Madcow 5x5 Intermediate

[randomalias]

Hi everyone, just posting here for the first time. Been lurking for a while but I feel like starting a log to keep myself on track.

Anyways, my goal with this program is to rep my old 1rm's for a set of five.
My best 1rm's from earlier this year when i was about 175lbs:

Squat 285
Bench 215
Deadlift 405
OHP 135
Clean 210


Currently I'm on my third week of a slightly modified Madcow 5x5. All I've really changed is dropping rows for cleans and chins. As far as diet I'm eating to gain about half a pound per week right now. (2700 calories on workout days, 2200 calories on rest days).

Here's the basic layout

Monday:
Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5
Chins 5x5 (sets across, will drop the volume on these if they affect recovery)
Some light calve work as assistance 3x8

Wednesday:
Squat 4x5
Overhead Press 4x5
Deadlift 4x5

Friday:
Squat 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
Bench 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
Clean 6x2 (sets across)
Some light tricep/bicep work as assistance 3x8


That should be enough of an intro, here was todays workout:

BW 162lbs

Squat
115x5
145x5
175x5
175x5

Press
70x5
85x5
100x5
115x5

Deadlift
210x5
250x5
295x5
335x5

[AusPower]

Either clean both monday and friday or row Monday and Friday according to the program.

You can do chins on top of that no problem speaking from experience.

[randomalias]

Thanks for the advice! Currently I only have access to my college gym with bumper plates on Monday/Wednesday which is why I'm doing them only once a week. Don't really wanna be missing a rep and getting yelled at in a regular gym. I'll probably switch to the standard ramping power cleans twice a week with chins as assistance once I graduate in December.

Here was today's session:

Squat
115x5
145x5
175x5
200x5
235x3 Slower reps than the last set but felt a lot easier. Saturday's set of five should be a piece of cake.
175x8

Bench
85x5
105x5
125x5
145x5
170x3 Easy
125x8

Cleans
182 6x2 Catch was a bit iffy on a few reps but I didn't miss any reps like I did last week.

Accessory work was crap today but it's not a focal point.
BB Curl 65x8
DB Curl 30x8/5
Tricep Extension 65x8/8

[randomalias]

Went out of town this weekend so my diet and sleep were crap. Was rushed for time on Saturday so I only had time for squat/bench early in the morning.

Squat
120x5
145x5
175x5
205x5
235x5

Bench
85x5
105x5
125x5
150x5
170x4 (Just gonna keep going and chalk this up to the poor sleep and lack of caffeine before the workout)

[littlebones6]

Morning workouts kill me, hate when I have to do them but love that the gym is dead. I'm starting Madcow tomorrow, so I'll be following along.

[randomalias]

Yeah I'm not a morning person at all. Not focused at all for lifting right after waking up. Afternoon workouts are the best, gives me some time to get psyched up for lifting.

Today's workout went really well, I'm excited to start pushing PR territory next week.

Squat
120x5
145x5
175x5
175x5

Press
70x5
85x5
100x5
115x5

Deadlift
215x5
260x5
300x5
345x5

Oddly enough on deads my third set was pretty hard. I thought I was only gonna budge 1 or 2 reps on the last set. I probably just need to take some extra rest in between the first few sets, I only had a long rest period before my last set.

*edit* Forgot I did chins/ calf assistance to make up for Monday

Chins +15lbs 5x5
Leg press calf raises 280 3x8

[randomalias]

Had another good session today, getting closer to pr territory.

Squat
120x5
145x5
175x5
205x5
245x3
175x8

Bench - I need to keep an eye on my technique with bench, very easy for me to flare out or elbow tuck too much if I'm not careful.
85x5
105x5
130x5
150x5
175x3
130x8

Cleans - Took a while to get warmed up to these today. I missed my first rep with 187 due to technique. Focused a little more and plowed through the six sets easily after that.
187 6x2

Assistance work:
DB curls 30x8/8/6 reps
Lying tricep extension 60 3x8 (last weeks was actually 60lbs also, typo)

[littlebones6]

Keep those lats engaged! Keeps the arms tight.

[randomalias]

^Agreed. Focused on keeping everything tight during bench, especially my grip on the bar. Felt much better than my last workout.

Todays workout:

Bodyweight: 163lbs

Squat
125x5
155x5
185x5
215x5
245x5 These were very exhausting but the bar speed didn't slow down during the whole set so that's a good sign. Getting close to beating my 5rm of 250!

Bench
90x5
110x5
130x5
155x5
175x5

Chins +20lbs 5x5
Leg press calf raises 290 3x8

[randomalias]

Had a tough time with deads today. Had to lift at a gym where I can't drop weights so the eccentric portion of deads wore me out by the time I got to my last set. Not sure if I should stay at this weight or go up when I get back to my university gym next week, it's only a 5 lb jump to the next session.

