My Novice 5x5 For Bodybuilders.

[steam308]

Can I use dumbells while doing the over head press ? & the curls? & is there any other work out I can do instead of skull crushers? I am not strong enough to do weight nd my gym is under construction and dosnt have just the bar?

[tmartin89]

Can I use dumbells while doing the over head press ? & the curls? & is there any other work out I can do instead of skull crushers? I am not strong enough to do weight nd my gym is under construction and dosnt have just the bar?

You can use dumbbells but you won't be getting optimal gains. Standing press works upper chest as well as triceps and shoulders, if you can use a barbell, then do it. Curls you can do incline db curls. You can also use dumbbells instead of a bar on skullcrushers, I do this as the bar hurts my elbow.

[steam308]

Also any one know how to gain weight? I skiped one week to gain a little weight 116 and I ate like a mofo and I lost weight 114!! Like wtf? I know ur supposed to eat alot to support muscle growth I drink a whey protein shake after every work out with a meal I eat breakfast every day I have little snacks in between meal:/ im 5"7' ( idk if I did that right ) & need to gain weight please help I dont wanna stay small

[sirmisc]

Also any one know how to gain weight? I skiped one week to gain a little weight 116 and I ate like a mofo and I lost weight 114!! Like wtf? I know ur supposed to eat alot to support muscle growth I drink a whey protein shake after every work out with a meal I eat breakfast every day I have little snacks in between meal:/ im 5"7' ( idk if I did that right ) & need to gain weight please help I dont wanna stay small

read the stickies in the nutrition section

[stuntmanhy]

So it's my third week on this program and I'm loving it. Completely new to the gym and I feel stronger already!

Anyway I've gained 2.4 pounds in a week which seems a bit much. Part of me thinks the scale could be slightly inaccurate but I'm not sure. I'm a skinny guy with a fast metabolism eating 2800 calories a week. I'm not overly concerned with gaining a little fat on my bulk but do you guys reckon it might be worth dropping the calories down a bit? I'm weighing myself first thing in the morning.

My macros are 130g protein, 70g fat and the rest carbs. As I said I'm not overly concerned with a bit of fat gain I'm quite thrilled that the scale is going up and not down lol don't think I've ever put on weight before in my life XD

[hayd]

I'm quite confused, close grip bench press is the same width i normally bench which is about shoulder width apart, when it says bench press in the routine is that just wide bench press? or am I just totally confused?

[Winfamy]

I'm quite confused, close grip bench press is the same width i normally bench which is about shoulder width apart, when it says bench press in the routine is that just wide bench press? or am I just totally confused?

That's right.

CGBP - shoulder width grip
Bench press - wider grip, whatever makes your forearms perpendicular to the floor at the lowest point of the movement

[Entonis]

It is possible to add more weight (more than 5lbs since my gym doesn't have that kind of weights and there is no place to buy those where I live) each session ? It's only one thing that bothers me most now. And if I can, how I should do it? (Should I add those weights after week or more, because I don't think it's a good idea to add more than 5lbs each session, coz it'll be to hard). I hope anyone understood what I meant to say because I'm 4ner as ****.

[mattc90]

Having issues with the over head press and squats. These two workouts really are hurting my lower back and I am afarid of injuring myself. I have looked on many websites to figure out the correct form but can't seem to get it down. Is it possible to switch out these workouts? Because I know jason says squats is his thing in this workout.. so yea ieno what to do.

[Saucen]

Having issues with the over head press and squats. These two workouts really are hurting my lower back and I am afarid of injuring myself. I have looked on many websites to figure out the correct form but can't seem to get it down. Is it possible to switch out these workouts? Because I know jason says squats is his thing in this workout.. so yea ieno what to do.

What weight are you trying for squats? Go lower than whatever your answer is and work on form.

[mattc90]

What weight are you trying for squats? Go lower than whatever your answer is and work on form.

I start wid 155lbs then move up to 175lbs

[Jerseylump]

I start wid 155lbs then move up to 175lbs

Watch Youtube Videos; then practice the movement infront of the mirror. do not arch your back and remember, form over weight!

[Saucen]

I start wid 155lbs then move up to 175lbs

I'd say go down to 135 and just work on form. It's enough weight to help you balance and its not too much for you to really hurt yourself.

[zippus]

if i were to add some leg press into workout A would this lead to too much leg work considering we are squatting 3 times a week already. i just f##cking love training quads!!!!

[InfernoUk]

Hey guys

I wanted some advice with an injury i seem to have picked up.

