Adiabatic Shear Band (ASB) formation occurs during high-speed deformation of metallic materials, particularly in technologically relevant processes such as high-speed blanking. Shear deformation at high strain rates causes localized rapid heating and results in local thermal softening. This, in turn, promotes further local softening by additional localized heating and an unstable plastic deformation that ultimately leads to ASB formation. In this contribution, we investigate shear band formation in the non-age-hardenable aluminum alloy AA5754 using a newly designed S-shaped sample geometry. The samples are subjected to uniaxial compression, which leads to local shear deformation in a geometrically well-defined shear zone. Nominal quasi-static and dynamic strain rates up to 10³ s^-1 are used to produce shear bands at shear rates in the range of 2*10^-2 s^-1 to 5*10⁴ s^-1. A special experimental setup allows to limit the deformation of the samples with low increments and high accuracy, even at high rates. We are therefore able to study the different stages of the formation of adiabatic deformation shear bands from initiation via propagation and growth up to crack formation. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is performed to characterize the microstructures in the undeformed material as well as at different deformation states of the shear bands. In addition, microhardness measurements are used to identify local hardness increase in the ASBs. Our experimental approach contributes to a deeper understanding of the rate-dependent formation and growth of shear bands in aluminum alloys.