How a 5x5 Routine Can Cause Injuries & Pain 

I realized this just now. Damn, my knee wants to give out tho my form was okay but felt like I was weak on my squats, backed down a couple kg from my 5 Rep max. Also, Jumped back down 10kg from my 5 Rep max but still feels weak especially on my bench press. Thought it was just a bad session.

Your body is your best coach sometimes 🙌🏽

5 x 5 is great but I really think most of us should do a deload week after every 4 weeks. Infact even a week totally off training can be useful.

Yeah I usually don't stay in phases where the reps are 5 or less for any longer than 4 weeks. Usually just 3 weeks tbh

I have sub exercises for each group it's foolish to do 5x5 3 times a week..

Maybe it’s the program is too fatiguing on the nervous system, promotes a bunch of junk volume, and results in overuse injuries? “no, just deload and do mobility work 🤡”

Junk volume? 5 sets of 5 reps of 3 movements per a day, three days a week, is junk volume?

​@@MountainBlade yep. If you can do 5 reps on set 1 and then still do 5 reps on set 5. You're sandbagging and could have gone heavier. Or you're resting too long cuz it's junk volume. If you're going anywhere near failure on sets 1-3, there's no way in hell you should be able to get 5 reps for set 5. Doesn't matter if you're training for strength or size. It's completely ridiculous

@@TheUniverseExists This is hilarious. Just so everyone knows this guy has no idea what hes talking about. I imagine youre still on your 1st or 2nd year of this?

Dude noone trains to failure in 5x5.​@@TheUniverseExists It is recommended that whenever you feel that this might be your last rep , stop right there. When your bar struggles hard, when you feel you can't lift your ass above ground ... You stop right there.

If you are over 40, not it isn't just bad technique. It's putting a lot of initial pressure on your joints before your muscle starts to fatigue. It's common sense that doing 5 reps at 225 bench vs 10 reps at 190 puts more stress on your shoulders and elbows. 5x5 is fine for younger people but it starts to cause issues pretty quickly with older dudes. The last few times I've tried to run 5x5, once I start hitting intermediate weights, back, hips, elbows, shoulders all start hurting. It just isn't worth it if you want to maintain healthy joints.

@@TheDmonet Im over 40. Ran 5x5 well beyond 6 weeks. No joint pain. AT ALL. True strength gains don't even begin to occur util around 6 weeks. So your not possibly strong enough to even lift enough weight for joint pain to be an issue yet, UNLESS YOUR TECHNIQUE IS BAD. As a matter of fact, I did 5x5 on into 12 weeks with no joint pain. People in their 40's aren't frail. 5x5 is fine for a measley 6 weeks. You may want to think about improving your mobility and technique or possibly better programming your intensity progression.

@cdubb6983 And you know what weight I'm starting at how? How do you know I haven't been doing bro splits for 20 years, internet Arnold? And it's "you're not possibly" not "your", tough guy.

@@TheDmonet I don't have to know what you've ran because we're not talking about you. We're talking about the person's situation in this video that IIIIII made my initial comment about and YOU put YOUR 2 cents in, in reference to what IIIIII was speaking of (which was an altogether totally different scenario). You'll notice my initial comment says "de-load is eventually needed with heavy strength training, but etc"....So again, if you're only 6 weeks into a 5 x 5 in the circumstances the person is in this video, you shouldn't be having joint pain unless you have other issues. I've done some kind of weightlifting my entire life, bro splits, you name it. I've ran 5x5 in my 40s with no joint pain. And again as a sidenote to the original subject YOU took the time to comment on, if 5x5 makes you hurt then you are responsible for changing the intensity according to the volume. Don't blame it on 5x5 and make a blanket statement suggesting all 40 year olds are too frail to do it. Sounds like I don't even have to be a "guy" to be "tough"(ER) than you, sensitive Sally.

@@BigBusiness02 burnnnn

First year working out everything works

Are you male or female? Are you including the bar weight for those numbers?

@@analyticalchick3064 Female. Including the bar. I'm pulling 335 now following Jeff Nippard program. On a break post childbirth though.

@@SloansAbroad based

@@SloansAbroad that's a monster deadlift to squat ratio haha

Did you try using knee sleeves?

on my journey thru the 5 by 5 program that i did for 5 months, i got jacked as hell, the only times i experienced pain was when i did bad form or technique, this is why the warm up sets are important, to pratice the movement, also, i recorded myself doing every set, on reviewing, i would actually see what i was doing wrong and be able to correct it. My only issue was knee pain, in my records i could have seen where my left knee was shooting out when going down, once i corrected this i had no knee problems again. Always do a full body warm up before warm up sets and you'll be ok. ONe of my reasons for no pain also, was when i started doing the 5 minute warm up first. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1e528F0pYPg.html . This warm up, makes sure to stretch the back and really loosen the upper body and shoulders, especially for squats and any pain you may have had doing shoulder press. Hope this can help you. And on rest days, do the 5 minute warm up, your body will t hank you, not much soreness if any at all.

