A question regarding 5 x 5

[Chameleon]

I like training 5x5, & I want to be able to do my squats & presses like this;

Front Squats for the first two sets - Back Squats for the last three sets

BNP for the first two sets - Military Presses for the last three sets

Is this a good training method? Or am I best to do for example front squats on mondays & back squats on wednesdays?

[BendtheBar]

I would alternate. Each lift taxes the body in a unique way and I would prefer to see you warmed up and acclimated to each specific lift before going heavy.

With that said, you could certainly do back squats. do a warmup or two on front squats, and then do some front squat sets. But I still think alternating is your best option.

[Off Road]

I like the alternating idea better; either every session or every cycle.

[Davis]

Yeah, probably an ABA kind of thing. A: Squat. B: Front squat. A: Squat. Rotate week in and week out. Or, do however you want to do it. That's just my. BTB, and Off Road's suggestion unless I have misunderstood what they mean.

[MikeM]

Thye're different lifts. Treat them as different lifts. I have actually tried mixing front squats and back squats, as well as OHP and BNP. The problem is they fire different muscles in different ways and they are not good warmups to each other because the way your mind treats them is entirely different. and warmups are as much for your mind and nervous system (if not more so!) than your muscles, the difference is noticeable. And when the weights get big, it is intolerable.

For example, I thought since front squats were less weight, and I wanted to do them, they would be a good warmup for back squats. Well, that is somewhat true when you are very first starting out with relatively minimal weights.

But when you are ramping up to a max effort back squat with some max effort front squats, you will not actually be ready for those back squats as the mechanisms are different. So, it doesn't matter what you want, you have to be ready for what you are about to do, and if it's heavy, you better be really damn ready.

Bottom line, I'm not an expert by any means, but I believe all lifts are different and should be treated as such.

In a 5x5 format, I would do the max back squat, Front squat, then medium back squat in an HLM format. Same with OHP. I'd max OHP, then BNP, then Push press or something like that if you wanted variation.

As always, though. What are your goals? Do you want to be strong at a particular thing? Then do that particular thing. If you just want general overall strength in everything, then do lots of different things regularly.

Hope that helps!

[Chameleon]

Thank you for all your input gentlemen, your advice has been taken on board

ABA is the way to go for me

[ricka182]

Already got some good answers, but I'll just throw this in, as I am also running on a 5 x 5 base routine, slightly altered for personalized progression.

I do 2 moves for each muscle group, using a 5x5 scheme. Same move for the first 5 sets, same move for the second 5 sets. I plan on using the same moves for 2 full weeks, which is 4 workouts with each move, then will switch it up for 2 weeks, then revert back to the first set of moves.

Example, chest currently is 5x5 flat BB, then 5x5 incline DB press. After next week, I'll switch to 5x5 decline DB press and a mix of 2 sets pullovers into 3 sets wide flyes on a machine.

I also use a finisher for each muscle group, and that will also change. Currently doing a set of 20-25 reps @ 50-60% wide DB flyes to close out chest, that will change to a set of flat BB @ 50-60% pause/speed reps mix set.

Hope that's not too confusing...