Fierce 5 Workout Program

The Fierce 5 workout program is designed to take advantage of “noobie” and beginner gains for gym novices.

The Fierce 5 workout is built so that it is easy to maintain, the exercises are easy to execute, and beginners can see muscle growth fairly quickly.

Fierce 5 is a great choice if you are just beginning your body-building or overall fitness journey.

Who Created the Fierce 5 Workout Plan

The Fierce 5 workout plan was invented by bodyduilding.com forum user davisj3537.

The user davisj3537 noticed that many of the beginner/novice bodybuilding programs lacked simplicity and scalability, and often bogged down new weight lifters with unnecessary information.

The Fierce Workout plan was created to be a solution to these problems.

The original debut of the workout plan can still be found in a post on the bodybuilding.com forum.

How the Fierce Workout Works

The Fierce workout is a linear progression program, which means that you will be adding weight to the bar every week on all of your lifts.

This is in contrast to other popular programs such as Stronglifts which works on a much slower progression when it comes to adding more weight to your movements.

The simplicity of the Fierce workout is one of its strong suits.

The frequency of training for the Fierce workout is three times per week on non-consecutive days.

This gives your body plenty of time to recover between workouts while still being able to hit the gym with enough frequency to see results quickly.

Fierce 5 Workout Exercises

Workout A

Squat 3×5

Bench 3×5

Pendlay Rows 3×8

Face Pulls 3×10

Calf raises 2×15/Tricep pressdowns 2×10 Superset

Workout B

Front Squat 3×5

Overhead Press 3×5

Romanian Deadlift 3×8

Lat Pulldowns 3×8 (any grip)

Ab work 2×15/Bicep curls 2×10 Superset (I don’t care what ab work you do)

Acceptable Substitutions

Face Pulls – Reverse Flies, banded face pulls

Tricep pressdowns – overhead extensions, skull crushers, banded tricep pressdowns

Lat Pulldowns – Any form of pull/chin up, banded lat pulldown, lat machine

Overhead Press – Dumbell overhead press, landmine press, Arnold press

Pendlay Rows – Do not swap out pendlay rows it is too important to the overall program

Bench – Decline bench, dips, dumbell chest press

Front Squat/RDL – Goblet squat/deadlift, you will have to swap out both exercises to maintain the effectiveness of the program

Front Squat – Paused back squats

Fierce Five Warmups

Standard warmups are for the Fierce Five workout.

Warming up is essential to get the blood flowing and in preventing injury.

Warming up includes the following:

• Light Cardio
• Stretching Arms
• Stretching Legs
• Foam Roller for Back

Also, before performing the bigger compound movements (squats, bench press, shoulder press) you should be using a lighter weight and getting a few reps in.

This will help stop injuries when you add on your working weight.

Fierce Five Progression

The Fierce Five workout program has a set progression scheme that you will follow.

The goal is to be adding weight to all of your exercises each week. This causes progressive overload. Progressive overload is what signals your body to grow bigger muscles due to needing to lift heavier weight.

This will help ensure that you are making gains in strength and size each week.

Lindy Health’s Customized Fierce 5 Plan

We have had a ton of success using the Fierce 5 program at Lindy Health.

We have taken davisj3537’s original Fierce program and made a few adjustments to it to better fit the needs of our clients.

We have also followed current science and breakthroughs in the muscle building industry to optimize Fierce 5 for results.

Our workout A and workout B are just slightly different:

Workout A

Squat 3×5

Bench 3×5

Pendlay Rows 3×8

Banded Face Pulls 3×10

Calf raises 3×15/Tricep pressdowns 3×10 Superset

Workout B

Front Squat 3×5

Arnold Press 3×5

Romanian Deadlift 3×8

Lat Pulldowns 3×8 (any grip)

Ab work 3×15/Bicep curls 3×10 Superset

Here is where our version of the Fierce 5 Plan differs:

• More banded workouts can be great and science has shown the advantage of banded resistance training in recent years
• Substitution of the shoulder press for the Arnold press which we feel hits a few more muscle groups in the shoulders
• Bumped the super-set workouts from 2 sets to 3 sets for all exercises

Fierce 5 Workout Template [Tracking, Progression, Weight, and more]

Download Here: Fierce 5 Template

This Fierce 5 template includes the following: 

– Fierce Workout Schedule

– Fierce Workout Tracking

– Fierce Progressions Sheet

– Fierce 5 Weight Tracker

All you need to do is make a copy of the template (File -> Make a Copy) and you will have your version that you can modify to fit your workout plan.