@@deadmanlyndon Yeah, people neglect warm ups and mobility work or usually work with terrible form

If u do deloading n respect ur body it work forever actually

@@alessio7375 No it doesn't. Larger muscles, lifting heavier weights, sustain more damage, take longer to heal, and require many more warmup sets. Unless you plan to work out once a week, keeping to a 3-4 day a week workout schedule can only be sustained by following a program like MadCow. Even the Stronglifts 5x5 program states to eventually decrease to 3x5, 3x3, then change programs.

@@DoomFinger511 i do my own workout with some of pronciple 5x5 method n work fine , i traning like 16 years , i do 5x5 200 kg squat n 240 5x5:deadlift ,i nevee been so strong in my life beside i weight only 69kg in cut

@@alessio7375 That's the key, you incorporate some principles of 5x5 but do not strictly follow only the 5x5 program. I do the same thing. I helped build out the beta app for for Stronglifts 5x5. I worked with Mehdi (the creator) since 2013. Even Mehdi (and myself) no longer follow the program because we outgrew it. The foundation principles of 5x5 is to only 5 different exercises (Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, Benchpress, and Barbell Row) for 5 sets of 5 reps using the same weight, going up 5lbs each day if the full 5 sets was successfully completed. It's done every other day, with Squats as the first exercises, followed by a benchpress and barbell row, or overhead press and deadlift (it alternates every other day). After an average of 3-6 months, that rate of progression is no longer sustainable. Either the sets and/or the daily weight increase have to be decreased to a lower rate. For example, once I hit 315lbs (140kg) squats in 5x5 I had to decrease to 3x5, then 3x3 in order to keep adding 5lbs (2.2kg) to the exercise each day, 3 times a week. Otherwise my recovery time became too long, and I did not have enough energy to fully exploit a 5x5 for my remaining 2 exercises for the day.

I'm a few weeks into 5x5 and I hope I can run it for 6 months. That'd put me at a 435 lb squat. I've done plenty of machine work in the past (for a year) so I think I'll be fine for a while. Just getting acquainted with the barbell finally.

After those 3-6 months, what would you recommend? New here.

@@MtbEMS Mehdi (the guy who came up with Stronglifts 5x5) in one of his daily emails said that once you can't continue the linear progression (after multiple deloads) to move more to heavy with fewer reps. Eventually doing things like 3x3 or even 1x3.

@@corymoon2439 noted, thank you much.

@@MtbEMS depends on your goals, if your wanting to just build muscle you might want to move to more high volume routine with more isolation movements. If you want to focus on getting stronger still them one of the 531 variations.

Yeah, you're suppose to switch to a high rep 75% of your max for about 6 week cycle at minimum after 4 months or more of heavy 5x5. I do 3 months 5x5 and 6 weeks of 5x10 for 6 weeks and I keep alternating. I also alternate exercises back and forth to avoid wear and tear pain on my joints. like on my 5x10 6 higher rep 6 week cycle I will do mostly dumbell exercises.

You're not supposed to do it for that long. You should deload after about 1-3 months.

@@813RiC I prob should’ve but I just never thought about it because I was always getting stronger

@@ImMakEiTNasty Alot of joints, tendons, etc are not as connected to the nervous system as the muscles so you think youre rested but youre not. That is why deloads are essential. If you were proactive about deloads you wouldnt get to the point where youre all messed up and injured, you could continue heavy compounds, and would be way stronger. I found this out the hard way too.

on my journey thru the 5 by 5 program that i did for 5 months, i got jacked as hell, the only times i experienced pain was when i did bad form or technique, this is why the warm up sets are important, to pratice the movement, also, i recorded myself doing every set, on reviewing, i would actually see what i was doing wrong and be able to correct it. My only issue was knee pain, in my records i could have seen where my left knee was shooting out when going down, once i corrected this i had no knee problems again. Always do a full body warm up before warm up sets and you'll be ok. ONe of my reasons for no pain also, was when i started doing the 5 minute warm up first. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1e528F0pYPg.html . This warm up, makes sure to stretch the back and really loosen the upper body and shoulders, especially for squats and any pain you may have had doing shoulder press. Hope this can help you. And on rest days, do the 5 minute warm up, your body will t hank you, not much soreness if any at all.

