So, I am doing it wrong by using your 5x5 plan for 3 months, then hypertrophy plan for 3 months ?

5'7 and around 125


yes she have a full gym acces

Does it matter in what order i do the workouts in your 5x5 plan? for example monday chest then go for arms at tuesday instead of back?

Since I chose to do 21's instead of weighted dips am I supposed to do the 21's with 5 sets too ? Like 5x21 ? Because after doing that much I'm really exhausted for the next excercises

I didnt train my back that much, because i prefered doing other workouts, but now im planning to train them as hard as the other muscles aswell. Do they play a big role when it comes to bench press ? Will they increase my bench press and if yes how come?

Sorry for my stupid questions, but I just couldnt get these questions out of my mind.

Thanks in advance

I usually go once a night every single night, and two times a night if I drink a lot of water in the day/before bed which is 2-3 times a week.

No other symptoms, just lack of energy, I feel weak, and fatigued.

I am getting blood work done within the next week hopefully.

This post was edited by Babolat on Jan 5 2012 11:47am

What part is cutting it close?

Unless you are already an EXPERIENCED lifter with a good amount of strength and mass already developed, you should not be alternating the two. You should stick to something more basic like 5x5 or 3x5 for an entire year (give or take a week here or there for deload and recovery)

If you already have your first year of major muscular development, you can then begin working on hypertrophy and strength alternating as you are now

Monday – (chest/back/abs)

Chest Press Machine, Pec Deck, Seated Row Machine, Assisted Pullup Machine, hanging leg raises. Follow up with 30 minutes of cardio on the bike.


Tuesday – (legs/shoulders)

Hack Squat Machine, Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Shoulder Press Machine, Lateral Raise Machine. Follow up with 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill.


Wednesday – (arms/abs)

E-Z bar bicep curls, Dumbbell Bicep Curls (standing), Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks, Dip Machine, Decline Situps. Follow up with 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical


Thursday – (Chest/back/shoulders)

Incline Press Machine, Dumbbell Flies, Lat Pulldowns, Cable Rows, Dumbbell Shoulder Presses, Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs. Follow up with 30 minutes of cardio on the bike.


Friday – (arms/legs/abs)

High Bicep Curl Machine, Seated Bicep Preacher Curl, Assisted Dips, Cable Pulldowns, Leg Press Machine, Standing Calf Raises, V-Crunch Machine. Follow with 30 mins of cardio on the elliptical.

(Saturday and Sunday OFF – you can do cardio these days, but no weights)

Yes and no.

Do not train shoulders/chest within 1 day of each other. Other than that, no problem.

21's should be 3x21.


yes back plays a very big role in bench press. When you arch your back, a lot of your power comes from the lats and medial back to drive the weight up. In addition the back muscles support the frame to keep the chest in line and stable.

Two things comes to mind immediately...

1. Getting up to urinate EVERY night is killing your REM cycle and making you have less than restful sleep. Your 8 hours might be becoming the equivalent of 5-6 hours because of this. You can solve this problem by drinking a lot of water throughout the day and cutting yourself off 2 hours before bed...urinating right before getting into bed. If you can make it the whole night without urination, see how you feel then. You might need a few days for this to work.

2. When your bloodwork comes back we can go from there on that avenue - you may have some issues.

3. Try my supplement routine here:

NOW! GABA (take 1 capsule before bed)
NOW! L-Dopa (take 1-2 capsules before bed)
NOW! ZMA (TAKE 3 capsules before bed)
Optimum Nutrition Melatonin (take 1 pill before bed)

Obviously you will need water to wash these down, so just take a few sips to get them down but no additional.

The fat is a bit low in comparison to the protein. In addition the carbs at 22g worries me. 20g should be the maximum, and even less if necessary. Are you counting fiber as carbs? If so, that does NOT count towards carb count.