The Return Of Bum-Life : The Greatest Comeback Since Easter Sunday

[Bum-Life]

Just came back from about 3 hours of pick up soccer... legs = sore.... hoping im good for tomorrow.

UFC was amazing ! soooo many good fights, and Lesnar Carwin did not dissapoint, both fighters showed that they are in a whole different world then the rest.

[Bum-Life]

I officially made some poor choices this weekend.... slacking eating, drinking all day at the beach, staying up untill 5am UFC night, playing soccer in the heat the day before I have to PR on squats... yea the list goes on....

WEEK 6

MONDAY


SQUATS

180x5
225x5
270x5
315x5 (this was actually light but difficult on the last rep or 2)
360x5 *I have no idea how this went up.... was a grinder though*

BENCH

55x5
70x5
85x5
100x5
115x3 *again... didnt feel all that heavy, but just died on my 4th rep*

ROW

125x5
155x5
185x5
220x5
250x4 *nothing left in me...*

CABLE ROW

220x 11, 7 --> 150x5 --> 100x10

MEDBALL PUSHUP

18 --> 10 , 10 --> 10



I kinda saw this coming yesterday when I was having trouble getting into the car after playing soccer. today being crazy hot probably didnt help either (not complaining.. love the heat)

360 squat I have NO CLUE how i pushed through it... after rep 2 I had to start taking a few seconds break between reps.. somehow grinded out my 5 and had a good dizzy feeling walking away from the rack.

Bench was kinda the same... 100x5 was nothing.. was feeling confident about the 115's 1 easy, 2 easy, 3 easy... **** ya. i got this! FAIL ! haha oh well.

Im gonna try to rest up and eat as good as I can. gotta get back on track, got some big deads on weds...


If anyone is following this, let this be a lesson ! I was going strong at this and one weekend kinda killed me today.

[Bum-Life]

WEEK 6 - WEDS


SQUATS

180x5
225x5
270x5
270x5

OH PRESS

100x5
115x5
135x5
155x4 *notes at bottom*

DEADS

295x5
355x5
415x5
470x5 *very very happy !*

SHRUGS

135x 30, 20, 20


hmmm... where to start... I feel FAN-****ing-Tastic ! monday was rough, I took it easy yesterday and tryed to eat really well. Today is another crazy hot day, and too be honest I was feeling a little lazy heading to the gym. Got there and second set of squats I was feeling gold.. not sure if i changed anything or what, but my stance felt sooo perfect, almost wish i was squatting heavy today.

OH press.. Im pretty sure i had some issues last week with my heavy set, and right off the first set I felt GOOD, noticably easyer, great speed form etc... today I was feeling the OH press .. other sets were the same. got to 155, yea I died out at 4 and push pressed the last one, but it felt good, Im chalking this up as a huge win for me seeing how about 2 months ago I struggled with 165x1. Im gonna re-do this week of OH press next week because I know i can get this fairly easy and mentally want to before i move on.

Deads.. again felt solid.. first sets were BS. I did fear the 470.. took a nice rest and even started the set not full cocky / pumped... went up EASY by #4 my legs were feeling a huge tired pump and I took a few seconds and did rep #5. not sure if it was the heat or the weight, but I was pretty tired on this set.. felt AMAZING after it was over, very happy.. I swear i can do 550+ for a single or double now.

Shrugs nothing too exciting. dropped the weight back to 135, and got more reps, felt good for my grip.

Im officially back on the trolly and ready for friday !






EDIT :

I officially talked to my weirdo today. dude came in like always and watched me work out without saying a word. Finally near the end he went to use a machine and some guy said it was claimed by him and he would have to wait till he is done. I was just finishing up and asked if he needed my squat rack... no response... ok whatever.. started putting my weights away, small look of hope in his eye when he saw me packing up... and I asked again... got a very quiet "emm... a.. o... ah, u.. a done?" So all this time my instict was right, I was always using what he wanted to use and he never asked me... just watched till i was done.. hahaha.. turns out weirdo is just really really shy.

[Bum-Life]

WEEK 6 FRIDAY

Not sure why, but last 2 fridays, Im just not too excited to work out or push myself...


