Baco_Bacon Gets Big With Bill Starr's 5x5

[Teenwolf2]

Mad benching!

[baco_bacon]

^^ thank you!


Crazy leg workout the other day with my buddy Brandon, and his workout buddy. Lower back was suuuper tight / didn't have a very good squat day and hit 425x4. Then we both hit 445 for a single, and then hit 245x5(x5) directly after one another. But it wasn't only 5 reps, you did a half rep, back down, and up was one rep.

next was barbell step ups:

95, 115, 125, 145, 155 x 6 each leg

RDLs:
135 x 5, 225 x 5, 275 x 5, 315 x 5(x2)

Leg Extension:
start at 145, drop one pin until the lowest weight, dropsets on dropsets.....


Notes:
INSANE leg workout, this was last friday and i still felt it in my hips and hip flexors yesterday... and lower back was still suuuper underrecovered/sore haha



Sunday:
skipped deads cause lower back still wasnt feeling too good, and destroyed back bbing style. Crazy pump, and hit biceps after.


Yesterday:


Back on the pling split after this workout, took like a weeks worth of workouts and mainly did bbing style/deload for a mini recovery

squat:
up to 365x2, slow, form

bench:
255x3

5 tomorrow, pretty stoked.

left after this



Notes:
sort of derailed from madcows for a week, and it has been much needed. Lower back still isn't feeling 100%, but tomorrow it should be good for a PR of 435x5 squat!! Bench will be juuuust under my very best tomorrow at 255x5, then next week i'll be hitting PRs from here on out

[baco_bacon]

Highlights of last week!

squat:
435 x 5

Waiting for Youtube..

bench:
255 x 5
Little struggle and loss of form/tightness, but still cranked 'er out


More to come this week

Notes:
Great PRs all around, feeling good and lean sitting around 200 now. Took some pics a couple days ago - i'll upload the best. BTW - Interstellar was by far my favorite movie i've seen in a long time. A must watch.

[baco_bacon]

Okay, actually dunno why my video was having problems uploading this whole time... but whatever! 435x5 was solid, haha I've got 445x5 tomorrow soooooo i'll definitely have a video of that!!


Here are recent pictures hovering around 200. Not as lean as I wished I was gonna stay at, but I just shot straight up to 200 and actually feel very comfortable here in terms of strength gain/recovery and still leanish/no bad love handles this year LOL

'



Btw, super stoked because I am competing in my school's powerlifting competition on Feb 7th!!! Going to be great meeting/lifting with everyone so dedicated. I've already met quite a few people over the past 2 years at Western, but now it'll be everyone. Estatic, and very excited to compete again

[Teenwolf2]

That squat blows my mind

[baco_bacon]

That squat blows my mind

Haha, thanks! Actually took it "easy" that day I was supposed to hit 445x5 because my lower back has been feeling like sh*t the past couple weeks, so I hit a fairly easy single at 475. A tie PR, but in terms of technique and ease, I know 500 is within my grasp very soon.


Taking this whole week off because I have been feeling very underrecovered/lower back hasn't been cooperating. The college lifestyle is not helping, so I need to find some more balance in my life haha. That being said, I have a routine in mind that I am going to begin after this week off. It involves the basics of Madcows, but tweaked just enough to something I would enjoy more and what I know works for me personally. I'll write more on that in a bit!

[Teenwolf2]

Nice choice man, taking time off is the hardest thing to stick to!

[baco_bacon]

I truly apologize for this lack of posting. I ended up taking a week off, then got hit with a nasty flu and have been out of the gym in total for 2 and a half weeks.... f*ckin SUCKS. Haven't eaten much this whole week and i'm terrified to see how much weight and strength i've lost... :/ I'm not 100% yet, but I think I will be by tomorrow if not wednesday. If I feel better by tomorrow, i'll do a recovery workout and get back on track.


I'll be posting later tonight with the program i've had in mind.

[benag]

mirin your progress bro, keep at it. What were your macros like during your bulk?

