My Workout Plan 2008 - your critique?

[amazing-spiderman]

Hi. I've been reading these forums on and off for a while, despite not posting much. Basically, I've been lifting 3.5 years, only seriously (read: knew what the hell I was doing at a *basic* level) for about 1.5 years.
My workout plans in the past I generally have gone about casually: although I was always concentrating and training furiously at the gym, I didn't have concrete number goals or number logs or really paid strict attention to what I was eating. I generally knew what numbers I could put up, whether they were increasing somewhat, and that I needed to eat a ****load if I wanted to gain any muscle mass and strength. I may have missed a workout every couple of weeks or forgot to eat breakfast a couple days here or there. Well, I've concluded that the casual method brings CRAP results. So basically, I've come up with a more concrete plan; tell me what you think.

Oh and by the way, I'm 19, 6'0'', 160 lbs currently.

My goals are simply to bulk up and put on more muscle mass (hypertrophy I guess here - I guess that's muscle size) as well as muscle strength. Do I prefer one, size or strength, to the other, in order to emphasize one in my workout plan? No, not really --- size and strength both sound good to me. I don't care in what proportion they will be increasing, as long as both DO increase, preferably in the most time-efficient manner. **Also, I do not care about keeping lean at the moment, at all. I'm not afraid of some softness or fat -- I don't exactly prefer it either, but I can always cut later --- and have an extremely high metabolism.

My new workout routine is the Bill Starr 5x5 Madcow Intermediate/ Linear version that was posted in this forum a few weeks ago. Which is basically:

Monday:
Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5
BB row 5x5
assistance: 2 sets weighted hypers & *4 sets situps* (actually despite his warning not to alter the workout I will being doing hanging knee ups instead of situps, a minor change that I think will be better).

Wednesday:
Squat 4x5
Incline 4x5
Deadlift 4x5
assistance: 3 sets (hanging kneeups)

Friday:
Squat 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
Bench 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
BB row 4x5, 1x3, 1x8
assistance: 3 sets dips, 3 sets curls, 3 sets tri extensions

I think this routine is a good idea because:
1. I'm not an expert lifter but I'm not a novice either, and this program seems tailored for a person at my current level (I'll post my current maxes later down).
2. It focuses on the big compound lifts, including squats and deads, like any good workout plan should.
3. It has an emphasis on more weight and lower reps.
4. It seems to be low volume and takes less time than my previous 5 day split.
5. Although it's somewhat old, c'mon, it certainly must have gotten results in the past and the author doesn't seem to be trying to bull**** me.
6. It's not so complicated that I'll give up trying to follow it properly. I've dowloaded the spreadsheet and know what to do each week, and I've read everything attached to understand the routine inside and out, at least what Bill Starr has presented.

My current maxes are as follows:
*btw, these are not PRs, some of my lifts have gone down since I kinda ****ed around during the holidays. my weight is currently 160 lbs

Squat: 186 lbs (definitely a weak link - I'm not injured, just always trained like a retard -- however, my form is now excellent and this max is with my ass well BELOW parallel.)

Bench: 197 lbs
Row: 138 lbs (I normally did deads and pullups before this workout)
Dead: 327 lbs (each rep put on the ground and picked up again)
Incline: 134 lbs (also kinda weak)

As well as following the 5x5 program as precisely as possible, here is my diet situation/ plan:
I'm at college, and I'm required to pay for an overpriced meal plan, which gives me all-I-can-eat meals for THREE times a day. The food doesn't taste great, and is probably of dubious quality, but there is an assortment of meat (skinless chicken, crispy chicken, beef, etc), vegetables, fruit, grains, milk, yogurt, salad, eggs/bacon/sausage at breakfast and I can eat as much as I want. I know spacing out the food intake over 5 or 6 meals is perhaps better or ideal, but... honestly money is a factor here, and I despite having work study at my uni, I haven't found work here... but that's another matter. I mean I can probably afford buying an extra meal somewhere maybe twice a week -- aka it's not a reliable part of the plan. This may change if I find job, but let's assume I might not find one.

So I'm aware that A LOT of food needs to be consumed. I can't really measure the exact calories and protein that well for the food I will be eating (and who does? and is it really necessary?). I'm aware that MANY people, guys and girls, THINK they eat a lot of food, but they really don't. So I will be eating a lot, a lot, a LOT of food, and then be eating some more, THREE times a day. This may prove difficult since its not spaced out that much but I think I will adapt. I will also be eating in particular lots of meat and calorie-dense food (junk food, fried chicken, ice cream, and the like). I will be pounding 2% milk during all three meals, and drinking water like a horse before, between, and after meals.

Additionally, I will be having a serving (2 scoops) of post workout whey protein powder + milk immediately following each workout Mon Wed Friday. I've never tried this **** before, but will now be giving it a try. I no virtually nothing about supplements, although have lots of friends that do. In particular, my roommate is a Div 1 athlete, and also pretty intelligent to boot, he appeared pretty knowledgable about different protein powders and ****, and recommend a specific post-workout whey protein brand, I currently forget the name but I remember what it looks like and will be soon buying a $30 container that should last me the semester.

In addition to all the above bs, I will also be sleeping a minimum of 7 hours a night. (8 is ideal but my schedule is already stretched to the absolute ****ing limit).

***Also, a question. I am in college, and do particularly enjoy drinking alcholic beverages, and do not plan on going sober. I have a few drinks (really, a few -- maybe "too many" once a month) on Friday night and less so on Saturday night. I guess alcohol may reduce gains but --- I mean, beer has calories right, so maybe it has some use? Is that a stupid question? What do you think about this? ***


So there it is, that's my current plan for the next month or two. Thanks for reading all this, and any critique/ comments would be greatly appreciated.

[lee thompson]

wow thats a lot to read! you definately need to work on your squats your benching more than you squat,i personally have found 4x8 more productive than 5x5.

[schmichael]

the 5x5 is an excellent program. i am up to week nine at the moment and i'm loving the consistent gains.

in regards to your meals, boyd has been advocating three or four large meals instead of the usual 6 for a while now so you should be alright. you might want to get some digestive enzymes though because you're gonna need to eat a LOT at each meal.

also, don't use milk for you PWO shake use water instead. and make sure you add in some highg GI carbs with that (dextrose).

and i would limit the beer as much as possible. you're better to get your calories from food than from drink.

[Swimmerman]

Dude, can u post some pics or something? I'm also 6'0 160 lbs. I'd like to do a little comparing...