- Level
- Intermediate
- Days a week
- 3 days
- Goal
- Strength
- Equipment
- Barbell
- How long
- 12–16 weeks
- Created by
- Madcow, based on Bill Starr
Madcow 5×5 is a three-day intermediate program built on Bill Starr’s heavy, light and medium weeks. Instead of five sets at one weight, you ramp up across five sets to a top set, and the weights go up once a week instead of every session.
It is the usual next step after StrongLifts or another 5×5 beginner program. The lifts stay the same, but the weekly rhythm lets you keep progressing.
This page explains the program in our own words. All credit for it goes to Madcow, based on Bill Starr. The original: Madcow 5×5 workout guide at stronglifts.com. Read it for the full detail.
Who it’s for
Lifters who have stalled on a session-to-session program and want to keep training three days a week. It needs a barbell, rack and bench.
Madcow keeps the same three-day rhythm and the same five lifts as StrongLifts, so the switch is easy. What changes is the weekly pattern: Monday is the hard volume day, Wednesday is deliberately easy, and Friday is where the new records come.
The weekly schedule
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Monday | Volume: ramp to a top set of 5 |
| Wednesday | Light: lower top sets, different press and the deadlift |
| Friday | Intensity: ramp to a new heavy triple, then a back-off set of 8 |
Every workout
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Back squat | 5 × 5, ramping | Each set about 12.5% heavier, up to the top set |
| Barbell bench press | 5 × 5, ramping | |
| Barbell row | 5 × 5, ramping |
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Back squat | 4 × 5 | Lighter than Monday |
| Overhead press | 4 × 5, ramping | Some versions use incline bench |
| Deadlift | 4 × 5, ramping |
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Back squat | 4 × 5 ramping, 1 × 3, 1 × 8 | Triple above Monday’s top set, then a back-off 8 |
| Barbell bench press | 4 × 5 ramping, 1 × 3, 1 × 8 | |
| Barbell row | 4 × 5 ramping, 1 × 3, 1 × 8 |
The original spreadsheet sets the weights from your recent best sets of five and adds a little each week. Sets of five on Monday ramp up in roughly equal jumps, so only the last set is heavy.
Add a few sets of assistance (dips, curls, ab work) at the end of sessions if you like; the original keeps it light.
How to progress
Add about 2.5% to the top sets each week. Friday’s triple is a little heavier than Monday’s top set of five, and the next Monday’s top set matches it.
Start the program a few weeks below your current bests so the first weeks are easy. The PRs arrive around week four or five.
Because only the top set is heavy, the first sets of each ramp double as your warm-up. That keeps sessions shorter than you might expect from a 5×5 program.
Stalls and deloads
When you stall, repeat the week. If you stall again, take a lighter week and restart a few weeks back.
How long to run it
One run is typically 12–16 weeks. Many people run it two or three times with a short break between.
Expect each session to last about an hour. When a full run ends, take an easy week, then start a new run with a top set a little heavier than the last run’s start.
What to do next
The Texas Method and 5/3/1 are common next steps.
Common mistakes
Starting at your best weights
The program is built on a ramp-in. Starting at your maxes means you stall in week two.
Skipping the Friday back-off set
The set of eight is there for volume. Leaving it out costs size.
Running it in Splyt
Build each workout above as a template in Splyt. When you finish a session, the weights you actually lifted carry into the next run of that template, so every set shows last time’s numbers beside it and you can see at a glance whether to add weight. Log on iPhone or Apple Watch, and the Watch counts your reps for you.
Have the program in a spreadsheet or screenshot already? Import it and Splyt turns it into editable templates. Use the one-rep max calculator to set a training max, the warm-up calculator for warm-up sets in whole plates, and strength standards to see where your lifts sit for your bodyweight.
Questions
Madcow or Texas Method?
Both are three-day intermediate programs with weekly progress. Madcow ramps up to one top set; the Texas Method uses straight sets of five on volume day. Madcow is often the gentler step.
How much weight do I add each week on Madcow?
Around 2.5% a week on the top sets.
Why is Wednesday so light?
It is a recovery session. Moving the lifts at lower weights keeps you practising them without adding fatigue before Friday’s records.
Similar programs
- StrongLifts 5×5 — beginner, 3 days
- Texas Method — intermediate, 3 days
- 5/3/1 Boring But Big — intermediate, 4 days
- Every program, by level and days
More for your training
- Workout splits: how push pull legs, upper/lower and full body compare
- Ready-made workouts for every muscle and piece of equipment
- The exercise library: how to do every lift above
- Strength standards by lift and bodyweight
Run this program in Splyt, the workout tracker for iPhone and Apple Watch that remembers what you lifted. Get Splyt free on the App Store