So I’ve started reading Bigger, Faster, Stronger, which is a program that started in 1976. I think this program is still probably one of the BEST ways to increase your strength (and I really want to try the program at some point!).

Basically (and I mean this is a very BASIC brief outline..the book goes into WAY more detail) the book outlines a 4 week program. The first week you do a 3×3 workout (so 3 sets of 3 reps trying to do at least 70% of your max weight). The second week is 5×5. The third week you do either 5-4-3-2-1 or 5-3-1 (a max out week) and then the fourth week, you go back to higher reps either 10-8-6 or 4-4-2.

I think right now we’ve been way too focused on maxing out. We’ve been maxing out almost every week, which isn’t good and I think it is causing me to get very nervous when I go to max out (so much so that I’ve had a few bad lifting days recently).

So I decided it was time to change up what we were doing just a little. Yesterday Candy and I tried the 5×5 workout structure for our deadlift workout. We did two warm up sets (the first at 135lbs and the second at 185). We then did the next 5 sets of 5 reps at 225lbs. And let me tell you…it wasn’t easy.

And today…My back is definitely feeling it. On top of the 5×5 heavy deadlift, we did RDLs supersetted with split squats and then KB Swings supersetted with deep KB squats. We also did some bosu crunches and weighted hypers at the end.

It was a great workout! Around an hour because of the long breaks during the heavy lifting.

There really is something to the 5×5 program. It definitely makes me want to try the StrongLifts routine!