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5×5 is the Name of the Game

I covered 5×5 workouts a little bit in one of the first articles, which you can find here. The 5×5 workout has been in use for a long time, it is a very popular work out plan for many power-lifters and strength builders. The 5×5 method is a well proven approach to increasing your strength in all circuits of weight lifting, but we are solely focusing on the bench press. The full 5×5 workout involves a lot more use of compound exercises, exhausting workouts, and great increases in overall strength. I would definitely recommend 5×5 to anyone looking to put on some serious muscle and strength in a short amount of time.

5×5 is named after exactly what it is; When performing your workouts you follow a 5 sets of 5 rep pattern instead of the most common 3×10 method. Now one thing you may notice right away is that the 3×10 method = 30 total reps, while 5×5 is only a total of 25 reps. 5 less reps, but much more variety in amount of weight you are using. The only difficult part of doing 5×5 is remembering to do it and adjusting your weights correctly. To find the correct weight for each of your 5 critical sets we need to find out your 5RM (5 rep max). So lets say your bench press 5RM is 225lbs. with that information we can figure out how much our other weights need to be. So we take our 5RM and we are doing 5 sets, so we can subtract 50 from our 5RM (10lbs [added per set] x 5 sets = 50lbs.) So we start our lift with 175lbs. and increase by 5lbs. on each side of the bar for each set. By the last set we will be doing our 5RM (if you can’t finish your 5RM as the last set, drop the weight down further and work towards being able to finish the full 5×5).

Progression

As you continue the 5×5 workout, be sure to increase your weight by ~5lbs./side. By continuing the 5×5 bench routine, you will be smashing through plateaus and setting new 1RM’s every single week you hit the gym. The progress is very addictive, especially when you know that you are coming to the gym and are ready to slam a new weight through the roof. One of the key things to remember is to keep your self motivated and focused on your goals. If you set goals, you will achieve them. The other great thing about this workout is that you can motivate yourself just be doing the bench press, seeing yourself reach new weights is a huge endorphin rush that will leave you feeling great. The progress you will see in your chest over a few weeks will be great, but your arms (mainly triceps) will also reap serious benefits from this workout, not to mention your frontal delts.

Why Just 5×5 Bench?

The reason I chose to only focus on 5×5 benching is simple, I have done this at 2 different phases in my weight lifting career with amazing results. So why don’t I switch to a full 5×5 workout? The main reason is that I love doing isolation exercises instead of just compound exercises. The best way to approach a 5×5 workout is to do full body workouts 3 times a week, within a one hour workout. I have been thinking about setting up a spreadsheet that will outline an excellent 5×5 workout however, I love my traditional 3×10 workouts. Also, bench is the only exercise that disappoints me in terms of how much weight I could do, so I started working just bench with 5×5 for the second time. Original when me and my buddy tried this, we would workout 4-5 days, and start every workout, no matter what we were doing that day, with 5×5 bench. Both of our bench 1RM went through the roof, but it was damn exhausting. I will write up an article in the future with information on an entire 5×5 exercise.

This information should be able to help anyone looking to increase their maximum bench press weight, and increase their strength. This is by far one of the fastest ways I have seen to add lean chest muscle, and increase chest strength in the shortest amount of time. Remember that patience is a virtue and focusing on the goals that you set is the best way to keep yourself motivated. You can reach any goal you set if you tell yourself you can reach that goal.

Feel free to leave comments on your experiences with 5×5, or even suggestions that I may not have thought of. Also feel free to take the discussion to the forum.

Bench Press

Like most things in life, you have choices. You can choose to do things any old way, or you can choose to do things the right way. When it comes to weight lifting ensuring proper technique is used will help to keep ones body away from injury. Injury is a nasty thing, especially once you start seeing good results. The bench press is your staple chest workout, it is a ‘ruler’ used by many people to measure ones strength. Think back to when you first started lifting, what did people ask you? Most likely they asked how much you could bench. There is good reasoning behind this question, quite simply the bench press requires more upper body strength than any other upper body workout, note leg work outs do require even more strength.

The Art of the Bench Press is not a hard art to master,  it requires focus, especially on detail, and determination. The more you concentrate on your form, the more you won’t be focused on how heavy the weight is, a great strategy for lifting more weight. In most cases a transition from sloppy, to perfected form will increase your max bench press by 10-15lbs. of course this is a general rule, however most people should fall into this range.

Proper Form

There are a few steps to remember when getting into proper form:

1. Feet flat, absolutely flat on the floor
2. Knees bent at a 90 degree angle
3. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and press them firmly against the bench
4. Arch your lower back directly above your butt
5. Here is where things vary, people with short arms typically want a closer grip on the bar, while people with longer arms usually want a wider grip. Most gyms have barbells that are some what gripped and have markings. Usually you can find a smooth spot on the bar that serves as a mid area. Short armed folks should go towards the inside of the smooth spot, while long armed folks want to keep hand placement to the outside of bar.

This should serve as a good, solid base to begin your lift. The actual lift will be detailed further down. The best way to get used to using proper form as second nature is to repeatedly set yourself in this position and lift with just the bar. Getting used to light weight with proper form will help you better prepare for a more taxing weight. Although I did say that benching with proper form adds weight to your lift, depending on how long you have been using improper form will affect exactly how fast you get to your new max weight.

Smith Machine vs. Free Weight Benching

Now don’t get me wrong, Smith Machines have their place and purpose. However, when it comes to benching I tend to stay away, unless I don’t have a spotter, in which case I use the Smith Machine in order to be safe. A Smith Machine is generally a lighter bar then a barbell, but this isn’t the main problem. When you bench with free weights, you are working more muscles then your chest and triceps. Why? It is simple you have muscles that help control your balance, as well as keep your arms up and prevent them from swaying. The more free weight benching you do the stronger these auxiliary muscles will become, an important step if you ever want to be benching some serious weight. Now Smith Machines are on a track and slide up and down, meaning you aren’t using muscles to keep the bar in place. In many cases you are actually fighting the machines track because you want to lift the bar in a different direction. So put more simply, Free Weight benching builds more strength and muscle then the smith machine, as well as help improve your other lifts that use the auxiliary muscles.

The Lift Off

Now that we have proper form down pact, as well as hand placement, we can work on the actual lift. To start we want to focus on our breathing, as we lift the bar we breath out, on the decline we breath in, and finally on the lift we breath out again. A very important thing to remember is to keep your core (abs) tight and compressed to create a more solid frame. Once you begin to lower the bar from the high point of the lift you want to keep a steady pace and stop with your arms forming a 90 angle with the ground. Many people tend to go to far down on the decline and can hyper extend their chest. Let your arms become perpendicular to the ground. Another important thing to note is the chest bounce, you make see many people who let the bar come down way to fast and bounce off of their chest. This is a very dangerous way to bench and can result in serious sternum injury. Most people use this technique because it helps build momentum for the drive back up. Remember on the lift off from (above) your chest you want to exhale and extend your arms while squeezing your chest. Congratulations you have just completed a proper push-up!

Breathing Technique

A very important thing to remember when doing any exercise is how to breath properly, yes there is a proper way. Mastering your breathing can help increase focus and your strength! To start with the bench press it is best to inhale on your descent. When you are about to begin lifting the bar back up, you should tighten your abs and your core in order to maximize posture, and also exhale as you raise the bar. By mastering your breathing technique you will be fueling your muscles with more oxygen at the right time!

Feel free to leave a comment with any questions or suggestions.