Quote (SKCRaynor @ Sep 21 2010 10:35pm)

Luckily I have it saved on my PC


5x5 PLAN for Strength and Size

The 5x5 plan is basically 5 reps for 5 sets of a particular exercise for most days. Other exercises will be 5 sets of 8-12 reps. You will do at LEAST 20 total sets per day. It will be used in the following manner for 5x5:

Set 1 – 5 reps of 50% max weight
Set 2 – 5 reps of 55% max weight
Set 3 – 5 reps of 60% max weight
Set 4 – 5 reps of 65% max weight
Set 5 – 5 reps of 75% max weight

So if you can bench press 155 lbs for 1 rep, your set would look like this –
Set 1 – 77.25 (rounds up to 80) [155 x 50%]
Set 2 – 85.25 (rounds down to 85) [155 x 55%]
Set 3 - 93 (rounds up to 95) [155 x 60%]
Set 4 -  100.75 (rounds up to 105) [155 x 65%]
Set 5 – 116.25 (rounds up to 120) [155 x .75]




In order to determine your max, however, grab a spotter at the gym, and load up weight until you can only do 1 unassisted rep. That is your 1-rep max from which you will be able to get your 5x5 plan started.
Don’t forget, its best to use a spotter no matter what, but if you can’t the 5x5 is fine to do without one. As for the 5x8-12, you will do moderately heavy weight for optimal burn and pump.


Day 1 (Monday) - Chest
• Bench Press - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Incline Bench Press - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Decline Press - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Cable Crossovers – 5 sets of 8-12 reps (do not use 5x5 for this!)
OTHER CHEST EXERCISES INCLUDE: Dumbbell Bench Press, Incline Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Decline Bench Press, Dumbbell Flies, Pec Deck, Weighted Pushups, Wide Chest Press, Overhead extensions. You can use any of these exercises instead of the 4 I have mentioned if you want to change it up or have difficulty doing any of those 4.

Day 2 (Tuesday) - Back
• Barbell Deadlift - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Lat Pulldown - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Seated Cable Row - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Dumbbell Rows - 5 set of 8-12 reps
OTHER BACK EXERCISES INCLUDE: Lower Back Extensions, Underhand High Cable Rows, Rack Pulls, Good-Mornings, Dumbbell Deadlifts, Close-Grip Pulldowns, or Barbell Rows. You can use any of these exercises instead of the 4 I have mentioned if you want to change it up or have difficulty doing any of those 4.

Day 3 (Wednesday) – Legs
• Barbell Squats - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Seated Machine Leg Extensions - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Seated Machine Leg Curls - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Standing Calf Raises 5 sets of 8-12 reps
• Seated Calf Raises 5 sets of 8-12 reps
OTHER LEGS EXERCISES INCLUDE: Dumbbell leg lunges, Leg Hip Abbduction Machine, Leg Hip Adduction Machine, Laying leg curls, Front Squats, 1 Leg Squats. You can use any of these exercises instead of the 4 I have mentioned if you want to change it up or have difficulty doing any of those 5.

Day 4 (Thursday) - Shoulders
• Military Press - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs - 5 sets of 8-12 reps
• Dumbbell Shoulder Presses - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Dumbbell Front Raises - 5 sets of 8-12 reps
OTHER SHOULDERS EXERCISES INCLUDE: Lateral Dumbbell Raises, Barbell Shrugs, Arnold Presses, Straight Bar Cable Pulldowns, Herculean Pulls. You can use any of these exercises instead of the 4 I have mentioned if you want to change it up or have difficulty doing any of those 5.

Day 5  (Friday) - Arms
• EZ-Bar Curls - 5 sets of 8-12 reps
• Dumbbell Concentration Curls - 5 sets of 8-12 reps
• Olympic Bar Curls - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Weighted Dips - 5 sets of 5 reps
• Tricep Cable Pulldowns  - 5 sets of 8-12 reps
• Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks - 5 sets of 8-12 reps
OTHER ARMS EXERCISES INCLUDE: Preacher Curls, standing double curls, seated hammer curls, close-grip curls, EZ-bar 21's, skullcrushers, ez-bar tricep extensions, Rope Pulldowns, single handle reverse grip pulldowns, and close-grip bench press.

Day 6 – (Saturday)  Rest
Day 7 – (Sunday)  Rest
NOTE::: Every single day at the gym (5 days a week) you will be doing abs!! You will need to work into your schedule 100-200 reps of ab workout into 20-25 rep sets.
Ab exercises:
Crunches, Hanging Leg Raises, Broomstick Twists, Roman Chair Situps, V-Crunches, Decline Situps, & Knee Raises.


IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO A PARTICULAR EXERCISE MENTIONED ABOVE…GO TO THIS WEBSITE: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm

Quote (g4mer @ Sep 21 2010 08:18pm)

So i'm going back to serious lifting after 4 month break.

currently 6'0 - 160 pounds

Looking to bulk obviously, few questions.

I got my diet set down from reading your other posts
I need a good 3 day split, I can only lift monday / wensday / friday

Also for supplements, i got a good deal on some BodyTech products consisting of whey protein, BCAA's and L-glutamine.
Do you have any thoughts on BodyTech products?

I know how to use the whey, but i'm not really sure on how / when to use and what the BCAA's and Glutamine do.
Also I could get Creatine with the above supplements if needed.

Quote (SKCRaynor @ Sep 21 2010 07:11pm)

Meal 1 -  3 whole eggs + 1 potato made into home fries + 2 large servings of fruit + handful of almonds

Meal 2 - 6-8 oz large chicken breast on top of a salad w/ one large serving of fruit

Meal 3 - 6-8 oz steak or ground beef + 1 cup brown rice + 1 cup green veggies

Meal 4 - 1 large salmon steak w/ lemon and sliced almonds (tastes amazing) + 1 cup mixed veggies + 1 baked sweet potato

Meal 5 - 1 can tuna on top of a large salad + handful of nuts

Meal 6 - 1 cup cottage cheese + nuts

Quote (factor_z @ Sep 21 2010 10:19pm)

Sup Raynor.

I need a diet to help me cut.
Already have a program running, been 14 days.

6'2
215pounds

PS : No keto diet this time. Tried it for a week. Was lacking energy, etc.
Would rather have a clean diet helping me cut then having an optimal diet for fat loss that will make me lack energy.

Hit me up with something helpful.

Quote (SKCRaynor @ Sep 21 2010 11:47pm)

Please read these:

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&p=298006373

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&p=298250196

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&p=298250791


if you still can't find anything, write back

Quote (ashJSP @ Sep 22 2010 12:17am)

Alright well, to start things off I'm a hard gainer.

6'1 140, 20 years old

I'm looking to sit around 160-170 and can't seem to find a way to do so. I have tried some different things but I think it's coming down to my diet.

Can you suggest some changes, while staying away from cottage cheese / lactose that I may benefit from? I've built my current one around suggestions mentioned in your thread.

meal 1 - Oatmeal, 3 eggs, handful of nuts
meal 2 - shake
meal 3 - tuna fish on a salad, peanut butter on bread
meal 4 - chicken breast OR steak with vegetable mix and 2 slices of bread
meal 5 - shake
meal 6 - whole grain muffin, handful of nuts

I'm quite active, which is why I'm thinking it's my diet that I need to change a bit. Not going to list routine, but it's basically built around suggestions in this thread as well. I'm not overtraining (I hope) and I do stretch.

Quote (SKCRaynor @ Sep 21 2010 09:32pm)

Hey there.

Make the following changes:

meal 1 - 1 cup Oatmeal, 3 eggs + 4 strips of low sodium bacon, handful of nuts, 2 large pieces of fruit
meal 2 - CYTOGAINER Shake + fruit and whole grain crackers or chips
meal 3 - tuna fish on a salad,4tbsp peanut butter on 2 slices whole grain bread w/ 1 fruit
meal 4 - 8-10oz chicken breast OR steak with 1 cup vegetable mix and 1 cup brown rice and 1 cup black beans
meal 5 - CYTOGAINER Shake + fruit and whole grain crackers or chips
meal 6 - 3 hard boiled eggs or 1 can of tuna + mayo + 2 slices whole grain bread + 1 fruit

Quote (SKCRaynor @ Sep 21 2010 07:19pm)

First of all, do NOT do pushups on chest days. Do pushups on days when you are NOT at the gym. Doing pushups on chest days weakens you for the major chest exercises which are meant to build strength. When doing major chest exercises, make sure you are totally fresh in order to maximize muscle gains. In addition you need to be bench pressing at least 2x per week in 5x5 format with flies IMMEDIATELY afterwards.

Secondly, make sure ALL of your ab training is done with at least SOME resistance. Zero resistance ab training will NOT build stubborn abs. The more weight and the more forced reps the better.

Thirdly, just like bench press you need to be doing Squats 2x per week in 5x5 format with leg extensions and leg curls IMMEDIATELY afterwards if you want to see a nice gain in legs.