Pendlay 5×5: Glenn Pendlay’s Strength Training Program

Note by Mehdi.This is a guestpost by Olympic Coach Glenn Pendlay MS USAW.

The Pendlay 5×5 program is aimed at those who are new or relatively new to weight training and want to put on basic size and strength. The concept dates back to Bill Starr, and has been used over the past 4 decades.

I still use a modified version (some different exercises) with my Olympic lifters, as well as a variety of athletes from track and field to cycling to football. One athlete used this programming while preparing for the NFL combine and draft this year, put about 50lbs on his Squat in the months leading up to the combine, went much higher in the draft than expected (early 2nd round) and is now not only a starter but a standout in the defensive backfield!

The most useful features of this Pendlay 5×5 program are that it requires little or no thought on your part, a useful feature if you have no idea what to do. This is a program that gives you a complete plan, no guesswork involved.

Pendlay 5×5 also involves a fairly limited amount of heavy sets per week, and only 3 training days, making it useful not only for beginners but also for athletes in sports that require considerable training outside the weight room. The relatively limited inroad into recovery made by this program compared to others definitely allows you to have a life outside the gym and still make gains.

Pendlay 5×5 uses ramped sets and a single top set for each exercise. You go from a set of 5 with a light weight as your first warmup set, take consistent jumps in weight over the next 4 sets, doing 5 reps each set, and you end with your heaviest set. So, you are doing 4 submaximal sets, and one maximal set.

An example of the weights used in a Squat workout would be 95lbs, 115lbs, 135lbs, 155lbs, and 175lbs, all for sets of 5. As the top set moves up, move the warmup sets up to keep the jumps between sets as even as possible.

The exercises are as follows:

Monday. Squat, Bench Press, RowWednesday. Squat, Military Press, Power CleanFriday. Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift

It is preferable to do the program as written, but there are some areas that are negotiable in certain circumstances.

On Wednesday, you can replace the Squats with Front Squats if desired. If you cannot do powercleans for whatever reason, you can replace them with chinups. One of the bench press workouts can be replaced with either dips, close grip bench presses, or incline presses.

The key to Pendlay 5

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