question about Bill Starr 5x5, pls help

Hi Guys, how you guys doing? i think i need some your expert help :-)

i tried Bill Starr 5x5 last year, made great progress. would like to try again. But there are some question

1. my squat and deadlift made a lot progress last time, but bench not much, almost same.

2. now my leg is too big compare to my upper body, esp my poor chest.

3. i think both deadlift and squat are more lower body or core strength training, my upper body is weak, can i add more up body training here? if yes, which exercise can be suitable? how about pull-up?

4 meanwhile, squat heavy 3 times per week, my knees begin to suffer, no matter how i strict my form, meanwhile, i do not like my leg to grow bigger and bigger, i hope my upper body can grow more, thus can i reduce the squat to 2 times and add more upper body exercise?

All suggestions is appreciated :-)

Rule #1 of the 5x5 is don't mess with it.

If you post your current squat, dead, bench max it would be helpful to see where you stand. A lot of people make big jumps on bench and squats because they are lagging compared to thier bench. I used to only bench and could easily bench 275 more times than I could squat it. Now it has evened out. You get to a point where you aren't going to gain more than one or two reps a week.

Just a thought about your squat. Maybe your form isn't as strict as you think it is. Have you ever watched a video of yourself squatting or had an expert critique it? Unless you have bad knees and are doing huge ammounts of weight you shouldn't be feeling pain unless your form is incorrect.

well, routines can always be tailored to fit someones needs. That being said the general consensus is everyone thinks they know enough to tweak programs and make changes.

That being said I would suggest a few things.

Video tape yourself benching and watch your form. Proper bench form will do a lot for strength and numbers.

Figure out where your sticking point is, or problem with your bench. Are you having trouble getting it off your chest? or are you having trouble locking your arms out? Knowing this can allow you to do assistance exercises tailored to your trouble area.

Work on your stabalizers and secondary muscles during bench. This would include things like shoulders and lats. Pull ups, rows, delt isolations etc... will all help your bench. Squats will help it majorly so dont think about dropping them.

Just keep making sure your eating over your daily caloric needs, with a good program like bill stars 5x5 you will gain.

6'3"  @213

Squat 1x20x275

press:200, Deadlift:475, Bench:300, P.clean:235, Squat:385

"The only failure that is final is to stop trying to improve"

Squats and deadlifts aren't just lower body movements. Testosterone they released aids in the production of new contractile proteins in the muscle cells like myosin and actin.

Don't drop them, you'll regret it.

Bench presses should be done through gaining weight like any other movement. Vary the volume and intensity, increase the frequency, here's what I did to bring my bench up.

Monday- 3X5 (can be replaced with 5X5)
Friday- 3X3 (can be replaced with 3X5)

For example, here's what a week would look like...

Monday- 3X5 @ 225lbs
Friday- 3X3 @ 230lbs

Monday- 3X5 @ 230lbs
Friday- 3X3 @ 235lbs

Monday- 3X3 @ 240lbs
Friday- 3X1 @ 245lbs

Monday- 3X5 @ 235lbs
Friday- 3X3 @ 240lbs

repeat.

ACE-CPT, NASM-CPT, AFPA-Nutrition Consultant