Madcows - Week 3, Day 1

SQUAT

Barx10

60kgx5

70kgx5

80kgx5

90kgx5

100kgx5

NOTES: These weren't as explosive as last workout, but were controlled anyhow. Need to up my carbs slightly.

BENCH

Barx15

40kgx5

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

77.5kgx5

NOTES: These weren't as fast as I'd like either, had probably another 2 in me so if I eat well and get some more carbs into me I should be good for next 'heavy' day. But then again after the last set I realised I had finished squatting and benching in 20 minutes. Need to rest more and be more patient.

PENDLAY ROW

40kgx5

47.5kgx5

55kgx5

62.5kgx5

70kgx6 PR

NOTES: These felt tight but slow once again. Concentrate on keeping lower back tight to maximise leverage off the floor. Really hit my lats with these.

DB INCLINE BENCH

28kgx8

28kgx8

28kgx7

NOTES: Not getting the last rep was annoying, but it was nice because I felt strong on these. I probably have 4x31kgx6 on incline, might have to try that next time.

WORKOUT NOTES: This was terrible in terms of how tough everything was, but my intensity and focus was great. I was sweating madly by the end, finishing in 40 minutes easily. I will have to remember to not skip the 40kgx10 squat set, going to 60kg straight away seemed to slow me down. Looking forward to 130kgx5 deads and 55kgx5 OHP, as well as some nice seated DB press and DB rows!

Madows - Week 2, Day 3

SQUAT

Barx15

40kgx10

60kgx5

70kgx5

80kgx5

90kgx5

100kgx3

80kgx8

NOTES: Easy money, I'm really learning a lot about mental cues that work for me lately. Instead of thinking of my legs I just focussed on keeping my back angle constant and let the legs do the work. If form is this tight at 115kg I will eat my hat though.

BENCH

Barx15

40kgx5

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

77.5kgx3

60kgx8

NOTES: Easier than 70kgx5 in the first week so that's a good sign. Focus on keeping wrists rigid, and let the chest take the work less than the arms.

PENDLAY ROW

40kgx5

47.5kgx5

55kgx5

62.5kgx5

70kgx5 PR

60kgx8

NOTES: A little bit messier than last time. I'm going to stop adding 5kg a workout now and just go with the standard 2.5kg extra each week. Also was only meant to do 3 but forgot mid-set.

INCLINE FLYES

18.5kgx10

18.5kgx8

18.5kgx8

NOTES: These were done in under 5 minutes so by rep 3 of the last set I was torched, somehow ground out another 5. These are making my chest grow already.

WORKOUT NOTES: Another workout finished in under 40 minutes. I'm really pleased with the speed and control I am getting on my reps, and the extra accessory is a nice finisher. Next workout will be easy as pie, and then from there I will just add 2.5kg to each exercise a week (except deadlifts) so I'm not just jumping into 'heavy' weights too early. 

Madcows - Week 2, Day 2

SQUAT

Barx10

40kgx10

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

70kgx5

NOTES: Form is feeling more locked in.

OVERHEAD PRESS

Barx10

35kgx5

40kgx5

47.5kgx5

52.5kgx5

NOTES: Struggled to stay stable, need to stretch out more and keep my walk out more controlled. Apart from that, probably had another 2 reps in me. 

DEADLIFT

60kgx5

80kgx5

100kgx5

110kgx5

125kgx5

NOTES: Warm up sets felt shit, but mixed grip makes the pulling aspect much simpler. Need to remember to reset properly after each rep.

UPRIGHT ROWS

Barx15

30kgx10

35kgx8

30kgx10

NOTESL These gave me a great delt pump, but didn't feel overly natural to do. I might try out seated DB press next time.

DB ROWS

36kgx8

36kgx8

36kgx12 PR

NOTES: These felt great, awesome way to finish the workout.

WORKOUT NOTES: Was feeling jittery and tired coming into it but worked out the kinks with  a timely rest period and finished off strong. 130kgx5 deadlift won't be a problem, and neither will 55kgx5 OHP next time. 

