27 Mar 2012
Cycle #1
So, today was pretty awkward for me since it was a Press day. I really wanted to do some squats so I did 5 reps of 135, 3 reps of 185, 3 reps of 225 and a 315 squat lockout. It's definitely a nice change not having to squat every workout, but I'm starting to miss them already.
Press: 5x65, 5x75, 5x80
Still pretty easy. My right rotator cuff felt it was about to pop out my shoulder at anytime.
Assistance:
Bench Press: 5x10x75 Right shoulder was working harder than usual. Squeezing the shoulder blades together makes the lift awkward. Elbows naturally get tucked near lats instead of flaring out.
Chin-ups: 6/4/3/2/3 - Wendler mentions that if I can't perform at least 10 that I should be performing lat pull downs instead. I'll go ahead and do that for bench press day.
Curls: 10x50, 7x50, 5x50 - Going to lower the weight on this. I was struggling on the second set already. Assistance should be fairly light and not hinder core lifts.
Tricep pushdown: 10x30, 10x40, 8x40: Going to stay at 30 lbs for the next pressing day.
27 Mar 2012
So after some thinking, I decided to cut my Madcow routine short. The reason being that I feel like I've hit a plateau on weight progression on my lifts. The final stats I've achieved from this Madcow cycle is pretty close to what I finished with on my 6 month SL5x5 cycle.
Squat: 275 -> 275
Bench: 165 -> 155
Press: 90 -> 95
Deadlift: 290 -> 285
As far as gains of raw poundage, well...it looks as if I didn't improve much at all. But, on the flipside, Madcow is also considerably more volume compared to when I was doing SL1x5 near the end of my SL cycle. I definitely think diet also played a significant part in me getting stuck at these poundages for a long time. My body weight has been steady at 180 lbs for the last 3 months. I would also say my body fat has been at roughly around the same 11-13%- maybe a bit higher. I may start incorporating more milk into my diet again to get my caloric intake up to par with training intensity.
So after some deliberation with myself, I decided that the best course of action to get me the biggest gains possible is to hop on Wendler's 5/3/1 periodized strength routine. This program is designed to be executed in "cycles". Each cycle is comprised of 4 weeks. The set/rep scheme for each week is as follows
Week 1: 5 x 65%, 5 x 75%, 5 x 85%
Week 2: 3 x 70%, 3 x 80%, 3 x 90%
Week 3: 5 x 75%, 3 x 85%, 1 x 95%
Week 4: Deload - 5 x 40%, 5 x 50%, 5 x 60%
Each week is broken down into 4 days of work outs.
Monday: Press
Tuesday: Squat
Thursday: Bench Press
Friday: Deadlift
After the 5/3/1 core lifts are performed, a variety of light assistance exercises can then be performed to supplement. I made a mistake today of going a bit too overkill on the assistance. This week will be my time to familiarize myself with assistance exercise intensity and to make sure I record poundages on these exercises to ensure that I don't go overboard for the following weeks. What I like about this program is in my ability to change these assistance exercises to allow me to accommodate weak points in my core lifts.
Assistance exercises:
Monday: Superset (5x10 Bench @ 50% TM + 5x10 Chin-ups/Lat Pulldowns), 3x10 Curls, 3x10 Tricep Pulldowns
Tuesday: 5x10 Squat @ 50% TM, Ab Wheel 5x10-20
Thursday: Superset (5x10 Press @ 50% TM + 5x10 DB Rows), 3x10 Curls, 3x10 Tricep Pulldowns
Friday: 5x10 Deadlift @ 50% TM, 5x10 Hanging Leg Raise
22 Mar 2012
Squat:
5 x 135
5 x 160
5 x 190
5 x 190
Lockout:
225 x 20 seconds
315 x 20 seconds
I really wanted to know what 315 lbs felt like. I did lockouts a while back when I first started my SL5x5 routine. Being able to feel 225 lbs was definitely helpful I think in training my CNS to getting familiar with the load on my body. I did the same thing with 315 lbs yesterday.
Press:
5 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 85
5 x 95
Got stuck halfway on the last rep of the last set. Lockouts definitely got my shoulders tired.
Deadlift:
5 x 185
5 x 215
5 x 245
5 x 285
Chalked my shins pretty well. Definitely felt like I didn't use as much lower back. Kept the bar close to my body. The mental cue that helped a lot was to pull the bar against my body and imagine pushing my feet through the ground.
Assistance:
Chin-ups: 6/3/4 x BW - Not bad. Previous lifts definitely left me without much gas left.