAL FACTOR


Dual Factor Hypertrophy Training: An Explanation....
Note: first off, I'd like to thank AngelFace, JohnSmith, and Gavin for contributing to this article.

Author: Matt Reynolds

There are basically two accepted theories in the world of weight training. One is called Supercompensation (or Single Factor Theory), and the other is called the Fitness Fatigue Theory (or Dual Factor Theory). Bodybuilding tends to follow the Supercompensation way of thinking, while virtually every field of strength and conditioning, athletics, etc. follows the Dual Factor Theory. The reasoning that almost everyone involved in strength training adheres to the Dual Factor Theory is because there is scientific proof that it works, not to mention that the eastern bloc countries that have adhered to this theory have kicked America's ass at every Olympics since the 1950s.

Bodybuilding, for years, has basically ignored Dual Factor Theory and opted for Single Factor Theory training. In the following paragraphs, I hope to prove to you why Dual Factor Theory should be accepted, taught, and adhered to in the world of bodybuilding as well as all other athletes concerned with strength and conditioning.

Note: The one exception to the rule of "all bodybuilding programs based on Supercompensation" is Bryan Haycock's HST, which, from Bryan's own mouth, says that it wasn't based on dual factor theory, although he hit it dead-on, on all points. What I didn't care for personally with HST is that the same amount of importance is placed on the 15-rep phase and the negative rep phase as with the 10 rep and 5 rep phases. The thickness that rep ranges in the 3-8 range provide are far more impressive to me personally than those who focus on 12-15 rep schemes and countless negatives. I also wasn't excited about working the entire body in one workout. The CNS drain was unbelievable. – However, in saying that, HST is the best I've seen compared to everything else out there, and I did make good progress on it.

The Supercompensation Theory has been, in the bodybuilding community, the most widely accepted school of thought. However, people are beginning to see it as a bit too simplistic (the strength and conditioning and athletic movements have never accepted this practice). The theory itself is based on the fact that training depletes certain substances (like glycogen, and slowing protein synthesis). Training is seen as catabolic, draining the body of its necessary nutrients and fun stuff. So to grow, according to the theory, the body must then be rested for the appropriate/ optimal amount of time, AND, it (the body) must be supplied with all the nutrients it lost. If both of these things are done correctly, then theoretically your body will increase protein synthesis and store more nutrients than it originally had! (i.e. – your muscles will be bigger!)

So obviously the most important part of this theory is TIMING! (Specifically concerning the rest period). But that's where the problem comes in. "If the rest period was too short, then the individual would not be completely recovered and as such the training would deplete the substance even more, which over a period of time would result in overtraining and a loss of performance. If the rest interval were too long then the training would lose its stimulus property, and the individual would recover completely and lose the window of opportunity to provide the stimulus again. If the interval is optimal then improvements surely follow" (AF).

"So, given the one factor theory (Supercompensation), which looks at physical ability as, of course, one factor, you are left with the problem of timing workouts to correspond to the supercompensation wave... anything sooner or later will lead to a useless workout"(JS).

Another issue concerning the Supercompensation/ Single Factor Theory is that of FAILURE. Almost every program that utilizes this type of training advocates the use of muscle/ CNS failure, and then fully rest, and then beat the crap out of your muscles again, then rest, etc (I'm referring to the "work one bodypart per day, six days per week" program as well as HIT, popularized by Mike Mentzer). The issue is that it has now been proven that total failure is not necessarily needed for optimal growth. It has been shown that leaving a rep or two in the tank can and will yield the same results AND therefore a shorter rest period will be needed and less accumulation of fatigue will still be present by the time the next training session rolls around.

A Better Way…

The Dual Factor Theory, also called Fitness Fatigue Theory is somewhat more complex than the Supercompensation Theory. The theory is based on the fact that an individual's fitness and fatigue are totally independent of each other. This theory is entirely dependant on one's base conditioning (or physical preparedness or fitness). The thing is, when you have a high level of fitness (or conditioning/ preparedness) this level changes fairly slowly. This is because over the short term fitness does not fluctuate often. (However, fatigue can change (increase or decrease) fairly quickly when compared to fitness).

"The theory works like an equilibrium in that training will have an immediate effect on the body (similar to supercompensation). This effect is the combination of fatigue and gain (again, remember the equilibrium thing). So after a workout, because of the stimulus that training provides, preparedness/conditioning/fitness increases (gain) but at the same time will decrease due to fatigue from the training."
"So, the outcome of the training session is the result of both the positive and negative consequences of the training session. These two outcomes depend on time. By striking the correct balance, fatigue should be large in extent but short in how long it lasts. Gain on the other hand should be moderate, however, and is longer in duration. Typically the relationship is 1:3; if fatigue lasts x amount of time, then gain lasts 3x amount of time."

"Given the two factor theory, which separates physical fitness or preparedness and fatigue, you see that the timing of individual workouts is unimportant to long term gains (unlike Supercompensation)... in other words regardless of whether or not fatigue is or is not present, fitness can and will still be increased" (which is the goal)...

So what you get concerning the two-factor theory is a period of peaking fatigue (maybe 6 weeks), followed by a period of rest (maybe 2 weeks deloading, then one or two weeks of total rest). You view entire weeks and maybe months as you would have viewed just one workout with the single factor theory. For example, in the single factor theory, one workout represents a period of fatigue. But, in the two-factor theory, 6 weeks would represent a period of fatigue. In the single factor theory, a day or two (up to a week) represents a period of rest. But in the two-factor theory, up to four weeks may represent a period rest.

"What is important to note is there is almost universal agreement among scientists and athletes and coaches in all sports EXCEPT bodybuilding that the two factor theory is correct and the single factor theory is not correct and is in fact suitable only for beginners to follow when planning training."

"It is also important to note that most athletes in most sports are experiencing some level of constant fatigue ALWAYS, except for maybe a couple of weekends a year, when they are peaking. Training takes place daily against a backdrop of fatigue". Therefore, you should be able to see why, concerning the single factor theory, it would be very hard to ever fully recover, unless you sat on your ass for two weeks and did nothing."

Applying it to the real world…

When setting up dual factor periodization for the bodybuilder, it is important to remember to plan for periods of fatigue and periods of rest. During a fatigue period (say, 3 weeks), you slowly build up fatigue, and never fully recover. Then you have a period of recovery (another 1-3 weeks) where you train with reduced frequency, volume, or intensity. (My preference is to keep intensity high, while drastically lowering volume and slightly lowering frequency.) At any rate, the fatiguing and recovery periods most likely won't be as drastic for a bodybuilder as it would for a strength athlete because there will be no peaking phase for performance (at no point are you required as a bodybuilder to perform a competition based on strength). Additionally, bodybuilders need less fatigue and more recovery present at any given time (outside of the actual training sessions) when compared to strength athletes.

