An Effective Variation of 5x5

My favorite belt.



The 5x5 program is probably one of the oldest types of routines around, at least in the realm of strength and muscle training. There are many coaches and advocates that have helped make it popular. Bill Starr, Mark Rippetoe, and Mehdi Hadim-- just to name a few. There are many variations amongst one 5x5 program to the other; with different exercises such as using power cleans versus rows. Ramped sets for straight sets, and so on. The variations are endless and thus the term 5x5 is not standard to any particular program.

The goal here is for me to share with you a particular variation I have found very useful for me over the years. It is based off the MadCow 5x5 approach. Below, I will briefly run over MadCow 5x5 and share with you what I have adopted over time. It is not the end all, be all routine. There isn't a such thing. However, this will build strength and muscle in an efficient manner. If you are a complete beginner, I would save this for down the road as there are much better programs for a novice lifter. You must be competent in performing the squat, bench press, deadlift and overhead press.

I reapplied this program this year when I was unable to train consistently for almost a year due to work related issues and problems with my knee. I spent a couple months getting back into the swing of things and then followed my version of 5x5 for about 6 months. In that 6 month time period my progress was as followed (in pounds):
Bodyweight:161 to 182
Deadlift: 285 to 420
Front Squat: 200 to 285
Bench Press: 190 to 260
OH Press: 120 to 165

It should be noted the front squat was only done for 3 months, not the full 6 months, and is an ass-to-grass front squat. I was unable to squat at all the first 3 months due to issues with my knee.
The OH Press is a strict press, not a push press with leg drive.
I consumed about 4000 calories per day.

You should also take into consideration, before I had to stop lifting for a bit my lifts where (in pounds):
Bodyweight: 175
Deadlift: 495
Squat: 415
Bench Press: 275
OH Press: 155

So, I feel that there was a bit of muscle memory taking affect with my progress. What I mean is that my squat and deadlift have taken years to get in that range at that bodyweight.

The Program

So again, MadCow has been a widely popularized strength program and has been around for about the past decade. Largely based on its simplicity and effectiveness. It is considered an intermediate program and as such you will be adding weight to your core lifts every week, rather than every day like a "beginner's" program would and is of course based on linear progression.

The original MadCow 5x5 program looks like this...

Monday	Wednesday	Friday
Squat 5x5	Squat 4x5	Squat 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
Bench Press 5x5	Overhead Press 4x5	Bench Press 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
Barbell Rows 5x5	Deadlift 4x5	Barbell Rows 4x5, 1x3, 1x8

What I personally do is this...

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
Squat 5x5	Walking Lunges 4x5	Squat 4x5, 1x3,  1x8
Bench Press 5x5	Overhead Press 4x5	Bench Press 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
Barbell Rows 5x5	Deadlift 4x5	Kroc Row 1x20-30
Dips 3x12	Pull-Up 3x12	RDL 2x12
Shrugs 3x12	Upright Row3x12	Face Pulls 3x12

The difference in the original and my version is the added assistance exercises, walking lunges in place of the lighter squat day on Wednesday, and Kroc Rows. The progression stays the same in the core lifts (bench, squat, deadlift and press). With the added assistance exercises, you are in the gym longer but I have learned for me personally it needs to be done. My sessions do not last any longer than about 60 minutes.

You will also notice I write Day 1, Day 2,  and Day 3. This is due to my schedule always being different with my job. I can't train every Monday, or Wednesday, and so on. Also, I will do this program sometimes 4 days per week instead of the traditional 3 day per week MadCow calls for. Just keep a check on your recovery and how you handle the volume. Use your brain. I would not go over 4 days per week, that would be overkill and would possibly dampen your progress. A general month would look like this for me, with my training falling on the highlighted days, notice the three day breaks.

July
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

 In any case, the way the program will work is this. The first four weeks is building up to your personal records, it should be fairly easy during this time. If it is too hard, your inputs for your one rep maxes were too high. It is always better to start lighter, than heavier.
  On Monday, you will warm-up to your 5x5 which is where you will ramp up to a heavy set of 5 on your squat, bench, and rows. I perform Pendlay rows with my back parallel to the ground. Followed by dips and snatch grip shrugs.
  On Wednesday, you will deadlift ramping up to a heavy set of 5 and the same goes for the overhead press. Your walking lunges will be with dumbbells and it is 5 reps per leg, so a total of 10 reps. The progression in your lunges will be adding a heavier set every week compounding as time goes on, I have found this very effective for lunges. Do your pull-ups, use added weight on a belt if you need to. I use an EZ-Bar for upright rows. A lot of people talk about how bad this exercise is for the shoulders. For me, the key is using a natural range of motion and never using a straight bar. I've been doing them for years and never have had issues.
  Friday is a little different. As for squats and bench, you will ramp to a PR set of 3 reps followed by a back-off set of 8. You will do one all out set of kroc rows with a heavy dumbbell. I use around a 130 pound dumbbell for sets of 20-30 reps, use straps if you need to. When I perform Romanian deadlifts (RDLs) I stand on a Reebok step, about 5 inches off the ground, which provides more activation of the glutes and a better hamstring stretch. I perform the facepulls with a typical cable tower, on a low setting using the rope attachment.

Now, if this jargon is too much for you, have no fear-- I have an excel sheet here for you. Just put in your maxes and kaploowee! you're ready to train for the next 12 weeks. You can download it here.

Other Considerations

Diet & Sleep- Remember to eat and sleep enough, very important.

Deload Periods- I only take a deload week every 12 weeks doing this. Some might say this is too long, but as long as I feel good and I am progressing, I keep going.

Stalling/Plateaus- Especially since this is linear progression, stalling out is an inevitable aspect of training. What you will want to do is if you find after a few weeks you can not push the weight scheduled, you will want to reset your max. What I found useful was going back to the weight I could lift for 5 reps or 3 reps and recalculating everything. A lot of people have trouble doing this, either their ego can not handle it or they simply feel like they are not lifting enough weight to be challenged. This is all in your head. Remember, 3 steps back, 4 steps forward.

Exercise selection- Honestly, you shouldn't tamper with this. If you feel the need to for whatever reason, perhaps equipment availability, personal reasons, etcetera... Here is a list of acceptable replacements.

     Deadlift- Trap Bar Deadlift
     Squat- Front Squats, Box Squats
     Bench Press- Incline Bench Press
     Overhead Press- nothing...
     Walking Lunges- Bulgarian Split Squats
     BB Row- DB Row, Power Cleans, Hang Cleans, Snatches
     Kroc Row- Just do them

*If you want to change the Facepulls, Upright Rows, or Snatch Grip Shrugs with anything else you can. I personally do these to keep upperback strength for front squats and thickness. However, don't change the dips, pull-ups, and RDLs. Keep in mind, to add weight to the dips and pull-ups if you need to.

Conditioning- If you do conditioning or want to add it in, go for it. I usually use hill sprints, 80 yard sprints, or Prowler pushes. Just make sure it doesn't take away from your progression with the weights. Adjust accordingly.

Conclusion

There you go! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. This is a simple program to follow and is very effective. I have gotten great results from this not only this year, but it also helped me reach a 415 lbs squat and a 495 deadlift a couple years ago. It will work if you put in the time and effort. Whether it is to give you some extra ideas on adjusting a 5x5 set-up or something new to try all together-- I feel it will help you reach your goals. Please feel free to leave any comments or questions. If this was helpful please share it, follow by e-mail and/or subscribe. Thank you for reading. Till next time...

Phil