Madcow “Heavy 5RM” Day: Monday Entry #2

Mondays are definitely my favorite and hardest days for working out, making new five rep maxes (5RM) are probably one of the greatest feelings when it comes to strength training. Unfortunately, my last Monday workout didn’t go as planned.

My usual Monday workouts (#s differentiates each week)

Squat: 120x5 150x5 175x5 210x5 240x5

Bench: 100x5 130x5 155x5 180x5 205x5

Pendlay Rows: 75x5 95x5 115x5 135x5 155x5

Assisted Work: Hyper-Ext 2x10 Hammer Curls 3x8-10

Weighted Abs: Ab Pulldown 4x15

I would like to notify everyone that I was cycling off creatine (http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/creatine.html) this week so I already expected a workout not at my full potential, but I never expected it to be as terrible as this one.

Squats: I recently deloaded my squat weight 15lbs because I wanted to make sure my form was perfect and also because I was plateauing (when adding weight is near impossible). I also wasn’t squatting low enough at that weight prior to my deload, I usually try my best to reach “ass to ground” (ATG) or at least parallel (hips parallel to ground). Due to the recent deload, I expected my last set to be “a walk in the park” but no, I still ended up struggling on the fourth and fifth rep. I even felt my lower back rounding a little bit towards the last rep....which is never a good sign unless you enjoy lower back pain. But I still managed myself to go ATG. Basically to sum everything up for squats, I was able to get all my reps for each set, but my last set wasn’t as easy I thought it would be.

Bench: The only problem I encountered for bench this week was not being able to push out my fifth rep for my last set at 205lbs. I believe the missed rep was because of my form, I wasn’t able to concentrate as much since I wasn’t fully pumped for my workout from the start. But none of this surprised me since I have never gotten five reps at 205lbs yet. I also recently came out of a plateau at 200x5, so I am fully aware that reaching a new 5RM might take a little more time than I would like.

P.Rows: Everything about my rows on Monday were disgusting.....my form, lack of strength, loss in focus, etc. I managed to get all the required reps for each set besides the fifth one. When I got into position for my last set, I already knew I wasn’t going to get all 5 reps. I was using an underhand grip (easier grip) as I always do for my 5RM, but this time it didn’t benefit me at all. I technically got all five reps but the form was awful, there was way too much leg/hip power generated into a back exercise. The funny thing about my rows are, last Friday I was able to get 155x3 with strict overhand grip easily...this made me believe I'd have an easy Monday workout for rows.

Assisted/Ab Work: Like always, I didn’t run into any problems at all. Assisted and ab work don’t require as much strength or concentration in form when compared to my main exercises, that's the reason for not having any problems.

Hopefully my next Monday workout won't be as awful, I'm planning on re-doing my squats at 240lb, trying to hit 205x5 for bench, and getting all 5 reps at 155lb for rows with solid form.

Madcow "Heavy Triple" Day: Friday Entry #1

Last Friday I headed to the gym and followed my Madcow routine as usual. I didn't necessarily have a great workout, but neither was it bad in any way, I was still able to push out all the required sets/reps for the workout.

I was feeling a bit tired before I went to the gym (around 6:00 pm) since my body had not been fully adjusted to the “college life” , but I was still able to pull myself together since I can never allow myself to miss a workout.

My workout, Madcow 5x5 (http://madcow.hostzi.com/5x5_Program/Linear_5x5.htm) focuses more on strength than body building, which is the reason for having fewer reps and more heavy sets. I currently weigh-in around 145-148lbs and one of my main focuses is to build a higher strength/weight ratio instead of going for aesthetics.

Strength/weight ratio is the amount in which one can lift compared to his/her bodyweight. Basically, the higher the weight lifted and lower the bodyweight the better the ratio will be.

For example: Lifting 300lbs for any exercise and weighing at 155lbs is far more impressive than a 220lbs guy lifting the same amount of weight.

Usual Friday “Heavy Triple” workouts look something similar to this…

Squat:130x5 160x5 190x5 225x5 260x3 190x8

Bench: 100x5 125x5 150x5 175x5 205x3 150x8

Pendlay Rows: 70x5 90x5 110x5 125x5 150x5 110x8

Assisted Work: Weighted Dips 3x5-8 Curls 3x8-10 Triceps-Ext 3x8

If my workout goes as planned I should be able to add 5lbs each week to my squat, bench, rows, or any other exercise I do on Mondays or Wednesday….but this “highly praised” theory of adding weight each week does not work properly for me. When people are trying to build maximum strength they also should be eating at a calorie surplus or better known as a “bulking” in the lifting world. I currently am not on a bulk so that is the reason why my lifts don't progress as fast as I wish they would.

Don't get me wrong; I still make decent gains over time.

For example: Recently on Monday I finally came out of a lifting plateau by hitting 200x5 on bench. Prior to Monday for many weeks I would only be able to get four reps.

Although I make slow gains when I am maintaining weight, when I actually make new personal records (PR) all that hard work pays off and that is one of the main reasons that has me committed to lifting heavy every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.