So here's what I've come up with…

• The general layout of the program will be to train upper body twice per week and lower body twice per week (so, we'll be providing double the training stimulus of typical one bodypart per day programs). The workouts will be fairly intense, heavy on free weight compound exercises, lower volume (per workout, and drastically lower volume per bodypart), and higher frequency than normal bodybuilding workouts. (Now, again, this is individual). Some of you won't be able to handle this amount of frequency yet, because your fitness level sucks. Some powerlifters, OLY lifters, and other strength athletes train up to 20 or 30 times each week (and most of them a minimum of 10 times per week) because their fitness level is so high. – If you find this level of frequency is too high, shorten the loading period and lengthen the recovery period, at first. Or, reduce the frequency to training three times per week, on a Mon, Wed, Fri, scheme, etc. – until your preparedness is increased, and your body can handle the frequency.)
The real difference is in failure and periodization (this is so each body part can be trained twice per week as opposed to only once)…

• No exercise should be taken to failure when using submaximal reps, however, all exercises should be taken to within one or two reps of failure by the final set of the exercise. If muscular failure is reached, there is no way you can train with an increased frequency without overtraining.

• Periodization will be individual to the lifter. However, for the sake of this program a 3-week period of loading followed by one week of recovery is given. (Additionally, if one isn't fully recovered after the one week recovery period, and fatigue still builds, increase the recovery period to two weeks, or have a "recovery month" every 4 or 5 months where you'll have one week of loading and three weeks of recovery during that month to allow your body to fully recover.)

• Progressive Overload is absolutely imperative in every exercise, making sure that load or reps are increased, or that rest periods are decreased to keep intensity high (during loading phases). (Of course, during the recovery phases, if volume is lowered, and frequency reduced slightly, then intensity can and should still be kept high, although the load should be reduced just slightly (approx. 10%) as there is no reason to attempt to set records through progressive overload during this time of recovery.)

• Many different rep ranges will be used. I am partial to the use of rep ranges in the 3-10 range, as it tends to give the lifter a great balance of extreme muscle thickness (like the look of a bodybuilder with a powerlifting background) as well as great neural efficiency.

A. Use of Neural Efficiency (as well as some Myofibral Hypertrophy) occurs in rep ranges of 1-3. (Neural Efficiency increases the percentage of motor units that can be activated at any given time. There is little to no effect on size but increases strength will be great. Little to no protein turnover occurs in this rep range as load is too high and mechanical work is too low.)

B. Mostly Myofibral and Sarcomere Hypertrophy and very little Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy occur with rep ranges of 3-5. (Sarcomere hypertrophy increases contractile proteins in muscle thereby increasing strength directly and also size. Book knowledge suggests that growth here will be mostly myofibral/ sarcomere hypertrophy and will be accompanied with strength gains in other rep ranges and improvements in neural efficiency. Therefore this is perhaps the best rep range for increasing strength. Better balance of load / work done for hypertrophy so no surprises there.)

C. Myofibral, Sarcomere, and Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy (lots of growth as well strength gain within this rep range with little transfer to 1rm) occur with rep ranges of 5-10. (Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy does not directly increase strength but can affect it by increasing tendon angle at the attachment - but of course it increases size.)

D. Some Sarcoplasmic with little Myofibral and Sarcomere Hypertrophy occur in rep ranges of 10-15. (More fatigue and a greater extent of waste products are associated with this rep range. Possible increase in capillary density.)

E. Capillary density increases with little Sarcoplasmic growth with rep ranges above 15. (Muscle endurace begins to become a factor (but who needs that?). Also, waste products are intense – lactic acid buildup to the point of making some individuals sick.

[Dr X]

Great stuff, I'm leaning for the 5X5. One more week and I'm on vacation and then when i get back it's new routine time. This may work well before I hit my nex cycle late Sept-early Oct.

[ChinPieceDave667]

why don't you write a book... I'll buy the first 3 vols. I swear...

[ChinPieceDave667]

but seriously.. good stuff

[ChinPieceDave667]

quick question. never heard of JS rows. how do you do it?

[Darkhorse]

Originally Posted by ChinPieceDave667

why don't you write a book... I'll buy the first 3 vols. I swear...

I didn't write any of this. The 5x5 is by Bill Starr, olympic champion and guru. The DFHT was written by Matt Reynolds over at meso-rx.

JS Row is when each rep rests on the floor. The concentric is a fast explosion up. I usually hit my upper abs hard with the bar.

[ChinPieceDave667]

thanks for the names, they helped out with searching for more answers.. did you ever think/ hear of doing HST and 5x5.. which almost seems to go along with what your doing


http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/...t=ST;f=16;t=41

[Darkhorse]

Yeah, I have. The best way that I see it fit is to do a layout like this:

-Find 15, 10, and 5 rep maxes. For 5 RM's, use only 5x5 exercises.
-SD (1 week)
-HST 15's block (2 weeks)
-HST 10's block (2 weeks)
-5x5 loading (4 weeks)
-5x5 deload (1 week)
-5x5 intensity (2 weeks)
-Deload (3x3)

This way is much better. There may be some zig zagging in weight from your transition from the 10's RM day to your 5x5 loading. That's ok since the volume gets kicked up a few notches.

[Darkhorse]

With HST, for your 5 RM week, week 1 should be 3 x 5, week 2 maybe 2 x 5, then a drop set of 10 since your closer to your 5 RM that week!

[ChinPieceDave667]

good stuff.. I was thinking of doing somekinda HST 5x5 DFHT scheme after doing some more research on how they could intertwine smoothly... your post is helping.. most likely going to come up with something late August and execute in September .. work is hell now,(that's where I am now), going to stick with Max ot (something I know) for now

[Darkhorse]

I've been thinking about it and it does sound pretty good. The best way I can think of this working is to, like I said, do HST first because success with HST is contingent upon effectively deconditioning your muscles. If you did it after your 5x5, you might lose some of your strength/mass gains going to a SD. *You also risk needing alot longer of an SD than a week because of how hard and heavy 5x5 is. Off the top of my head, I'd probably need around 10-14 days :( . The HST board might be helpful, but I'm sure you'll get quite an influx of opinions on everything NOT HST. ;) Post your question in the general training section to avoid alot of this. I think you could definately drop the Max-OT now.

week 1- Find your 15, 10, 5 RM-5 RM is only 5x5 exercises.
week 2- SD (light if any cardio)
week 3,4- 15 Rep HST
week 5,6- 10 Rep HST
week 7- 5 x 5 (volume, deload, intensity, deload)

-Option to either DFHT or any other program. If you want another HST cycle, then after your final deload week, just reset cycle above.

