Just heading into my first 5 rep max period and was wondering if I should continue doing two sets per exercise (as I did for 15&10 rep stages) or 1, 5 max set? Also, what opinions are out there for the second 2 week stage, continued 5 rep max vs. negatives-any guidance on negatives.
5 Rep Max stage
- Thread starter klint12
- Start date
If you are only doing a handful of exercises as per 'Simplify & Win' then I'd do at least 3 sets during 5s; maybe 4 sets the first week and three sets thereafter. Also, it's a good idea to add in some metabolic work after you've finished with the heavy stuff for each exercise. Just drop the load by ~ 25% and do a set of 15 reps; aim for a burn but don't go to failure for any big compounds. Save your CNS for the heavy stuff.
As far as negs go, just go with what you can do safely. Dips and chins/pull-ups fall into that category. It's possible to do assisted negs for some unilateral movements where you both arms (or legs) for the concentric part of the movement and then perform the eccentric with one.
For the majority of exercises, negs are quite difficult to do without spotters so, if like me you train alone, it makes more sense to either continue with your 5RM loads or to increment again and drop down to triples. Even if you chose to stay with your 5RM loads for a further two weeks, it still makes sense to drop down to triples to reduce the stress on your CNS a bit. I might start post-5s with 5 x 3 and drop down to 3 x 3 by the end of the post-5s. Or you could do a heavy set of 5 and then cluster reps to reach a predetermined rep total. In all these cases, it's still a good idea to add in metabolic work after the heavy stuff.
Hope that helps a little. There's much more good advice in the FAQs.
As far as negs go, just go with what you can do safely. Dips and chins/pull-ups fall into that category. It's possible to do assisted negs for some unilateral movements where you both arms (or legs) for the concentric part of the movement and then perform the eccentric with one.
For the majority of exercises, negs are quite difficult to do without spotters so, if like me you train alone, it makes more sense to either continue with your 5RM loads or to increment again and drop down to triples. Even if you chose to stay with your 5RM loads for a further two weeks, it still makes sense to drop down to triples to reduce the stress on your CNS a bit. I might start post-5s with 5 x 3 and drop down to 3 x 3 by the end of the post-5s. Or you could do a heavy set of 5 and then cluster reps to reach a predetermined rep total. In all these cases, it's still a good idea to add in metabolic work after the heavy stuff.
Hope that helps a little. There's much more good advice in the FAQs.