Dropping 5x5 to 3x5 = free time at gym

stumblinthrulife

I'm doing Stronglifts, and I've now deloaded twice on each exercise, so I've switched to 3x5 per the program.

This has left me some time to spare at the gym. Again, for reference, my primary goal is strength:weight ratio. I could do with a little more mass eventually, but I don't want it to come without corresponding strength increases. To best meet my goals, should I -

1. Add in the assistance work from the original SL5x5 (dips, chins and reverse crunches, iirc)
2. Add some lighter work in the hypertrophy range on the core lifts, as previously discussed.
3. Enjoy the reduced load and improved recovery.
4. Other?

I'm currently cutting as my body fat percentage is still too high. 13% by caliper, but I think that's an underestimate.

_John_

I'd do more assistance stuff. I like the 8-12 rep range on those exercises.

jacksonpt

I'm no SS, so take this with a grain of salt...

Personally, I would do assistance work in the hypertrophy range. IMO, a routine without dips, chins, etc, is an incomplete routine. There are numerous benefits to working in the hypertrophy range and some degree of prioritization will benefit almost everyone.

The only thing I'd consider would be HIIT, but I enjoy cardio work so a high intensity cardio workout is right up my alley. I also have cardio goals that line up well with HIIT.


Ultimately though, you are in a good place. You have the basics covered with SL. As long as you feel good, are seeing progress, and are happy with your workouts, you can do about whatever you want.

Sarauk2sf

Tagging

DopeItUp

1 or 3, IMO. Adding in some assistance work is good, especially the big, compound ones. GHR, reverse hyper, dips, chins/pullups, rows, etc. Even doing some variations of the main lifts, like incline bench, front squats, or dumbbell work for example. I tried hypertrophy work when I was doing SL for a few months, it didn't really seem to do anything in a deficit. I've added them back in now that I'm in a surplus and it works better that way, IMO. Especially if your main goal is strength while cutting.

The only reason I would go with 3 is if you start to suffer from recovery issues and your lifts are stalling or going backwards. Too much work in a deficit can impact performance greatly. There's only one way to find out though.

Sarauk2sf

I would look to see what your 'pain points' are with your lifts and/or areas lagging from a musculature perspective and add assists in to aid those.

Assistance work should be selected based on your goals and where you are with your lifts/physique.

That being said, SL is a bit lacking in pulls so I would generally add those. The rest really depends. What do you think is causing your lifts to stall? For example, are you failing at the top or the bottom of bench? Is your core collapsing for squats or is it your glutes not firing. Is your grip failing on deads or are you having problems getting it off the floor.

stumblinthrulife

Thanks Sarah. Here are my pain points, are there any assistance lifts that would help me in particular?

Squats - hitting depth. From half depth I am pretty much jumping with the bar on my shoulders - I can lift, much, much more weight than I can make depth with. As soon as I get down to parallel, I am struggling. I've forced myself to be really strict about depth, and this morning hit 3x5 130lb - an obvious weak point, but still significant improvement from where I started.

Bench - really just getting the reps in. My weight has been increasing, but the 5lb increases are getting a little aggressive. I hit 5x5 135lb, but couldn't manage 5x5 140lb. Deloaded last week to 3x5 125lb. Will go up to 135lb in two sessions, then I'm considering moving to 2.5lb increments (got some fractionals for xmas).

OHP - Same as bench, really. Hit 5x5 95lb, then missed at 100lb. Deloaded to 85lb. Hit 95lb today, will try 100lb next session, then consider incrementing by 2.5lb per session.

Rows - self imposed second deload, after I realized I had cheated myself well past where I should be. I was coming upright to add momentum to the bar. Now that back down to 135lb my form is better. I'll see how progress works with a 5lb increment and switch to 2.5lb if it's too much.

Deadlifts - hit 275 and simply couldn't keep up with the volume anymore and hit my first deload. Went down to 245lb. Will increase to 275 in three sessions, but if I don't hit 275 first time, I'll may drop to 270lb and switch to 5lb increments.

As to my physique - skinny fat. My caliper readings indicate 13% body fat, but I'm pretty sure that's an under estimate. I'm 163lb, and not carrying much muscle.

DopeItUp

Thanks Sarah. Here are my pain points, are there any assistance lifts that would help me in particular?

Squats - hitting depth. From half depth I am pretty much jumping with the bar on my shoulders - I can lift, much, much more weight than I can make depth with. As soon as I get down to parallel, I am struggling. I've forced myself to be really strict about depth, and this morning hit 3x5 130lb - an obvious weak point, but still significant improvement from where I started.

Just a note, this is normal. That's why you see bros doing 500lb quarter squats when they probably couldn't do a single rep of 300 to full depth.

SideSteel

Mobility work and practice helped my squatting substantially. If you're not doing any mobility work, I'd recommend it.

moya_rargh

Are you supposed to add 5lb/2.5kg to every exercise every time you train or just each week?

scott091501

Mobility work and practice helped my squatting substantially. If you're not doing any mobility work, I'd recommend it.

This. Work on your hips and glutes with a foam roller and a raquetball daily.

moya_rargh

Just downloaded the excel sheet. Does this programme work your arms as much as it says it does? The sheet has dips and chins added, is this not the proper spreadsheet?