Fierce 5
By davisj3537 · From Original Source
Also known as: fierce 5 · fierce5 · fierce 5 novice · novice · 5x5 alternative · beginner barbell
davisj3537's Fierce 5, a novice program with balance built in. Two full-body workouts take turns three days a week. Workout A: squats, bench press, Pendlay rows, face pulls, then calf raises and triceps pressdowns as a superset. Workout B: front squats, overhead press, Romanian deadlifts, lat pulldowns, then ab work and curls as a superset. The weight stays the same all week; each week add 5 lb (2.5 kg) to upper-body lifts and 10 lb (5 kg) to lower-body lifts. Fail a lift two sessions in a row and it drops 15%.
Free to use · auto progression, rest timers & PR tracking built in
What is Fierce 5?
Fierce 5 is a novice routine written by davisj3537 on the Bodybuilding.com forums in 2014. He built it because he felt the popular novice programs each had a flaw: progress too slow, too much or too little volume, or too little balance between the muscles. His answer is five lifts a workout, counting each superset as one, in two full-body workouts.
You train three days a week with a rest day between, taking turns: Monday A, Wednesday B, Friday A, then B, A, B the next week. Workout A is squats and bench press for 3x5, Pendlay rows for 3x8 and face pulls for 3x10, then calf raises (2x15) supersetted with triceps pressdowns (2x10). Workout B is front squats and overhead press for 3x5, Romanian deadlifts and lat pulldowns for 3x8, then ab work (2x15) supersetted with curls (2x10). He asks you to do the lifts in the order written, with the hardest first.
Is Fierce 5 right for you?
Anyone with less than six months of current, structured training, including people who have lifted for a year or two without a real plan. He designed it for bulking men and says to run it until you truly stall on at least two of the major lifts, which for most people bulking takes four to six months. Women who are bulking and men who are cutting can halve the weight jumps once they stall on bench, squat or the Romanian deadlift. Sessions take about 40–55 minutes.
How progression works
The weight changes once a week, not every session. Each week add 5 lb (2.5 kg) to the upper-body lifts and 10 lb (5 kg) to the lower-body lifts. Keep the same weight for every session of that week: in his example the Monday and Friday squats are both 200, then 210 the next Wednesday. Durata moves each lift after its last session of the week. Ab work goes up in reps instead: add a few each week. If you fail a lift two sessions in a row, it drops 15%, and he suggests using the lighter weight to work on form. If your gym cannot make a jump on a lift, add weight to it every other week and add reps in the weeks between: one rep per set on the 5-rep lifts, two on the higher-rep ones.
Durata runs this progression for you — there are no percentages to work out, so each session's target carries over from what you logged last time and the weight moves when you hit or miss the prescribed reps.
Fierce 5 — every set, every session
Week 13 sessions
Workout A
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Bench Press (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Pendlay Row (Barbell) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Face Pull | 3×10 | 1:00 |
| Standing Calf Raise (Machine)superset A | 2×15 | — |
| Triceps Pushdownsuperset A | 2×10 | — |
Workout A
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Bench Press (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Pendlay Row (Barbell) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Face Pull | 3×10 | 1:00 |
| Standing Calf Raise (Machine)superset A | 2×15 | — |
| Triceps Pushdownsuperset A | 2×10 | — |
Workout B
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Front Squat | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Overhead Press (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Romanian Deadlift (Barbell) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Lat Pulldown (Cable) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Crunchsuperset A | 2×15 | — |
| Bicep Curl (Barbell)superset A | 2×10 | — |
Week 23 sessions
Workout A
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Squat (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Bench Press (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Pendlay Row (Barbell) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Face Pull | 3×10 | 1:00 |
| Standing Calf Raise (Machine)superset A | 2×15 | — |
| Triceps Pushdownsuperset A | 2×10 | — |
Workout B
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Front Squat | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Overhead Press (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Romanian Deadlift (Barbell) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Lat Pulldown (Cable) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Crunchsuperset A | 2×15 | — |
| Bicep Curl (Barbell)superset A | 2×10 | — |
Workout B
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Front Squat | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Overhead Press (Barbell) | 3×5 | 3:00 |
| Romanian Deadlift (Barbell) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Lat Pulldown (Cable) | 3×8 | 3:00 |
| Crunchsuperset A | 2×15 | — |
| Bicep Curl (Barbell)superset A | 2×10 | — |
Fierce 5 — common questions
How heavy should I start?
Lighter than you think, because the weight climbs fast. He suggests 85% of what you think you can lift, so you are not struggling for the first four to six weeks. If you have never trained before, start at 50% and add 10-15% a workout until you reach that 85% by week three.
How long should I rest between sets?
He advises two to three minutes between sets of the heavy compound lifts, 30-60 seconds on isolation work such as face pulls, and none inside a superset: one set of each, back to back, then straight into the next pair. Durata sets the top of each: three minutes and 60 seconds.
Can I swap exercises?
Only the swaps he lists: reverse flies for face pulls, any triceps isolation lift for pressdowns, any pull-up or chin-up for lat pulldowns, incline bench for overhead press, decline bench or forward-leaning dips for bench, paused back squats for front squats, and a horizontal row to the chest with elbows at 45 degrees for Pendlay rows. If you drop front squats and Romanian deadlifts, replace both with a deadlift and a leg curl.
Does Fierce 5 have deload weeks?
Not on a schedule. If you feel sluggish and weaker than usual, about every 6-8 weeks, skip one workout to get four or five days of rest in a row. The 15% drop after two failed sessions is separate and happens on its own.
What comes after Fierce 5?
He suggests his Fierce 5 upper/lower routine as the natural next step, once you have stalled on two major lifts after resetting and working back up.
Is there an app that runs Fierce 5 for you?
Yes. Durata runs Fierce 5 as written, free: the 3-day-a-week schedule, every set and rep, and the progression built in. Log your sets and the next session's weights are worked out for you, with the stalls and deloads the program calls for; a tap on any lift shows why the weight moved. It is on iPhone and Android, works offline, and your history from Hevy or Strong imports free.
Source: Fierce 5 by davisj3537 (Bodybuilding.com forums, 2014)
Durata is not affiliated with or endorsed by the program's author. The program structure (sets, reps, exercise selection) is presented as published methodology.
Run Fierce 5 in Durata
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