Madcow Adjustment-- Starting Mid-Program

Neuro

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Has anyone here had success starting Madcow mid-program, i.e. starting it in Week 3, 4, or 5, and skipping the first two weeks, which are extremely light?

I'm still a relatively novice lifter, but just finished running 5/3/1 for 5 months, and was hoping to give Madcow a try. I understand this is a variation off the program and likely not advised, but given that I'm still a novice, I was hoping to still milk some of my novice gains, particularly off squat and bench (my weakest lifts).

Others on this forum have seen me pose a similar dilemma before, I apologize for redundancy.

Thanks for any/all feedback!
 
no. Stick with the program. In week 4 you'll be hitting your 5 rep maxes! Stop being impatient. Good luck.
 
no. Stick with the program. In week 4 you'll be hitting your 5 rep maxes! Stop being impatient. Good luck.

You're probably right-- I def am being impatient. Thanks bra
 
I tried starting on week 4 the first time I did it, and I stalled on week 6. Definitely start from the beginning. I got 16 straight weeks of progress (12 weeks of PRs) when I started from week 1.
 
I tried starting on week 4 the first time I did it, and I stalled on week 6. Definitely start from the beginning. I got 16 straight weeks of progress (12 weeks of PRs) when I started from week 1.

That's quite an endorsement for it-- sounds like it worked really well for you. I might cycle through 5/3/1 another time and then in the New Year begin Madcow. Thanks man.
 
If you're a novice why aren't you running a novice program?

Fair question-- few reasons:

1. I had lifted without a program for about 9 months before beginning 5/3/1, so I had some weird numbers. My deadlift was very high for a beginner, as was my bench, but my squat and overhead press were completely novice.

2. (And this is the main reason, really). People recommended Wendler's 5/3/1 because of its flexibility for athletes. I was, at the time, training Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling 5x/week, and many pointed out that Starting Strength was too difficult to recover from with this sort of schedule.

Hence, why I began on 5/3/1 and had great results, though lately I've been stalling out a little and looking around lately, just to bump that squat and bench up (and subsequently my deadlift, too).
 
That's quite an endorsement for it-- sounds like it worked really well for you. I might cycle through 5/3/1 another time and then in the New Year begin Madcow. Thanks man.

No problem! The only program I've had more success on is SS, haha. I put 75lbs on my squat in the first 4.5 months I did it, 67.5 on my bench over the last full year, and almost 100lbs on my deadlift in 4.5 months. If I hadn't torn my ACL last December then my squat and deadlift numbers would have been much better. Just remember to switch to 2.5lb increments on the bench and press once you hit a serious wall with them. I've gotten an extra 32.5lbs on my bench work sets because of it.

The only drawback is that I've had to cut back on wrestling/BJJ classes because it's pretty demanding.
 
No problem! The only program I've had more success on is SS, haha. I put 75lbs on my squat in the first 4.5 months I did it, 67.5 on my bench over the last full year, and almost 100lbs on my deadlift in 4.5 months. If I hadn't torn my ACL last December then my squat and deadlift numbers would have been much better. Just remember to switch to 2.5lb increments on the bench and press once you hit a serious wall with them. I've gotten an extra 32.5lbs on my bench work sets because of it.

The only drawback is that I've had to cut back on wrestling/BJJ classes because it's pretty demanding.

WOW those are some gains, for sure. I'm excited to give it a go
 
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