

If the last set was easy, 90 seconds of rest should be long enough. Rest for between 90 seconds and five minutes between sets. The reps decrease on each warm-up set as you get closer to your work weight. Repeat the process until you reach your work weight. Add 10-20 kg (25-45 lb) and do another warm-up set.

Start off lifting an empty bar for 2 sets of 5 reps. Week two starts with workout B, and looks like this:īefore your work sets, do several progressively heavier warm-up sets. You take a day of rest between each training day. The exception is the deadlift, which you do for 1 set of 5 reps. The lifts in workout B are the squat, overhead press, and deadlift.įor each exercise, you do 5 sets of 5 reps. In workout A, you do the squat, bench press, and barbell row. There are two different workouts alternated throughout the week. With Mehdi’s version of 5×5, you perform just five exercises, the so-called big 5 compound lifts, over the course of a week: People found the guide helpful, and it quickly grew in popularity. However, while Mehdi didn’t invent 5×5, he did write a guide about it in 2007. StrongLifts 5×5 is a workout program put together by Belgian lifter Mehdi Hadim.Īlthough guys like Bill Starr and Reg Park seem to get much of the credit for coming up with the 5×5 routine, Mark Berry (who was a champion weightlifter) was writing about it back in the 1930s. Who’s right? Is the 5×5 workout a good way to put on muscle mass? Or should you be using higher reps and lighter weights? What is the Stronglifts 5×5 Workout Program? Others say that if you’re on a 5×5 routine, gaining strength and eating enough, then mass gains are sure to follow.

Some say that 5×5 is mainly for strength, and that you need higher reps in the 6-12 range to build size. Google around for information on the 5×5 workout, and you’ll find plenty of different opinions about whether or not it’s a good way to put on muscle mass.
