The Strong Lifts 5 by 5 Thread

[SuperBOB]

Hey guys.. will work my way through this thread - just wanted to say I follow an SS style workout.

Workout A
Squat 3x5
Bench Press 3x5
Pendlay Row 3x5
Chin-ups till failure 3xX

Workout B
Squat 3x5
Seated Military Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5
Chin-ups till failure 3xX

About 2 months in. Making progress on form - Squat in particular has taken several critiques from friends & other gym goers to get right.

 

[SuperBOB]

I should have said... I am considering switching to SL.

Mostly motivated by the increased volume of work (5x5) and assume it will be better for somebody who is trying to lose body fat.

 

[19ninety]

Well, I'm doing SL 3x5. Using liftbig android app. Have a more than full time job + baby and wanted something quick, easy and effective, so far 6 Weeks in and currently:
Squat 90lb (+45)
Deadlift 165lb (+80)
Bench 85lb (+40)
Press 90lb (+40) (failed on 5th set, dropped back to 85lb to finish)
Row 105lb (+40)

3rd and 4th sets of OH Press @ 90lbs were very hard, will do 90 again next time and de-load to complete the sets if needed.

Not much in the way of gains so far, but then its strong lifts, not hypertrophy lifts. Theory is simple, you want to loose fat and get strong, big compound lifts are the way forward.
You want big guns, isolations the way forward, curls & lateral pulldowns for tight t-shirt posing down at Yates's ... if thats what yer in to.

 

[Eddietop]

Long time lurker of this thread, I've been doing stronglifts for over 4 months now and have had good results so far.

Today was deadlift day.

Squat 5x5 @ 100kg
OHP 4x5 @ 45kg
Deadlift 1x5 @ 125kg

My upper body is lagging significantly, my ohp and bench press are my weakest exercises and I'm stalling a lot.

Stronglifts is a great program, in the 4 months I've been doing it my body weight has gone from 150lbs to 178lbs, most of that will be fat but hopefully I've put on a good 5/6 lbs of muscle. I try to eat 3k calories per day and at least 160g of protein with mostly clean carbs.

I'm thinking of cutting soon, or at least changing from stronglifts, I feel physically wiped out every time I leave the gym now and I literally have to go home and nap for 20 mins before I can continue the day!

 

[ricky1981]

The advice seems to be that you move to 3x5 then 1x5 if you are stalling and deloading doesn't work twice for the same weight.

You can mix and match so can do 5x5 for everything else and 3x5 for OHP/BP and it's totally normal for OHP and BP to be the first you need to deload at (followed by row then squat).

I had my first failure yesterday on OHP (at 45kg as well!), I've been aware that my form has been slipping on this and BP (probably others too) so might actually deload for a week just to work on technique again.

I'm also hitting a point where doing Stronglifts Mon/Wed/Fri as well as an hour of running/cardio on Tues/Thurs/Sat/Sun is becoming unsustainable as I don't have heaps of energy for lifting days. I might have to drop 1-2 of the cardio days at least until my next half marathon is approaching.

 

[Kimi]

I posted this in the gym rats thread, but i was supposed to put it in here, so i copy paste

Today is my final day of week 12 in the 5 x 5 stronglifts program

Squat, Start 19, Finish 50
Bench press Start 32.5, Finish 78.5
Overhead Press Start20, Finish 50
Barbell Row Start 30, Finish 72.5
Deadlift Start 40, Finish 87.5

Im going to keep going on this and start from week 1 again

Also, after my squats i have started doing 10 x 20kg lunges, because i could squat more but unitl my rack comes, getting the bar up over my head and back again after the 5 is quite hard

 

[jordan282]

I posted this in the gym rats thread, but i was supposed to put it in here, so i copy paste

Today is my final day of week 12 in the 5 x 5 stronglifts program

Squat, Start 19, Finish 50
Bench press Start 32.5, Finish 78.5
Overhead Press Start20, Finish 50
Barbell Row Start 30, Finish 72.5
Deadlift Start 40, Finish 87.5

Im going to keep going on this and start from week 1 again

Also, after my squats i have started doing 10 x 20kg lunges, because i could squat more but unitl my rack comes, getting the bar up over my head and back again after the 5 is quite hard

Nice progress keep it up.
My Squat went from 50kg to 90kg
Bench from 50kg to 75kg
OHP 40kg to 55kg
BBR 40 to 70kg
DEAD 50kg to 120kg

Then I went travelling

 

[Maxeh]

Really enjoying doing SL coming from mainly cardio for a few months.

Not been doing it that long but gone from.

Squats 40kg to 67.5kg
Bench 50kg to 62.5kg
Barbell Row 30kg to 42.5kg
OHP 30kg to 40kg
Deadlift 40kg to 80kg

 

[jordan282]

I havent done much gym work since going travelling. Here goes

bench press down from 75kg to 55kg and struggling
Deadlift from 130kg to 100kg
Squat from 100kg to 60kg lol

Gunna hit this hard

 

[elmarko]

I've gone from in the last few months.

