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Finished my first 5x5(madcow)
Well, I just completed my last workout of my 9th week on my madcow version of the 5x5. Before this routine, I was lifting for about 2 years straight. I lifted many years ago after high school, but stopped for several years(just turned 34). My workout consisted of a chest/shoulder day and an arm day. It gave me some good gains for awhile, but I hit a wall hard with it. I also wasn't doing any legs(was biking a bit) and that was effecting my overall performance. My arms were sore as hell all the time and I was doing a lot of work for very little gain. I was pretty much doing the same weight week after week adding a few pounds here or there.
Well, I luckly fell upon this site and it really helped me learn a lot of things I was doing wrong. This 5x5 workout pretty much went against most of my views about lifting. I thought if you didn't go to failure every set you were cheating. If you trained a muscle more then once a week you would overtrain it. You need to do direct arm work to gain size in your arms. Many of my beliefs have been shattered and I have learned to have a VERY open mind about things from now on.
Well here are my results from my 9 week program.
I started at 5'7" 173 and finished at 182lbs.(little less fat). Arms pumped before 17 3/4", after 18". Don't have measurments before of other parts, but my legs got MUCH bigger. My boxers are tight now and they were no were near tight before. Chest got a bit thicker and lats got noticably bigger. My main reason for doing this program was for strength. All sets were done with good form. Also did pullups, a couple sets of bb curls one time a week and a couple sets of close grip bp once a week. Threw in a few cleans or shrugs if I was bored, but nothing much.
Week 1 (took it light to get a good feel for what weights to use)
Bench 185 1x5, 195 5x5
Squat 135 5x5(haven't done squats in 10 years), 155 1x5
Rows 105 1x5, 115 5x5
Dead lift 175x5(haven't done these in years)
Military Press(seated) 95x5
Week 2
Bench 205 1x5, 205 5x5
Squat 150 5x5, 170 1x5
Rows 125 1x5, 130 5x5(1x5 was light)
Deadlift 190 5x5
Military Press 105 5x5
Week 3
Bench 215 1x5, 210 5x5
Squat 165 5x5, 185 1x5
Rows 145 1x5, 150 5x5(still adjusting weight)
Deadlift 215 5x5
Military Press 115 5x5
Week 4
Bench 220 1x5(got 4 almost 5), 215 5x5
Squat 190 5x5, 205 1x5
Rows 170 1x5, 170 5x5
Deadlift 235 5x5
Military Press 130 5x5
Deload week 5
Same weights as week 4, but 3x3
Week 6
Bench 230 1x3, 230 3x3
Squat 190 1x3, 200 3x3(190 was easy)
Rows 175 1x3, 175 3x3
Deadlift 255 3x3
Military press 130 3x3
Week 7
Bench 235 1x3, 240 3x3
Squat 215 1x3, 225 3x3
Rows 175 1x3, 175 3x3
Deadlift 285 3x3
Military press 135 3x3
Week 8
Bench 245 1x3, 240 3x3
Squat 240 1x3, 240 3x3
Rows 190 1x3, 185 3x3
Deadlift 305 3x3
Military Press 140 3x3
Week 9
Bench 250 1x3(barely got last rep, perfect!!), 245 3x3
Squat 250 1x3, 250 3x3
Rows 195 1x3, 190 3x3
Deadlift 315 3x3
Military Press 145 3x3
As you can see I really gained a lot of strength!! I was amazed at how well this worked for me. Some weeks I did the same for 1x5 as I did for 5x5, as I was adjusting the weights a bit as to how heavy they felt from the previous workout. If the 1x5 was not too tough I would do the same for 5x5 etc.. I also went from not being able to do 5x5 pullups to doing 5x5 with 20 lbs. attached to me and 10 reps with plams facing me with 20lbs. I got real lucky and hit my weights just right. I went a bit light at first as advised and it worked out perfectly. Remember, I had been lifting for a couple years before this and was making VERY small gains each month. I expected decent gains on the squat and DL as I haven't done them much before, but I was going nuts trying to up my bench and MP before this. I also went from not being able to curl 135 for a good rep, to doing it for 4 reps, and I only did two sets of BB curls a week!!
I would like to thank all the people on this board who helped me with my questionsand madcow for coming up with this awesome program. I think I am going to do another 5x5, how do I go about deloading for another round??