Fierce 5 Frequently Asked Questions

How much weight do I add each week to the Fierce 5 program?

Upper Body Exercises – 5 pounds

Lower Body Exercises – 10 pounds

What if I fail at completing a set?

You repeat the same weight the following week for the failed exercise. Once you can complete all of the required reps and sets you again move up in weight.

What if I miss a week of training?

You will simply start back with the training day you missed the next day. Another nice feature of Fierce 5 is that you are always alternating between the two workouts.

This makes it easy to pick back up if you miss a day. However, we do not suggest skipping workout days. Fierce 5 is only a 3 day per week routine. Get yourself in the gym!

How long should I run the Fierce 5 program?

Ideally, you will want to run this program until you plateau and are no longer able to move up in weight every week.

The average however is 2 – 4 months. After building a solid workout foundation with Fierce 5 you can move on to more advanced splits such as the upper/lower, push/pull, or bro split.

How long should I rest between sets?

It is recommended that you rest 1.5 minutes to 2 minutes between sets for the big compound exercise movements.

You may be able to get away with resting a bit less on abdominal, bicep, and other auxiliary work.

Is Fierce 5 good if I am bulking? What if I am cutting?

The Fierce Five workout is great for any beginner in the gym regardless if you are cutting bodyweight or attempting to bulk up.

If you are cutting you may want to eat at a slight caloric deficit. If you are trying to bulk then you will want to be in a small calorie surplus each day.

Remember, Fierce Five is a workout program designed for beginners. It is not an advanced routine. If you have been lifting weights for years this workout may not be for you.

How do I know if my form is good?

The majority of the exercises are well known. This makes it easier for beginners to not mess up too badly when it comes to forming.

There is an endless amount of videos you can seek out on Youtube if you are unsure about completing certain exercises.

How much weight should I start with?

You generally want to start lighter than what you think you can do.

As Fierce 5’s weight progression is rather aggressive you will want to leave yourself room to continue moving up in weight each week.

What is a super-set?

A super-set is when you do two workouts back-to-back.

They are usually targeting separate muscle groups.

Example:

5 reps of Front Squats

No Rest

5 reps of Shoulder Presses

Rest

Can I add in some other exercises that I enjoy?

No.

The law of diminishing returns applies here and you may even expose yourself to injury halting all of your progress. One of our favorite quotes is “it’s always better to live to lift another day”.

Even small injuries can leave you out of the gym for weeks.

What supplements should I take on the Fierce 5 plan?

We have a great post detailing the best supplements for beginners.

You can check it out here:

The most recommended and general supplements are what is prescribed i.e. protein powder, creatine, multi-vitamin, etc.

Can I use machines on the Fierce 5 program?

Yes, you could although we suggest following this program as exact as possible when you can.

If you need to use a machine for one of the bigger compound exercises due to injury that is ok.

What should I be eating?

We suggest following the Vertical Diet which is also made for both beginners and professional athletes alike.

The Vertical Diet will ensure you are meeting all of your macro goals and are in the correct calorie range to fit your goals.

If you need an easy-to-cook at-home bodybuilder meal check out our amazing recipes for Monster Mash which is part of the Vertical Diet.

What days of the week should I train?

The days of the week you choose to train do not matter.

As suggested, this will be a three-day program so for example you could do:

Monday – Rest

Tuesday – Workout A

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – Workout B

Friday – Rest

Saturday – Workout A

Sunday – Rest

This will then continue with you alternating between workout A and Workout B and it does not matter what specific day it is. As long as you maintain the correct amount of rest between workouts.

Any other combination of days that you see fit is also ok. It is completely up to you. As long as you hit each workout and do a total of 3 workouts per week. No more, no less.

Conclusion

The Fierce Five workout program is a great way for beginner and novice lifters to gain muscle mass and strength quickly. The program is simple to follow and easy to understand. The progression scheme is well thought out.

Fierce Five has a lot of advantages and is very well tailored to those taking advantage of “noobie” gains!

Have you used the Fierce 5 workout program? Leave us a comment below on how it went and show us your results!