Proven program, faithfully implemented
Madcow 5×5
Madcow 5×5 is the intermediate successor to the novice 5×5: the weight moves once a week, not once a session. Each session ramps through five sets to a single top set, and the week is shaped heavy / light / medium — Friday's top set is the weekly PR that seeds the next week's numbers.
About the program
Created by: Madcow (Bill Starr 5×5 lineage) — Bill Starr 5×5 — Madcow Linear Version (archived original).
Who it's for
- Best for: Strength, once adding weight every session has stopped working.
- Experience: Intermediate. Bring an honest recent 5RM — the whole week is calculated from it.
- Time: Three days a week, on a weekly cycle. It runs for as long as the weekly step keeps landing.
How it's built
The shape of the program — sessions, sets and rep scheme. Iron Forge fills in the exact weights for you from your maxes.
Week
Monday (heavy)
- Barbell Squat — 5×5
- + 2 more exercises
Wednesday (light)
- Barbell Squat — 4×5
- + 2 more exercises
Friday (PR)
- Barbell Squat — 4×5, 1×3+, 1×8
- + 2 more exercises
How Iron Forge runs it
How it works
Madcow 5×5 is an intermediate 5×5 programme for lifters who've outgrown session-to-session progression. Instead of adding weight every workout, you progress weekly. Each session ramps in five sets to one top set of 5, and the week has a heavy day, a light day, and a medium 'PR' day. On the medium day you set a new 5-rep top set — a small weekly personal record — then the whole scheme steps up for the next week.
Weekly progression
You add a small amount (roughly 2.5–5% or a fixed small jump) to your ramped top sets each week, driven by the medium day's top 5. Because you only push a true top set once a week and back it with lighter ramp and volume days, you recover well enough to keep PR-ing for months after a beginner LP has stalled.
The heavy / light / medium week
Monday is the volume 'ramp to a top 5×5', Wednesday is a lighter recovery day (fewer/lighter sets), and Friday ramps to a single heavier top set of 5 — the weekly PR that seeds next week's numbers. Three lifts rotate through the week (squat every session, alternating pressing and pulling), mirroring the classic StrongLifts movement selection at intermediate volume.
Madcow 5×5 in Iron Forge
FAQ
- How is Madcow different from StrongLifts 5×5?
Progression is weekly, not per-session. You ramp to a top set and only PR once a week (the medium/Friday day), which is sustainable once daily progression has stalled.
- When should I switch to Madcow?
When a beginner linear programme (StrongLifts, Starting Strength) stops progressing even after deloads — usually a few months in. Madcow is the classic 'next step.'
- What are the ramp sets?
Rather than five sets across at one weight, you ramp up in weight over the sets to a single top set of 5. The lighter sets are practice and volume; the top set drives progression.
- What do the heavy/light/medium days do?
Monday is the volume day, ramping five sets of five. Wednesday is lighter recovery for the squat, and the only day the overhead press and deadlift are trained. Friday is the intensity day: four ramp sets, a top set of THREE above Monday's heaviest, then a back-off set of eight. The light day is what makes Friday's PR real.
- How much weight do I add each week?
A small weekly step (about 2.5–5%, or a fixed small increment) on the top sets — small enough to keep setting 5-rep PRs week after week.
- What if I miss my weekly PR?
Repeat the week or make a small reset; a missed PR means the jumps have gotten too big for your recovery. Persistent misses mean it's time for a more advanced periodised programme.
- Why are my first weeks lighter than the weights I entered?
Because the programme opens with a run-up: it starts about 10% below the top set you entered and climbs back over roughly four weeks, so the real personal bests start around week five. That is Madcow's design rather than a safety margin — the model needs several weeks of successful climbing in front of the first PR, and starting at your true max leaves no room for it.
- Why is my Wednesday overhead press marked with a +?
Because the overhead press and the deadlift are trained only on Wednesday, and the app moves a lift's training max off its marked top set. Without the mark those two lifts would never progress at all. Treat it as the straight top set the source prescribes — hitting the target is what matters, not chasing extra reps.
- What happens when I stall?
Miss your top set three weeks running on a lift and its training max drops back to 90%, which puts you roughly a month back to re-ramp. That is the programme working as designed: Madcow expects you to stall somewhere around eight to twelve weeks and to reset and climb again, not to keep grinding at a number that has stopped moving.
- What training max do I enter?
The weight you can currently do for a hard top set of five on the heavy day. It is not 90% of a one-rep max, which is what training max means in 5/3/1 — here every percentage is worked off that honest top five, so an optimistic number shortens the run before the first reset.
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