SQUATS

180x5
225x5
270x5
315x5
370x3
270x8

DB BENCH

55x5
70x5
85x5
100x5
115x3 *felt much better then last time*
85x8

DB ROW

70x5
85x5
100x5
115x5
140x3 *grip issues are starting*
100x8

DIPS

Body x5
+75lbs x 5 , 5

CHINS

Body x 5
+45lbs x 4, 4



Fridays have became weird, not sure why.. just dont have that motivation that I should, hopefully this will pass.. but Its like I go in and think about being lazy all weekend.

370 squat was lighter then I thought.. but still pretty damn heavy... 3 reps are fine.. 5 reps on monday is gonna be a ginder, certinly going to test my endurance for those final 2 reps. gotta get excited here, when I started 370 was a HARD single, Im in the 3-5 rep range now.

Bench was good, Ill get my revenge on those 115`s for sure, they went up like nothing today, felt good. and since im using DB`s I kinda do an extra rep because of the lift up before I start.. if i think of it that way, 115`s for 6 reps makes me happy.

Rows, 140`s are big... had to reset my grip, dont want to resort to straps, but we will see how it goes.

dips good as always

chins, not sure what happened here.. even body weight seemed a little rough. I might deload these a bit maybe go down to 30-35 next week.


side notes..

this is the first time that I am still sore from the previous workout. I could feel weds deadlifts while squatting today...

my undies and shorts are getting allot tighter... im guessing my ass is growing from all the squatting, I think if i got my ass surgically removed id weigh around 150lbs..

[Ginger575]

and since im using DB`s

I'm glad you mentioned that because I either wasn't paying attention or forgot. I thought your bench numbers seemed odd. (laughing at myself) DB's makes more sense.

Nice work!

[Bum-Life]

I'm glad you mentioned that because I either wasn't paying attention or forgot. I thought your bench numbers seemed odd. (laughing at myself) DB's makes more sense.

Nice work!

I gotta remember to list my bench and row as DB Bench and DB row... I can see how stupid that must look... so he just deadlifted 470x5... and benched 115x3 ?

note: new goal in life.. become the first person (that I know of) to deadlift 600, squat 500 and have a 135 1RM on bench.

[Donkeyno9]

LOL why you dumbell tho?

Nice work on the squats

[Bum-Life]

LOL why you dumbell tho?

Nice work on the squats

I have a few reasons.

1. being the main one... i work out alone and really dont trust myself to bench heavy alone. probably start working something out in the power rack soon.

2. I used to bench real, and was stuck at 225 forever, I semi gave up and just started doing DB work and somehow benched 275 out of nowhere, Maybe hoping that happens again ?


I just started reading your log, looks like you made HUGE gains... thats awesome, helps motivate me.
prepare yourself for some 5x5 advanced questions soon, just gotta catch up with your 10 pages

[Bum-Life]

WEEEEK 7 - MONDAY

SQUATS

185x5
230x5
280x5
325x5
370x5 *fukc yea!*

DB BENCH

60x5
70x5
90x5
100x5
115x4 *improved from last week.... just hitting that fatigue wall again*

BB ROW

130x5
160x5
190x5
225x5
250x3 *find my form breaking.. might be an issue with it weighing more then me.. 225 is fine*

CABLE ROW , last set drop set

220x 11, 7 --> 150 x7 --> 100x10

MED BALL PU - drop set to reg push up

17 --> 10 , 10 --> 10



Today was great, slept in a bit, went about an hour late, but was pumped / motivated from watching that shawn merriman video posted on the misc. 370 squat was nothing today, my only issue with these heavyer sets is my last rep i start to gas out.

bench was good too... yea i missed the last rep of 115.. but i did improve from last time.. gonna redo 115 next week to get that full 5 reps, and keep my friday the same and do the 120;s for 3, since that wont be a problem

rows feel good, but my last set just never is good.. 225 feels light and smooth, but once i get to about 250 my form breaks.. gonna redo 250 max next time too.

last few days i was really feeling like today might be the end, and it was getting close to deload time and start fresh, i have a few more weeks in me. my main battle is the endurance.

