Bill Starr's 5 x 5 program... Variation per Madcow2 (thanx) So here it is! K up now!

[siamesedream]

What tiem of day do you lift? Many on this site are fans of A.M. cardio on an empty stomach, then lifting later. With cardio equipment in your house I would think that would be a great option. I wouldn't worry about overtraining as long as you keep it reasonable- cardio really isn't all that taxing if it's moderate. It's jsut gonna burn a few extra cals and help your heart.

Not that it matters much but you may want to start your own journal on here. The journals seem to get good responses from more than just one person

I generally lift around 3:00PM, but sometimes go around 5:00PM. I would definitely be willing to do AM cardio on an empty stomach, and it's good to know that it shouldn't overtrain my legs. Also, I think I will start my own journal on here since I keep my own journal on my PC and could just upload my journal when I finish writing it after every workout.


Also, from my post above my last one, will keeping my bench weight the same cause me to plateau? I started off too high on bench press when I began the program 3 weeks ago and have been struggling like crazy with it every time I do my top set. All other major lifts have been going great and a 5-pound increase each week is happening, but I'm going to keep my bench weight the same as it was last week for this week as well as maybe next depending on how it goes this week. This won't cause my benching progress to halt, will it? Some other guy said in a thread that strength gain comes from upping weights consistently, but I really won't be able to up it this week since Friday's workout required help from my spotter on my last rep on benching.

 

[blut wump]

Maybe this week you'll get it without your spotter. Progressive overload is what drives growth but that can come from doing slightly better at a high weight as well as from doing the same with an increasing weight. It's not ideal at all to start too high on any of the exercises but the danger is typically that you overwork yourself. Not much you can do about it at this stage except continue trying to make some kind of progression. If you had gone completely over the top with it then I'd suggest a bit of back-peddling but I think you'll be ok from what you wrote.

 

[siamesedream]

Maybe this week you'll get it without your spotter. Progressive overload is what drives growth but that can come from doing slightly better at a high weight as well as from doing the same with an increasing weight. It's not ideal at all to start too high on any of the exercises but the danger is typically that you overwork yourself. Not much you can do about it at this stage except continue trying to make some kind of progression. If you had gone completely over the top with it then I'd suggest a bit of back-peddling but I think you'll be ok from what you wrote.

So should I increase or should I keep it the same? The thing is, every top set on my bench that I've been doing has required me to lock-out with my elbows for 3-10 seconds in between reps in order to gain the strength to push it up again until I get 5 reps. Since, on Friday, I couldn't do it without my spotter for 3, I doubt I'll be able to do it for 5 tomorrow but if increasing weights is absolutely necessary, I'll do it. However, if I can hold off on the current weight I'm doing until I can pump out 5 reps without having to lock-out and rest, I'd be willing to do that too.

 

[Guinness5.0]

My advice would be to try it again and see what happens. If it goes better than before, it's progress so keep going forward with ti. If it stalls/feels the same/gets worse. you would probaly want to back off to a weight that you'll get for sure and start working back up.

I wish MC was here. We're doing the best we can w/out him though.

 

[blut wump]

Big props to guinness5.0 for doing a great job of holding down the fort while mc is away. I give him K when I can and hope others are offering the same encouragement.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Agreed, great job Madcalf. You too Blut.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Aww shucks. I just hope I'm not steering anyone the wrong way.

 

[siamesedream]

My advice would be to try it again and see what happens. If it goes better than before, it's progress so keep going forward with ti. If it stalls/feels the same/gets worse. you would probaly want to back off to a weight that you'll get for sure and start working back up.

I wish MC was here. We're doing the best we can w/out him though.

Alright, I'll try to push what I pushed last week for all 5 reps without pausing in between reps and see what happens and, if I can, I'll increase next week.


On another note, yeah, thanks a ton for helping me out with this and answering all my stupid questions. That goes for everyone that is helping everyone here out since newbs like me have no idea what we're doing.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Alright, I'll try to push what I pushed last week for all 5 reps without pausing in between reps and see what happens and, if I can, I'll increase next week.


On another note, yeah, thanks a ton for helping me out with this and answering all my stupid questions. That goes for everyone that is helping everyone here out since newbs like me have no idea what we're doing.

They're not stupid questions. Besides, I bet there are plenty of people reading this forum who don't post that have the same q's you do.

And you're welcome

 

[siamesedream]

Wow, this past week was actually fantastic in terms of progress since I held off on increasing my bench this week. I actually did 185x5 yesterday while keeping the bar moving at a constant rate without pausing or resting in between reps (this felt impossible to do last week). I've decided to adopt a different mentality and just simply increase the weight whenever I'm able to properly do the top set of 5 on each lift and, if I'm not able to do a full 5 reps on the top set of the increase, I'll just stick with it until I'm able to do it 5 full times without pausing or resting in between reps. Also, I changed my program to take a few things out since you suggested that I might be overtraining, and I added in close-grip benching on Monday and Friday to hit my triceps hard and threw in curls only on Wednesday. I also decided to add in a last set to failure -usually 2 or 3 reps- of whatever top set I can't push 5 full times. How's my new plan?