Stronglifts 5x5

jaxstraww

Using the program but over the years my shoulders have taken a beating. The military press puts allot of strain on one of my shoulders in the front part of the deltoid.

Can I replace that lift with another and still keep the benefits of the 5x5 program?

Finally, do the exercises need to be done in the order listed ? The way my home gym is set up I would prefer to do the lifts in a different order.

jaxstraww

Bump.....

michaelmadonna

Sorry, I don't have a answer for you, I just started the program, but I'm interested as well. Other than the OHP I would be able to do everything else at home instead of the gym.

whierd

Try it with dumb bells or do an inclined bench press.

CoderGal

pullups?

ErinMLB

I just started the program as well, but I do remember reading that it should be done in order of the program.

taunto

Using the program but over the years my shoulders have taken a beating. The military press puts allot of strain on one of my shoulders in the front part of the deltoid.

Can I replace that lift with another and still keep the benefits of the 5x5 program?

Finally, do the exercises need to be done in the order listed ? The way my home gym is set up I would prefer to do the lifts in a different order.

I think rather than finding an alternative to OHP you need to figure out why its giving you pain since with the right form and weights, it shouldn't. I honestly don't have an answer what would cause the pain but perhaps its something to look into.

As for the sequence, you can go whichever way you like. Mehdi just prefers it this way because a lot of people hate squats so he feels its better to get them out of the way. Also, squats takes up a lot of your energy in the start and since its the king of lifts, its better to spend your initial energy on it than others. But you can change the sequence around if you wish.

ellsdemon

My recommendation is to read and study Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, and also Practical Programming for Strength Training. This both changed how I lift and approach lifting and have done wonders for some similar problems you are having.

Zaniejane

I have a shoulder issue so have been doing a great deal of reading and questioning. I haven't followed strong-lifts yet. At the moment I only do rows and deadlifts with a barbell.

My surgeon has told me that I can never do overhead exercise again. My contingency plan, if I believe him, will be to replace OHP with either dumb bell lateral and forward raises or incline chest presses. My physiotherapist concurs.

Different approaches are designed to meet different goals. If the goal is to build muscle mass as quickly as possible, my adaptations may not be as efficient, but I'll still get to where I want to be eventually. Screwing up my shoulder again will be my least efficient route.

I haven't really studied stronglifts but I thought I heard that the reason for the one set of dead lifts at the end of one of the workouts had to do with squatting at the beginning? (I like to do two warm-up sets then at least three heavy sets of dead lifts but I figure that's ok because I can't do barbell squats)

In Riptide's Starting Strength, it says that sequence can be changed based on the goals of the athlete and even then, competitive lifters with the same goals may Use different approaches. The book says that squats were put first because they are most important and deserve the most effort:)

212019156

Starting Strength is a great program. 5x5 is ok, but in my opinion too many sets. As far as the shoulder issue, I agree with a previous poster stating that rather than drop the exercise you should try and figure out why you are hahichving the issue. It could be a form issue. Try deloading on the overhead press until you figure it out. It could be a few different issues. What is the pain like and does it only occur with OHP? Does it occur in a particular part of the movement? Depending on the type and location it could be biceps tendinosis/tendinitis or possibly a rotator cuff issue. Another potential issue is impingement. A lot of time shoulder issues are cause by alignment problems which need to be corrected by targeting stabilizer muscles and stretching.

halleymw

You might try this:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/shoulder_shocker


Mike

Zaniejane

You might try this:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/shoulder_shocker


Mike

Thanks!! This article confirms everything I have learned from years of physiotherapy and reading. Bonus: The guy in the picture looks strong and huge !
I have the link bookmarked.

toddis

After doing physical therapy (twice) I've substituted the arnold press for the OHP, then I supplement it with various other shoulder focused exercises. The last part of the article linked shows exercises they also have me do, so I think it's a good idea.

I also found that it wasn't only OHP that was aggravating my shoulders, but bad form on the bench. Might want to double check form there.

Mobility exercises prior to working out is always a good idea.

As far as lift order, always do the most strenuous compound movement up front.

Cherimoose

The military press puts allot of strain on one of my shoulders in the front part of the deltoid.

These kind of things should be checked out by a sports MD or physical therapist, but you can try doing a dumbbell shoulder press and only go halfway up, like in the "Shoulder Shocker" video above. In fact you can stop with your humerus (arm bone) parallel to ground. Just let your elbows come all the way down at the start of each rep.

jaxstraww

I had a cyst in my shoulder at one time which caused some issues. Did therapy for awhile but was told I would never lift like I did and just to accept it. Not a form issue or to much weight just an old injury that others me when I do pushing exercises but not pulling exercises. Another person emailed me and indicated that the order is important because of fatigue. Tougher and more important exercises early and the others as fatigued set in. Kinda what I thought so I'll go with it. He also suggested the Arnold presses. I'll check out te video. enjoying getting into weights again but just the OHP is a ***** to deal with. Bench may be similar as the weight gets higher but OK right now. No issues with the squats, rows or dead-lifts. Actually, those were exercises I ignored when I was younger.

MisterDerpington

Starting Strength is a great program. 5x5 is ok, but in my opinion too many sets.

Yup.

jaxstraww

Just wow. Just completed my workout and used SS instead of the OHP and all I can say is....Great burn with no pain. I know I'm not staying true to the 5x5 but this felt like a great shoulder workout that is pain free. In fact, dead-lifts went better since I wasn't griping about the overhead press I would have normally just completed.

Fallouts

Do some rear delt work, I had shoulder impingement from over developed front delts, once I worked on the rears and corrected the balance issue everything cleared up. I feel most people have underdeveloped rear delts.

lj8576

bump

bumblebums

Read Starting Strength. The (overhead) barbell press is a fairly technical lift, and if you do it incorrectly, you will make your shoulder worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMAiNQJ6FPc

An old muscle tear injury that healed incorrectly will have left scars, which get aggravated by the stress of exercise and will give you problems. That can be fixed by a good massage therapist. If you have something worse, like an old tendon tear that healed incorrectly, you might never be able to do very heavy weights in that lift.

And some people find that pulling movements don't hurt as much as pressing lifts do, so you can strengthen the muscles of your upper body by doing chin-ups. They will help your press, too, since they require some tricep and delt strength.