Madcows - Week 2, Day 1

SQUAT

Barx15

40kgx10

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

85kgx5

95kgx5

NOTES: These felt awesome, speed was sick and setup was tight. I reckon I had over 10 in me easy. Remember to focus on keeping back angle constant through the sticking point.

BENCH

Barx15

40kgx5

50kgx5

60kgx5

67.5kgx5

75kgx5

NOTES: My right pec was actually bothering me a bit, not in an injured way but it was sore. Still, these were a little grindy but probably could have continued to push another 3 at the exact same speed as the 5th.

PENDLAY ROW

40kgx5

45kgx5

50kgx5

57.5kgx5

65kgx5 PR 

NOTES: Yes this is a PR, despite the fact that I have done 3x90kgx5 PR on a normal bent over row from the hang position. Pulling from the floor and involving the posterior chain makes the lift a lot more like a deadlift, making me focus on keeping my back tight and pulling with the arms purely. 

INCLINE FLYES

18.5kgx12 PR

18.5kgx10

18.5kgx10

NOTES: These give me the best chest pump I've ever known, I'm just going to continue doing these as accessory every time I bench imo.

WORKOUT NOTES: This was an awesome workout. I finished it in about 30 minutes, flew the squat sets in 10 minutes. Every exercise was on the money, even benching with a sore pec. I'm really looking forward to my next workout, which will be 125kgx5 deadlift, 52.5kgx5 OHP, some recovery squats (2x70kgx5) and then some shoulder accessory work with upright rows and maybe some dumbbell overhead press. 

Upkeep

Madcows is a pretty brutal routine in terms of its longevity and the toll it takes on your body. The routine is set up so that you set your starting 5RM low (10kg lower than usual), and building up over 4-5 weeks eventually overtake them by adding 2.5kg a week to your lifts. Yes it's more complicated than that but you can find the routine explained in depth in yesterday's post. 

Essentially, the point is that Madcows is a routine that doesn't really start to pay any sort of reward until at least a month in. This means that it is a long term routine (as far as linear progression is concerned, with the other long-term LP routines being Starting Strength, 5/3/1, GreySkulls LP, The Texas Method and a few other less known ones), with it lasting anywhere between 8-16 weeks or more. If you think about it, if you're on the program successfully for 8 weeks, you've exceeded your previous PRs (personal record) by around 10kg, so by week 16 you may have put 20kg on your squat and much the same on your other lifts. I'm aiming for around 15kg on my squat, so hopefully by the end I might be at around 125kgx3 or so. 

However, the fact is that Madcows is a more demanding program the deeper you get into it (the difference in intensity between week 1 of the program and week 10 is unfathomable) means that if you don't recover properly you are done and dusted. When this happens you start getting things like:

• injuries
• muscle tightness
• tendon & joint pain

As well as general fatigue, these are bad for your progression. What if I get to week 7, have put 5kg on my previous squat PR, and then have to quit while I'm on a roll because I've got lower back pain or even elbow tendonitis that makes squatting impossible? I would end up losing that momentum, as well as the foundation laid for sustainable gains from the first 4 weeks of the program. 

So, I've decided to put some effort into the upkeep of my body. Not just eating right (I am now having a shake with breakfast that is 45g Protein, 15g Carbs and 2g Fat, come at me), but also supplementing and doing active recovery. I'm taking my fish oil and magnesium, which definitely help the joint and muscle pains a lot, but I've also decided to do 2 days a week of 1/2 an hour of foam rolling. I do some stretches during lunchtime at work, but the active release from foam rolling will be the real helper. I did a nice session last night, rolling my hip flexors, quads, ITB, back, lats and pec minor (which is a big problem in terms of holding back my thoracic mobility), and I felt much better after doing it. 

Hopefully I can stay niggle free until I've made my progress on this routine, stay tuned for bigweights in week 6 of the program.

Madcows - Week 1, Day 3

Here is the link to the Madcows 5x5 template and information for those not familiar with the routine.

