HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

I was recently spending some time on other forums and ran across some posts by a guy who actually had Bill Starr as a strength coach in college. He stated that the 5×5 routine, the type that Madcow has listed on his website was only used for the first 3 weeks of training, generally for beginners as a break-in to weight training. His real routine was a little different and had quite a bit more volume. I have a copy of the the routine and we post it when I have more time.

cool if you could post it that would be great.

Bill Starr Routine:

Was used from January to April. Trainees added at least 100lbs. to their Squat during this time.

Monday.

Power Cleans- 5×5
Squats- 4×8
Bench Press- 5×3, 2×8
Dumbbell Incline- 2×20

Wednesday:

Incline Press- 5×5, 1×8
Squats- 5×5 ( light day- top set 50lbs. lighter)
Good Mornings- 4×10
Calf Raises- 3×30
Biceps- 2×20
Triceps- 2×20

Friday:

Squats- 5×3, 1×8
Shrugs- 5×5
Bench Press- 3×8, 1×2
Close Grip Bench- 3×8
Biceps- 2×20
Triceps- 2×20

-Ramping up to top set on the big exercises where it has 5×5, 4×8, etc. listed.
– Back off sets to failure.
-Rather than periodizing over weeks or months he did it within each week- 8 reps om Mon., 5 reps on Wed., 3 reps on Fri.
– High reps on isolation exercises to spare the joints after doing 5′s and 3′s.

I found it interesting that there were no Deadlifts of Military Presses included.

"-Rather than periodizing over weeks or months he did it within each week- 8 reps om Mon., 5 reps on Wed., 3 reps on Fri."

which means that it′s not really a beginner′s routine but an intermediate. A beginner would not need a light day midweek.
the only people who would need to periodize over many weeks or months are advanced and elite athletes.
adding 100 lbs to the squat in 4 months should be a cake walk for a novice. When you do the math it′s less than a 2lb increase per session.

B&G;