Newbie on 5x5

[Introspective]

Hey elite's i really need your help, i am a novice athlete, i had been going to gym for about 6 weeks then got a power rack flat/incline/decline bench and olympic bar with more weights than i can lift, when i started out at gym i could only lift about 25 kilo including 10 kilo bar, now 8 or 9 weeks later i can lift 80 kilos on my last set of 5 on bench,
with the help of 3 weeks from doing the off season 5x5 bill star gave madcow when he was a freshman in college

quote from madcows 5x5 post

The Bill Starr Power Routine

When I was a freshman in college, Bill Starr gave me this routine to follow. It was designed for off-season football and general strength training. In the first 16 weeks I was on it, I added about 35 pounds of bodyweight, and took my total from a paltry 600 to over 950. Of course, I was also on the dorm’s prepaid meal plan, and ate like it was going out of style. Plus, I only had four classes that semester, so I spent lots of time sleeping.


Monday – Heavy Day
Squat – 5 sets of 5
Bench – 5 sets of 5
Powercleans – 5 sets of 5
2 sets of weighted hypers
4 sets of weighted Sit-ups

Wednesday – Light Day
Squat – 4 sets of 5
Incline Bench – 4 sets of 5
High Pulls – 4 sets of 5
Sit-ups – 3 sets

Friday - Medium
Squat – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, back-off
Bench – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, back-off
Powercleans – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple
Weighted Dips – 3 sets of 5-8
Triceps and Biceps – 3 sets of 8 each


Anyway i spent lots of time reading through all this stuff, single factor, dual factor, deloading, none of wich i understand as i have never heard of anything like this before, so i figured as a begginer i would do madcows off season program.
Just wondering if anyone could tell me am i on the right track, how long should i do this for before moving onto something different, i take creatine ethyl ethser hcl and protein isolate every day, i dont drink alcopops or do drugs, and i dont take roids, im serious about getting bigger stronger.
Also i am getting a tredmill and was wondering how many times a week what days for how long should i do cardio for whilst im on this 5x5 program ?
any help advice will be much apreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[Protobuilder]

Start reading: http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375215

And see: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/index.htm

You stick w/ the program as long as you can continue gaining from it. If you're doing the single-factor beginner/intermediate program, you may be able to make gains for quite a while IF you know how to "coach" yourself and adjust your training to contineu gaining.

 

[Introspective]

Hi proto and thanks for helping, i have read alot on both of these threads.
Just i dont really understand the termanology used, it's all like an alien language to me.
Also i should have my treadmill soon, can anyone tell me when i should be doing cardio whilst on this program ? and can anyone tell me what high pulls are ?
Oh and do american footballers train harder in off - season than they do on season ?
Cheers



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Stress Leads To Doobies ... And Doobies Lead To Twinkies

 

[Protobuilder]

http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/video_index.htm

Click on "clean pull high" on the left side.

You can do cardio on your non-workout days. I don't think it matters too much so long as it doesn't cut into your ability to make consistent progress on your weights.

No idea about football players. I think they bust their ass the whole year, pretty much.

 

[Madcow2]

For a raw beginner, the best thing you can really do is order Starting Strength. It will teach you the lifts (very very comprehensive), give you all the basics, and get you going. Tons of guys here with years of experience have gotten a lot out of it. With the amount of crap in BBing and on these internet boards, you'll really save years just plunking down a few bucks. Going by what I see on these boards, on the newstands, and in commercial gyms - you just aren't going to get everything down quickly without a single comprehensive guide designed for taking someone from the ground up. I have zero faith that it can be done on your own nearly as well and locating a local trainer who really knows their stuff is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

 

[djeclipse]

As for doing cardio with the 5x5 have a look at RipStones journal, he seems to have the "beginners" 5x5 progam nicly layed out and it includes lots of cardio.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=434674

 

[Introspective]

Thanks for the replies guys, Im definatley gonna buy Starting Strength
even though i don't like reading, but i still wanna carry on with the program im doing, and have at least some understanding of how to properly perform correct lifts. For past 3 weeks i have being doing pull ups where it says "high pulls"
thinking that's what high pulls are, but after seing the video clip protobuilder posted i now know what they are, im still confused about powercleans though,
i have seen the video from strengthcentre, but the guy on the video does like 2 different lifts, first he picks the bar up bounces it off his legs to chest high and then quickly back down in 1 motion, then second time he picks the bar up he like puts it up to near neck high and has his wrists bent back, so it is confusing, i don't know exactly what powercleans are, can anyone give better description or does anyone have a link to a good video demonstration?
Thanks

 

[blut wump]

I'd recommend against doing Power Cleans as a beginner. Ideally you'd get someone to teach you the exercise, since it's quite technical, before incorporating it in a program.

A good substitute exercise would be barbell rows.

 

[Madcow2]

This is why I said to substitute rows for cleans and deads for highpulls. There is technique involved and it's not like doing a biceps curl where you can go in and try it once and have it. Unless you have some source materials to learn from, forget it. Even then it's 10000x better to learn from a qualified coach.

Starr was a coach and competitor in OL, he was good at teaching the lifts but I really doubt he'd suggest to someone in your position to watch a short clip and go in there and add it to your program. If you are serious about learning the lifts see if there is a coach in your area (usually very cheap or sometimes free). Even a few sessions make a world of difference Much easier to learn good technique than to fix horrendous technique (and might get you hurt in the interim). www.usaweightlifting.org.

 

[silver_shadow]

as a beginner, i think the best thing would be to learn the movements , ie correct form. most importantly, learn which muscles particular exercises target... IMO this helps u to mentally feel with what muscle you should be exerting effort. this helps good form. for example, while doing lat exercises, a simple yet commonly overlooked mistake is to overuse the bi's on this... so focus on using ONLY the lat (some bi will obviously get worked out). next, concentrate on using more muscle fibres for lifts.... even a lighter weight should make you recruit more muscle effort then a complete noob... this is another crucial thing which if learnt faster, could help you gain faster right out of the blocks.