I cant work out exactly what muscle it is but i have a bad ache which turns into a pain when used somewhere in my upper arm, it seems to be between the shoulder, bicep and tricep muscles and I cant pin it to one specific muscle.

It has been low level but really kicked in today, I managed 5x5 Squats and then i had to leave, i tried picking up the bar for shoulder press and my arm just failed, I also havent been able to complete bicep curls for the last 3 sessions now and if i tense my arm i get a sharp pain. My other arm is fine

Is the key to this just going to be rest? It seems anything that requires lifting with the upper arm causes the pain so I cant get away with doing any lifts on the routine?

Also in reguard to diet if i need to stop, should i stop eating a surplus until I am better again? I just really dont want to take time off...

Can provide any other info if required, our gym has no trainers to help diagnose the issue so im left with a doctor that will just tell me to rest it and you guys who hopefully can help me identify the problem!

Thanks!

[cookaymuscle]

if i were to add some leg press into workout A would this lead to too much leg work considering we are squatting 3 times a week already. i just f##cking love training quads!!!!

I add calf work at the end of both workouts A and B. I don't think I'd be able to handle any Leg Pressing though, squats should be enough.

[cookaymuscle]

For anyone doing barbell curls I highly recommend switching to incline curls. I switched when I found out from one of Jason's videos that he prefers incline curls over barbell curls even though just about the whole program involves barbells. Check out this video to get the most out of incline curls! From the great Jason himself!

I've now switched to incline Dumbell curls over Barbell curls in Workout B. I much prefer them. Cheers man.

[jakescom]

I did volume training 10x10 in December 2012, gave my chest the best shock and look ever. since then i just havnt been able to get the same pump anymore. From next week i want to do the following...... BB Bench 5x15
DB Bench 5x5 then combine some triceps too. I'm happy with this idea but my big thing that i need advise on is this. I am going to add Side and front lateral raises for shoulders 3x15 and BB or DB 3X10. Then my training week will look like this......

Monday- Legs
Tuesday - Olympic Lifts
Wed- Chest+ Shoulders+ Triceps
Thurs-rest
Friday- Olympic lifts.

Will this be a stupid idea, i am just worried that i might be doing way to much on the shoulders?

PLEASE HELP!!!

[Winfamy]

I did volume training 10x10 in December 2012, gave my chest the best shock and look ever. since then i just havnt been able to get the same pump anymore. From next week i want to do the following...... BB Bench 5x15
DB Bench 5x5 then combine some triceps too. I'm happy with this idea but my big thing that i need advise on is this. I am going to add Side and front lateral raises for shoulders 3x15 and BB or DB 3X10. Then my training week will look like this......

Monday- Legs
Tuesday - Olympic Lifts
Wed- Chest+ Shoulders+ Triceps
Thurs-rest
Friday- Olympic lifts.

Will this be a stupid idea, i am just worried that i might be doing way to much on the shoulders?

PLEASE HELP!!!

Wrong place. This thread is meant to discuss JasonDB's routine and not your own.

[cookaymuscle]

I did volume training 10x10 in December 2012, gave my chest the best shock and look ever. since then i just havnt been able to get the same pump anymore. From next week i want to do the following...... BB Bench 5x15
DB Bench 5x5 then combine some triceps too. I'm happy with this idea but my big thing that i need advise on is this. I am going to add Side and front lateral raises for shoulders 3x15 and BB or DB 3X10. Then my training week will look like this......

Monday- Legs
Tuesday - Olympic Lifts
Wed- Chest+ Shoulders+ Triceps
Thurs-rest
Friday- Olympic lifts.

Will this be a stupid idea, i am just worried that i might be doing way to much on the shoulders?

PLEASE HELP!!!

Sir, you seem to be lost.

[Litres]

Currently can't do squats due to hip flexor injury. Hip flexors hurt when i squat down to parallel. So what would you guys recommend i replace the 3x5 squats (cutting currently) with for the moment? I find leg presses to be doable. And if i do replace them with leg presses, do i keep the sets at 3x5, or increase the number of sets to 4x5,5x5,6x5 etc since leg presses are not as demanding as squats.

[Tubbymcgill]

Hey guys

I wanted some advice with an injury i seem to have picked up.

I cant work out exactly what muscle it is but i have a bad ache which turns into a pain when used somewhere in my upper arm, it seems to be between the shoulder, bicep and tricep muscles and I cant pin it to one specific muscle.