[GraspingAir]

*notes
-Bench and Rows will be done with Dumbells for a few reasons, 1. I workout alone so a spotter is not available for bench. 2. I have had better results with dumbells in the past. 3. for Rows I feel its a much more natural wrist position for me.

DEADS

295x5
355x5
415x5
470x5 *very very happy !*

SQUATS

185x5
230x5
280x5
325x5
370x5 *fukc yea!*

Nice squat and dead pr's.

As far as DB rows, I definitely agree with you about the wrist position feeling more natural. BB rows seem to put some bad strain on my wrists. Not only that, but I feel like I have to focus too much on keeping my lower back tight, and forget to use my lats enough, so it ends up being more of a bicep movement lol.

And like you mentioned, running out of db's is an issue, so I may switch to 8's in the future, or use weighted pull-ups on the 2 end days and some kind of row on the middle day.

One final question and I promise to shut up lol, how do you like squatting 3 days a week? I was planning on skipping it on the middle day because I'm not sure I can recover well enough squatting that often.

[Bum-Life]

Nice squat and dead pr's.

As far as DB rows, I definitely agree with you about the wrist position feeling more natural. BB rows seem to put some bad strain on my wrists. Not only that, but I feel like I have to focus too much on keeping my lower back tight, and forget to use my lats enough, so it ends up being more of a bicep movement lol.

And like you mentioned, running out of db's is an issue, so I may switch to 8's in the future, or use weighted pull-ups on the 2 end days and some kind of row on the middle day.

One final question and I promise to shut up lol, how do you like squatting 3 days a week? I was planning on skipping it on the middle day because I'm not sure I can recover well enough squatting that often.

I debated the 8's aswell... I have 150's at my gym so I have some time to think about it.

I love squatting 3x a week, DO NOT ditch the weds squat, great warm up for deads, apparently keeps DOMS away, and for me I find it a great day to really focus on my depth and form. I havent really felt sore untill recently, but once you get that light set or 2 in and you are warmed up.. its all good. its been less then 2 months and I see a big difference in my leg size and strength. this program works, I would leave it as is.

[GraspingAir]

I debated the 8's aswell... I have 150's at my gym so I have some time to think about it.

I love squatting 3x a week, DO NOT ditch the weds squat, great warm up for deads, apparently keeps DOMS away, and for me I find it a great day to really focus on my depth and form. I havent really felt sore untill recently, but once you get that light set or 2 in and you are warmed up.. its all good. its been less then 2 months and I see a big difference in my leg size and strength. this program works, I would leave it as is.

Well if you say so, I will keep them in the program.

I'm also curious, are you are following the spreadsheet exactly as written? I know he mentioned that after having run this, you should able to come up with the progression on your own. I'm running my cycle without it.

[Bum-Life]

Well if you say so, I will keep them in the program.

I'm also curious, are you are following the spreadsheet exactly as written? I know he mentioned that after having run this, you should able to come up with the progression on your own. I'm running my cycle without it.

Ive actually been going 100% spreadsheet for this

http://www.vicjg.com/aspx/madcowint.aspx

It gives me a 15 lb increase next week for deads, im not too sure about, so that might be my first mod to keep it at 10lbs a week.

otherwise so far so good for the spreadsheet for me. this is also the first ever program of any kind I have ever done, so I wanted to leave it as stock as possible... I will definitly be doing this again for round 2, I might just stick to what is working and trust the spreadsheet.

[GraspingAir]

Ive actually been going 100% spreadsheet for this



It gives me a 15 lb increase next week for deads, im not too sure about, so that might be my first mod to keep it at 10lbs a week.

otherwise so far so good for the spreadsheet for me. this is also the first ever program of any kind I have ever done, so I wanted to leave it as stock as possible... I will definitly be doing this again for round 2, I might just stick to what is working and trust the spreadsheet.

