Intermediate · 3×/week · weekly progression
Madcow 5×5 Program
Madcow is a great next step after a beginner program — or any time you stall and can't add weight every session. More in the Madcow 5×5 guide.
To use this calculator, enter your current 5-rep maxes and get your complete week-by-week plan in seconds — every set and weight worked out for you.
Your current 5-rep maxes
5RM = your recent top set of 5 — what you actually hit for 5 clean reps lately, not an all-time best. Leave a lift blank to drop it.
Advanced — press variant, match week, length
Your 12-week plan
You ramp (work up in weight) through lighter sets to one top set; on Friday a heavier triple (3 reps) plus a lighter high-rep back-off. 5×5 = 5 sets of 5 reps. Rest longer before the heavier sets — full rest guidance in the guide →
What is Madcow 5×5?
Madcow 5×5 (often written "Madcow 5x5") is an intermediate barbell program — a 2000s adaptation of Bill Starr's 5×5, popularized by an anonymous forum poster known as Madcow, who swapped the Olympic lifts for barbell rows and deadlifts. Instead of adding weight every workout like a beginner program, you progress once per week across three full-body sessions arranged Heavy / Light / Medium — Block A on Monday (medium), Block B on Wednesday (light), Block C on Friday (the heavy PR day), always in that order. The squat is trained every session, bench and row twice a week, shoulder press and deadlift once. Wednesday is light for the squat only — its squat top is just 75% of Monday's (shown as Light top in the plan), while the deadlift is still a heavy weekly top set.
Each session you ramp — work up through progressively heavier sets — to one top set. Then Friday you hit a triple (a top set of 3 reps, a touch heavier than Monday) plus a lighter high-rep back-off set of 8. That Friday triple becomes next Monday's 5-rep weight — the Madcow double progression. It's the natural next step once StrongLifts 5×5 or Starting Strength stops moving. Full guide: Heavy/Light/Medium (HLM) logic, variations, what to do after Madcow →
The other common next step is the Texas Method — Madcow is the gentler of the two. See how StrongLifts 5×5, Madcow and the Texas Method compare →
How this calculator works
Your recent top set of 5 (or recent 5×5 weight) — your true number, not an all-time best. The on-ramp already starts you lighter, so weeks 1–3 feel easy on purpose. Example: enter a 100 kg squat and week 1 is 5×92.5 kg, climbing to 5×120 kg by week 12.
"On-ramp" = the first weeks start a bit below your max and climb, so you match your 5RM in week 4 and set PRs from week 5.
Each day ramps to its top set, then adds +2.5 kg a week on squat & deadlift and +1.25 kg on bench, row & shoulder press (those need micro-plates or you'll stall).
What can I expect?
Here's roughly where each lift lands by the final week — based on the numbers you entered above.
These weekly numbers are targets for a clean run — most lifters stall before the final weeks and repeat sets, and the smaller lifts (press, row) stall soonest, so their late numbers are the most optimistic. That's normal, not failure. How long to run it, realistic gains, and how to reset after a stall →
Madcow 5×5 FAQ
What weight should I start with?
Enter your true recent 5RM — the most you hit for 5 clean reps lately, not an all-time best or a goal weight. The on-ramp automatically starts you about 3 increments lighter in week 1 (how big that is in percent depends on the lift — heavier lifts ease in shallower) and matches your 5RM in week 4, with new PRs from week 5. Want to ease in more? Raise the match week in Advanced — do not enter a lower number.
How much weight do I add each week?
+2.5 kg per week on the squat and deadlift, and +1.25 kg on bench, row and shoulder press. The upper-body jumps are small — you need fractional or micro plates (down to 0.5 kg) or those lifts stall early.
What is the Friday triple and back-off?
On Friday you ramp to a top set of 3 reps just above Monday's 5-rep weight (a PR feeler), then do one back-off set of 8 reps at about 75% of Monday's top. Next Monday you lift that triple weight for 5 reps.
What are ramp sets?
Ramp sets are the lighter sets you climb through before your top set — for example 50%, 62.5%, 75%, 87.5%, then the top set itself. They are not just warm-ups: the heavier ramp sets are real working volume that primes you for the top set.
Why is my deadlift on the light (Wednesday) day?
Wednesday is light for the squat, not for everything. The deadlift is its own weekly top set of 5 — squat volume from the other two days already drives your pull, so it only needs training once a week.
Shoulder press or incline bench on Wednesday?
Either works. Shoulder press is harder to progress and trains the shoulders more. Incline is just another bench angle. Pick one, not both.
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