-IMO, to do this full cycle accompanied with HST, I would imagine you should only do predominately compound exercises during your HST. This way your body won't break down when you turn to the 5x5.

HST-(My opinion) Got this from the HST board...

"Boris Kleine’s HST

He will currently be doing an abbreviated routine due to a busy time schedule.

3 times per week fullbody:

bench press
shoulder press
squats
deadlifts
barbell curls
chin ups"

-For bench I would use a slight incline.
-Shoulder presses I would do them standing. IMO the best, and it'll get you ready for 5x5 standing presses.
-Try doing squats first, then bench, military, deadlifts, chinups, then end with barbell curls.
-You might want to add skullcrushers, I would. But then again, bench and military press works it really good anyway. I still would.

Oh yeah, I have a kickass spreadsheet I'll pm anyone who wants it. It's very important IMO to log in EVERYTHING so you can guage the weight increases. All you'll need is microsoft excel.

[ChinPieceDave667]

Originally Posted by 0311

do HST first because success with HST is contingent upon effectively deconditioning your muscles. If you did it after your 5x5, you might lose some of your strength/mass gains going to a SD. *You also risk needing alot longer of an SD than a week because of how hard and heavy 5x5 is.

cool, I was thinking the same thing that's why I put down HST then 5x5 and DFHT... (glad to see that Im learning something)

Originally Posted by 0311

Tuesday find your 10 RM on all your HST exercises, then on Thursday OR Friday find your 5 RM's. This way your first day of SD will be on Saturday (weekend off to party/whatever)...If you start your program on Monday the week after next, that would be 9 days of SD, which is perfect. Incidentally, that's 2 weekends off So it'll look kinda like this:
week 1- Find your 10 RM, 5 RM
week 2- SD (light if any cardio)
week 3,4- 10 Rep HST
week 5,6- 5 Rep HST
week 7- Deload Week (see 3x3 deload plan above)
week 8+-5 x 5 (volume, deload, intensity, deload) For the volume phase of 5x5, use 70% of your HST 5 rep max.

I like this.. I should start next week. Ok I'm hooked.

Originally Posted by 0311

Oh yeah, I have a kickass spreadsheet I'll pm anyone who wants it. It's very important IMO to log in EVERYTHING so you can gauge the weight increases. All you'll need is microsoft excel.

I think I found the same one... it has alot of good info.. could you pm it to me so I can see if it's the same?
thanks for your insight.. I do appreciate it..
OK i'll stop stealing your post. ;)

[Darkhorse]

Yeah, I'll pm it. This thread isn't mine anyway. I really hope alot of others try this so we can step back and see if it's as good as I know it is.

The spreadsheet I have took me 2 hours to complete! So unless you hacked my computer, it's different, and mine's waay better! I think I know what spreadsheet you found...over at meso? Yeah, I based mine off of that, except I went DEEP... I detailed every aspect of volume phase, deloading 2x's, as well as the intensity phase AND DFHT both load and deload. My only suggestion with my spreadsheet is if you decide to go through with DFHT, use the template above and put in what you like. My spreadsheet has exactly what I want. You might be different.

[Darkhorse]

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/...rtraining.html

How To Benefit From Planned Overtraining
By: Kelly Baggett


One of the biggest debates among coaches and trainers that always arises every few years is the topic of recovery. Some say you need to be beating yourself up week in and week out and always increasing your work capacity by simply doing more, more, and more work over time. Others in the HIT (high intensity) (TT ;) ) camp emphasize recovery with a mantra that says, "less is always more". So who's right? Are you gonna get better results by constantly training yourself into the ground or will that approach leave you chronically overtrained? Is that overtraining maybe a good thing? Or will you get better results by sitting on your butt 5 days out of every 7 and attacking your workouts with ferocity when you do?? Or will that approach leave you undertrained and so inactive that you pile on enough fat to make Warren Sapp look like a GQ model??
Well first lets define some terminology. What most of us call overtraining is really over-reaching. Overtraining is more like a disease then a temporary state. For 95% of us, "over-reaching" is what we're really referring to when we say overtraining.

Over-reaching-is pushing yourself into a mild state of fatigue with your training. Regression in performance sometimes does occur during an over-reaching period, yet performance rebounds back very quickly, usually above and beyond it's previous level, with a short period of rest or lowered volume (within days). It can be good or bad depending on how you use it.

Overtraining- occurs when you chronically over-reach for months or years on end. This leads to performance regression that can take months to recover from and is associated with multiple and sometimes permanent endocrine disruptions. Although there are some athletes who are chronically overtrained and don't realize it (distance runners, bodybuilders, and some basketball players come to mind), most athletes don't ever reach a true overtrained state.

Another important term is Under reaching.

Under-reaching- occurs when you intentionally "take it easy". This is like taking your foot off the gas in your training intentionally. It also can be good or bad depending on how you do it.

Now let's start with a few key claims I'm going to make. First, let me state that from my observations, the reason many people train hard and consistently and don't make the gains they feel they should, is because they spend too much time over-reaching and not enough time under-reaching. Notice I said "consistent hard trainees" there. That statement doesn't apply unless you train both hard and consistent.

Next, let me state that if you have to choose, you're almost always better off under-reaching then over-reaching unless you really know what you're doing. With those comments you would probably think that over-reaching is a bad, bad, BAD thing. Well, in truth it's quite the opposite. Over-reaching by design can be a very good thing. Notice that I said "unless you know what you're doing". That's what I intend to help you do in this article.

Recovery and Supercompensation

Recovery can be defined as - regaining what was lost - however, for the athlete this is not enough as it returns them only to where they started. Adaptation can be defined as the process of long-term adjustment to a specific stimulus. This process of adaptation can include adjustment in a number of factors such as the athlete's physiology, psychology and mechanics. These alterations can ultimately lead to improved performance - which is a more satisfying goal. We train to get fitness. We want to jump higher, run faster, get stronger, run longer etc. In order to get fit we must stimulate some fatigue so that our body adapts. We must push ourselves beyond our limits some of the time - which is fatigue. Let's call a training cycle a 30-60 day "period" of training. All good periodized training answers this question: What is the optimal amount of fatigue to induce over the course of the next training cycle in order to optimize the fitness that results from it?

