NorthstarUK Training Log

[NorthstarUK]

Current PRs at B/W 200lbs:

Squat - 375
Dead Lift - 463
Bench Press - 276
Power Clean - 198
Press - 165
Weighted Dips - 3x5 - B/W+88
Pull Ups - 3x5 - B/W+30

Goals for next 12 months (as of 05/07/09):

Squat - 400
Dead Lift - 500
Bench Press - 300
Power Clean - 220
Press - 180
Weighted Dips - 3x5 - B/W+100
Pull Ups - 3x5 - B/W+40

Currently doing periodised madcow, customised for 2 days per week as follows:

Day 1
Box Squat
Bench Press
Power Clean
Dips 3x5

Day 2
Dead Lift
Front Squat
Press
Pull Ups 3x5

4 Weeks of 5x5, 1 week deload, 4 Weeks of 3x3, 1 week testing 1rms

[Mouse]

Good to see your TL up and running.
Will be good to follow your numbers at last.

[NorthstarUK]

Thanks Mouse (fellow Yorkshire man - respect!), last cycle of Madcow I added 10kg (22lb) to my squat and DL and 5kg (11lb) to Press and Bench.

Not sure if my targets are a bit over-ambitious as diminishing returns will definitely be an issue, time will tell! I'll update my log whenever something changes or there's an issue.

[NorthstarUK]

Just completed second cycle of madcow as described above and hit new PRs in all lifts except the Power Clean, which for some reason i've stalled on a lot this time around. New PRs are:

DL - 474 (+11)
Squat - 385 (+11)
Bench - 287 (+11)
OHP - 171 (+5)

So basicallly i've added 5kg to all lifts except OHP which I always struggle with. I'm pretty satisfied with these results though it would have been nice to add 10kg to my squat and DL like when i ran it first time.

I've also added about 12lbs in BW without too much excess fat which is good. Strangely though I gained less weight and more strength first time I ran it, and my diet has been pretty much the same.

Going to try Westside for a few months now, will report back once i'm underway.

[lifthard]

Northstar,

Nice job with increasing all the lifts on the second madcow cycle. I'm interested to see how changing to Westside works for you.

Steve

[muddy]

Nice work! It would be interesting to see more details as you start westside if you have the time and inclination, perhaps even listing each workout.

[NorthstarUK]

Thanks Guys, i'll post my first meso-cycle sometime next week FYI.

Just one thing to add i forgot to mention before - this time round I substituted BP for Pin Presses, but the pins were lower so the bar just touched my chest when it was resting on the pins (rather than the several inches higher normally used in a pin press) this really helped my explosive strength at the start of the press which was my sticking point, hench the reletively large increase.

Give it a try!

[NorthstarUK]

Ok, not posted for a while, but been doing Westside for the last 7 weeks and not got on well with it. In fact when I tested my maxes, they have mostly gotten worse, even though i've followed the template properly and been strict with eating and rest. Strangely I have gained a few pounds in BW but got weaker!

The programme has been as follows:

Max Effort Squat:
Workout 1 = Box Squat
Workout 2 = Box Squat
Workout 3 = GMs
Workout 4 = GMs
Workout 5 = Sumo DL
Workout 6 = DL

Assistance - GH Raises, RLD, Dragon Flags

Max Effort Bench:
W1 - Floor Press
W2 - Floor Press
W3 - Pin Press
W4 - Pin Press
W5 - BP
W6 - BP

Assistance - CG BP, BOR, Dips

DE Squat
10 x 2 @ 50 - 60%

Assistance - as per ME Squat but higher intensity

DE Bench
8 x 3 @ 60%

Assistance - as per ME Bench but higher intensity

I ran this 3 times per week carrying over the last session into the next week.

Didn't enjoy the split routine and felt like I wasn't squatting enough, also no deload or regulation of volume and intensity which is what I think I respond to better.

Thinking of trying 5/3/1 or going back to Madcow for a few months now. Hopefully I can regain my strength!

Westside not for me!

[muddy]

Thanks for sharing this. If you don't have time to mess with this, don't worry about it. But could you also share your rep scheme for each exercise of, say, week 2? Thanks!

[atypical1]

If you're trying to get back your old strength then I'd go with madcow first as it's a pretty linear progression and should allow you to get back to your old weights quickly. 5/3/1 is a much slower program and it will take longer to get back to your old maxes. Once you get there then you can decide if you want to make the switch or not.

james

[NorthstarUK]

Thanks for sharing this. If you don't have time to mess with this, don't worry about it. But could you also share your rep scheme for each exercise of, say, week 2? Thanks!

Rep scheme as per template. So for ME days thats a couple of lightish warm ups with sets of 5, then about 5 sets of 3 working up to 3rm on set 5, then about 3 singles working up to 1rm. Assistance exercises, I used 3 x 5 for high intensity assistance and 3 x 8 for LI assistance.

[NorthstarUK]

If you're trying to get back your old strength then I'd go with madcow first as it's a pretty linear progression and should allow you to get back to your old weights quickly. 5/3/1 is a much slower program and it will take longer to get back to your old maxes. Once you get there then you can decide if you want to make the switch or not.

james

Thanks James, unfortunately I already started 5/3/1 by the time I read this, so i'll stick with it for a few months now and see how I get on. I'm not in a mad rush to get my old maxes back, as long as i'm within say 10% I can live with that. But i know i've got Madcow to fall back on if all else fails as it definitely worked well for me. But you need try other programmes to know which works best for you, if Madcow ends up being the best for me, i'll probably just keep with that ad infinitum, but my curiosity demands I must try other programmes first!

Thanks buddy, take care.

[atypical1]

I really like 5/3/1 so definitely don't take my comments as a "you must do this". The volume in 5/3/1 will help you get to your theoretical maxes but it might take a cycle or two. My first cycle on 5/3/1 was good but my second one is much better so...

james

[NorthstarUK]

Started 5/3/1 last week, just half way through the second phase of the first cycle, i've set out the programme as follows:

W/O 1 - Main lift = OHP, assistance - Dips 3 x 6, pullups 4 x NF (near failure)
W/O 2 - Main Lift = DL, assistance - Front squats 4 x 5, dragon flags 3 x NF
W/O 3 - Main Lift = BP, assistance - Power Clean 5 x 3, Incline DB Press, 3 x 6
W/O 4 - Main Lift = Squat, assistance - GH Raises 3 x NF, GM 4 x 5

Must say starting with 90% of 1 RMs sure makes the first phase feel easy, i'm getting nearly double on the last sets of 5 & 3, where you keep going to failure. Though i'm assured that this is intentional to prevent early stalling.

Enjoying it so far, like the shorter more focussed workouts. Not gonna test any maxes until i'm stalling all over the place, I think I need to stop being so anal about improving my 1RMs, but this is hard as i'm so close the hitting my big goals of 500 DL, 400 SQ & 300 BP, but I won't let my ego get the better of me!

[atypical1]

I will tell you from experience that you're going to want to get that ego boost. Put that shit in the back of your mind and file it away. Seriously. It's really tough when you're pulling, say, 400lbs on deadlift (what I did today). I cannot tell you how badly I wanted to say "f*** it" and just do 405. But it becomes a slippery slope when you do that. Once you deviate from the plan once then it becomes too easy to do that all of the time which just doesn't work out well in the end.

james