BP - 20kg to 57.5kg
Squat - 20kg to 90kg.
BBR - 30kg to 57.5kg.
OHP - 20kg to 45kg.
Deadlift - 30kg to 115kg.

Been on a calorie deficit the whole time so I think it's slowing down my progress somewhat.

I also do (as I didn't feel I was spending enough time working out a week) after my core lifts.

3x8 16kgx2 Dum-bell curls/Hammer curls (alternate each session).
3x8 16kgx2 Dum-bell overhead press.
3x10 2x20kg plate holding calf raises.

I also do a few farmers walks holding the 2 20kg plates for a bit walking about (trying to improve my grip).

Then press-ups at the end (or 1 set or 10, or more if I can till exhaustion).

My OHP is the one which I keep failing/having to deload - my BP seems to be progressing slowly but steadily, squats are getting better, I was about to hit 100kg but deloaded to improve form (make sure I'm going low enough a few times).

 

[Maxeh]

How are you finding it mate? My bench today was 72.5kg and felt OK yet I am really struggling to get past 40kg on OHP.

 

[elmarko]

How are you finding it mate? My bench today was 72.5kg and felt OK yet I am really struggling to get past 40kg on OHP.

I'm finding it hard for 45/47.5 on my OHP (going to try for 50 today, as done 47.5 once iirc) - but my BP I'm struggling to hit 60 so far.

I guess everybody has different lifts which feel harder for them (pending on natural muscle development).

 

[ricky1981]

OHP is the worst for me, I'm taking a break at the moment as I've got a couple of half marathons to train for and need to up my cardio but got this far in 21 sessions (7 weeks). Planning to start up again in a month or so and drop 10-20kg from each lift and refocus on form as it was getting pretty sloppy.

BP - 20kg to 60kg
Squat - 20kg to 75kg.
BBR - 30kg to 60kg.
OHP - 20kg to 45kg.
Deadlift - 30kg to 90kg.

It's a great program, although I don't find I enjoy weights in the same way as my running, it can be rewarding but the actual act of lifting isn't fun! My wife is very impressed/pleased with the muscle gains though

 

[19ninety]

Two weeks of ill and a week of busy sorting a squat rack .... has wrecked my progress
Getting back on it this week, lift lift lift!
Squat 110lbs (50kg)
OHP 75lbs (34kg)
Row 95lbs (43kg)
Bench 75lbs (34kg)
Dead 150lbs (68kg)

Also went to update my SL sheet from the LiftBig app only to find theres an error with the app where its not upping the Squat weight fast enough - hence why my squat was so low before compared to my DL. Now using "Strength" app by Airlock Software, fantastic SL5x5 app, fully customisable too which is great. Legs are sore after adding 20lb right after time off, oh well.

 

[Ksanti]

Alright post summer getting back into it, starting at a gym etc. and since people on this forum use it and recommend doing it, I figured I'd get in on this SL business.

A question though, how strictly do you stick to the progression of weight that it suggests? Squats in particular seem to go crazy high (107.5kg by the end of 12 weeks on the default 20kg starting point) which I know that I won't get to unless I'm shovelling down 6000 calories a day and sleeping whenever I'm not in the gym (which won't happen given uni apps). What do you do if you can't up it? Do you stall everything else, or just that exercise? I'm not quite sure I see anywhere in the spreadsheet to add in extra weeks of the same exercise?

EDIT: I do realise on the spreadsheet it says repeat and then eventually deload, but why would the squats amp up so quickly if, starting at 20kg, there's no way in hell you'll make it to 110kg squats by the end of 12 weeks without devoting your life to it.

 

[ricky1981]

Squats ramp up quicker because you do them each time whereas the other lifts alternate. If (or rather when) you fail then you try 3 times then deload, it's all in the guide so give that a read.

You are most likely not going to make every set of lifts but you'll probably find your overhead press limit is hit sooner than your squat. It's a good program and extra calories help but you don't need anything like 6,000.

 

[Ksanti]

So it all balances out, I guess? If you get stuck on your OHP or squat, eventually that'll start limiting your other lifts so you end up generally keeping in sync?

 

[Chris1712]

Just stick to the progression, 2.5kg every session until you get stuck for 3 session then deload. Obviously the spreadsheet just assumes you never deload so looks a bit crazy, just use the spreadsheet to get your starting values.

 

[ricky1981]

The lifts are expected to balance, your OHP will be less than your Bench Press unless you have a very odd physique. That's not an issue it's just down to how our bodies/muscles are laid out, some lifts let you engage stronger muscles than others. If you check previous posts you'll see some typical numbers showing the differences across the lifts but just keep going and deload when needed

 

[Psymonkee]

Back on this and forcing myself to start from the beginning again. If all goes to plan I should have some pretty nice numbers by my birthday