Using the tried and trusted 5x5 system to build muscle

What on earth is a 5x5 system? Well it is one of the oldest gaining muscle programs in the book made popular by legends such as Bill Starr and has been around forever. You see 5x5 is good and 5x5 is bad; it just depends on how you look at the situation. There are a few ways that the 5x5 muscle building system can be implemented.

The first way and the most common way that people use the 5x5 system to build muscle is that they warm up to a weight and then stick with that weight for about five sets of five. So you need to choose a weight that you can handle for that many sets. Essentially the fifth set will be the only set that is quite difficult. This is a decent method to build muscle but largely a waste of time for anyone but a beginner. There is too much volume at an intensity that is too low building muscle.
For beginners and early intermediates, I personally think the 5x5 system is a good one. When you are neurologically inefficient, you are more likely to respond better to a few more repeated efforts. I still don’t know if five sets are really necessary though 3x5 is probably going to be better in most cases.

The second most popular way people employ the 5x5 system in an attempt to build muscle is by starting with a heavy weight that they can barely get five reps with and then lowering the weight with each significant set. Again, I think this is too much. The only set that was worth doing was the first and maybe the second. This is not the optimal way to build muscle.

The third way I have seen this system employed to build muscle is to work up to a heavy weight that you can barely get five with and then keeping that weight for the next four sets, no matter how many reps you get. Progression is made each week by trying to get more reps in the subsequent sets. This is a favorite of one particular egomaniac strength coach I wont mention, and like everything else he recommends, is complete crap.

The last way that the 5x5 system is used to build muscle is by doing five increasingly heavier sets so that only your last set is tough. Basically the other sets are warm up,s so you are really just warming up to a five rep max or very close to it. If this happens to be the case, it’s really 1x5 and not 5x5. It’s a bit misleading. But if I had to pick one, this would be the best method.

Working up to a five rep max and then a down set at 90% of your best is an even better option for building muscle. Or I suppose you could do a very heavy set of five but leave a little something in the tank and then go for broke on the second set. There is now evidence which shows that this second option may be the better choice. Believe it or not the body does not function optimally during the first heavy set. This is due to the laws of homeostasis and various things of this nature. The first set causes shock and so certain protective mechanisms may set it which prevents the first heavy set from actually being the best set. The job of the first heavy set may be to provide neural arousal and prepare the body to go all out on the second set. This is something that people have to experiment with on their own and see what approach helps them build muscle fastest.


This post was based on an article sent to me by Jason Ferruggia.
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