[baco_bacon]

mirin your progress bro, keep at it. What were your macros like during your bulk?

Don't track macros per say, but definitely eating 4-4.5k per day with at least BW grams of protein. Thanks btw man!



Here's a VERY rough outline of what i'm planning over the next few months. Don't have as much focus on deadlift and press, but from what was happening before, they tend to go up very consistently along with squats and bench.

Tuesday – heavy squat and bench
Work up to a top set of 3, add 10 pounds every week. First couple weeks I’ll be starting out a little lighter to get strength back. Dropdown set for form/cooldown

Same for bench, but add 5 lbs every week

Rows

Biceps



Thursday – light squat + assistance work, Press, heavy deadlift or hammies (switch every week)

Work with light squat volume, heavy walkouts, lockouts, etc.

Press/shoulders

Up to a heavy deadlift, 3/5/8 (however I’m feeling) once every other week. On the other day, destroy hamstrings

Pulldowns/pullups



Saturday – heavy volume squat and bench

70-80% or so of Mondays lifts, focus on form and tightness while still hitting heavy weights. Could be 10x3, 8x2, etc. Depending on how we feel, just crush heavy volume.

Rows

Tricep destruction

As for today, it was the first day back in over 2 weeks, so just tested squat and bench. I also weighed in at 191.8..... WTF. Lost 10 lbs since I was sick. Super lean now compared to before, but it's time to put that mass back on, quick haha. Squats felt pretty easy, but i'll add 30 lbs a week or so until i'm back at 435-445 range, then increase 10lbs every week from there. Bench surprisingly didn't get any weaker, I could have cranked out 5+ with 245. Very pleased with that, considering how much time was taken off.


Squat:
w/u
bar x 10
bar x 10
135 x 8
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 3 pause, easy
225 x 8

bench:
w/u
bar x 10
bar x 10
135 x 10
185 x 6
225 x 3
245 x 3

Rows:
60s x 12
85s x 12
105s x 12

Curls

[JohnB46]

thick.tight.solid AF
youve come a long way man good job

[Bigchrome]

What's up! You got strong hunni.

Reading through your log is a bit too real life at the moment. Sweet to see you're into audio too. I've got a sweet headphone rig (HD650 with O2 amp&dac) but I need to step my speaker game up when I can afford it. Bought a Toyota MR2 and the winter maintenance is stretching the finances at the moment.

[Teenwolf2]

We're in the same boat man, I lost 6lb while sick in the past fortnight

[baco_bacon]

thick.tight.solid AF
youve come a long way man good job

Thanks bro. You too, for real. Love seeing your new videos, you're strong and lean af now!!

What's up! You got strong hunni.

Reading through your log is a bit too real life at the moment. Sweet to see you're into audio too. I've got a sweet headphone rig (HD650 with O2 amp&dac) but I need to step my speaker game up when I can afford it. Bought a Toyota MR2 and the winter maintenance is stretching the finances at the moment.

Wow! REALLY long time no talk!! For real haha. That's awesome! I'm haven't gotten as into headphones as speakers recently. I am using Audio-Technicas ATH-m50s. Been totally content with em so haven't really thought about upgrading, but yours look sweeeet. Yeah... my finances are just tight right now as i'm finally learning that groceries and working during school is difficult hahaha. Thankfully i've dumped enough into my sound system that i'm set for now... just trying to save to build a pc soon

We're in the same boat man, I lost 6lb while sick in the past fortnight

Dang :/ yeah, not a whole lot of fun

[baco_bacon]

Been having fun with my routine. bold are changes

Thursdays workouts will look something like this, with the exception of that change ^^^:

Thursday – light squat + assistance work, Press, heavy deadlift or hammies (switch every week)

Work with light squat volume, heavy walkouts, lockouts, etc.