Example

In other words, if I want to run faster and jump higher 30 days from now, how tired should I make myself this week and next week so that when I test myself in 30 days, I'll run faster and jump higher? All things being equal, if I do no training (assuming I'm not in an over-reached state) then I likely will not improve at all, and in fact may slip back. On the other hand, if I work out daily and intensely and continue adding volume, I'm also likely to slip back.

So there must be an optimal blend of both fatiguing myself or over reaching (in order to improve) and resting myself or under reaching, so that I can see the gains from the over reaching I've done. Under reach too much and you won't get the results you want because you haven't forced your body to adapt; over reach too much and you won't get results because your body is shot.

The rest of this article is about how to solve this puzzle and determine how to intelligently over reach at the beginning of a training cycle, under reach at the end of a cycle, in order to boost the overall results of each training cycle.

Walk or Run But Don't Do Both

The basic point I want to make in this article is that you should either be training a little harder then what feels comfortable or a little less then you think you should. This is an implementation of the 2-factor theory model of stress and adaptation. Let's talk a little bit about the 2-factor theory.

The 2 factors represent the relationship between fatigue and fitness. One factor is fitness the other factor is fatigue.

2-factor theory-A stress adaptation model that bases a training plan around the long term relationships between stress and fatigue.

When you train you accumulate both fatigue and fitness. That observation itself should be worthy of a nobel prize. However, what many people don't realize is that the fatigue that accumulates over the course of a training cyle itself "masks" the fitness gains that you make. However, fitness persists about 3 x longer then fatigue. This means that when all traces of fatigue are gone from a bout of exercise or a cycle of training, the fitness gained will persist for 3 x as long as the fatigue. That's why most people make gains when they take a few days off from time to time. What I want to do is show you how to make this process predictable.


Before we get into how to implement the 2-factor theory you first need to understand the one factor theory.

The one factor theory- Is the basic stress adaptation model that is usually taught in high school, bodybuilding, and is the grand de jour model used to explain high intensity training. With this theory you look at physical ability as one short term factor. You load, recover, load, recover - always recovering fully before loading again.

The problem with this approach is you are left with the problem of timing workouts to correspond to the supercompensation wave. Anything sooner or later will lead to a bad workout. Another problem is there is only so much systemic stress that can be thrown on the body in one workout. If you prolong the length of the stress (loading and fatigue) period in the above chart by days or weeks, instead of a single workout, you increase the overall stress. Therefore, providing you do allow recovery to take place after prolonged loading, you increase the height of the supercompensation curve as well.

More on the 2-Factor Theory

You will often here training according to the 2 factor theory called many different things. You'll hear it called concentrated loading, load/unload, step-type loading or any number of other things. It's nothing fancy and most of you are probably already using it to an extent.

Comparing the One-Factor Approach to the 2-Factor Approach

Let's start off by comparing a "one-factor" training approach to a "2-factor" approach. We have 2 four week training schemes. One we'll call "A" and will be the one factor approach. The other we'll call "B" and is the 2-factor approach. Here's what they look like.

A: Here we train according to the traditional supercompensation curve. We train then fully recover, train then fully recover etc. Let's say we train once every 4-5 days and recover completely between workouts for 4-weeks.

B: Here we train hard for the first 3 weeks three times per week so that we never ever are completely recovered from any workouts. Then, on the 4th week we train only once or twice the entire week at a low intensity and low volume. During the 4th week we're allowing fatigue to dissipate so that we can display the fitness we've gained from the previous 3 week's of training. During this low intensity/low frequency week, the physiological indicators we've stimulate the previous 3 weeks "rebound" back up and above where they were before.

Ok. Now if you were to compare those 2 schemes we would find that version B will actually bring about greater gains particularly for intermediate and advanced athletes - That is providing the athletes are in a well rested state prior to initiating the 4 week block of training. Homeostasis is disrupted and prolonged during the 3 week loading period. Although we won't see a whole lot of progress during this 3 week phase itself, when we pull back on the volume during the reduced loading period the functional indicators will then rebound back above baseline. The ultimate "rebound", or performance increase, in scheme B will be greater then the summation of smaller rebounds from scheme A.

So what we're doing is building up fatigue and fitness by over-reaching slightly and then pulling back on the fatigue by under-reaching. Nothing really complicated about it.

Cont...

[Darkhorse]

Most Athletes Are Already Implementing the 2-Factor Theory and Could Benefit by "Under-Reaching" For a While

Ok. Now the important thing to note is that most athletes are already over-reaching slightly even though they don't realize it! They never allow recovery to take place and some haven't been fully recovered in years. Basketball players are among the worst here. They are never recovered daily, they never allow recovery to fully take place, and thus they don't make gains due to chronic over-reaching. Therefore, I almost always start athletes off with more recovery so that they can allow all the fatigue they've been acumulating during their previous months or years of training to dissipate.

It's also important to realize that recovery doesn't have to be "complete" between training sessions in order for one to experience gains. People are rarely ever 100% completely recovered but still make gains. Athletes in most sports are always experiencing some level of constant fatigue. What you want to do is maximize those gains which you can do by intentionally manipulating the relationship between fatigue and fitness.

Intentionally Creating a Regression in Performance

The magnitude of the incomplete recovery you create during a loading period will vary. In fact, the practice of "shock" concentrated loading is practiced by many countries for different sports. In a traditional concentrated loading phase, the goal IS simply to beat the body into an over-reaching state where the actual goal of the training is a DECREASE in performance. Loading of any primary emphasis may be used (strength work, speed works, jumps etc.)

The lower that performance falls during the loading period (within acceptable limits of 10-15% or so), the greater that performance rises during the unloading period. I don't recommend intentionally loading to the point that performance falls off noticeably due to injury risk, but you can still incorporate and benefit a less intense version of the same process.

How You Can Apply and Benefit From Planned Over-Reaching

The basic tenet is that instead of always looking at each workout as a seperate "fatiguing" session, followed by a seperate "recovery" session of a day or two of rest, begin thinking in terms of weeks. In other words, you have one, two or three weeks which are "fatiguing." Think of this time period the same way some people think of one workout. you accumulate fatigue the whole time, you never "completely" recover. You might make gains but you're never really completely recovered. Then you have another one or 2 weeks in which you train with reduced frequency, volume, or intensity and allow recovery to take place. I favor keeping intensity fairly high, cutting volume by at least half, and slightly lowering frequency. in any event the overall training stress is lower.

