5x5 Workout Program for Muscle-Building & Strength-Training

The 5x5 is a set or rep system and progression that promotes modest and consistent strength development.

By adhering to the fundamental principles of this program, you may design your own 5x5 exercise that will ensure increases for several months to come.

If Bill Starr's original routine isn't to your liking, you may apply the basic formula for your program.

Here's how:

• You'll train your entire body three times weekly, alternating between three compound motions per session, but not more than three exercises.
• Instead of a heavy, light, and medium day, you'll follow a more simple pattern. For every five sets of five repetitions, use 70-80% of your 1RM.
• Aim to add a small amount of weight (2.5 to 10 pounds) weekly. If you can't lift more, remain with the same load and try to add weight to only one or two sets.
• Isolation exercises are not prohibited. However, if you're tired or sore, don't include them. You should only do these activities (triceps extensions, biceps curls, lateral raises, and so on) if you've got the time and strength after the core program is finished.

The 5x5 requires 80% of your one rep max (1RM) in week one, then 2.5% in week two, and so on.

This approach can be followed for 8-12 weeks, but you will ultimately reach a point where you cannot achieve the 2.5% increase.

In this situation, the strategy is to maintain the weight for a week or two before increasing it the following week.

This program also includes bodyweight training. The body weight day will not employ a 5x5 rep pattern.

Instead, you'll utilize the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) for tracking your loads while adhering to the following guidelines.

• Sets 1-4 will consist of as many repetitions as possible (AMRAP) exercises until you reach an RPE 8 (two reps in reverse). Then, on the fifth set, you will do maximum reps.
• While you will do 5 sets of each activity, they will not be performed consecutively. Instead, you will alternate workouts.
• Remember that this is not a circuit exercise. That is, you are not moving from one workout to the next. You will still relax in between sets. This allows you to increase your volume for muscular growth.
• Chin-ups should be done between 4 and 12 reps, while dips should be done between 6 and 15.

Related: How the 5x5 Workout Can Benefit Over 50s

The 5x5 workout programs are easy to learn and implement.

As previously stated, this program follows a linear progression approach.

In other words, you utilize the same pattern in each session and only raise the weight when you get five repetitions throughout five sets.

For example, if you begin bench pressing with 140 pounds and get 5, 5, 5, 5, and 4 reps, you should continue with that weight until you have completed the progression criteria.

Adding 2.5kg (5 lbs) to the bar is an excellent idea. For instance, if you get five repetitions throughout five sets with 140 pounds on the bench press, train with 145 the next time.

Most people advocate increasing 5kg (10 lbs) to the deadlift, but you should employ your best judgment when adding extra weight.

If you achieve 5x5 with 310 pounds, for example, you may attempt 320 pounds the following week. If it is too heavy, add merely 5 pounds and aim for 5x5 with 315 pounds.

You may make even smaller increments of roughly 1kg (2 lbs) in the barbell bent over row and overhead press.

This is because improvement is more gradual on these workouts, and adding excessive weight can quickly destroy your proper form.

It is preferable to go slowly and progress linearly for longer. Linear periodization helps you to increase your strength and muscle mass [1].

A comprehensive study and meta-analysis indicated that linear and daily undulating periodization (DUP) were equal in muscle hypertrophy [2].

Linear programming, with hard work and consistency, may be a simple and excellent approach for you to grow stronger and gain muscle mass.

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Within the 5x5 programming, there is a set amount of exercises per workout. This is by layout, as strength necessitates a certain level of concentration.

The capacity to recover is critical to your success. If you add too many more exercises, you will most likely be crushed by a wave of exhaustion from such high-frequency barbell lifts.

Therefore you should manage the volume of the workouts per session.

The 5x5 routine accounts for this by strictly restricting the additional workouts beyond the basic 5 sets 5 reps, sometimes utilizing only zero to 2 additional lifts for each session beyond the compound exercises for the day.

Pick Appropriate Weights for Your 5x5 Workout

You should ease into the 5x5 workout regimen since you're just starting.

Easing into this might vary in time and magnitude depending on how you've been training so far.

In general, we advise beginning modestly and developing from there. 

For instance, if you know your 1RM on the core lifts, start at roughly 50% of your 1RM.

If your best overhead press is 220 pounds, begin training sets with about 110 pounds.

This accomplishes two goals:

• For starters, it helps you become used to routine and frequency.
• Second, it allows you to build momentum and understand your direction.

Instead of plateauing after a few weeks because you had started with heavy weights, you can gradually raise to more weight in a few weeks. This is excellent for morale and motivation.

A 5x5 exercise regimen concentrates on the fundamentals while removing any unnecessary stuff.

Not that this extra stuff is inherently bad, but many beginners might wind up concentrating on it too much.

You will also concentrate on the basic motions you employ in your workouts for years afterward.

It Aids in the Development of Neuromuscular Efficiency

The capacity to engage more muscle tissue to create force is called neuromuscular efficiency. Peak efficiency is task-specific, yet it also enhances other activities.

For instance, the more you perform back squats, the more effectively your muscles will recruit for that specific action.

The 5x5 strength training program is excellent for neuromuscular efficiency since it allows you to repeat particular movements multiple times each week [7].

For example, you get to squat 3 times each week, which helps you to develop your capacity to recruit motor systems for that specific movement pattern.

Therefore, you can observe consistent increases in squat performance without adding muscle mass.

The 5x5 program is built around multi-joint, compound exercises.

The major lifts in any version will include barbell squats, rows, deadlifts, cleans, and different presses.

These exercises require a great deal of full-body coordination, and so strengthen numerous muscle groups at the same time.

Because there are no machines or isolation exercises, your complete body will be pushed to grow stronger by controlling the barbell lifts fully by hand.

"Compound exercises with multi-joint motions involving more than one muscle group can be particularly helpful in achieving advantages from all three types of fitness: cardiovascular, flexibility, and strength."

- Pete McCall, ACE Certified Personal Trainer

It Increases Maximum Strength

Because of the short repetitions, you'll be lifting weights that are heavy compared to your present strength capacity and body size.

This intense exercise instructs your nervous system to engage each muscle fiber fully, allowing you to create more power with the same muscle fibers over time.

This leads to significant gains in general strength, including 1RMs, and the capacity to easily move lesser weights because the same weight will eventually represent only a fraction of your 1RM [8].

Training regimens come in different forms and sizes, with some being quite complex.

The beauty of the 5x5 workout plan is that you have defined training objectives, and it is simple to follow the programs.

Progress is straightforward, and you seldom have to wonder about any part of your training.

You cannot juggle many activities per workout with only three exercises every session.

Practically, this simplifies tracking your progress because you have fewer details to track for each session.

This also saves you the trouble of having to wait for equipment at the gym.

Once you've established a workout zone in a squat rack, you may complete the majority — if not all — of the exercise without moving to another section of the gym.

It Boosts Metabolism

Moving heavy loads demands a lot of energy.

As a result, your metabolism must be stimulated during and after the workout to heal your muscles and eliminate the waste products of working hard.

Furthermore, maintaining added muscle demands more calories.

As a result, the 5x5 program can help you burn a significant number of calories gradually, which can help you lose or maintain body fat even if you continue to consume the same number of calories [9].