5X5 Training

5×5 Training is an old but useful training method for someone looking to increase their overall strength and build muscle. 5×5 training is when you perform 5 reps of 5 sets for a given exercise for the entire workout.

By keeping the repetitions low and sets high puts more emphasis on strength, which makes this type of training particularly effective for strength trainers, Olympic athletes and people who engage in strength type sports such as: football, rugby, lacrosse, ice hockey, rock climbing etc.

Why 5X5?

5×5 training has been used by many professional bodybuilders, such as Reg Park and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the main purpose of 5×5 training is to increase overall strength. It’s not an easy workout to perform and requires mental & physical dedication, but it will yield some great strength and size gains if followed correctly.

Performing 5 repetitions of a given exercise is what makes it a tough workout, if you regularly perform 8-12 repetitions during your workout then changing to 5 reps maximum will certainly be a challenge. If you are looking to increase your strength or want to improve on weak areas I certainly recommend 5×5 training.

5×5 training can also be useful to break plateaus, I often use 5×5 training to increase my bench press strength and sometimes to improve my overall squat strength when I find I can’t increase it with normal weight training methods such as 3 sets of 8-10 reps.

How often should I Perform 5X5 workouts?

5×5 workouts should be performed 3 or 4 times per week at most and consist of mainly compound movements such as barbell bench press, deadlift, upright dips etc.

If you are performing a full body workout with 5×5 training then I suggest you train 3 times per week. If however you are splitting your workout routine between upper and lower workouts then I suggest 4 workouts per week (2x upper and 2x lower).

5X5 Rest Between Sets

5×5 will be strenuous on your joints, muscles, immune system and mentality, especially when you first start this type of program. Make sure you rest at least 90 seconds between sets, especially if you are going for size over strength. If strength is your main goal then rest a minimum of 3 minutes between sets.

Of course these are just general numbers, if you feel you had enough rest and are mentally and physically ready to start the next set just go for it. Your body is the best indicator on whether you are ready to complete the next set, don’t always rely on the clock!

5X5 Rest Days

With regard to rest between workouts, this all depends on whether you are performing full body workouts or split routines. Also, if you are new to 5×5 training (or new to weight training in general) you may need more rest days during the first few weeks of the 5×5 program.

If you are performing full body routines you should have a rest day between workouts, for example:

Monday: workout 1
Tuesday: Day off
Wednesday: workout 2
Thursday: Day off
Friday: Workout 3

If you are doing an upper/lower split routine over 4 days I suggest the following routine:

Monday: Upper body
Tuesday: Lower body
Wednesday: Day off
Thursday: Upper body
Friday: Lower body

The Key to a successful 5X5 program

The key to 5×5 training, and all training for that matter is down to progressive resistance, put simply this is when you gradually increase the weight, number of reps or both for a given exercise, doing either of these is the key to building muscle and strength and should always be your main objective.

The difference with 5×5 training is that you need to stay within 5 reps and you must complete 5 sets for a given exercise, so the only way to increase using the progressive resistance method is by increasing the weight.

So, when you can manage 5 reps for 5 sets for a given exercise you need to increase the weight the next time you perform the same exercise. How much you increase the weight is usually determined by the exercise being performed and the current weight you are lifting, for example, if you bench 200lbs for 5 repetitions and you manged to do this for all 5 sets, you would probably increase the weight to 205lbs the next time you perform that exercise.

This may seem like a small increase but don’t forgot, a 5lb increase on 200lbs is a 3% increase in weight, if you managed to increase your bench press by 3% every month you would increase your bench to over 60lbs in a year based on 200lbs bench, quite outstanding and certainly achievable in my opinion.

Just don’t be tempted to increase the weight by high percentages, especially for smaller isolation exercises where you typically don’t lift heavy weights, such as dumbbell bicep curls. For example, if you manage to curl 5 reps for 5 sets with a 20lb dumbbell by increasing it next time to a 25lb dumbbell would be a 25% increase in weight! Whilst it could be possible it would be very difficult to achieve 5 sets of 5 reps with a 25% increase in a short period of time.

Just remember to write down the weight you lifted and the number of repetitions you performed for every set of every exercise, writing down the figures will enable you to increase in strength as efficiently as possible, because you can see how much you lifted in the previous week and attempt to beat it every time.

5X5 Cautions

5×5 training is tough, not only on the muscles but on the joints, because of this you must ensure you warm-up properly before completing your 5×5 workout. I recommend warming up with 5-10 minutes with a cardio workout, I like jogging on the treadmill for 10 minutes to get my heart rate up and my adrenaline pumping. Once you have completed a cardio workout it’s time to warm-up the muscles and joints ready for your 5×5 workout.

Most people make the mistake of warming up by performing 1 set of 15-20 reps with a light weight, and then they go straight into their workout. This is a mistake, doing this will put too much shock on your muscles when you start your first proper set.

The correct way to warm up with weights for your 5×5 program is to do the following with your first workout (below example assumes bench press is the first exercise in the workout for someone who lifts 200lbs with 5×5):

Warmup set 1: 12 reps with 25% of the weight you normally lift (50lbs)
Warmup set 2: 8 reps with 50% of the weight you normally lift (100lbs)
Warmup set 3: 5 reps with 70% of the weight you normally lift (140lbs)
Warmup set 4: 3 reps with 85% of the weight you normally lift (170lbs)
Warmup set 5: 1 rep with 95% of the weight you normally lift (190lbs)

Once you have completed the above warm-up set you can begin your 5×5 workout, safe in the knowledge that joints and muscles will be ready for the weight.

5X5 Workout Examples

As you are performing 5 sets you need to keep the exercises to a minimum, I recommend no more than 5 exercises per workout as a general rule, going above and beyond this is not necessary.

5X5 Full Body Workout Example (3 day split)

Day 1: Barbell bench press, barbell squat, deadlift, barbell row, barbell bicep curls
Day 2: Rest day
Day 3: Chin ups, dumbbell curls, deadlift, barbell lunges, mid row
Day 4: Rest day
Day 5: Barbell bench press, barbell shoulder press, upright dips, barbell squat, barbell bicep curls

5X5 Split Routine Workout Example (4 day split)

Day 1: Barbell bench press, pull ups, dumbbell shoulder press, mid rows, bicep curls
Day 2: Barbell squats, deadlift, barbell lunges, calf raises
Day 3: Rest day
Day 4: Dumbbell bench press, lat pull down, tricep dips, dumbbell curls, bent over rows
Day 5: Barbell squats, deadlift, dumbbell lunges, seated calf raises