SQUAT

Barx15

40kgx10

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

80kgx5

95kgx3

70kgx8

NOTES: Easy as, not quite ATG but almost there. 

BENCH

Barx15

40kgx5

50kgx5

55kgx5

62.5kgx5

70kgx5

75kgx3

60kgx8

NOTES: Still a little too much effort for my liking, it wasn't long ago I benched 100kgx1, so this should be giving me less trouble. Probably comes down to me slowing down the eccentric lately and DB benching for almost two months.

PENDLAY ROWS

40kgx5

45kgx5

50kgx5

55kgx5

60kgx5

65kgx3

55kgx8

NOTES: Easy and tight, the weight is literally banging into my chest from how fast I'm pulling and I'm really working my whole back well.

INCLINE FLYES

16kgx15

16kgx12

NOTES: I always get better mind-muscle connection from incline work, so I'm going to start exclusively doing incline for chest accessory from now on.

WORKOUT NOTES: This got done in under 35 minutes, squats took the longest as always. From the first rep of squats I was feeling strong and explosive despite getting almost no sleep on Sunday night, so I'm not too worried about the next 4 weeks of the program. 

I will start hitting PRs on each lift in various weeks, with a bench PR (85kgx5) in week 6, squat (115kgx5) and deadlift (142.5kgx5) PRs in week 7, and any OHP and pendlay row PRs coming in the next few weeks. 

Madcows - Week 1, Day 2

SQUAT

Barx15

40kgx5

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

70kgx5

NOTES: Smooth as silk. I think I will enjoy this form work day, from that perspective as well the bit of active recovery I will get.

PRESS

Barx15

35kgx5

40kgx5

45kgx5

50kgx5

NOTES: Controlled and smooth, will probably find it tough at around 60kg. 

DEADLIFT

60kgx5

75kgx5

90kgx5

105kgx5

120kgx5

NOTES: Easy as, back was tight but will need to be even tighter in future. Volume work will be tough when it gets to doing 80kgx5, 100kgx5, 120kgx5, 140kgx5 or something. Feeling strong as usual with these though.

LATERAL RAISES

8kgx10

8kgx5

NOTES: These hurt my forearms, I will stop doing these and just do lots of upright rows instead.

WORKOUT NOTES: Did this whole workout in 30 minutes, absolutely put in 100% on every exercise and made sure I was pushing myself when it came to rest times and explosive speed. The 105kgx5 deadlift was faster than 90kg, great acceleration. 

Madcows - Week 1, Day 1

SQUAT

Barx15

40kgx10

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

80kgx5

90kgx5

NOTES: Easy but not as easy as I'd like. Will have to make sure my ramping sets are more explosive next time, I felt under-prepared.

BENCH

Barx15

40kgx5

47.5kgx5

55kgx5

62.5kgx5

70kgx5

NOTES: Was pausing the reps and it was not too hard, however I will instead focus on getting optimal speed on the reps to make me ready for the top heavy set. Leave the extra TUT (time under tension) and volume for the accessory exercises.

PENDLAY ROWS

40kgx5

45kgx5

50kgx5

55kgx5

60kgx5

NOTES: These were embarrassingly easy, took a few sets to get the groove but eventually found a nice line that really hits my lats, lumbars and rhomboids. Remember to pull to chest, not to rib cage.

FLYES

18kgx15

18kgx15

NOTES: Nice and slow, remember to not lock out at the top to involve the arms less and chest more in the contraction.

WORKOUT NOTES: First day, everything was easy as pie but I need to work on my speed. 

Workout Misc - Upper

Tuesday February 5

PULL UPS

BWx10

BWx10

BWx10

BWx10

DB BENCH

15kgx15

20kgx10

25kgx10

30kgx6

32.5kgx8 PR

DB ROWS

30kgx10

32.5kgx8

35kgx8

35kgx10 PR

SEATED DB PRESS

20kgx8

22.5kgx6

20kgx6

Did this workout in under 35 minutes, smashed it out and feeling sore today.