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.

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

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

0311 could you clarify?
 

:confused:

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

That's cool. Keep us posted.

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.