5 reps big difference from 8

[Nicola]

Originally Posted by Surfrider

Also, I probably don't need to tell you that if you're not eating big, eating clean, sleeping enough, and getting enough downtime between sessions, you're ******* yourself into stasis....right?

Oh yeah; you ever considered trying heavy singles for a while? I've never done it myself, but I've heard of guys having success there, too.


Yes on changing rep ranges. Singles are tough. But nothing wrong with going to 3x10 for awhile. Or 4x8. Or switching up to a 20 rep squat program. Or change to a different split. Or change to a full body. Or deload and start a new cycle. Change is good.

To the person having trouble with finishing 5x5. Having you tried cutting the weight? If you can't finish the full five sets odds are you're letting your ego get in the way.

 

[Eason]

Originally Posted by Surfrider

I feel like I'm stalking you today. Anyway... What happens when you decrease the weight on your warmup sets? Or when you do, say, three warmup sets and two working sets? In my understanding of 5x5 SL, it's a flat weight for 5 sets, pre-5 set warm up optional.
I don't do warm-up sets actually, I start off with some dynamic movements from deep squat position, and once I've done my squats the rest of me is warm enough to do anything.

Originally Posted by Surfrider

Have you tried micro-loading/micro-weights? There are a lot of very expensive, "oooh, shiny!"-type products out there to waste your money on, but I've always been a fan of little, pre-weighed loops of chain to slide over the ends of the bar. Personally, I've had decent success with this method. Another guy I know was having some real problems getting off a plateau, and remedied the issue by hitting the dynamic movements really hard. Because the guy had never done, say, a snatch before, this obviously necessitated decreasing the amount of weight he was putting up over the course of an entire workout so as to get his technique right. By the time he had developed a solid technique for those movements, he found he was able to blast through previous limits on the more well-worn squats, deads, and so forth. YMMV, or course. Also, I probably don't need to tell you that if you're not eating big, eating clean, sleeping enough, and getting enough downtime between sessions, you're ******* yourself into stasis....right? Oh yeah; you ever considered trying heavy singles for a while? I've never done it myself, but I've heard of guys having success there, too.
I'm working 8-6 pretty much every day, with T/R/S workouts. I leave work, go to the gym, eat dinner, and go to sleep with absolutely no other time. It's hard getting enough food and sleep in, but I do my best. During winter vacation, I had time to do 5x5 advanced, but with work starting up again 5x5 just drives me into the ground. A big issue is that my gym's smallest weight is a 5 lb, so I either go up by 10 lbs, or don't go up at all. I've never heard of heavy singles, but it seems like a bit of a time sink to spend a minimum 4-5 months preparing for it. In that amount of time, I'm sure I could increase my 5RMs by 20 lbs at least, and my 1RMs accordingly. Today is my B workout (3x5 squat, press, 1x5 DL) and I just had an idea of adding like 5 weight clips to the bar to bump the weight up a little...

 

[Eason]

Hit 235 on squats (3x5) and 300 for DL (1x5), felt good. It's nice to be a hoss at 73kg

 

[Newlaw]

Originally Posted by Eason

I don't do warm-up sets actually, I start off with some dynamic movements from deep squat position, and once I've done my squats the rest of me is warm enough to do anything.



I've never heard of heavy singles, but it seems like a bit of a time sink to spend a minimum 4-5 months preparing for it. In that amount of time, I'm sure I could increase my 5RMs by 20 lbs at least, and my 1RMs accordingly.

Are you saying that you do dynamic warm-ups and then move straight into your actual worksets? I'm all for dynamic warm-ups, but I would strongly advise still incorporating ramped warm-ups with the bar. It really doesn't take too much time if you move through them quickly. 2-3 warm-up sets of 1-2 reps will go a long way to prevent injury.

I think you are right about the heavy singles. Based on your numbers, sets of 5 likely give you the best of both worlds at this point. Heavy singles are most beneficial to people that have a very solid base because it is more about training neural efficiency. Singles don't give you much stimulation to actually grow. I have seen many people temporarily increase strength with singles, only to see their strength plummet because they do it for too long.

 

[Eason]

I've never really found a need for warm-up sets, personally. Though I suppose I will try today with the bar.