2 day 5x5 routine help

[quaribc]

hey guys,
i am in need of some help in creating a 2 day split routine due to my now very hectice schedule b/c of school and work. i am not sure if i should be doing full body routines with that much weight or do a push/pull split for the 2 days. obviously i will be doing compound lifts and will include the more basic lifts.

full body day 1:
squat
lying leg curl
bb row
bb bench press
shoulder press
weighted pullups
weighted dip
calf raises

day 2:
deadlift
lying leg curl
db row
db bench press
db should press
weighted pullups
dips
calf raises

i am wondering if i would need to add any shrug type exercise. since doing dips, rows and pullups will work the traps or at least i assume.

for the 2 day push/pull split:
push:
squat
dynamic lunges
bb bench press
weighted dips
calf raises

pull:
deadlift
lying hamstring curl
bb row
weighted pullups
bb curl

any advice would be greatly appreciated. i am currently doing BOM and on stage 3 week 19, but my schedule won't allow me to do 3 times a week. especially with the time it takes to do the routines.

thanks.

[Chris Correia]

From a non-expert (but in progress!):

I'd say do the two day, full body option.

That said, what are your goals/what do you hope to achieve? What is your overall training status/experience?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I'd forget the leg curls on both days, and add in an RDL version on one or both days. Also, you might not need the calf raises, nor the shoulder presses. I also think that you need just one of the chest/back combo's each day; so, for instance, do dips and chins on one day, and benches and rows on another (or whatever combo you want). Otherwise, at 5x5, it seems like it would be a lot of volume.

Personal bias: leave out the calf raises and shoulder presses, and start wtih 3/4/or5x5 of power cleans on day one and push presses on day two.

Finish each workout with a couple of sets of some ab & core work.

[quaribc]

my goal is to create some mass and strength in the process.

i was thinking about powercleans to be added. the reason i have calf raises is b/c i have skinny legs and i would like my calves to get a little bigger.

so how about this:
day 1:
squat
bb row
bb bench press
calf raises

day 2:
deadlift
weighted pullups
weighted dips
calf raises

btw...what is RDL? and also any good ab workout you can recommend. i would do this for 3 weeks and then increase the res to 8-10 for 3 sets rest for 1 week and then repeat.

[Chris Correia]

RDL: Romanian Dead Lift

http://www.pacifictigers.com/AthleticPerformance/ (look under exercise video descriptions - leg exercises) Can be done with BB, DB, one leg or two legs.

Also, add in those power cleans and push jerk or split jerks!

Ab work: How about ending each workout with some a couple of sets (supersetted) of swiss ball crunches 10-12 reps (use weight if necessary), and some swiss ball russian twists? They also have videos of these under trunk/core exercises.

FYI: there are also exercise descriptions and videos at these sites (but I like the watch that girl at the pacific tigers site ):

http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/strengthlab/home.htm

http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/...ideo_index.htm
Good luck!

[DKing]

If you go with the two full body workouts like Chris has been saying (and I agree), then I am not sure if I would do 5x5. Its a great workout, but with a 2 day a week full body workout I would vary the rep ranges more. You will find better gains in muscle for sure and probably strength. One day use a 4x8 approach and the next a 8x4 or something around those.

Danny

[Chris Correia]

Originally posted by DKing:
If you go with the two full body workouts like Chris has been saying (and I agree), then I am not sure if I would do 5x5. Its a great workout, but with a 2 day a week full body workout I would vary the rep ranges more. You will find better gains in muscle for sure and probably strength. One day use a 4x8 approach and the next a 8x4 or something around those.

Danny

(Not to hijack the thread, but . . .)

Hmmm, Danny . . . in my two day program (posted in this thread: http://forums.jpfitness.com/cgi-bin/...c;f=2;t=001415 ) I do some different exercises each day. Perhaps I should vary the reps during alternating weeks? Maybe lower the reps for the oly stuff and raise the reps for the supplemental work. So one week I could do 3x5 or 6 on the Oly work, and the next week go a bit heavier with 3x3. Then, what might be the better rep range for the supplemental exercises: 6 or 10 reps with which Oly protocol (3x5 or 3x3)? I figure I should vary those reps/loads as well. Right now, I'm splitting the difference with 8 reps.

[DKing]

Chris, I would do like you are saying and work in some different rep ranges. If you go with a heavy oly day like 3x3(i might even use another set or two) then I would also go heavy for the assitance work. Then the next week use the lighter oly and assitance work. I would also do one workout heavy and one light each week so the layout would look like this:

Week One
Day 1:
Oly 5x3
assistance 2x6

Day 2:
Oly 3x5
assistance 2x10

Week Two
Day 1:
Oly 3x5
assistance 2x10

Day 2:
Oly 5x3
assistance 2x6


This seperates your heavy days from each other. I should also note that I don't know a ton about using the Oly lifts so you might want to ask around for more opinions. But I think mine would work pretty well.

Danny

[Chris Correia]

Originally posted by DKing:
Chris, I would do like you are saying and work in some different rep ranges. If you go with a heavy oly day like 3x3(i might even use another set or two) then I would also go heavy for the assitance work. Then the next week use the lighter oly and assitance work. I would also do one workout heavy and one light each week
Danny

Gotta love that good Minnesota advice .

I see your light/heavy points. I might also check in with Mike M on this, since he corrected/adjusted a proposed program I emailed him which I bastardized from a couple of his routines.

[DKing]

Good call with checking it out with Mike. Adding the Oly lifts to stuff tends to take it out of my zone of knowledge.

Good luck with it though.

That MN advice is the best kind to get.

Danny

[Iceztiq]

ah.. the talking of 2 experts.. i feel out of place [img]tongue.gif[/img] .