The Crazy Five: Intensive Completion Technique

Main Goal: Build Muscle Type: Split Fitness Level: Intermediate Number of Workouts Per Week: 3 Equipment Required: Barbell, Dumbbells Audience: Men and Women

Author: Dustin Myers, coach

If you are looking for a technique to complete strength sets, you can stop looking. The goal of Coach Myers' Mad Five is the extreme pump you're after.

Perhaps the most common and most popular circuit of all time is the tried and true 5 sets of 5 reps. The simple principle of strength training is easy to apply to any exercise, and it works for everyone - both beginners and veterans of the iron world.

The rule of five is widely used in heavy compound movements. The first set of 5 reps is a warm-up, followed by 5 reps with a moderate load, and the last 3 sets of 5 reps is the maximum weight. And although this scheme is simple and effective, I, like you probably, often had a feeling of some kind of incompleteness.

I've always used 5x5 as the basis of my training program, but I've always tried to find tricks (such as negatives, partial reps, and other tricks) that will get the most out of each exercise. After the final of the five strength sets, I could add drop sets or a rest-pause technique to enhance the standard workout with a powerful pump. Still, I had the feeling that a more powerful finisher was needed.

Then I developed a technique that I called the crazy five.

The technique is based on a set of 20 repetitions, divided into 4 blocks of 5 repetitions, including various training variables.

In the crazy five, one set consists of the following types of reps:

The first 5 (out of 20) reps is what I call "plio"; they run at a super fast pace. It is important to control the projectile, work in a normal range of motion, but use explosive technique. If I use a dumbbell bench press technique, I imagine that I am throwing a projectile towards the ceiling.

After five high-speed plyometric reps, your nervous system will have to slow down, because the second portion is done at a slow pace in a 5/5/5 pattern. This means that you lower the projectile for 5 seconds, pause for 5 seconds at the bottom, and then raise the projectile slowly for a full 5 seconds.

The downward or negative phase of the movement is the eccentric part of the exercise. "Pause" is an isometric muscle contraction. Make sure that in this phase the muscles are tense and not relaxed.

The concentric phase of the movement is the “up” path, that part of the exercise in which you are accustomed to lifting the dumbbells or barbell fairly quickly. A full 5 seconds of concentric contraction and lifting of the projectile will make the task extremely difficult.

After breaking through five super slow movements, you can move on to partial quarter reps. Quarter reps are usually performed at the "lower" end of the range. For example, in the overhead press with dumbbells, you lower the shells to your shoulders, raise them about ?, pause briefly, and return to the starting position.

The golden rule for this part of the set is to use the hardest part of the range of motion for partial reps. In the bench press, this will be the bottom quarter of the exercise, in which the chest muscles are stretched. In a barbell curl, this will be the top quarter of the range in which the biceps are fully contracted.

After completing 5 quarter reps, complete a set of 20 with 5 regular reps. It may seem like you've gotten to the easiest part, but usually by this point the muscles are so tired from the first three blocks that the 5 standard reps are the hardest to complete. Overcome them at all costs: squirm, scream, but drag the projectile through the entire range of motion.

Now that you understand the intent of my extraordinary technique, let's get back to the training program that inspired me to this madness. I like to use the method in the sixth set of the exercise, in which I do traditional 5x5 strength sets. This allows me to do standard hard work and then shock the muscles and nervous system with a powerful finishing push.

When choosing a working weight for the final set, it is best to stop at 50-60% of the weight that you used in the final of the five strength sets. If you worked with 50 kg dumbbells on your last heavy set, stop at 25-30 kg to complete the sixth set.

An example of a great 3-day split that has a crazy five woven into it.