The main benefit of the higher volume phase isn't the gains you make on it, but the gains you make when you switch to a lower volume phase.

Accumulation and Intensification

You can also alternate between cycles of incomplete vs complete recovery which is often called accumulation/intensification. Version A I described above (training with full recovery), will work wonderfully when transitioning from a period of increased loading. In other words, accumulate fatigue and train frequently for a while and then transition into a period of time where you train with full recovery between sessions for a while. Say you train 3 x per week for 3-4 weeks and then once every 4 days for 4 weeks. Your gains will be out of this world during the 2nd phase because you heighten your ability to adapt in the first phase. That works very well.

Examples

There are numerous ways we can incorporate a loading/unloading scheme. At it's most basic level a loading period of 2 or more consecutive workouts will be followed by an unloading period of one or more days. An example of this is a simple "block loading" scheme often practiced by endurance athletes that can also be used successfully by others. In fact this is a scheme used in many university team sports. Here we might train hard with weights, sprints, plyos, etc. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and do conditioning on Tuesday and Thursday. We then rest completely on saturday and sunday. By Friday the athlete will be worn down and performance very well may have regressed over the course of the week. Yet by having 2 consecutive days off (Saturday and Sunday), we allow a lot of that fatigue to dissipate. Thus, the body supercompensates and the athlete goes into Monday with enhanced ability - for a few weeks anyway.

Generally speaking, anymore then 3-4 weeks consecutive loading will fail to bring about gains unless a one week unloading period is inserted. The body will tolerate 3 such 3/1 blocks of loading/unloading before a longer recovery period is necessary. This means that we'd do 3 consecutive 3/1 cycles before taking 2-3 weeks of training at a lower intensity.

Should I Seek Out Performance Regression?

The intensity of the loading period will vary as well. During loading periods it's ok for some regression to take place but no more then 10%. That means if your vertical jump is 30 inches you can train yourself to a 3 inch decrease and when you recover fully it'll rebound back up above 30. The same thing goes for your strength etc. Remember, the greater the decrease in function the greater the rebound above baseline during the unloading period. There is one caveat here however. The more regression that takes place the longer your unloading period will need to be. If you train to the point of big time (10%) regression, you will need a 2 week rather then 1 week unloading period.

Specific examples:

Here's an example of an accumulation/intensification cycle for the squat. This is the old 5 x 5 routine first written by Bill Starr and popularized by Glenn Pendlay. Here we train the squat 3 x per week :eek: for 4 weeks then twice a week for 4 weeks.

Volume Phase 4 weeks - Deloading Period 1 week - Intensity Phase 4 weeks. Sets and reps for the intensity phase is in parentheses.

M:
Squat 5x5 (3x3)
Bench 1x5 (1x3)
Row 1x5 (1x3)

W:
Squat 5x5 with 15-20% less than Monday (drop this lift)
Deadlift 5x5 (3x3)
Military 5x5 (3x3)
Pullups 5x5 (3x3)

F:
Squat 1x5 (1x3)
Bench 5x5 (3x3)
Row 5x5 (3x3)


Volume Phase - Weeks 1-4:

Use 5 sets of 5 reps with the same working weight for all sets. Increase the weight week to week and try to set records in weeks 3 and 4. For exercises you do twice a week you have a separate day which you perform a single set of 5 reps with the goal of setting records on the 3rd and 4th week for your best set of 5. Don't start the weights too high. Lower the weight if need be but get the sets and reps in - except where you are setting records.

Deloading Week - Week 5:

On week 4 drop the Wednesday squat workout, begin using the Intensity set/rep scheme (in parentheses), and keep the weight the same as your last week in the Volume Phase.

Intensity Phase - Week 6-9:

Everything is the same principal except that you use 3x3 and 1x3 setting records on week 8 and 9. No Wednesday squatting. The important aspect of this phase is the weight increases. If you are so burned out that you need an extra day here and there that's okay. If you can't do all the work that's okay too. Just keep increasing the weight week to week.

Example of Volume Phase Transitioning Into Intensification Phase for a Football Player

Here is a setup I used recently for an athlete preparing for several football tryouts and combines. His lower body strength levels were more then adequately in place but he was coming off a mass gain phase and needed quite a bit of specific on the field speed work, wanted to drop some fat, and needed to increase his upper body strength.

Phase I- high volume/high frequency

This phase consisted of 2 consecutive 3 weeks load/ 1 week unload schemes. The loading portion looked something like this:

Mon- AM: starts, short sprints, agility drills, position specific drills - ~500 yards total. PM: Weights- 3 x 3 at 80% squat, RDL.

Tues- Conditioning- 100 yds x 15 with 30 second rest intervals

Wed- AM:Plyo- speed drills- 4-6 sets depth jumps/ 1 position specific agility drill/ 4 sets straight leg sprints/ 4 sets 60 yard buildups- PM: Maximum Strength Upper Body Training mainly on the bench press

Thurs- Conditioning- 100 yds x 15 with 30 second rests

Friday- AM: start technique, maximum speed sprints and flying 20's, agility drills, position specific drills- 500 yards total. PM: Strength Training - Clean- 3 x 3 85%/Squat 3 x 3 85%/ Glute Ham- 3 x 3

Saturday- AM- Agility technique, buildups, Upper Body strength enduance focusing on the bench press

Sunday- Off

He'd follow that for 3 weeks and then unload for 1 week. The unloading period consisted of 1/2 the volume of on field work on Monday and Friday and elimination of plyo, speed, agility work on Wednesday.

After about 6 weeks of training, it was obvious to me he had got about all he was gonna get from this scheme. He seemed a little burned out and he complained of sore joints. I knew that this just meant he was slightly over-reached and his perfomance would rebound up big time once we tapered into a lower volume phase. He's always been able to transfer functional ability into technical ability. From experience we knew that as his vertical jump goes so does everything else and as his shoulder press and incline press goes so does his bench press. We ended up dramatically lowering the overall lower body volume. On upper body we got him away from the bench press for a while and worked on his weak points. The routine ended up looking like this:

Phase II - Low Volume Intensification

Session 1- LB
Depth Jump, standing triple, one leg hops unto box, - 4-6 sets each x 3-5 reps

Session 1- UB
incline DB Press, Row, Heavy Tricep, Rear delt - 4-6 sets of 5-8 reps each

Session 2 LB
on the track with 60 yd build ups to 90%, 50 yd bounding, lateral hurdle hops, squat runs x 10 seconds. 4-6 sets each

Session 2 UB
Push Press or Push jerk, Pull-up, Bicep, Tricep- 4-6 sets of 3-8 reps each.

