Bye-bye BBing BS: Journal of my 5x5 a la madcow2

[Jim Ouini]

Hm. OK, that's interesting.

I think I need to read up some more

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 6

MONDAY

Squat3x3: 365
Bench1x3: 305
Row1x3: 265

Comments:

-A football injury I got 8 years ago is beginning to resurface. I tore my miniscus, strained my MCL and fractured two bones but didn't have surgery. Doc said it may come up down the road. So far it's no biggie but I'm a bit worried that I'll feel great, squat heavy and then BOOM. So today I used knee wraps. They definitely made the lift easier with the reflex effect they provided. I'm not sure whether to stick with them or not. My first working set was done without them and it felt fine. Come to think of it, my knee feels better now a few hours after lifting than it did all weekend.

-Bench was tough. Probably gonna rock 2.5's next week

-Row was cake. I swear this is gonna equal my bench soon

-Can't wait to DL, but what else is new?

 

[Madcow2]

One thing about this program is that a lot of people come to it from plain vanilla 3 day/ bodypart 1x per week splits. This kind of workload and frequency is a major shock and overuse injuries and some persistent nags can develop. It's not so much the nature of the program but the nature of the much increased workload and the sudden strength increases that have come along with it. Just be smart about it.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Just be smart about it.

That may be asking more than I'm capable of

 

[Boss101]

Plain Vanilla 2x:
4 weeks load
2-3 weeks as needed deload (2x per week)

Plan Vanilla 3x
4 weeks load
1 week deload (3x)
4 weeks intensity (3x)

I thought the 2x had you ramping up to records in weeks 8/9, but I see that is not the case now.

I'm in week 4 of the volume phase right now next week I'll be deloading. If I'm doing the 2x per week and I'm going to deload for 2 weeks, in week 5 I would carry over the weights from week 4 and use 3x3? Then in week 6 deloading would I bump the weights up at all? After the 2-3 weeks of deloading I just go back into the volume phase again ramping to new records for 5x5 and 1x5, is this correct so far?

Which is better for size and strength the 2x or 3x? The first time I ran the program I did the 3x and it wore me out I'm thinking the 2x will be better for me.

EDIT: I just saw this I think I got it now.

Week 5 and on switch to 3x3 and drop the Friday workout altogether. Week 5 weights are the same as the final week of volume. Over the next 2-3 weeks increase increase the weight workout to workout if you get all 9 reps. If you don't get all the reps, week the weight constant. You'll likely be able to move straight back into another volume phase after this is complete.

 

[Boss101]

If you're going to be deloading for 2-3 weeks whats the point of increasing the weights each week? I thought the purpose of deloading was to let your body rest and recover before hitting the weights hard again.

 

[Guinness5.0]

3x3 is high in intensity, not volume. Therefore, you won't load in only 2-3 weeks of it.

Is that about right MC?

 

[blut wump]

I'm in the third week of doing a 2x per week deload. I was dithering between the two options and even thinking of making up some hybrid variant. I was pretty bust up after week4, though, so the 2x seemed sensible.

With this amount of rest time, I've almost felt detrained and, if not for outside matters, I'd have switched back to 3x this week. I don't think I'd be overly comfortable with continuing at 2x for another two weeks to take it through to week9. I've also kind of missed the 1x3 lifts. With steady weight increases, though, the workouts are getting more strenuous. I know a couple of guys at least have run the 2x out for five weeks with good PRs at the end.

I might yet try to manage some hybrid or I might just go back into a fresh week1 and a new run. I wouldn't recommend any messing about with other than the vanilla options, though, for anyone on their first run of the program. I have a bad tendency to use myself as a guinea pig.

 

[Boss101]

I'm confused now. I thought the 2x routine doesn't have you set records and you're suppose to get rid of the intensity phase. Why are people running the 2x for 5 weeks?

This is what I'm getting from MC2's post on how to run the 2x,

Loading weeks 1-4 (5x5/1x5) set new records in weeks 3/4. Week 5 switch to 3x3 and drop Fridays workout. Run the 2x, 3x3 deload for 2-3 weeks, then move back into another volume phase.

I might be misreading some posts in here, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 6

WEDNESDAY

DL 3x3: 385, 1x405, 1x435 (PR)
Standing military 3x3: 185
Pullups 3x3: BW+45

Comments:

-Very happy with DL progress. Like I said last week, 425 was pretty easy and I wanted to see how 435 would fell. It was tough but not brutal. Next week I won't mess around. Just 3x3 @405 w/ no singles at the end.

-Military was good, but my core is showing some weakness. I'm starting to lean back more than I should.