Squat
125x5
155x5
185x5
185x5

Press
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5

Deadlift
220x5
260x5
310x5
355x4

[randomalias]

Hit all my lifts today so I'm happy.

Squat
125x5
155x5
185x5
215x5,
250x3 (these were a grind today, my lower back was fatigued from deads on wednesday)
185x8

Bench
90x5
110x5
130x5
155x5
180x3 (slow but not a grind)
130x8

Cleans - missed a few reps on some of these, always on the first rep of a double so it was a form issue and not strength. Regardless, I got all the prescribed reps.

192 6x2

Didn't do any assistance work today because the gym was packed and I didn't wanna wait an hour to do some light arm work.

[randomalias]

Today's workout was a grind. My sleep has been very poor the past few days so I'm sure this is the issue. Missed a rep on bench so I'll have to finish out this week on bench and repeat this workout again.

Squat
125x5
155x5
190x5
220x5
250x5

Bench
90x5
115x5
135x5
160x5
180x4 The reps were pretty slow so I rested a lot at lockout after each rep. Probably wasted too much energy doing this.

Weighted chins
+25lbs, 5x5

Leg press calf raises 300, 3x8

[randomalias]

Had a good/bad training session today. Only had about 6 hours of sleep. Schoolwork's been messing my sleep up the past week or so. However, new PR on deads so I'm happy.

Squat
125x5
155x5
190x5
190x5

Press
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x2 (This felt heavy right off the bat, gonna repeat this weight next week. Poor sleep is probably the culprit)

Deadlift
225x5
270x5
315x5 (Felt almost like a max effort so I rested around 10 minutes before my last set)
360x5 *PR*

[randomalias]

Had another tough session today, that's been happening a lot so I'm going to increase my calories to 2300 on rest days and 2900 on training days. That and some better sleep should do the trick.

Squat
125x5
155x5
190x5
220x5
255x3

Bench
90x5
115x5
135x5
160x5
185x2 :/
135x5

Was supposed to do 197 today. Warmed up to 185 on cleans where I tweaked my back a little bit. The bar went forward on me with 185 and I rounded my back so the bar wouldn't drop (I was at a commercial gym so I didn't wanna get kicked out for dropping weights). I just did some hang cleans to get a bit of work in. Gonna actually do 197 next week when I'm at my university gym.

DB Curls 30lbs 3x8
Lying tricep extensions 65lbs 2x8, 1x7

[randomalias]

Squat
130x5
160x5
190x5
225x5
255x5

Bench
90x5
115x5
135x5
160x5
180x4 (Spotter really felt the need to jump in on my last rep when I started grinding. Annoying... Anyways, depending on how the heavy triple on Wednesday feels I may just keep progressing. I Really don't want to repeat this weight a third time.)

Weighted Chinups
+30lbs, 5x5

Some random calf machine.
320lbs 3x8

[randomalias]

11/26/12

Squat
130x5
160x5
190x5
190x5

Press
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x4 (Still struggling with these, if I don't make this weight next week I'm gonna deload them)

Deadlift
230x5
280x5
325x5
370x5

11/28/12
Squat
130x5
160x5
190x5
225x5
260x3
190x8

Bench
90x5
115x5
135x5
160x5
185x3
135x8

I was supposed to do 197 6x2 on cleans today. I didn't have the strength to hit two reps so I did a bunch of singles with the weight. Trying it again next week.

[randomalias]

Still struggling with upper body lifts. Also, I swapped cleans for the original Bill Starr power clean layout. Changing weighted chins as well to Monday.

Squat
130x5
165x5
195x5
230x5
260x5

Bench (repeating this week)
95x5
115x5
140x5
160x5
185x3

Power Clean
75x5
90x5
110x5
125x5
145x5

[randomalias]

Todays workout was both good and bad. On the down side I only got 3 reps on my deads today even though I switched them to the start of the workout. On the up side however, I didn't stall on presses and 380x3 on deads is still a PR.

Also, I have a nasty habit of getting very little sleep on Sundays. Overall not terrible for a workout with 5 hours of sleep.


Bodyweight: 165lbs

Deadlift (Back to a commercial gym with slippery bars where I can't drop weights. Oh well, just need to eat more.)
240x5
285x5
335x5
380x3

Press
75x5
90x5
105x5
120x5

Squat
130x5
160x5
195x5
195x5

Weighted Chinups
+35lbs, 3x5

[randomalias]

Today was my last day of college so I decided to try for a 30lb squat pr. It was a no go but I regret nothing.