I ve been doing it for a year and a half… no pain at all

What is previous and current weight and height?

@@nielfollero5 6’0, starting weight 185, current weight 202. Dirty bulked a bit, cutting now, aiming to be around 180.

on my journey thru the 5 by 5 program that i did for 5 months, i got jacked as hell, the only times i experienced pain was when i did bad form or technique, this is why the warm up sets are important, to pratice the movement, also, i recorded myself doing every set, on reviewing, i would actually see what i was doing wrong and be able to correct it. My only issue was knee pain, in my records i could have seen where my left knee was shooting out when going down, once i corrected this i had no knee problems again. Always do a full body warm up before warm up sets and you'll be ok. ONe of my reasons for no pain also, was when i started doing the 5 minute warm up first. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1e528F0pYPg.html . This warm up, makes sure to stretch the back and really loosen the upper body and shoulders, especially for squats and any pain you may have had doing shoulder press. Hope this can help you. And on rest days, do the 5 minute warm up, your body will t hank you, not much soreness if any at all.

Sometimes things just happen

I bought a trap bar for deadlifts

Same thing happened to me. I realized I didn’t brace my core which led to poor technique

70 - 85% of 1rm. 1rm is 100? then 5 x5 should be with 70 - 80ish pounds x 5 sets x 5 reps. Incorporate a few warm-up sets to prime CNS for the 5 x5 working sets.

👍

That sounds like either bad form or your body getting used to a new heavy movement that you never did before. but 9 out of 10 times it's due to bad form. It's the lower/mid back region right? Because if so, that's due to not doing the lift properly. You're prob over extending your back too much over the bar when you're lifting it off the ground. Look at some deadlift vids that show proper form and do them with way lighter weight focus on the movement nice and slow and just do it over and over with a light weight so the proper way to do it becomes like muscle memory.

Until it turns into tendonitis that doesn't go away on rest days.

Obviously nothing wrong with the program. I enjoyed what I got to do. I just wonder why my shoulders started hurting when I switched programs.

5x5 on one lift such as bench, take 2-5 minutes rest. then after 5 sets of bench start the next movement.

results are amazing, its the perfect beginner routine above all to help get boosted into some type of split training

Upper / Lower may suit you even better.

I did the same thing and after 2 months my knee got hurt lol

3 times a week is better. Trust me, I've tried everything in 30 years of lifting. Recovery is key.

You stick with 3x10?

Strength first... Aesthetics second

@@lastofadyingbreed2304 what about connective tissue first then hypertrophy then look for sustainability than stupidity ego blah blah 🤷‍♂️

@@PhiyackYuh please enlighten me on how you would train connective tissue first.

About 2-3 quick warm-up sets, then the next weight you put on should start your working sets 5x5. Usually, that would 80% of your 1 rep max.

Dont count warmups. The purpose of them is to prime the CNS for the 5x5. You should do enough where youre ready for the working sets but not to much where you fatigue yourself. If 225 is around 80ish percent of max then I would do like 135 x 5 155 x 4 185 x 3 then hop to the 225 x 5 x 5

5 sets 5 reps

You're flexing your wrists toward your body at the top of the rep. Keep the wrist in a neutral position and imagine you're curling your hands into your armpits. Likely the weight is too heavy which is why your form is breaking down.

Yeah, these juice heads butcher effective programs and can only talk about "effective training" based off their steroidcycles. 5x5 is the best beginner & returning lifter program for strength & muscle gain. You can reduce to 3x5, or just squat once a week.

😂

Define ego lifting. Trying to improve and lift as much as possible is not ego lifting

basically always try to get as strong as possible, but never tell anyone else how much you can lift, even if they ask. if you don't tell anyone your numbers, then ego won't come into play. the numbers don't matter to anyone but you, so they don't have to know. but they should matter to you privately.

whats your definition of ego lifting?

@@pretty_flaco ego lifting is when you lift more than you can actually lift and your form suffers. if your form is still good, increasing weight is great. but it's a lot easier to lift high weights if you sacrifice form, at that point it'd be ego lifting, only if form is sacrificed.

@@pretty_flaco classic example of this is cheat curls. i can curl, with strict form, 40 pound dumbbells. but if i cheat and use leg drive and momentum, i can "curl" 85 pound dumbbells, in the sense of getting them up and down. and doing the latter may actually have some benefit (higher weight eccentrics), but it'd be lying to say i can curl 85 lb dumbbells when i can only curl 40 pound ones.

this is not always true, it might be your form or the workout is pushing too much stress on you so what you said is only one side of it

Then what kind of lifting didn't give you injuries?