Setup

Session 1 LB

off

Session 1 UB

off

Session 2 LB

off

Session 2 UB

Therefore, he was getting 4 days rest between bodypart workouts and 8 days between like sessions. This allows him near full recovery and he was able to set records nearly every workout for a month long period which coincided perfectly with the timing of his workouts and tryouts. EMS was also used on his legs to maintain his strength. It's important to note that the gains from this phase weren't just made from this phase itself, but they were made and set-up in the previous phase as well.

Conclusion

Those are a couple of examples how to set things up. Hopefully you can begin implementing some of these ideas into your training. Stay tuned for a future article on the same topic in which I'll cover how to stimulate that same adaptation by simply engaging in cyclical eating patterns.

-Kelly

[Darkhorse]

Here's a good diagram from that article...

This ties in with training each muscle once a week from the first half of the article.

[Darkhorse]

More to add. I personally think that this plan is the absolute best. I'm not a fan of pyramids, but if you're slinging alot of weight anyway, just use smaller increments for an insane workout.

Post from Madcow1 @ elitefitness

4 Weeks Loading 5x5

Monday:
Olympic Squats: 5x5
Benching: 1x5 (pyramid)
JS Rows: 1x5 (pyramid)
Accessory (skullcrushers and abs)

Wednesday:
Olympic Squats: 5x5 (reduced 15-20% from Monday) or Front Squats 5x5
Standing Military Press: 5x5
Deadlifts: 5x5
Pull ups: 5x5
Accessory (incline curls and abs)

Friday:
Olympic Squats: 1x5 (pyramid)
Benching: 5x5
JS Rows: 5x5
Accessory (weighted dips and abs)

With this one, it's not as hard as doing all 5x5 with the same weight. Benching and rows on Monday is 5 sets of 5 reps, but pyramiding up in weight. On Friday, they are both 5x5 same weight used, but squats are pyramided instead.

*Note that the 1x5 and 5x5 are totally seperate from one another. The 1x5 weight will be higher than the 5x5. An example would be on Monday for bench press I use 315 (1x5) as my targeted weight, on Friday, I might use 275 for my 5x5. Same goes for squats and rows.

Deloading and intensity. You can either use the alternate plan Madcow1's quote has on the first page, or keep the 3 times a week frequency, but drop Wednesday squats. He advises the alternate twice a week freq.

Volume Phase - Weeks 1-4:
So 5x5 is 5 sets of 5 reps with working set weight (warm up to the target weight for the week and proceed through 5x5 with that weight). Where 1x5 is present you are pyramiding the weights upward each set to a target set weight for a single set of 5 (it's still 5x5 but each set gets heavier and your target set is the top set of 5). The exception is the Wednesday squat for 5x5 using somewhere between 10-20% less than the working weight on the Monday 5x5 workout (the Wed squat may increase less than the Monday squat over the ramping weeks - meaning it may start at 12% less and wind up at 22% less by the last record week if one needs some extra recovery). What you are doing is gradually increasing the target weights week to week so you wind up performing record lifts in the final two weeks of the volume phase (weeks 3/4 in this case). Keep in mind that you have separate targets for 5x5 and 1x5 even though they are the same lift (i.e. benchpress). The ramping is set separately for these and they are treated separately. It's a good idea to start conservatively as this gets fairly backbreaking and you'll be begging for week 5. The most common mistake is people starting too high. It's useful to start light and then be flexible either adding an extra week to the ramp up or moving your targets a bit as you feel your way. This is far easier in the intensity phase because you already have a reference - likewise the next time you run this workout, it'll be a no brainer. The main point in this phase is the volume. Lower the weight if need be but get the sets and reps in. If you fail on an exercise just carry the target weight forward into the next week. Some people who are very new to this might find it easier to run this phase for 6 weeks starting much lighter and building slowly. If your working weights for the deadlift are 2x bodyweight (meaning you are a 200lbs lifter and you'll be doing 400+ for 5x5 throughout the cycle) it's probably a good idea to do lower the volume on that lift to 3x5 in this phase.

Deloading Week - Week 5:
On week 5 drop the Wednesday squat workout, begin using the Deloading/Intensity set/rep scheme (in parentheses), and keep the weight the same as your last week in the Volume Phase. In reality the whole intensity phase and this week are the same thing, I just break this week out because there is no weight progression so in reality after the volume phase the whole thing is deloading/intensity which for the purposes of this workout are synonymous. Also my 3x per week layout tends to get pretty aggressive so many find themselves fatigued again by the end so it kind of makes logical sense to break this period separately. Largely symantics.

Intensity Phase - Week 6-9:
Everything is the same principal except that you use 3x3 and 1x3 setting records on week 8 and 9 (or the final 2 weeks of this phase). No Wednesday squatting. The important aspect of this phase is the weight increases. If you are burned out and you need an extra day here and there that's okay - this won't hurt you at all and unless you are feeling ripe it's beneficial. If you can't do all the work that's okay too. Just keep increasing the weight week to week. During this phase you'll be ramping the weights from your deloading week to your 3x3 and 1x3 records in the final 2 weeks. In this 3x per week pattern, start light once again and get a breather. Most people find themselves getting reloaded if they don't cut volume and take extra days. If you reload without getting an adequate deload first (that 1 week may not be enough) you will cripple your gains. Better to get 90% out of a training cycle than 10%. You'll learn a lot about your tolerance for volume loading and unloading here - there is no need to try to be a hero. Get some experience and the next time you run this you'll be spot on but you wind up feeling your way to a degree the first time.

Post Cycle:
Depending upon how you feel, it's probably a good idea to deload again before moving back into another volume phase if you ran the 3x per week like I outlined above. See the alternative schedule below and perform this light for 2 weeks working on speed/acceleration. If you ran the 2x alternate schedule below for your deload/intensity you can likely move straight back into another volume phase.

Alternative Deload/Intensity: All this alternate is for is most people feel like they can't stick to working out three times a week during the Deload phase. So instead of three times a week and dropping Wed. squats, you do Monday and Thursday 3x3 instead to recover better. Personally, I'm sticking to three a week because I have excellant recovery.
This is really the one that most people should be doing. If you don't handle the other correctly you can blow your program but I didn't want to switch it and confuse people.