Well, I just completed my last workout of my 9th week on my madcow version of the 5x5. Before this routine, I was lifting for about 2 years straight. I lifted many years ago after high school, but stopped for several years(just turned 34). My workout consisted of a chest/shoulder day and an arm day. It gave me some good gains for awhile, but I hit a wall hard with it. I also wasn't doing any legs(was biking a bit) and that was effecting my overall performance. My arms were sore as hell all the time and I was doing a lot of work for very little gain. I was pretty much doing the same weight week after week adding a few pounds here or there.
Well, I luckly fell upon this site and it really helped me learn a lot of things I was doing wrong. This 5x5 workout pretty much went against most of my views about lifting. I thought if you didn't go to failure every set you were cheating. If you trained a muscle more then once a week you would overtrain it. You need to do direct arm work to gain size in your arms. Many of my beliefs have been shattered and I have learned to have a VERY open mind about things from now on.
Well here are my results from my 9 week program.
I started at 5'7" 173 and finished at 182lbs.(little less fat). Arms pumped before 17 3/4", after 18". Don't have measurments before of other parts, but my legs got MUCH bigger. My boxers are tight now and they were no were near tight before. Chest got a bit thicker and lats got noticably bigger. My main reason for doing this program was for strength. All sets were done with good form. Also did pullups, a couple sets of bb curls one time a week and a couple sets of close grip bp once a week. Threw in a few cleans or shrugs if I was bored, but nothing much.
Week 1 (took it light to get a good feel for what weights to use)
Bench 185 1x5, 195 5x5
Squat 135 5x5(haven't done squats in 10 years), 155 1x5
Rows 105 1x5, 115 5x5
Dead lift 175x5(haven't done these in years)
Military Press(seated) 95x5
Week 2
Bench 205 1x5, 205 5x5
Squat 150 5x5, 170 1x5
Rows 125 1x5, 130 5x5(1x5 was light)
Deadlift 190 5x5
Military Press 105 5x5
Week 3
Bench 215 1x5, 210 5x5
Squat 165 5x5, 185 1x5
Rows 145 1x5, 150 5x5(still adjusting weight)
Deadlift 215 5x5
Military Press 115 5x5
Week 4
Bench 220 1x5(got 4 almost 5), 215 5x5
Squat 190 5x5, 205 1x5
Rows 170 1x5, 170 5x5
Deadlift 235 5x5
Military Press 130 5x5
Deload week 5
Same weights as week 4, but 3x3
Week 6
Bench 230 1x3, 230 3x3
Squat 190 1x3, 200 3x3(190 was easy)
Rows 175 1x3, 175 3x3
Deadlift 255 3x3
Military press 130 3x3
Week 7
Bench 235 1x3, 240 3x3
Squat 215 1x3, 225 3x3
Rows 175 1x3, 175 3x3
Deadlift 285 3x3
Military press 135 3x3
Week 8
Bench 245 1x3, 240 3x3
Squat 240 1x3, 240 3x3
Rows 190 1x3, 185 3x3
Deadlift 305 3x3
Military Press 140 3x3
Week 9
Bench 250 1x3(barely got last rep, perfect!!), 245 3x3
Squat 250 1x3, 250 3x3
Rows 195 1x3, 190 3x3
Deadlift 315 3x3
Military Press 145 3x3
As you can see I really gained a lot of strength!! I was amazed at how well this worked for me. Some weeks I did the same for 1x5 as I did for 5x5, as I was adjusting the weights a bit as to how heavy they felt from the previous workout. If the 1x5 was not too tough I would do the same for 5x5 etc.. I also went from not being able to do 5x5 pullups to doing 5x5 with 20 lbs. attached to me and 10 reps with plams facing me with 20lbs. I got real lucky and hit my weights just right. I went a bit light at first as advised and it worked out perfectly. Remember, I had been lifting for a couple years before this and was making VERY small gains each month. I expected decent gains on the squat and DL as I haven't done them much before, but I was going nuts trying to up my bench and MP before this. I also went from not being able to curl 135 for a good rep, to doing it for 4 reps, and I only did two sets of BB curls a week!!
I would like to thank all the people on this board who helped me with my questionsand madcow for coming up with this awesome program. I think I am going to do another 5x5, how do I go about deloading for another round??
Last edited:
j/k
