Pendlay 5x5 Question

[Schyluer]

I failed on my 5th rep today at 235.. Was wondering if this would have something to do with it.. So I missed Wed (on Monday tweaked my back a tiny bit). And I refused to miss wed so I did wed workout (without the squat) in the early afternoon and than I did Fridays workout in the evening around 10 PM. I noticed I was more tired than I thought I would be. Is it likely that I only did 4 reps on my top set because I did a workout in the early afternoon (around 11)? Thanks for any input.

[WhiskeyWebber]

With 5X5 I have found that I needed to titrate down the volume at times to make sure the weights keep going up each week. You have to adjust things as you learn how you recover. As the weights progressed over 400 (Sq and DL) for me my recovery became inconsistent to the point where if I missed one hour of sleep in between workouts I could feel it for a week. But I'm almost 40...

[Schyluer]

Thanks for the response whiskey! But what do you mean by turn down the volume?

[WhiskeyWebber]

I think of volume as sets,reps, and numbers of exercises. If I have trouble getting stuck at a particular weight I'll always adjust volume down first so instead of 5x5 I may go down to 4x5 or 3x5 or even as low as 3x3. After I break through a few plateaus, I'll go back down in weight and pick back up with 5x5s at the weight I originally got stuck on. This has kept me busy the last 2 years :)

[Schyluer]

Hey Whiskey I don't know what it is about switching to 4x5 on the squat vs 5x5 but my squat just started going up again thanks bro! So I guess my question is is 5 sets really more important... will it make that big of a difference?

[WhiskeyWebber]

Yeah, I think sometimes you are just reaching the limits of your recovery. You can slightly reduce the volume and "bang!", you get a new break through. I think you can learn a lot about yourself when you are walking that training edge. You can develop a feel for exactly when you have done enough work to elicit that recovery response.

[Schyluer]

So should I go back up to 5's cuz I noticed I was exhausted after 5's and sometimes had no energy to finish my power cleans on Wed. But on 4's I felt like 75-80% better and was able to get through my power cleans

[WhiskeyWebber]

I always felt it was important to keep adding weight to the bar. So, as the weight got heavier I eventually reduced the volume down to 3x3s. When you finally get stuck at 3x3, you can go back to 5x5 at a lower weight and start making PRs for 5x5 again. That way you are making a new PR most times you go to the gym whether it be for weight or reps.