Week 5 and on switch to 3x3 and drop the Friday workout altogether. Week 5 weights are the same as the final week of volume. Over the next 2-3 weeks increase increase the weight workout to workout if you get all 9 reps. If you don't get all the reps, week the weight constant. You'll likely be able to move straight back into another volume phase after this is complete.

Monday:
Oly squats: 3x3
Bench: 3x3
Rows: 3x3

Wednesday (or move this workout to Thursday if you'd like)
Light Oly Squats (70% of monday): 3x3
Deadlifts: 3x3
Military Press: 3x3
Chins:3x3

[Darkhorse]

This is the beginners version if you haven't been training seriously for a while.

Source post is here:http://www.deepsquatter.com/strengt...es/manrodt4.htm

For those unfamiliar with the olympic lifts make the following substitutions:
Powerclean = Bent over Rows
High Pulls = Deadlift

You'll notice the weights are moved in a pyramid fashion as not to overload someone new to this. You'll also notice the absense of loading/deloading periods. This is not a dual factor program, it is a single factor program based on supercompensation (like most BBer programs except that this one is one of the better ones). Single factor is very good for a beginner but not someone who is very accustomed to training.

Quote:
The Bill Starr Power Routine

When I was a freshman in college, Bill Starr gave me this routine to follow. It was designed for off-season football and general strength training. In the first 16 weeks I was on it, I added about 35 pounds of bodyweight, and took my total from a paltry 600 to over 950. Of course, I was also on the dorm’s prepaid meal plan, and ate like it was going out of style. Plus, I only had four classes that semester, so I spent lots of time sleeping.

Perfect program description found by clicking Here...Highly recommended to read through.


Monday – Heavy Day
Squat – 5 sets of 5
Bench – 5 sets of 5
Powercleans – 5 sets of 5
2 sets of weighted hypers
4 sets of weighted Sit-ups

Wednesday – Light Day
Squat – 4 sets of 5
Incline Bench – 4 sets of 5
High Pulls – 4 sets of 5
Sit-ups – 3 sets

Friday - Medium
Squat – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, back-off
Bench – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, back-off
Powercleans – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple
Weighted Dips – 3 sets of 5-8
Triceps and Biceps – 3 sets of 8 each


Key Features:


* On Monday, the weight for each lift is increased on each set of 5, from a light warm-up to an all out set of 5. For squats, something like 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5. The weight should be increased evenly from your first to last set. If you are working up to bigger weights, say above 500, you can add a sixth set of 5 just to avoid making large jumps between sets. I’ll explain how to choose the top weight in a second…

* On light day, Squat the first 3 sets of 5 just as you did on Monday, and then do a fourth set of 5 with the weight used on the third set. An extra fifth set at this same weight can be added. Incline bench is done using the same scheme, working up to 2-3 sets of 5, but with about 70-80% of the weight flat bench, to accommodate the leverage difference of the incline. High Pulls are done by feel, but usually pretty heavy.

* On Friday, the first four sets are the same as they were on Monday. The fifth set, done for three reps, should be a jump of about 2.5% over what you did for your fifth set on Monday. As you become more experienced with the system, you can experiment with the weight you use on this triple. This should NOT be a PR triple attempt every week. In fact, the goal is to come back the following Monday and get the same weight for 5 reps that you got for 3 reps the Friday before. To avoid missing reps, pick weights carefully. Take it easy the first few weeks, and don’t over do it. After the big triple, drop back to the weight you used for your 3rd set and try to get eight reps.

* Deadlifts, or Speed Deadlifts can be substituted with Powercleans if you so desire. Powercleans are pretty popular among football players for working on explosiveness. They are not as specific for the powerlifter, but they can add strength to your traps and shoulders as well as thicken up your back. They can also improve speed-strength.

* I always trained with three to five guys on a single bar. The rest time between sets was helpful for making an all out assault on that top set. I also used no gear except a belt, which we used only for squats and powercleans. Some guys used grip straps on powercleans or high pulls when attempting heavy 5’s and 3’s.

* The dips, bi’s and tri’s are what Bill called “Beach Work,” in that they tend to have a bigger cosmetic effect than squats or deads. The scheme for these varied by need and based on what I thought my weaknesses were. I went very heavy on the dips, for sets of 5, to help build up my triceps. Other guys did closegrips, or even added in some rowing movements for the lats. No matter what you pick, try and move quickly though this stuff, like one minute rests max.


Advantages:

* Some research shows that full body workouts tend to stimulate more hormone production than isolation workouts.

* Focus on the big three can help with developing good exercise technique for the beginner, and the weekly goal setting from Friday to Monday helps keep you motivated.

* The program is relatively simple, and easy to follow. If you can figure out how to pick your weights, then this can be a very effective program. By starting out with less than max poundage, you can work on form, and build good habits as you increase the weight. You also choose weight week-to-week by feel, instead of calculating reps and sets way in advance.


Disadvantages:

* Not a lot of exercise variety.

* Some people find training the Big three more than once per week to be too taxing, but the total volume is actually not that high because there is not much focus on assistance exercises.

* This method is good for muscle growth and strength, but may not be as effective if you are trying to lose weight, or maintain a weight class.


Recommended for:

* Beginners that are still learning how to squat and bench effectively. If you are new to free weights or to lifting in general, this is a good way to spend a lot of time with real iron learning the basics, because you can start off slowly and train each core lift more frequently.

* Lifters trying to gain both size and strength, who want to add to their core of muscle mass. If you stick with this for more than 12 weeks, you will make muscle gains if you keep up with food and rest.

[Darkhorse]

This is an example of something very different than all the other's. It's called Needsize's 5x5 found at this website: http://www.xtrememass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=159

It's only a one muscle per week frequency using single factor theory. Alot of people have good results on this one as well. This one adhere's to the supercompensation wave like in the diagram. This means to hit your muscles, wait a week to recover, hit them again. This workout is good for people who prefer more volume per bodypart per day than full body routines spreading out the total volume like the others posted.

Day 1 chest/calves
Flat bench 5x5
incline dumbell press 2x8-10
incline flyes 2x8-10
standing calve raises 5x15

Day 2 Back/Shoulders
military press 5x5
side laterals 3-5x8-10
deads 5x5
chins 2x8-10
shrugs 2x8-10
rows 2x8-10
bent over laterals 2x8-10

Day 3&4 rest

Day 5 Bis/Tris
close grip bench 5x5
standing barbell curls 5x5
weighted dips 2x8-10
incline dumbell curls 2x8-10
skull crushers 2x8-10
preacher curls 2x8-10

Day 6 Legs
squats 5x5
leg press or hacks 2x8-10( I dont do any more exercises for quads as I dont need to)
stiff legged deads 2x8-10
leg curls 2x8-10
seated calve raises 5x15
abs - weighted static holds

Day 7 rest

[Darkhorse]

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do...ydra?id=627517

Good writeup explaining the different ways of going through the 5x5's. Any way uses progressive overload so it doesn't matter. Just as long as you continue to increase the weights used. IMO, I don't see these working for the variations of Bill Starr's 5x5 program. For that I'd stick to what the actual program says to do, whether it be a pyramid or using the same weight for every set. I could see the application working more for single factor 5x5.