It has been low level but really kicked in today, I managed 5x5 Squats and then i had to leave, i tried picking up the bar for shoulder press and my arm just failed, I also havent been able to complete bicep curls for the last 3 sessions now and if i tense my arm i get a sharp pain. My other arm is fine

Is the key to this just going to be rest? It seems anything that requires lifting with the upper arm causes the pain so I cant get away with doing any lifts on the routine?

Also in reguard to diet if i need to stop, should i stop eating a surplus until I am better again? I just really dont want to take time off...

Can provide any other info if required, our gym has no trainers to help diagnose the issue so im left with a doctor that will just tell me to rest it and you guys who hopefully can help me identify the problem!

Thanks!

I had the same thing earlier in the year. Went on a massive deload at 50% and upping the reps, eating at maintenance. The pain started to come back as I got the weight higher, but suddenly disappeared completely a few weeks ago. Weird.
Ibuprofen and ice packs helped a lot. Try to baby it throughout the day. Good luck man.
Edit: a wise person would say see a therapist

[InfernoUk]

I had the same thing earlier in the year. Went on a massive deload at 50% and upping the reps, eating at maintenance. The pain started to come back as I got the weight higher, but suddenly disappeared completely a few weeks ago. Weird.
Ibuprofen and ice packs helped a lot. Try to baby it throughout the day. Good luck man.

thanks, its wierd it goes away when not in the gym and randomly flares somethings through the day, like now i can barley feel it compared to when i left the gym, its why its hard to gage if ill be ok to go back into the gym, it dosent hurt until i put the weight on it...

[BobLoblaw357]

1. How long are you guys resting between sets?
2. Do your workouts go "A. B. A." for a week than on the next week start where you left off going "B. A. B."?

1. 1.5 to 2 min between normal sets. 30 secs to a minute for warm-up
2. exactly

Barbell Shrugs Problem:

I have had some neck problems for a while.
Mainly from poor computer posture over the years, bad alignment and stiff here and there.
It is usually always cranky and I find myself constantly stretching it to make it crack as it eases the pain a bit.

Anyway I was doing neck exercises for the past month and noticed it improving until I started doing BB Shrugs last week.

Now my neck is feeling extremely stiff for the past 4-5 days.
I have tried stretching exercises on it every day following a good book I bought and it still hasn't gotten any better.
I can't even crack it anymore or look all the way to my left or right without feeling a lot of tension.

I am not sure if it is the shrugs solely, but have a feeling it is.

Does anyone have any advice or had similar problems?

I also have this issue due to posture. i have double jointed shoulder blades that don't anchor my shoulders back properly.
one of the effects of this is my shoulders are over-developed the wrong way and working overtime. i leave the shrug outta my sets entirely

first off, thanks so much jason, for all your help.
i am sure this has been addressed multiple times, but i am horrible at navigating searches.

my girlfriend has been lifting with me. she has stuck with the SL 5x5 w/some chins and hyperextension alternating.
she has the strength gains she was shooting for and is read to transition for cutting.
she doesn't want to just do cardio as she really enjoys lifting and being strong
she has added zumba classes on her inbetween lift days (SUN lift MON zumba TUES lift WED zumba THURS lift FRI - SAT rest/stretch)

for your cutting program, you recommend doing 3x5 and 2x8, which i assume comes with the ability to ramp up weight a bit at the beginning.
i looked at a few of the cutting programs on here and most seem to have a lot higher reps, more like 3x15, they also have alternating body parts for different days, working out most every day, etc.
when i was lifting in high school we were told higher reps meant leaner gains
i had her doing 3x8 for all her lifts at first, before i found your cutting version
i guess my question is why not higher reps for the cutting program? is there something i'm missing?
i read the previous posts about caloric deficit being a contributing factor, but with only 3-4 days a week lifting
can this really be enough volume?

question open to all
thanks

bump

p.s. i'm aware that you recommend against doing high rep work w/ the squats and deadlift due to possible injury (watched this morning's video), but why not higher reps for the supplemental stuff?

[lrd3]

It is possible to add more weight (more than 5lbs since my gym doesn't have that kind of weights and there is no place to buy those where I live) each session ? It's only one thing that bothers me most now. And if I can, how I should do it? (Should I add those weights after week or more, because I don't think it's a good idea to add more than 5lbs each session, coz it'll be to hard). I hope anyone understood what I meant to say because I'm 4ner as ****.

they are sold on line..... we are all going to assume you Internet...