Squat
130x5
165x1
195x1
225x1
275x1
315x0
165x5
195x5
230x5
265x2 (Went forward on my last rep, could've tried it again but I already did a max attempt earlier so I feel like this was enough work for today. Carrying on as usual next week)
195x8

Bench
95x5
115x5
140x5
160x5
190x2 (Fn hard, going back one week instead of repeating this week)
140x8

Cleans
75x5
90x5
110x5
125x5
150x3
110x8 (Very light but tiring, not used to doing high reps with power cleans. Feels more like cardio than anything)

DB Curl 30lbs 3x8
Lying tricep extensions 65lbs 3x8

[randomalias]

Bodyweight: 168lbs

Squat
135x5
165x5
200x5
230x5
265x3 (Not sure what happened here. Oh well, gonna destroy it next week!)

Bench
95x5
115x5
140x5
160x5
185x5

Power Clean
75x5
90x5
110x5
135x5
150x5

Calf-Extension machine
320lbs 3x8

[randomalias]

Bodyweight: 167lbs

Deadlift

Deads were just complete crap today. 285 felt hard on my grip with chalk which is pathetic. Also I kept letting the bar drift forward on almost all of my warmup sets which just set me up for failure by the time I got to 380. 335 felt really heavy compared to last week when it felt easy.

240x5
285x5
335x5
380x2

Press
80x5
95x5
110x5
125x5 PR!

Squat
135x5
165x5
200x5
200x5

Weighted Chins

Since these are assistance sets now I switched to sets of 8. I started a bit too heavy on these, I forgot how much I suck at higher reps with chins.
20lbs x 8/7

[randomalias]

Bodyweight: 166.5 lbs

Squat
135x5
165x5
200x5
230x5
265x3
200x8

Bench
95x5
115x5
140x5
160x5
190x3
140x8

Power clean
75x5
95x5
115x5
130x5
150x3
115x8

Assistance work:

BB Curls 65lbs 3x8

Lying Tricep Extensions 70lbs 3x8

[randomalias]

Bodyweight: 166lbs

Squat
135x5
165x5
200x5
230x5
265x5

Bench
95x5
120x5
145x5
165x5
190x5

Power Clean
75x5
95x5
115x5
130x5
150x5

Calf-Extension machine
320 3x8

[randomalias]

Bodyweight: 166lbs

Squat
135x5
165x5
200x5
200x5

Press
80x5
95x5
110x5
125x5

Deadlift
240x5
285x5
335x5
380x1

Going to have to reset these back a few weeks.

Weighted Chins
+20lbs, 8/8/6

[randomalias]

Bodyweight: 166lbs

Squat
135x5
165x5
200x5
230x5
275x3
200x8

Bench
95x5
115x5
145x5
165x5
195x2.5 (stuck halfway on 3rd rep, only got 6 hours of sleep so I'm just gonna keep progressing)
145x8

Power Clean
75x5
95x5
115x5
130x5
155x3
115x8

BB Curls 67.5 3x8
Lying tricep extensions 72.5 3x8

[randomalias]

Missed a few lifts today, may be time for a reset soon.

Bodyweight: 167lbs

Squat
140x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x3

Bench
100x5
120x5
145x5
170x5
195x3

Power Clean
80x5
95x5
115x5
135x5
155x5

Calf extension machine 325 3x8

[randomalias]

Bodyweight: 172lbs

Squat
140x5
170x5
205x5
205x5

Press
80x5
100x5
115x5
130x3

Deadlift

Even with a reset I couldn't hit my reps. I think the light squats are getting heavy enough to affect my deadlifts. Also, I was only doing cleans on Wednesdays before. The 2x a week power cleans may be affecting my deadlifts now that they're getting heavier. My deads will be a bit behind where they used to be but that's okay as long as my power cleans and squats keep moving up.
220x5
260x5
300x5
345x4
315x5 (should've done this weight today, 325 next week)

Chinups +20lbs
8/5 (Pretty bloated today so the extra 5lbs of bodyweight made this a pain.

[randomalias]

Feeling pretty beat up lately, gonna take a light week to see if that'll help.

Bodyweight: 172lbs

Squat
140x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
280x1
205x8

Bench
100x5
120x5
145x5
170x5
200x1
145x8

Power Clean
80x5
95x5
115x5
135x5
160x3
115x5

BB Curls 70lbs 3x8
Lying tricep extensions 75lbs 3x8

[randomalias]

Did some end of the year maxing today. Subpar results so I think it's probably time for a program reset after a deload week.

Bodyweight: 174lbs

Squat
135x2
225x1
265x1
295x1

Bench
135x2
175x1
185x1
195x1
205x1

Pause bench
135x2
155x1
165x1

Deadlift
225x2
315x1
365x1
395x0/0
335x1
365x0

[randomalias]

Doing a smolov jr. bench cycle and switching squats/deads to 5/3/1 for one cycle to coincide with the smolov layout (3 weeks heavy / 1 light).

Bodyweight: 172lbs

Squat
110x5
135x5
160x3
175x5
200x5
230x10 (Brutal but a huge rep pr on this weight compared to a few months back)

Bench
145lbs 6x6

BB Curl
72.5lbs 3x8

Calf Extensions
320lbs 3x8