The five-by-five program is one that is quite popular among those who are looking to gain a high amount of strength and muscle mass.The set-up of this program is to perform three main exercises that target the main muscle groups in the body (both lower and upper body in the same workout), performing five sets of five repetitions. At the end of each workout you can add in a few sets of isolated exercises if you like, but it's not required by the program.