3X5 Squats

[jjay2000]

I've been at SL 5x5 for four months now and I'm curious as to when you switched to 3x5 on squats. I was stalling around 225 5x5 before did a massive deload to correct my form and now I most recently squatted 265 3x5 then my fourth set was 1 and my fifth was just a negative followed by a loud bang. I feel pretty good with my other lifts, D/L 320, Bench 195, O/H 125. I was just wondering when you switched to 3x5 or how I would know when I should switch. Is there a benefit to adding more weight @ 3 sets vs volume at less weight?

Thanks

[guru]

I switched to 3x5 when I became convinced that the extra volume was hindering my recovery. Dropping to 3x5 helped me advance a little more on the lifts. A side benefit was that the workout time got reduced.

[jjay2000]

I feel very tired on the day post workout (even more so if I did deads) but the day following that I feel pretty good so I guess I don't need to change yet.

[jfh26]

How much do you weigh?

[jjay2000]

sorry about that, I should have put my stats on the original post. I'm 33, 208 lbs (give or take) and about 20%bf

[vhalros]

I dropped to 3x5 recently mostly because of time constraints. Between the extra warm up sets and the increased need for rest time between sets for heavy weights, doing 5x5 was taking almost two hours. Decreasing squats and BP/OHP to 3x5 saves like fifteen to twenty minutes.

I've already gone through the stall-deload thing once on squats, and am squatting about 1.3 x my body weight.

[dhw]

Looks like you are squatting about 1.25 xBW. That's not a bad point to switch to 3x5 and push through to 1.5xBW.

[Wooderson]

I did it at 1xBW. It was just taking too long at the gym. Now I'm considering doing the same on OHP to free time, but wonder if that is a cop out.

[RexRomano]

More and more I'm being squeezed for time. And 5x5 squats take me forever! I could save at least 15 minutes if I were to drop the last two sets. But what would 3x5 squats do to the following:

(1)muscle mass (least of my concerns - my ass and thighs have grown quite big)
(2)muscle strength
(3)rate of increase in mass/strength (should I reduce to 2.5lb increases per workout)?

Anybody know?

[Shaunc]

I'm moving between 3x5 and 5x5 for squats depending on how I feel and if I have time constraints. Last workout was 3 x 5 but psyching myself up to do 5 x 5 tomorrow.

[davidrlong2009]

@rex

as long as you are continuing to make gains the difference between 3x5 and 5x5 is not that big of a deal. The 5x5 is a good balance between endurance/strength gains. With 3x5 you should theoretically see your strength go up. Give it a try, you have nothing to loose.

[ada24]

@rex

A 3x5 program is a step closet to a PTTP program. Growth may slow, but strength will continue. Just lift heavy and you'll keep making gains!

[itsbruce]

PTTP?

[muddy]

Power to the People

[RexRomano]

Thanks for the replies. I did 3x5 squats today, instead of 5x5, but I kept everything else the same. My muscles and joints certainly feel less wrecked than usual.

I did 315lb 5x5 last workout and 317.5 3x5 this workout. Sure enough, I did save better than 15 minutes.

I don't mind if 3x5 squat causes slower growth in strength or slower growth in mass (or even some loss in muscle mass), but what I would hate to see would be a lower 5 rep max than what I have now. That would feel like a waste of hard work.