modified 5x5

[gwilacuz]

ive switched my training to a more strength based routine but SL 5x5 has my knees hurting from squatting 3x a week. would this be an acceptable tweak to the program?

workout A
bench press 5x5
barbell row 5x5
squat 5x5

workout B
pull ups 5x5
shoulder press 5x5
deadlift 5x5

training days are mon, wed, fri. week 1 would be A B A and week 2 B A B

[boathead]

i happen to think an ABA BAB approach is the most sustainable approach there is, especially because life happens. if you miss a day, you just pick up in the rotation. and your exercise choices, and their grouping, are solid.

[Jasonk282]

Of your knees hurt from squatting you have form issues.

I squat 5 days a week, no knee issues.

[FaIIen]

What's up with your knees, is it just technique related? 39 isn't that old, is it?

You could also have a look at the beginner powerbuilding routine, it's rather similar.

[gwilacuz]

i happen to think an ABA BAB approach is the most sustainable approach there is, especially because life happens. if you miss a day, you just pick up in the rotation. and your exercise choices, and their grouping, are solid.

do you think i am hitting my legs enough compared to everything else? that was my main concern.

[gwilacuz]

What's up with your knees, is it just technique related? 39 isn't that old, is it?

You could also have a look at the beginner powerbuilding routine, it's rather similar.

LOL.....i don't like to think its that old, but sometimes it feels that way. its just my right knee, possibly from an old injury. i personally dont like the idea of squatting 3 days a week anyway, i could see myself getting mentally tired of it. i figured the way i had it set up i would still be squatting every 4 to 5 days. and with deadlifts on the in between days i would still be getting some leg work in there. i just didnt want to neglect my legs.

[mdonnelly80]

These programs don't have you squatting simply to build your legs. It is a major compound movement that stresses big muscle groups which promotes an anabolic metabolism which is conducive to an over-all increase in muscle mass and strength. Stressing larger muscle groups forces your body to respond by dumping more anabolic hormones into your system which is obviously beneficial all around. They also have you squatting a lot because that it the best way to drive up your deadlift: if you can push heavy weights on squats, then you'll be pulling heavy weights on DL. You'll find very few exercises that are as good at building a strong core as squats as well. Any 5x5 program is about developing overall strength and squatting is a major component of overall strength.

Personally, I would check your form to make sure it's kosher and get under the squat rack at least twice per week. There's too many benefits not to. Yeah, I get tired of doing them as well but, then again, there's nothing quite like feeling the you get when a bar is bending across your shoulders.

[gwilacuz]

These programs don't have you squatting simply to build your legs. It is a major compound movement that stresses big muscle groups which promotes an anabolic metabolism which is conducive to an over-all increase in muscle mass and strength. Stressing larger muscle groups forces your body to respond by dumping more anabolic hormones into your system which is obviously beneficial all around. They also have you squatting a lot because that it the best way to drive up your deadlift: if you can push heavy weights on squats, then you'll be pulling heavy weights on DL. You'll find very few exercises that are as good at building a strong core as squats as well. Any 5x5 program is about developing overall strength and squatting is a major component of overall strength.

Personally, I would check your form to make sure it's kosher and get under the squat rack at least twice per week. There's too many benefits not to. Yeah, I get tired of doing them as well but, then again, there's nothing quite like feeling the you get when a bar is bending across your shoulders.

thank you for the reply. interesting info you provided, you seem to know your sh*t. with my workout i posted in the original post, i would be squatting twice and deadlifting once on week 1. on week 2 i would be squatting once and deadlifting twice. since the 2 exercises work similar muscles, i figured i wouldnt need to squat 3x a week. i feel my form is great. im not one to sacrifice form for weight, and im always contentious of form on all exercises.

[Jasonk282]

thank you for the reply. interesting info you provided, you seem to know your sh*t. with my workout i posted in the original post, i would be squatting twice and deadlifting once on week 1. on week 2 i would be squatting once and deadlifting twice. since the 2 exercises work similar muscles, i figured i wouldnt need to squat 3x a week. i feel my form is great. im not one to sacrifice form for weight, and im always contentious of form on all exercises.

A squat and Deadlift do not work similar muscles

[gwilacuz]

A squat and Deadlift do not work similar muscles

quads hams glutes core get hit on both exercises. legs more so on squat, core more so on deads. so how dont they work similar muscles?