I followed the spreadsheet previously, and got very good results. I have both the Advanced and Intermediate spreadsheets downloaded and have been comparing them quite a bit. I am essentially doing the Advanced version, except I am planning on progressing much slower than the spreadsheet recommends, so the progression is similar to that of the intermediate version. This will allow me to hit 5's for a longer period of time instead of switching to 3's, if I even do that. I am also stealing the idea of ramping deads from the intermediate version instead of the straight sets that the advanced version calls for.

[Bum-Life]

WEEK 7 - WEDS


SQUATS

185x5
230x5
280x5
280x5

OH PRESS

100x5
120x5
140x5
155x4 *push pressed for the 5th rep... notes at bottom*

DEADS

300x5
360x5
420x5
480x5 *gather round and i shall tell ye a tale... more bottom notes*

SHRUGS

140x30, 25, 20


Today was a weird day... Huge sleep in, so I went late again, didnt 100% eat that great yesterday, but this morning i was pumped from watching nike commercials Got to the gym and my motivation kinda died... everyone was small talking me, which I dont mind but it really took me out of my get sh!t done mindset...

Squats were of course easy since its a light day.

OH press felt pretty heavy right from the start, not sure why. time for revenge on that 155 miss last week. got 4 and push pressed the 5th again.. no improvement, to tired to push it, plus mentally quit. it really didnt help that ace of base was playing during this time.

Deads... started meh.. 300 was allot heavyer then it should be, 365 not so great either, 420 maybe got back in the grove.. then I sat and stared at 480 for awhile. I knew like last week, even if it wasent super heavy, that 3rd - final rep was gonna be a grinder due to exaustion..My game plan was to take a few good breaths in between reps to hopefully endure it... I really predicted a fail at about 3 reps. got to 3rd rep and had a good feeling.. 4 good.. 5 good! It took everything I had, never broke form but felt that solid struggle. SOOO pumped I got this today, makes up for my OH press fail HUGE! I owe it all to watching this video.




as for next week, I guess I will move on with OH press but keep my final set at 155 and hopefully get it next time.

[ByronOrpheus]

Nice progress, your squats and deads are absolutely huge! OH press is being a pain in the ass for me too, probably cause the 5 lb increments are a lot more than 2.5%.

I followed the spreadsheet previously, and got very good results. I have both the Advanced and Intermediate spreadsheets downloaded and have been comparing them quite a bit. I am essentially doing the Advanced version, except I am planning on progressing much slower than the spreadsheet recommends, so the progression is similar to that of the intermediate version. This will allow me to hit 5's for a longer period of time instead of switching to 3's, if I even do that. I am also stealing the idea of ramping deads from the intermediate version instead of the straight sets that the advanced version calls for.

That's a pretty cool idea, so you'd basically be doing intermediate, but then when you stall on 5s you switch over to 3s?

[Bum-Life]

Nice progress, your squats and deads are absolutely huge! OH press is being a pain in the ass for me too, probably cause the 5 lb increments are a lot more than 2.5%.



That's a pretty cool idea, so you'd basically be doing intermediate, but then when you stall on 5s you switch over to 3s?

thanks.... when I look back I am very happy with my progress so far.. If I pull 5 plates for a set of 5 next week, this was allot more then I was even hoping for.

Ive been following yours still and been watching your OH press, you managed to get your revenge on that damn 155, maybe next week for me Im guessing its 160 for you today, good luck... teach me how its done!

and I am curious to how that will work for GraspingAir... If it looks good, I'll consider it after another round of this.

On a side note... J500 (our other madcow guy) is MIA....

[GraspingAir]

That's a pretty cool idea, so you'd basically be doing intermediate, but then when you stall on 5s you switch over to 3s?

Well, it's more of a combination of the two I guess lol. I am following the advanced template, except I'm doing ramping deads like in the intermediate version instead of straight sets like the advanced calls for. My progression will be similar to that of the intermediate version, because the advanced progresses very quickly and switches to 3's, while I'd like to stay with 5's for a while. I am also writing out my cycles on my own, in part since I am combining the two, but also since he mentions that after running this program, someone can program it better without the spreadsheet.


Also, strong deads Bum, 5 plates for 5 reps isn't far away!

[ZaeYeL]

I am so jealous of your deadlift you have no idea man!!! Good work!

