The Original 5 X 5 Training Program

It is not unusual to hear someone saying they are doing a 5 x 5 training program and there are a few well known 5x5 plans out there. Like Madcow, and of course the very popular stronglifts 5x5 training program. Basically all that 5x5 means is that you do five sets of five reps of any given exercise.

Today we are going to take a look at the history of this style of training going all the way back to the original 5 x 5 training program. Or at least as far back as I could find a complete program. Which turns out to be from the 1930’s. By taking a closer look at the history we can get some training ideas for ourselves and even help us decide if this style of training is right for us.

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The Original 5 X 5 Training Program
So that we can get fit and build muscle no matter what our age. We’ll compare these older programs to the stronglifts system which is a very basic easy to follow plan, based on 5 compound movements the squat, benchpress, shoulder press, barbell row and deadlift. It is a full body workout done 3 times a week.

The 1930’s program was designed by Mark Berry who was the first Olympic weightlifting coach for the US. Coaching the weightlifting teams for the 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games.

The final stage of Mark Berry’s program was the only true 5x5 portion of his plan. It is a full body workout with a total 11 exercises. Contrast that with the modern day stronglifts program which while still a full body workout only has only 3 different exercises per workout less than a third of the over all volume. Some have criticized the Stronglifts program as not having enough volume, but with Marks I would say the volume is definitely excessive with the other the phases having even more volume.

The first stage of Reg Parks workout plan more closely mirrors that of the stronglifts. As I mentioned earlier, the stronglifts plan only has 3 exercises per workout with an “A” and “B” workout that alternated every other training session with at least one rest day in between. So one week the “A” workout will be done twice and the “B” once then the next week the “B” workout would be twice and the “A” once.

Reg Park’s workout is also done 3 times a week with a total of 4 exercises. The main three being the squat, benchpress and deadlift. These three were done as 5 set of 5 reps the fourth exercise was hyperextensions which was done as 3 sets of 10.

Stronglifts “A” workout consists of the squat, benchpress and barbell row. With the “B” workout being squat, overhead press and deadlift. So both plans have squats every workout. One of the differences is with the warm up sets, the first two sets of Reg’s plan were warm up sets with the last 3 sets being your working sets. Stronglifts has all five sets being your working sets and your warm up sets are done in addition to to this.

Stronglifts has an interesting way of deciding what your working weight will be. If you know what the maximum amount of weight is you can do for five reps. Then you would start with 50% of that weight and slowly increase the weight by the smallest increment possible each workout out until you eventually surpass your old max weight. You can use these first lighter workouts to work on perfecting your form and getting used to the movement. If you don’t know what your 5 rep max is then they suggest starting light and slowly adding weight each workout as it adds up fast and you’ll eventually find your 5 rep max.

Eventually you will hit a plateau and need to make a change. The first thing you should do is to take more rest time in between sets to help you more fully recover. Then if by the third workout you still haven’t progressed they suggest to do a deload but only on the exercise you are no longer progressing on. On that exercise cut back the weight by 10% then slowly start to work your way back up again.

With Reg Parks program the initial phase which most closely matches the stronglifts program is only one piece of a much larger plan with each phase being 3 months long after this initial phase he would start to increase the volume of the workout by adding in more exercises. The exercises he would include would depend on whether you were wanting a Olympic Lifting program or a bodybuilding program and this is where a 5x5 stronglifts program works best as a program for beginners or intermediate lifters who want to build their strength foundation to prepare themselves for more advanced programs.

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