[lrd3]

Having issues with the over head press and squats. These two workouts really are hurting my lower back and I am afarid of injuring myself. I have looked on many websites to figure out the correct form but can't seem to get it down. Is it possible to switch out these workouts? Because I know jason says squats is his thing in this workout.. so yea ieno what to do.

i have a similar issue.. 6 years ago i found out i have "thinning disks" in my back along with a few other back issues... it doesn't bother me to much in my over head press. but when i first started squatting i decided i was going to "perfect squats" but with lower weights... well shortly after getting my form down. i started adding weight. i'm now squatting over 300 lbs just beyond parallel...
get your form down on all lifts... push hard... but not more weight than you can safely move...

[Charlie581]

first off, thanks so much jason, for all your help.
i am sure this has been addressed multiple times, but i am horrible at navigating searches.

my girlfriend has been lifting with me. she has stuck with the SL 5x5 w/some chins and hyperextension alternating.
she has the strength gains she was shooting for and is read to transition for cutting.
she doesn't want to just do cardio as she really enjoys lifting and being strong
she has added zumba classes on her inbetween lift days (SUN lift MON zumba TUES lift WED zumba THURS lift FRI - SAT rest/stretch)

for your cutting program, you recommend doing 3x5 and 2x8, which i assume comes with the ability to ramp up weight a bit at the beginning.
i looked at a few of the cutting programs on here and most seem to have a lot higher reps, more like 3x15, they also have alternating body parts for different days, working out most every day, etc.
when i was lifting in high school we were told higher reps meant leaner gains
i had her doing 3x8 for all her lifts at first, before i found your cutting version
i guess my question is why not higher reps for the cutting program? is there something i'm missing?
i read the previous posts about caloric deficit being a contributing factor, but with only 3-4 days a week lifting
can this really be enough volume?

question open to all
thanks

You were lied to in highschool, sorry brah!

Lol but no really high reps does not in-fact do anything in terms of additional benefits while in a caloric deficit. As well, the only reason to ADD CARDIO is to burn extra CALORIES. Cardio does not magical whisp away fat. Being in a caloric deficit for extended time periods is what causes loss of fat mass. Higher reps does NOT equal hardening the muscles, burning more calories, blah blah blah.
The reason for the drop in reps/sets is because you are in an energy deficit when cutting, and while strength gain is POSSIBLE, it is nowheres near what it can be like as compared to while in a surplus, and as well the further you reach into your cutting phase, strength loss is inevitable. The reason these programs make you go down to super high reps and low sets is because it markets and sells well, NOT because the physiological science says it works to benefit (because it doesn't).

In reality, lifting heavy is what is going to keep all the muscle mass you have accumulated over your gaining phase essentially (and im paraphrasing) because you are forcing you body to keep it due to the stress of heavier lifting. Drop weight and do 15 reps, and you body will adjust by loss of muscle because it no longer needs to keep the muscle it once did to move the heavier weight it once did.


Jason has a video covering training more than 4 days, but this is not regarding while on a cut though. He talks about some psychological reasons for wanting to be in the gym more basically.



He also covers high reps work in an earlier video, as there are still benefits (its just not suddenly better for muscle gain) But, in heavy compounds such as squat and Deadlift, lower rep work is wanted regardless due to the higher the reps go, the worse the form gets, increasing risk on serious injury (for almost all individuals)

[Charlie581]

It is possible to add more weight (more than 5lbs since my gym doesn't have that kind of weights and there is no place to buy those where I live) each session ? It's only one thing that bothers me most now. And if I can, how I should do it? (Should I add those weights after week or more, because I don't think it's a good idea to add more than 5lbs each session, coz it'll be to hard). I hope anyone understood what I meant to say because I'm 4ner as ****.

I see this all the time, so ill give an easy answer

DONT!!! Can you get away with adding more than 5lbs? Yes, but you are going to stall out FAST and possible hurt yourself. There is a big difference between having a hard time doing 225x5 and the next day throw on an extra 10lbs. Adding smaller weight increments allows your body to adjust properly without overloading the work. As you progress even further, you might even need to invest in micro plates (1.25lbs each, so you add 2.5lbs instead) so to keep up with linear progression and avoid consistent stalling.

Bottom line, be patient. Your not going to change overnight

[hayd]

Barbell row 10% is that just 10% less off your max or?

[Charlie581]

Barbell row 10% is that just 10% less off your max or?

10% less than what you did previously

Example: Monday you did 175lbs for rows. The next time you do rows, take off 10%
175 - (175 x 0.10) = 157.5
In most cases, round down just to be safe, so you would end up doing 155lb rows.