[Jasonk282]

quads hams glutes core get hit on both exercises. legs more so on squat, core more so on deads. so how dont they work similar muscles?

No.

That's like saying a bench press and overhead press work similar muscles.

There is carry over to assistance muscles. But you're not gonna have big, strong quads by deadlifting only...

[gwilacuz]

No.

That's like saying a bench press and overhead press work similar muscles.

There is carry over to assistance muscles. But you're not gonna have big, strong quads by deadlifting only...

....and im not deadlifting only. im deadlifting and squatting every other session. if squatting 5 days a week works for you, then that is great, but that's not me. i personally think that squatting 5 days a week is just as bad as benching 5 days a week. in my opinion it is overkill. but like i said, that's just my opinion. all i was searching for was feedback on the workout routine i posted in my original post.

[Jasonk282]

....and im not deadlifting only. im deadlifting and squatting every other session. if squatting 5 days a week works for you, then that is great, but that's not me. i personally think that squatting 5 days a week is just as bad as benching 5 days a week. in my opinion it is overkill. but like i said, that's just my opinion. all i was searching for was feedback on the workout routine i posted in my original post.

You're better off following it as written. If anything you can make your 2nd squat day lower weight and vokume.

80% your Monday session and 2x5 instead of 5x5.

Squatting 5 days a week isn't even close to as bad as benching 5 days a week. Powerlifters, and weight lifters do all that squatting with no issues.

[keyboardworkout]

No pulling before pushing. Move pullups after press.

The biceps tendon has very little room as it passing through the shoulder joint. When it is inflamed after pulling movements, pushing movements can lead to pain and tendonitis.

[Sweetums6000]

I did the same thing after a while on stronglifts. Started alternating between squats and deadlifts instead of squatting every time. I kept them at the beginning though. Why did you move them to the end?

And deadlifting 5x5 is a lot. You might want to do 3x5.

[mdonnelly80]

thank you for the reply. interesting info you provided, you seem to know your sh*t. with my workout i posted in the original post, i would be squatting twice and deadlifting once on week 1. on week 2 i would be squatting once and deadlifting twice. since the 2 exercises work similar muscles, i figured i wouldnt need to squat 3x a week. i feel my form is great. im not one to sacrifice form for weight, and im always contentious of form on all exercises.

Yeah, I'm familiar with Strong Lifts and it's a solid program. Your knees might be bugging you because the 5x5 on SL can be a bit much for some people: it's pretty high volume program. Drop the squat frequency and see what happens. Stick with it if your knees feel better and you keep progressing ad re-evaluate if your knees are fresh but your progress hurts.

[Sweetums6000]

I thought stronglifts was lacking pulling and hamstring exercises. So my modified version of stronglifts had pull-ups at the end of every workout and leg curls added to one of them, like this:

Squat
Bench
Row
Pull-up

Deadlift
OHP
Leg curl
Pull-up

[gwilacuz]

Yeah, I'm familiar with Strong Lifts and it's a solid program. Your knees might be bugging you because the 5x5 on SL can be a bit much for some people: it's pretty high volume program. Drop the squat frequency and see what happens. Stick with it if your knees feel better and you keep progressing ad re-evaluate if your knees are fresh but your progress hurts.

sounds good, will give it a try.

[gwilacuz]

I did the same thing after a while on stronglifts. Started alternating between squats and deadlifts instead of squatting every time. I kept them at the beginning though. Why did you move them to the end?

And deadlifting 5x5 is a lot. You might want to do 3x5.

just a personal preference i guess.

[gwilacuz]

I did the same thing after a while on stronglifts. Started alternating between squats and deadlifts instead of squatting every time. I kept them at the beginning though. Why did you move them to the end?

And deadlifting 5x5 is a lot. You might want to do 3x5.

how did alternating squats and deads work for you?

[Sweetums6000]

how did alternating squats and deads work for you?

Well it didn't seem to slow down my progress on my squats much, if any, but it's hard to say what progress I would've made if I hadn't messed with it. I was doing fairly frequent deloads on the squats anyway to work on form. And I didn't make the switch until my progress was already starting to slow down. I definitely think it helped my deadlift, though, which quickly became my best lift.

My knees feel a million times better than they did, although I can't be 100% sure what the cause is for that either. I could've had some minor form issues that got ironed out. Or adding the leg curls and improving the quad/ham balance could've had something to do with it.

It did make the workouts more enjoyable for me though, and I was probably more motivated as a result.