Intermediate lifter switching from Madcow to U/L Split

[_J_]

I’ve been a member here for a while and a lurker for much longer. About 5 months ago, in October of 2010, I started Madcow 5x5. I’ve made great gains across the board. But, the program requires plenty of excess calories and a 3 day workout. Due to caloric and scheduling changes, I’ll be switching to a 4 day workout, and in the next week or 2, I’ll be dropping below maintenance to take off the fat I’ve put on over the last 5 months. Because I really like the fullbody concept, I’m going to try an upper/lower split, with maybe a tweak or 2.

M- Squat, R.Deadlift, Calf Raise, Weighted Situps
T- Bench, Incl. Db Bench, Db Rows, Curls, Shrugs
Th- Deadlift, F.Squats, OHP, Calf Raise, Cable Crunches
F- Bb Row, Chinups, Dips, Pulldowns, Tricep cable pressdowns

1. How does this look? Balance, volume? Yeah, I know OHP is on a lower body day, but I don’t want to do it on a bench day and doing it on the same day as dips is tough on my shoulders. Since I only planned on doing 4x5 on DL and OHP, I figured there was time for it on the 2nd lower body day.

2. What kind of set/rep scheme should I use? I don’t want to lose the adaptation I’ve gained in Madcow (b/c I’ll be able to go back to it in August), so I’d like to keep something of a 5x5 type of set/rep scheme on Squat, Bench, Row, DL and OHP, while perhaps going with a different set/rep on the remaining exercises. Maybe even the straight sets, 20 rep goal, MAB scheme.

Thanks.

[miked96]

I would do this:

Day 1
Squat 5x5
Power Clean 5x3
GHR or Back Ext 5x10

Day 2
Bench Press 5x5 alternate evry week with miltary press 5x5
Push Press 2x3 on bench weeks dips 3x10 on military press weeks
Chins 3x10

Day 3
Squats 1x3
Deadlift 1x5
GHR or BE 5x10

Day 4
Bench Press 1x3 alternate military press 1x3
dumbell bench 3x8
pull ups 3x10

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by _J_

I’ve been a member here for a while and a lurker for much longer. About 5 months ago, in October of 2010, I started Madcow 5x5. I’ve made great gains across the board. But, the program requires plenty of excess calories and a 3 day workout. Due to caloric and scheduling changes, I’ll be switching to a 4 day workout, and in the next week or 2, I’ll be dropping below maintenance to take off the fat I’ve put on over the last 5 months. Because I really like the fullbody concept, I’m going to try an upper/lower split, with maybe a tweak or 2.

I'll be giving you another option, for fun and torture.

Monday
Squat 5 x 5
RDL 2 x 12-15 or Cleans
Calves
Shrugs (if cleans drop these for heavy abs and side bends)

Tuesday
Bench Press 5x5
DB Row 2-3 x 10-20
Dips
Chin Ups

Thursday
Deadlift 3x5 (Ramping, last set is heavy) - Probably same as Mike's
Squat 1x20 or Front Squats rep scheme of choice
OHP Variation, rep scheme of choice - 5x5 or 3 sets rep goal of 20
Heavy Abs & Side bends

Friday
Barbell Row 5x5
Incline DB Press
Pull Ups
Curls

My thoughts:

--With chin ups and pullups in the mix, lat pulldowns are a bit redundant.
--Some of this is personal preference, so as long as the big lifts are in the mix, it's ok to have a few pet fun lifts.
--I like to space tricep movement (bench and dips) apart with a back movement to allow for some recovery. This is personal preference.
--You could add curls into of chinups on Tuesday, and place a tricep lift on Friday.
--Could add an extra lift each day to fit in an extra day of calves, tricep extensions, etc.

Overall back can take a lot of work. So can triceps, generally, as long as it's not high volume each day.

You could use a 20-25 rep goal for squats, OHP, rows and bench presses if you're like. Drop them to 3 sets. It would allow you to push on every set for as much as possible. Either way you'll be good to go.