[Darkhorse]

From my experience so far with this program, enjoy the first week, maybe two. Your rest time will be faster between sets and it shouldn't take you long in the gym. However, the last two weeks is fucking hell, and seems to go on forever. Basically everyone should view the first 4 weeks of loading like this:

Week 1: Nice hard workout. No spotter needed.
Week 2: Very tough.
Week 3: Extremely difficult. Had to try my hardest on every set to hit my reps.
Week 4: Insane. No way can I do another week of loading! Thank God for a deload...

[Darkhorse]

Here's a very good article going into the explanation of the exercise selection with DFHT. It also has pictures and links for some of the exercises...

http://bodybuilding.com/fun/core_feb_6.htm

[WantingMuscle7]

Nice article. No higher than rock bottom.

[ChinPieceDave667]

I'm liking this thread more and more. Good article. this is were I looked for the HST also...
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hst.htm

keep it coming.. I'm going to start my HST 5x5 and 2HT at the start of Sept. which will be the end of my cut cycle..

[Darkhorse]

When you start definately post what you think here. Elitefitness.com has a thread that has somewhere around 50 pgs. of experiences. Hopefully we can start one here.

[hrdgain81]

my god guys, there is just an amazing amount of info in this thread. I can share my personal exsperience with using 5x5 routines. Of course this was back in the day, and I didnt utilize any Dual Factor training, it was old school one muscle group a day, five day a week training ... before I knew better hahaha.

I pushed my max bench up from 215 x 1, to 315 x 2 in under a years time. like i said, this was back in the day (freshman yr in college) when things like bench mattered to me.

I would love to try out some of these aproaches to 5x5, but I just started my HST cycle on monday, and my last two weeks will be as 0311 said earlier 2x5, ect ect.

With all these programs, how do you purpose to pick one 0311?

[ChinPieceDave667]

Originally Posted by 0311

When you start definately post what you think here. Elitefitness.com has a thread that has somewhere around 50 pgs. of experiences. Hopefully we can start one here.

sounds good man I'll do my best to make it as detailed as possible. oh and keep it up-to-date, not like the last one which was a week behind.

[BG5150]

How do you pyramid a 1x5 set? I thought that was 1 set of 5 reps.

[verbatimreturned]

1x5 just means that each set that you do is pyramided up, for instance 135x5, 165x5, 195x5, 205x5, 225x5...

[ChinPieceDave667]

Originally Posted by verbatimreturned

1x5 just means that each set that you do is pyramided up, for instance 135x5, 165x5, 195x5, 205x5, 225x5...

I thought it was just a type-o and it was 5 sets of 1 rep

[BG5150]

Originally Posted by verbatimreturned

1x5 just means that each set that you do is pyramided up, for instance 135x5, 165x5, 195x5, 205x5, 225x5...

yeah...that's a 5x5 pyramid...

[Darkhorse]

When something says 1x5, it means a pyramid like Verb said. Using bench for example, say on that particular day your target weight is 315 for 5 reps on you 5th set...So for someone relatively new to lifting, they might use more increments like:
245x5, 265x5, 285x5, 295x5, then 315x5...If you hit all 5 reps of 315, bump up the weight 5-10 pounds for next week's 1x5. Now, for more advanced lifters, they might keep the pyramid close to the target weight: 265x5, 275x5, 285x5, 295x5, 315x5...

With alot of this program, there's some 1x5's and 5x5's. These are completely different from one another even though it's the same lift. In one given week for bench, you might have a target of 315lbs for your 1x5 pyramid, and for the end of the week's 5x5 (same weight) you'd use 275 for every set.

[Darkhorse]

Hardgain81, do what Chinpiecedave is doing on pg 3 I believe. What's your HST looking like? To incorperate the 5x5 I think it would be easier to do HST with almost all compounds (IMO). I'm tempted myself, but I'm already 3 and a half weeks into my volume phase. If I were you, I'd pick either animal mass's version or madcow's version. The only difference between the two is am's doesn't have a pyramid and madcow's does. I've been doing Am's version without the pyramid, but it's kicking my ass.

Monday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (same weight)
Benching 5x5 (flat, close grip or regular)(same weight)
JS Rows 5x5 (same weight)
Accessory (low volume triceps and abs)

Wednesday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (reduced 15-20% from Monday) or Front Squats 5x5
Standing Military Press 5x5 (same weight)
Deadlifts 5x5 (same weight) (if you pull 2.5x bodyweight do 3x5)
Pull ups 5x5 (use weight if you need it)
Accessory (biceps and abs)

Friday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (working up each set)
Benching 5x5 (flat or incline)(same weight)
Rows 5x5 (same weight)
Accessory (low volume triceps and abs)

I had to re-adjust because I'm starting to sling alot of weight. So now I'm doing a pyramid on Monday with JS Rows, and on Friday I'm doing a pyramid with incline bench. It was too much on my anterior delts doing standing military's on Wednesday and incline bench on Friday all using the same weight!

[hrdgain81]

Man I just started my HST cycle this week and these 15's are kicking my ass. I had to drop my CKD, I didnt have enough energy to get through it. I know you had suggested skipping them altogether but my joints need a break from the real heavey stuff for a few weeks.

I will also say that taking two weeks off worked both for and against me. I am focused as shit after my vacation, but I'm sore as shit too. Add in Hiit 3 times a week, and i'm wipped to say the least.

[Darkhorse]

That's cool. Keep us posted.

[Darkhorse]

Update: I've got one more workout before I'm completely done with the volume phase. I'm very sore! I'm usually not very sore on average, but this last week has been pretty much balls to the wall. This is a good thing because it means that I guestimated my rep maxes right on the money. The only thing I was a little too heavy on was standing military presses. I had to rest/pause my final two sets. I've also been feeling very tired as well which is a good indicator that I'm slightly overreaching. Talk about perfect timing! Now I'm debating on whether or not I'm going to do a twice a week deload or keep the three.