Bigger faster stronger, 9 week 5x5 program

[mung]

Hey guys, thought id start my journal, instead of clogging up my pic thread.

As stated in my pic thread, have been training for over a year now, was sporadic for the first half but have been taking it more seriously lately, for the past 6 months, Ive been working on a 5 day program, bis and tris, shoulders, chest, legs and back.

Met a guy at the gym whos a power/olympic lifter, very knowledgeable and friendly, and have been training with him for 2 weeks now, he suggested I do the 9 week Madcow 5x5 strength training programme, as it fitted with my goal of getting bigger and stronger, willing to give everything a go I started it last week. different to my usual exercise, but im hoping to improve overall strength with the power lifting style exercises. so will see how it goes after 9 weeks!

Good exercises with squats 3 days a week training rather than my usual 5 day, still go 1 or 2 extra days to do light weights and cardio, legs feel good as im trying to build them up abit more as i feel they lack compared to the rest of my body.

Last week wanted to see my 1rm maxes for deadlifts, started off with 140 kg x3 160x3, they were not too bad, moved onto 170 190 201 and my final lift of 210kgs which i gained after my 2nd attempt, so was pretty stoked with my effort, will try 1rm for squats and bench in a few weeks. training partner suggested I try out powerlifting which im keen on, gutted that I missed last months event at weltec, but i think theres another in wellington on November, so ill enter that and see how I go.

First week.

Had a fair idea of my rough max lifts for 8-10 reps so put it all in a exel spreadsheet, with the madcow programme, the weights progressively get higher each week with a 2.5% increments. Currently flctuate between 72/73kgs

Tuesday:

Squat x5 51

5x5 x5 64

x5 76

x5 89

x5 102

Benchx5 35

5x5 x5 43

x5 52

x5 61

x5 70

Row x5 26

5x5 x5 32

x5 38

x5 45

x5 51

After this did 3 sets of weighted hyperextensions with a 15kg bag over my shoulders and 3 sets of 30 pushups to finish up.

Thus

Squat x5 51

4x5 x5 64

x5 76

x5 76

Press x5 29

4x5 x5 35

x5 41

x5 46

Dead x5 87

4x5 x5 104

x5 122

x5 139

After this work out, done some shoulder presses 22kg, lateral raises 12kg and hanging high pullups, 3 sets of each.

Sat

Squat x5 51

4x5,3,8

x5 64

x5 76

x5 89

x3 105

x8 76

Bench

4x5,3,8

x5

x5 35

43

x5 52

x5 61

x3 71

x8 52

Row x5 26

4x5,3,8

x5 32

x5 38

x5 45

x3 52

x8 38

Finished off with cardio, 25minutes on the bike 160BPM

Thanks for reading, will update this weekly with my progress, any advice or comments welcome.

Matt

[rimma]

haha whoops thought this was drizzt's journal :grin: j/k

210kg deadlift is mean, especially if I read it right that your bodyweight is 72/73kg- that's seriously impressive. I'm about the same weight but my lifts are absolutely miles away.

Will be following your journal with interest!

[mung]

Thanks man, and yep 73kgs with the 210kg DL, no belt or straps too

Im aiming for 100kg atleast with my 1rm bench and 160/70 squat respectively.

Week 2

Tues

Squat x5 52

4x5 x5 65

x5 78

x5 78

Press x5 30

4x5 x5 36

x5 42

x5 48

Dead x5 89

4x5 x5 107

x5 125

x5 143

Pull ups, seated row, lat pull downs 3x10

Thus

Squat

x5 52

x5 65

x5 78

x5 78

Overhead press

x5 30

x5 36

x5 42

x5 48

Deadlift

x5 89

x5 107

x5 125

x5 143

Finished up with tricep kick backs, french press and skull crushers 3x 10, tried barbell shrugs, got up to 160 x10, to see how much i could do without compromising form, felt it the next day!

Sat

Squat

x5 52

x5 65

x5 76

x5 89

x3 105

x8 76

Bench

x5 36

x5 45

x5 53

x5 62

x3 73

x8 53

bent over row

x5 26

x5 33

x5 39

x5 46

x3 53

x8 39

Bicep curls, concentration curls, hammer curls, precher curls 3x10.

Ate KFC tonight... was soo good

[thatwaslight]

Look forward to seeing some progress mate, your deadlift is massive for your weight! great stuff

[Beef]

thats a huge deadlift for your weight. impressed. i'm pulling just a bit more than you (150-155) and i'm like 30kg heavier

[drizzt]

Awesome work mate, some big lifts for your weight! :nod:

[mung]

Cheers Drizzit, aim to improve and set my benchmark even higher and gain even bigger lifts!

Felt pretty motivated and energetic today, finished my second exam which i felt went well, and downed a big can of Monster before exam so that kept me buzzing away for the afternoon haha.

Anyways week 3 of my 5x5 programme, got my squat technique well now, so on thus im going to see what i can max out on with 1RM. Im going to aim for 160, but we'll see how I go. Weighed myself today, 73.5kgs

Tues

Squat.

x5 54

x5 67

x5 80

x5 94

x5 107

Bench

x5 39

x5 49

x5 59

x5 68

x5 78

Row

x5 27

x5 34

x5 40

x5 47

x5 54

Finished up with chest workouts, incline bench 3x8, dumbell press 3x10, cable cross overs 3x10 and cable machine, dont know what its called but stand straight and pull your arms right up and down slowly..

Did abit of abs too to burn some energy hah

I want to enter the power lifting competition in Welly in Nov, so this will be good to train and see my limits. Got a few goals in mind, may be abit optmistic but no harm right?

Want to get as close to 500 kg combined for squat/dl/and bench as I can, 220 DL, 110 Bench, and 170 Squat.

See how it goes anyway.

[rimma]

500kg would be an epic total for someone weighing under 75kg. How long you been training fella?

Edit: Just read in the first post, a year. Awesome stuff

[mung]

Thanks, correct been going gym in general for just over a year. and onto 3rd week of 5x5 programme.

Thus

Squats

4x5 @ 54, 77, 80 80

Dedided to go for my 1RM, probably wasnt the best idea to do it after doing 4 sets already, but got 130, 140, 145, tried 150 but couldnt quite get it up, i think i could have if i hadnt done the other 4 sets.

Press

4x5 @ 30, 37, 43, 49

Deadlift

4x5 @ 91, 110, 128, 146

By the 4th set I was pretty stuffed, so only ended up doing 3 at 146.

Did some light shoulder presses after, barbell shrugs, front and side lateral raises, and hit the sauna

Theoretically with my 210 kg DL 145 squat, and i think im able to do a 100kg 1rm which gets me closer to my goal of 500.