[wick]

DEADS

300x5
360x5
420x5
480x5 *gather round and i shall tell ye a tale... more bottom notes*

Nice deads mang.

I just started my 24th week on Madcow's. It's kicking my a$$ nicely.

Edit: Subbed too. Will follow as our numbers are somewhat similar.

[ByronOrpheus]

I just started my 24th week on Madcow's

Holy ****, gonna have to read your whole thread later today.

[wick]

Holy ****, gonna have to read your whole thread later today.

Haha, yeah mate. On my 24th week now. I did start really low, though. Just starting to get some ok numbers up now

[Bum-Life]

WEEK 7 - FRIDAY

SQUATS

185x5
230x5
280x5
325x5
380x3
280x8

DB BENCH

60x5
70x5
90x5
100x5
120x3
90x8

DB ROW

70x5
85x5
105x5
120x5
140x2 *FAIL!*
105x8

DIPS

Body x 5, +80lbs x 5 , 5

WIDEGRIP CHINS

body x 5, +35lbs x 5, 4 *fail !*


Today was a weird day.... absolutly no weirdos at the gym other then myself. Have had a bad streak of lazy fridays lately and this one wasent feeling so special at first either.

squats were good, once i got to 325 i was feeling good, and I think i coulda got 380x5 today if i wanted to. look forward to monday for once, not as scared.

bench felt heavy at first... again once i got to the 100's or so, i felt good. 120's went up like nothing, which proves my theory of I have the strength I just dont have the gas to get that 4th and 5th rep for upper body lifts.

rows nothing special.. had my first fail i think... 140's felt rediculious today, just didnt have one more rep in me.

Dips and chins are starting to get prety hard, and I have been failing with chins, so from now on im gonna ramp them up instead of 2 heavy sets... its just too much. dips for example will be body x5, +40lbs x 5, +80lbs x5.

nothing really else exciting to type.... but last night I did have a dream that there was a 5 plate deadlift on the street that I was suppost to do, In the dream I never attempted it or got around to trying it..... does my dream tell some kind of future ?????


side notes... so much action in my jounal lately. GTFIH ! this is the place to be!

im taking Bryons advice and sticking to making fun of weirdos as a side project in my journals.

[Ginger575]

I've been watching your journal(sorry if that sounds creepy ) Quietly cheering you on.
Nice work!

[ZaeYeL]

... so much action in my jounal lately. GTFIH ! this is the place to be!

Hell yeah man, this is where the bad asses hang, looking to mirror the progress. Glad to see the weirdo wasn't some rapist writing you <3 notes

Expectable the DB Rows fail first, dont worry

[Bum-Life]

************************************************** *****************

Lots to type today.... if you are following me, make sure you read this post

************************************************** *****************

WEEK 8 - MONDAY

SQUATS

190x5
235x5
285x5 *felt pretty heavy*
330x5 *did not enjoy this set....*
380x3 *ill be honest... i quit at 3, I didnt feel 4-5 were gonna happen*

DB BENCH

60x5
75x5
90x5 *this even felt heavy*
105x4 *fail !*
115x N/A *didnt even attempt this*

ROW

135x8 *just tryed out 8's too see how it felt
165x8
200 - N/A
230 - N/A
250 - N/A

CABLE ROW

230 x 5 --> 150 x 8 --> 100 x 8

MEDBALL PUSH UP

10 --> 10


Where to start for today.....

played WAAAY too much soccer yesterday (actually starting to like the game) came home just destroyed tired... didnt want to eat, move or anything.. ordered some wings and went to bed. Woke up today not feeling the gym at all... and here is what happened.

Squats were pretty ugmo from the start.. 285 was noticably difficult where it never was before. 330 was about as hard as 380 should have been today. and 380 i just didnt care after 3.

