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



__________________________________________________

Fear Leads To Anger ... Anger Leads To Stress ...
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.

 

[Introspective]

You have all giving me things to learn and look into more carefully, thank you all for your advice.
Im gonna stick with this program and substitute bent over rows for cleans and deads for high pulls, until hopefully i get my starting strength book, Also i was reading over young squaters journal and saw that riptoe told him to drink a gallon of milk a day, thats 8 pints right ? im gonna start doing this on monday and also try and get 4000 calories a day.
would this turn me into a big fatty or just help make me bigger and more muscular ?

Also did i read this right that doing core work is ok whilst on 5x5, like some beach work on saturdays maybe?

 

[Guinness5.0]

would this turn me into a big fatty or just help make me bigger and more muscular ?

It all depends on our requirements. Try it and if you turn into a tub of goo then cut back.

Also did i read this right that doing core work is ok whilst on 5x5, like some beach work on saturdays maybe?

Yeah it's fine. Jsut don't get carreid away. Couple sets per worout

 

[Introspective]

Thanks guinness
Also with this 5x5 program it says only do 4x5 on wednesdays and fridays, but i have just been doing 5x5 on all workout days on all exersises and always finish off on things i struggle to lift even on the light day because i feel 4x5 isnt enough,
is there a solid reason why i should have a light and medium day or is it ok if i do 5x5 on everything on all days, or am i doing more harm than good by sticking to 5x5 on everything, can anyone clear this up?
cheers

 

[djeclipse]

Form what I gather about the 5x5 program, the whole goal of the program is to make your PR's on Monday, everything else is to help you reach those PR goals. If you went heavy every workout I think the muscle would be to tired to make those consistent PR's on the monday.

So the wed light day is in there to still get the muscles working but not to overtrain them. The Friday is there to get the muscles used to lifting your new PR weight 3x, so it’s ready to do it 5 x on Monday.

 

[Introspective]

Thanks for clearing that up eclipse, i think ille start doing it this way from now on.
Also how much time out do you 5x5 people take between lifts ? example with squats i usually do the first 5 then wait 45 seconds then do my next 5 ect.

Im currently doing research about what i should be eating, im working my way up to drinking a gallon of whole milk a day.
As soon as i get my dailey food routine going i think ille start a journal.
I made a quick web site for free at http://www.freewebs.com/introspective2006/
It's real good and simple to make your own free site very usefull if anyone is in need of something like this. I used it to store my workout plan and weights pyramid.

Peace

 

[Introspective]

Im getting a treadmill soon speed of it is 0-10 mph thats 0-16 kph can anyone tell me how fast 8-10 mph 12-16 kph is ? for example is that like fast walking pace, slow joggin pace or medium joggin pace ?

 

[blut wump]

6 mph is a very brisk walking pace. 4 mph is a typical reasonably fast walking pace. Go walk a mile and see how long it takes you.

A four-minute mile is 15 mph.

 

[Introspective]

Thanks, aslong as i can get at least a steady joggin pace ille be happy.

 

[Introspective]

Can anyone tell me what weighted hypers are ? because im not sure if im doing them right or if im doing a totally different exercise.