Heavy-Light-Medium 5x5 Power Training

5x5 Training Using the Heavy-Light-Medium System to Build Power and Strength

Here you can see the back-musculature of Garrett Sloan, when he was a teenager, and he used the Heavy-Light-Medium system as espoused by his dad, C.S.

After taking off from writing for a few days - you can get "burned out" when you work from your home and do little other than train and write (or think about writing) all day - I sat down at my computer this morning to finish the next installment of my "Way of the Modern Ronin" series.  But before I started writing, I did something I rarely ever do: I looked on YouTube.  Now, I'm not opposed to YouTube whatsoever - but that's the problem.  If I start watching videos on YouTube, I may never get around to writing that morning, so I try my very best, first thing after I wake up, to sit down and write, well, something.  But the writing gods must have been looking out for me this morning, because when I started watching YouTube, I immediately clicked on someone explaining the "heavy-light-medium" system of training, but I simply didn't agree with what was being said.  So, instead of writing another "Ronin" piece, I wrote what you're staring at on your computer (or phone) screen at this moment.

To properly "teach" (even if it's an online video) a system of training, you need to be able to understand 3 important things. 1: The basics of how and why the program works.  2: How to train yourself using the system. 3: How to train others using the system.  Now, it doesn't matter if two difference coaches teach the same "system" a different way.  What matters is knowing how their training methodology works, not anyone else's.

I know that I have multiple "series" going here at Integral Strength, but I thought it would be a good idea to write a new series on the "O.G." strength-and-power builder: Heavy-Light-Medium training.  Especially if there's some renewed interest in this training!

The rest of this series will focus - each post - on adjustments and "different" ways to use the system, based on your goals.  But this post will lay out an intermediate-to-advanced "power" program using H-L-M training.  This program is not for outright beginners. 

This workout program also tends to add muscle mass, so it might not be ideal for those of you who have trouble staying in one weight class.
Without further ado, here it is:

Monday: Heavy Day
Squats: Perform 3 to 4 progressively heavier sets of 5. Follow this with 5 work sets of 5 reps. An example series of sets might look like this:
135x5
225x5
315x5
375x5x5
Bench Presses: Perform 3 to 4 progressively heavier sets of 5. Follow this with 5 work sets of 5 reps.
Deadlifts: Same as the squats and bench presses; 3 to 4 progressively heavier 5s, 5 work sets of 5 reps.
Finish the workout session with a couple sets of overhead presses, dumbbell curls, "skull crushers", stiff-legged deadlifts, bent-over rows, or ab work. All of these sets should be fairly "light" and not all that taxing on your body's ability to recover. (More on what exercises you should choose in a little bit.)

Wednesday: Light Day
Squats: Perform 1 to 2 warm up sets of 5 reps, follow this with 5 sets of 5 reps with a lighter weight than on Monday. If you performed 375x5x5 on Monday's workouts, this session might look like this:
135x5
225x5x5
Dips or Incline Bench Presses: 2 to 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 sets of 5 reps
Chins: 5 sets of 5 reps
Good Mornings: 5 sets of 5 reps (not counting warm-ups)
Ab Work

Friday: Medium Day
Even though this is a "medium" day, you are going to train heavier than on Monday. Don't worry, your total workload will be less.

Squats: Perform 3 to 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 sets of 2 reps with a weight heavier than on Monday. If you squatted 375x5x5 on Monday, this workout might look like the following:
135x5
225x5
315x5
350x5
405x5x2
Bench Presses: Perform 3 to 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 5 sets of 2 reps.
Deadlifts: Same as the squats and bench presses.
Finish the training session with some assistance work the same as on Monday, but rotate between different exercises each week.

When you come in to train on the following Monday, you will now try to use 5 sets of 5 reps with the same weight that you used 5 sets of 2 reps with on Friday. This goes for squats, bench presses, and deadlifts.
Make sure you begin the first week of training by not starting too heavy on all of your core exercises. This will give you some time to adjust to the volume and the intensity of the 5 sets of 5s on all of the Monday workouts.
This exercise program looks amazingly simple—which it is—but it's also tougher than you think... and effective.

If you are not built for a certain exercise, then this is where the majority of your "assistance" work should be focused. This means that if you have short legs, short arms, and are built like a "round ball", massive but short, or like a "Brick Shithouse" - as my grandfather used to say - then you need to make sure that you are doing plenty of rows, stiff-legged deadlifts, and other stuff of the like on your Monday and Friday workouts.

Okay, like I said, this program is really simple, but don't let that fool you (I mean, really don't let that fool you). After a few weeks of training, the "heavy" days should be pretty brutal to just make it through the squats, bench presses, and deadlifts. But the effort—if you can handle it—will be well worth it!

In the next post, we'll discuss some different variations of the usual H-L-M training.