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Bye-bye BBing BS: Journal of my 5x5 a la madcow2

Guinness5.0

New member
Catchy title, eh? That'll be changed soon I imagine but it's late and I'm not at my most clever. Anywho, I got to page ten of the monster 5x5 thread and was sold. I'm now on Monday of week two of the program. So far I love it even though I managed to get a tad optimistic on the starting weights despite madcow's ample warnings.

Here's a summary of week one:

MON
Squat 5x5: 315
Bench 5x5 (yup I 5x5'd bench when I should have 1x5'd it): 255
Row( same as above): 225
abs
couple sets of BW dips

WED
Squat 5x5: 285
Standing military 5x5: 155
Deadlift 5x5: 345
Chins 5x5: bw
abs

FRI
Squat 1x5: 345
Bench 5x5: 255
Row 5x5: 225
abs

TODAY
Squat 5x5: 325
Bench 1x5: 275
Row 1x5: 245
abs
 
keep it simple and you'll outgrow most conventional BB routines...its true. overthinking and over isolating leads to wasting time and effort. overload is the key.
 
I considered aborting upon the realization that I overshot my weights, but I didn't drastically overdo it so I'll just barely bump the weight up and hope I'm not dibilated by week 4. We'll see...

So far I'm loving this. No fluff, just heavy iron. I've never properly prformed BB rows before so I'm pretty excited about how my back will fill out.

I guess I should post some stats. I'm 25, 6 ft tall, 246 as of the monday I started, around 17% bf (maybe less) and I've done two cycles, the most recent being a 7 weeker of prop and tren that ended in early feb. I'm done with drugs for a long time (probably for good, but I can't say for sure).

The goal with this is to get strong. I've come to the realization that I'm no bodybuilder. I train because I like to train, not to look good (though it's a pleasant side) and to be strong. It's funny because though my lifts aren't impressive (yet), they're awesome for the gym I work out at cuz nobody even performs these lifts.
 
Anyone actually acknowledge all the alliteration adorning the post title? :FRlol:

Seriously though, good for you. It's nice to see more and more people try out a program that is based on the Dual Factor theory.

Your starting weights shouldn't be too taxing for you. Hopefully you'll be fortunate enough to make it through week four.
 
i think you'll like the results of the heavy basics. like i alluded to earlier, too my trainees get too wrapped up in overthinking things and dont dont allow the weight to do the talking for their physique. you, like myself, have realized that the stage and oil and protan aren't the way we want to go, and have realized that its the thrill of performance and improvement that keep us going. i wish more would find this early on in their weightlifting "careers". it allows for pure and simple work ethics to be built instead of dreams of "finishing touches" when they arent in order, mass construction is more the case.

sorry to rant....too much alcohol.
 
Don't worry about having started too high. It's not ideal and might mean that you get loaded a shade early but it won't do any harm.

I started my bench weights too high but repeating a week with the same weights puts you pretty much right back on track.

Good luck with the rest of the program. I'd rather be strong than pretty any day (within reason, Mr. Hyde would be too far).
 
When it comes down to it building muscle is building muscle. If you want to get on stage and be a BBer (just leave out genetics), you need a lot of muscle and you use diet to get you in condition. Most people involved in BBing are concerned with adding muscle and getting bigger, granted people want symmetry too but aside from some occasional isolation work to improve some weak points this is largely genetic and they are more concerned with adding muscle than tweaking some proportionality (at least what is actually fixable like not adding a peak to your bicepts).

It primarily about the foundation, plenty of people on this board can get pretty lean but what stops them from competing at a given level most times is just the amount of muscle. This is even more important for a novice in that they don't yet have anything to refine so they need to be almost totally concerned with building up their foundation.This is just a really efficient way to get strong over reasonable hypertrophy set/rep volume in the big lifts that really drive fully body growth. Hypertrophy isn't linear over the short term but over the mid/long term pushing up your squat, dead, bench, row, and overhead in 5x5 or similar ranges will drive hypertrophy. The better the stimulus the better the results, the more efficient the stimulus the more efficient the results.

Good luck with the program. You'll be fine with the starting weights, just move ahead and adjust on the fly as necessary to leave yourself with 2 weeks of record or near near-limit/limit lifting at the end.

EDIT: also Guiness5.0 - I just had the table of contents on the first page of the thread updated. I've linked just about all the important stuff so it can save you a lot of time rather than reading through page by page which gets more and more onerous as the thread grows.
 
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Thanks for the well-wishing bros. I read this site religiously but don't feel the urge to post much (looks like I'm averaging 11 posts/month). Madcow's generosity and knowledge make it futile for me to do so anyway hehe.

If I come acrosss a digital camera I'll take before and afters. I'm decently big already so if this throws on 10-15 pounds I'll be truly amazed. Like I said, I'm more in it for the strength but of course hypertrophy is gonna come as well.

I should mention that I work at a gym selling memberships, training, tanning and supps. It's kinda funny because I'm bigger than all the trainers and I'm the only salesperson/manager who even works out. It's a good gig though as I am constantly surrounded by gorgeous women who are wearing tiny shorts and asking me for advice. Could be worse.
 
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yeah, it could be worse you could get fat guys and 18 year old kids asking for advice..then completely ignoring it and doing 100's of sets with light weights.

good man, I think you'll have to cut volume once you get a bit stronger but its a definite step in the right direction :)
 
Tweakle said:
yeah, it could be worse you could get fat guys and 18 year old kids asking for advice..then completely ignoring it and doing 100's of sets with light weights.

good man, I think you'll have to cut volume once you get a bit stronger but its a definite step in the right direction :)
This is just his first week from the madcow 5x5 dual-factor program. It uses a 5x5 form for the first four weeks with ever increasing weight aiming to hit PRs on all exercises in both weeks 3 and 4 and then switches over to 3x3 for another five weeks with ever-increasing weight aiming for PRs in weeks 8 and 9.
 
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