Stronglifts 5x5 for beginner

2»

Replies

  • shor0814
    shor0814 Posts: 559 Member
    ritzvin wrote: »
    giantrobot_powerlifting wrote: »
    I’d recommend Starting Strength over Stronglifts for these reasons:

    1. SS has better coaching. SL has none.
    2. SS is run by a coach. SL is run by some guy.
    3. SS has a very difficult coaching certification process with very high quality coaches. SL has no coaches.
    4. If you need help, you can meet with a SS coach in your area. SL does not.
    5. SS has a rich instructional and coaching content on YouTube.
    6. SS has a podcast.
    7. SS has two main books. The book “Starting Strength” is a broad, but easy enough to understand.
    8. SS website regularly publishes new content
    9. SS does have an app
    10. SS has online coaching
    11. After your novice phase, what program will you run? SS has programming for the intermediate to continue their gains

    At the very least, I'd recommend buying his book and reading over the sections on form if you aren't going to have a personal trainer to check you. He goes into a lot of detail, and specifically on the common things people do wrong that could cause injury.

    I have yet to see a PT in any commercial gym that could give form advice on the big 3, especially low bar squats. I think you are better off taking videos and posting online for critique. But this is my own experience.
  • shor0814
    shor0814 Posts: 559 Member
    colors_fade wrote: »
    ritzvin wrote: »
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I concur Starting Strength is much better than SL, but the suggestion to drop SL to 3x5 instead of the prescribed 5x5 would be a reasonable adjustment if dead set on SL. The biggest problem I have with SL is the unnecessary volume level for a novice and it's starting point is a waste for most people who can lift heavier with good form. There is alot of wasted time and energy that is lost on a efficiency level..

    ditto. A ton of extra volume and extra time in the gym that a lot of people don't have. As a beginner, 3 sets gets pretty significant results and can be done in less than 40 minutes.

    Mehdi ("some guy", LOL) has videos of the A & B workouts for Stronglifts. He does them in 30 minutes.

    The math is based on 24-50

    Starting Strength is great and Mark Rippetoe is a well-known name. But there's absolutely no reason to cut down Stronglifts in order to promote SS. Stronglifts is a proven program with thousands of users; it's been out there for over a decade now. There are videos, message boards, an paid-for community content. It's simple and it works.

    Both of these programs are great starting points for anyone who wants to start lifting.

    To add a third (geared more for women): Strong Curves, written by Bret Contreras, who is a lifting research guru.

    All three of these programs are good starting points for new lifters.

    They didn't "cut down" Stronglifts in order to promote SS. They gave reasons why they believe SS is better than SL along with reasons why. Nobody said it didn't work, they said that it is unnecessary (wasted) volume for a beginner, there is nothing wrong with that contention.
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    For anyone who has run SS, do you think it's necessary to use SS coaching? There's a SS gym (atlanta barbell) about 30m from me -- that's a bit further than I would ordinarily travel (there's a lot of gyms near me, admittedly only a small number of them even have squat racks), but I was just wondering if it would be worth it or if it's reasonably likely that i'll be fine with books/the ss videos.
  • shor0814
    shor0814 Posts: 559 Member
    fuzzylop72 wrote: »
    For anyone who has run SS, do you think it's necessary to use SS coaching? There's a SS gym (atlanta barbell) about 30m from me -- that's a bit further than I would ordinarily travel (there's a lot of gyms near me, admittedly only a small number of them even have squat racks), but I was just wondering if it would be worth it or if it's reasonably likely that i'll be fine with books/the ss videos.

    I don't think you need to get SS coaching, but I would certainly pay for a couple of days coaching from someone like Rip or a few of his better known coaches just because I think I could improve with their help. Even Alan Thrall has had some huge benefits from being coached by Austin Baraki.

    I would start out with the books and videos and see how you feel. Make sure you have videos and post them for others to critique. Biggest thing you can do to improve lifting is have an ego kept in check, an open mind and thick skin.
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    edited May 2018
    So the biggest reason that you guys prefer SS over SL (aside from the coaching that's available) is that SS gives the beginner more time to recover (due to less reps required).

    Is this correct?

    https://spotmebro.com/starting-strength-vs-stronglifts-5x5/
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    EDIT:

    Yes, I am correct.

    Just did a quick google search "stronglifts versus starting strength" and people are saying that 5x5 is too much volume for a newbie; you will just end up stalling quicker.

    After I finish rehab, I think I will start SS, but replace the cleans with rows.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    I most closely follow the regimen on aworkoutplan. (I also found squats every session to be too much for me, and thought replacing with an upper body pull movement on deadlift day where otherwise missing made sense).
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    Dern420 wrote: »
    EDIT:

    Yes, I am correct.

    Just did a quick google search "stronglifts versus starting strength" and people are saying that 5x5 is too much volume for a newbie; you will just end up stalling quicker.

    After I finish rehab, I think I will start SS, but replace the cleans with rows.

    True that is a big one.

    Also when it comes to strength training it's more efficient to use the least amount of stress(volume) to force adaptation. If you use more than needed, you eccentially forfeit some of useful stress to continue adaptation that would be useful in post novice programming.

    Meaning why use 5x5 as a novice when you can move up in weight at the same speed at 3x5?

    Recovery is then easier and one can continue with progress into post novice without stalling as fast.
    fuzzylop72 wrote: »
    For anyone who has run SS, do you think it's necessary to use SS coaching? There's a SS gym (atlanta barbell) about 30m from me -- that's a bit further than I would ordinarily travel (there's a lot of gyms near me, admittedly only a small number of them even have squat racks), but I was just wondering if it would be worth it or if it's reasonably likely that i'll be fine with books/the ss videos.

    Necessary? No. Worth the investment? In cases where you plan to go for the long haul yes. Although SS have some of the better coaches I feel that you will get better coaching from the guys at Barbellmedicine who have recently parted ways will SS. Feigenbaum and Buraki are two of the best I've seen.

Categories