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Re: Bill Starr's 5 x 5 program... Variation per Madcow2 (thanx) So here it is! K up n
Yes and no. You have everything right up until here:
"If my 3 rep max on the bb row is 225. I wouldn't ramp correct? I would look at week 4 weights and add 5-10 and go from there trying to add weight each workout for the next 4 weeks?"
You are still ramping to records - unless you are dealing with really light weights where you don't have plates to match the required ramp (or the gap between your best 5 and best 3 is very small) you are still ramping. For week 5 you switch to 3x3 and drop the Wednesday squat. You are going to be very thankful for this week. After that you are ramping upward to records in 3x3 and 1x3. There should be enough room to continue to move the weight up.
Also - this is the way I want you to run the records the first time with your previous best on week 3 and exceed it on week 4. The reason being that if you start too high you can't ramp the weights and the load is too much too soon basically botching the program so conservatism pays off. That said, once you have a relevant max (let's say you run this program a second time) you want to best it on week 3 and 4 (after all, it's not a new record if you don't push it up). So if going into the program with a 200 max, you might do 165, 185, 205, 215 for example weeks 1,2,3,4 respectively. Don't do this the first time though as people historically overshoot which is why I harp on it. Alternatively those not used to the program can run the initial phase for 6 weeks starting much lighter and progressing to records in weeks 5/6 before deloading and continuing on to the Intensity. It might look like 100, 135, 165, 185, 200*, 210* where * indicated records.
1) Yes, although I believe that for general athletics and development the conventional is the supperior developer although most people find that sumo provides the best functional use of existing strength.
2) Far better full body exercise due to stability required to press overhead. A lot lower likelyhood of turning it into an incline too. The low point depends a lot upon how long one's forearms are. If you have long arms your low point is much less advantageous for pressing than someone elses. That said, always aim for full range of motion but don't kill yourself - do what's comfortable. Elbows don't matter much it will largely be a function of your hand placement as there's less varriance for your elbows overhead than on the bench. Do what feels best.
3) Well, for the dynamic rows - part of the exercise is in arching the back with both the lats and the errectors while rowing. When you go from starting to arch your head generally moves. I'm not advocating looking down at all (you will almost certainly round badly) but it's often helpful to start with your head looking out and forward and then initiate by arching which leads the head up (it's all attached to the same spine so it goes together). It's tough to describe, I never really broke it down like that but it should do the job. Let me know if you have issues. (also, to do this you need to be rowing with 135 or have full sized lighter discs). Also key is to accelerate the row into you just like an oar in the water where the rower is always pulling as hard as possible which continuously accelerates the oar. I think I have a Bolded Article a few pages back on the importance of acceleration in strength, hypertrophy and stimulating a training response.
Boss101 said:
Yes and no. You have everything right up until here:
"If my 3 rep max on the bb row is 225. I wouldn't ramp correct? I would look at week 4 weights and add 5-10 and go from there trying to add weight each workout for the next 4 weeks?"
You are still ramping to records - unless you are dealing with really light weights where you don't have plates to match the required ramp (or the gap between your best 5 and best 3 is very small) you are still ramping. For week 5 you switch to 3x3 and drop the Wednesday squat. You are going to be very thankful for this week. After that you are ramping upward to records in 3x3 and 1x3. There should be enough room to continue to move the weight up.
Also - this is the way I want you to run the records the first time with your previous best on week 3 and exceed it on week 4. The reason being that if you start too high you can't ramp the weights and the load is too much too soon basically botching the program so conservatism pays off. That said, once you have a relevant max (let's say you run this program a second time) you want to best it on week 3 and 4 (after all, it's not a new record if you don't push it up). So if going into the program with a 200 max, you might do 165, 185, 205, 215 for example weeks 1,2,3,4 respectively. Don't do this the first time though as people historically overshoot which is why I harp on it. Alternatively those not used to the program can run the initial phase for 6 weeks starting much lighter and progressing to records in weeks 5/6 before deloading and continuing on to the Intensity. It might look like 100, 135, 165, 185, 200*, 210* where * indicated records.
Boss101 said:
1) Yes, although I believe that for general athletics and development the conventional is the supperior developer although most people find that sumo provides the best functional use of existing strength.
2) Far better full body exercise due to stability required to press overhead. A lot lower likelyhood of turning it into an incline too. The low point depends a lot upon how long one's forearms are. If you have long arms your low point is much less advantageous for pressing than someone elses. That said, always aim for full range of motion but don't kill yourself - do what's comfortable. Elbows don't matter much it will largely be a function of your hand placement as there's less varriance for your elbows overhead than on the bench. Do what feels best.
3) Well, for the dynamic rows - part of the exercise is in arching the back with both the lats and the errectors while rowing. When you go from starting to arch your head generally moves. I'm not advocating looking down at all (you will almost certainly round badly) but it's often helpful to start with your head looking out and forward and then initiate by arching which leads the head up (it's all attached to the same spine so it goes together). It's tough to describe, I never really broke it down like that but it should do the job. Let me know if you have issues. (also, to do this you need to be rowing with 135 or have full sized lighter discs). Also key is to accelerate the row into you just like an oar in the water where the rower is always pulling as hard as possible which continuously accelerates the oar. I think I have a Bolded Article a few pages back on the importance of acceleration in strength, hypertrophy and stimulating a training response.