Bench I had a slight hope of at least geting revenge on those 115's , no... not gonna happen today from the time I picked up the 90's and they felt heavy. whatever.. Im already in the mind set for a deload now

Rows ... I was ready for bed by now.. tryed out sets of 8 just because out of everything in madcows.. rows im just not too pumped on.

and to top everything off, when I came home to shower i couldnt even get my tshirt off... seriously took me over 1 minute of struggling .. glad noone saw this


so heres what Im thinking im going to do. gonna play around with proper bench in the powerrack this week, and maybe try some maxes if im feeling up to it, and basicly start a fresh round 2 on monday. reasons being ----

1. Ive been gradually feeling more and more like I used to, when I burnt out... I think a deload will help me out.

2. im going away in oct and if i restart now, its sets me up perfect for another 8 or so weeks before my trip.

3. Byron meantioned awhile back about maybe doing his first meet sometime in oct... I might be doing this too if its not too far. again, perfect timing. Byron if you still follow here... keep me posted on this meet.

[Ginger575]

I don't particularly like rows either...
Sounds like a plan...and absolutely, you should compete if you get the chance.

[Bum-Life]

more today stuff.....


during my much needed nap time today, I was thinking about swapping out rows for wide grip chins. I know someone (sorry cant remember now) said they were thinking about it too. I searched the forum but came back with nothing. If anyone has done this let me know how it was / is..... and if nooone, then I might do this experiment for you. I cant see this being a problem, I dont want to hack / ruin madcows, I love it. but these rows just arent doing much for me. Ill do 3sets of DB rows on the friday, and keep my cable rows on monday as assistance stuff. My main issue right now, is its hard to get those light sets when my 5RM would be my body weight +50lbs (ish). no access to those bands either.

this is also the first time where I am going to listen to my body.... a deload was in the back of my head for a week or so now and really was debating it for next week even if I made all my lifts this week. as I wrote on friday, 380x3 was easy, had 5 in me, pumped for monday. I think ill be better off getting revenge on 380 with a few weeks of rest / deload, rather then keep grinding away.

*In before psychic dreams of avoiding / not doing that 5 plate deadlift x5*

as for numbers ill pretty much continue where I left off. just plug my current 5rm into the same sheet.

Squat - 370x5
Dead - 480x5
Bench - ill figure this out on friday since im gonna bench real.. probably 225ish
OH press - 150x5 *might go a little lower due to sucking at these*
Chins - body+45lbs x 5

[wick]

during my much needed nap time today, I was thinking about swapping out rows for wide grip chins. I know someone (sorry cant remember now) said they were thinking about it too. I searched the forum but came back with nothing. If anyone has done this let me know how it was / is..... and if nooone, then I might do this experiment for you. I cant see this being a problem, I dont want to hack / ruin madcows, I love it. but these rows just arent doing much for me. Ill do 3sets of DB rows on the friday, and keep my cable rows on monday as assistance stuff. My main issue right now, is its hard to get those light sets when my 5RM would be my body weight +50lbs (ish). no access to those bands either.

Why don't you just do Pendlay Rows? Have you tried them before? They're pretty good.

I do Pendlay Rows as my main row and just do some BW pullups/chins on day 3 at the end of my workout. Been working pretty good. My back is getting pretty thick n wide.

[Bum-Life]

Why don't you just do Pendlay Rows? Have you tried them before? They're pretty good.

I do Pendlay Rows as my main row and just do some BW pullups/chins on day 3 at the end of my workout. Been working pretty good. My back is getting pretty thick n wide.

this is what i have been doing.. monday pendlay and friday DB.

I just dont like them, this is why I did DB's from the start. its just overall a very unnatural feeling for me. Ive got over the straight wrist weirdness, but doing 5 reps I feel nothing from, I experimented with 8 reps today but I felt so crappy it didnt really tell me anything. anything under my body weight feels ok for control, but is too light / easy. then when i get into the 225+ weights, they seem very hard to keep good form. maybe I should just suck it up and do them / get better at them.... i dunno. I LOVE back workouts, and everytime I do these I feel like I just had a halfassed workout. maybe im doing something wrong.... im gonna go check out some videos


best way for me to describe my issues with them.... If I could rest my face on something to brace my body from moving, they would work better lol but seriously this is my issue for them.

DB rows u have that free arm to keep your body locked in the proper position...


tips anyone ????? would really appreciate it