Madcow 5x5, bulking and cutting

[13thsunn]

Going to be logging my Madcow 5x5 progress here for hopefully the entire summer at least. I'm currently bulking, but I will be beginning an 8-10 week cut in 5 weeks before I move to a new university, bc I'd rather meet new people when I look good. First impressions are kinda a big deal. Anyways since I'm not going to drastically drop my calories during my cut, I'm pretty sure I will be able to continue 5x5 well into my cut, so I'm expecting at least 10-15 weeks of madcow 5x5.

Why Madcow 5x5? I've been lifting for awhile now and have had decent PR's while never focusing on strength. My strength and physique have had many highs and lows for reasons outside of the gym. After getting fat as **** but pretty strong my first semester of college, I decided to cut, and I did it the wrong way and ended up not lifting and not eating. I lost 40-50lb and a lot of strength. I decided to try out 5/3/1 and did it for a little over a month, but now I feel like I could progress much faster with something like Madcow 5x5.

My 5/3/1 progress: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...post1234306903

Stats
Age: 19
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 163

Starting lifts (What I plugged into the spreadsheet)
Squat: 200x5, 225 1RM
Bench: 175x7, 210 1RM
Row (estimation): 185x5, 208 1RM
Press: 95x6, 110 1RM
Deadlift: 265x5, 298 1RM

[13thsunn]

W1D1

Squats
135x5
140
155
170
185

Bench
100x5
115
135
155
175

Rows
115x5
135
145
155
170

DB chest flyes
50x2x12

Calf raise
270x3x12

Knee raises
x20
x20
x20

Notes: decent workout. would have done some arms and lat pulldown or something but my tendonitis starting acting up. also going to increase my 5 rep max for rows on the spreadsheet because these sets were way too light.

[13thsunn]

W1D2

Squats
135x5
140
155
155

Deadlifts
210x5
220

OHP
60x5
70
80
90

Notes: Not sure how to feel about this workout...the pressing was really easy and I could have easily gotten 90x10+ for a pr, but decided to not do that and stick with the 5 reps. Squats were light but I'm liking my form. The bad part about the workout was my deadlifts. I decided to try a double overhand grip because my alternate grip agitates my biceps tendonitis too much. First two sets were fine, but my grip was giving out on my third set, so I tried an alternate grip.....bad decision. immediately felt my tendon being inflamed so just decided to stop there and wait till next week for better recovery. and remember to bring my chalk...

[13thsunn]

W1D3

Squat
135x5
140
155
170
190x3
155x8

Bench
115x5
115
135
155
180x3
135x8

Row
135x5
145
160
175
195x3
160x8

did some db chest flyes and calf raises too