Press/shoulders

Up to a heavy deadlift, 3/5/8 (however I’m feeling) once every other week. On the other day, destroy hamstrings
Decided instead of just doing heavy deadlifts the other day we don't wreck hamstrings, we'll be doing volume like squat and bench on saturdays. I feel like my deadlifts will benefit more from volume than probably getting antsy and going for an AMRAP set all the time, which is not what i should be doing anymore.

Pulldowns/pullups

On Thursday, we hit the above workout.


There were no squat racks open so decided to go with deadlifts first.


Sumo:
w/u
bar x 10
135 x 10
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 3
405 x 4x3

Body is not physically prepared for how demanding volume is.... totally haven't done volume for compounds in forever. May not be much (4 triples), but man i was dead after haha.

No squats, lower back = rekt

Press:
w/u
bar x 5
bar x 5
95 x 8
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
115 x 10

Lateral raises:
20s x 12(x4)
---superset---
Face pulls
??? x 12(x4)

V-bar Pulldowns
??? x 12(x4)
---superset---
Cable pullovers
??? x 12(x4)


Notes:
Really think i'm going to enjoy volume and i'll definitely benefit both in terms of muscle and strength. Appetite is almost back and still eating pretty well.

[baco_bacon]

Yesterday Alec and I hit saturday workout: bold are changes

Saturday – heavy volume squat and bench

70-80% or so of Mondays lifts, focus on form and tightness while still hitting heavy weights. Could be 10x3, 8x2, etc. Depending on how we feel, just crush heavy volume.

Rows SIKE no rows today

Tricep/chest destruction

abs

Squat:
w/u
135 x 10
225 x 8
295 x 5
345 x 3
385 x 3x3

Very painful.

Bench:
w/u
bar x 10
bar x 10
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3(x5)

Surprisingly lost no upper body strength while sick.... Lower body, yes, but upper body no. Weird... bench was speedy as hellll.

Single Arm DB Press:
40s x 15
60s x 12
75s x 12

Felt nice and controlled.

Crossovers:
3 sets

OH Tri Ext:
4 sets
---superset---
Cable pushdowns
4 sets

abs



Notes
Was so f*cking exhausted that day. Went to a party/drank a bit night prior and worked from 9:30-2 the next day, then straight to the gym haha.

Finals week this week... super caffeinated and its currently 4:20 in the morning hahaha.... don't have first final until wednesday, so all i'm doing tomorrow is working and studying.../slitswrist. can't wait until break, been a very hectic quarter to say the least haha.

edit: forgot rows! ewps.

[baco_bacon]

Thursday: Hammies, shoulders, Lats

RDLS
135 x 10(x2)
225 x 10(x2)
315 x 10(x2)

Lunges:
110s x down-and-back(x3)

F*cking oooooouch.

Standing OH DB Press:
40s x 10
50s x 10
60s x 8

Lateral Raises:
20s x 15(x3)

Rear Delt Raises:
10s x 12(x3)
Focused esp. on the squeeze and tightness

V-Bar pulldowns
---superset---
Cable Pullovers
3 sets


Yesterday:

Squat/bench volume, chest/tri accessory


Squat:
w/u
bar x 10
135 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3(x4)

Squats were a b*tch yesterday, ass was soooo sore from lunges a couple days prior... hurt so bad to come out of the hole hahah

Bench:
w/u
bar x 10
135 x 8
185 x 5
225 x 3(x6)
225 x 9

Good volume, all very speedy. Surprised I hit 9 on the last set.

Single Arm DB Press:
40s x 10
50s x 10
60s x 10
70s x 12

Dips:
BW x 8, 8, 12
---superset---
Pushdowns:
3 sets

Crossovers:
3 sets, dropset

Abs


Notes:
Still suck at keeping up with this. Workouts are going well. Still haven't gained back weight from being sick, but i'm leaner than i've felt in a long time and honestly think I have put on a good 2-3 pounds of muscle these past few months. Composition wise, leaner at 190 now than I've ever been and it feels awesome when I get the pump. 415x3 squat and 265x3 bench on Tuesday, back at home! Going home tomorrow for break.