Welcome to The BarBend Newsletter! Here’s everything fit to print in today’s edition:

• The power of the 5x5 program

• Are deadlifts a waste of time for muscle growth?

• Fasted training vs. working on a full stomach

Programming

When a 4x4 Just Won’t Cut It

The classic 5x5 program has played a big part in the rising popularity of heavy lifting in recent decades. From the classic Bill Starr program to the often-read Rippetoe text, this simple, effective program has gotten millions of people into real gyms and forced the industry to lay down more horse stall mats and install more chalk bowls than ever.

If you are unfamiliar with the basics of the program, or you’ve just never dipped your toe into the waters of serious barbell training, this guide to the joys of the 5x5 is the perfect place to start.

The name comes from the simple rep scheme used for the main lifts: five sets of five reps (scientifically calculated because four ain’t enough and six is too much). You further break down this scheme into a slowly progressive percent-based system, or, if you’re new to this, you can just add small amounts of weight every workout until it becomes too hard to complete. 

This is as tried and true a method for gaining size and strength as has ever existed and will give you enough of a foundation to do absolutely anything you could ever want in life. Below, we’ll get you started with some tips and sample workout plans to help you hit the ground running.  

Muscle Growth

Dead Stop

Deadlifts have always sat upon the precipice between greatness and controversy. An undoubtedly primal move that can help you display brutal full-body strength, pulling has possibly become too popular in recent years — and you’ll find plenty of reasons not to do the move at all.

Not that performing the deadlift isn’t an amazing use of your time, but if your goal is to build more muscle, you might be over-concentrating on this lift and, by definition, missing out on other lifts you could be doing to get bigger, fuller, and more swole.

From a time-cost point of view, warming up to, then executing, a multi-set workout with heavy deadlifts runs the clock down on your training time faster than turning over an hourglass. The lack of specificity, a short (or non-existent) eccentric phase, and overspecialization can also make the deadlift a poorer option for hypertrophy. 

Nobody is saying you shouldn’t deadlift, but if you just want to build more muscle, you might want to reconsider your focus.

Nutrition

Fasted Eddie Felson or Minnesota Fats?

The answer to any “who would you rather be?” scenario usually begins and ends with Paul Newman, so the above question is a little unfair. In a more general sense, with the popularity of fasting in fitness media and the prevalence of its various forms in the religious celebrations of early spring, is it better, worse, or just generally OK to train in a fasted state? Or do you lose out on too much by working out without feeding your body beforehand?

Rather than just trying to hustle your way through your relationship with training and food intake, BarBend has tapped into the mind of Dr. Layne Norton, who has, in turn, reached into the land of scientific endeavor to pull a Ramadan-based study to help analyze the differences in various metrics. Some of the results might be surprising, and whether or not fasted training has deleterious effects on your results might have more to do with your training goals. 

You’re not going to change your religion based on fasted gainz, but you might be able to structure your training better to account for the time you spend in a fasted state.

Sound Off!

Quick Hits

⚡️ Hit This: Life comes at you fast when you party naked. Naked Nutrition aims to take this to a new level with its natural pre-workout blend designed to light you up and get the party started.

💪 Curl This: WWE’s Sheamus (no, the “h” is never going away despite decades of Hibernophile annoyance) takes on masked wrestler Penta’s arm-blasting workout.

🚣‍♀️ Row This: Wrap your mind around the subtle differences between the traditional bent-over row and the Pendlay row.

📺 Watch This: Look, it’s the middle of the week, and your motivation is probably waning. Let’s end this thing with a throwback video of Ronnie Coleman squatting 800 pounds. If this doesn’t carry you through Friday, nothing will.

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