NROL or Stronglifts 5x5

GorillaNJ

Both are very different workouts. I have done both I think they each have strong points depending on what you want from your program.

There are several verions of NROL, of which I have done the original, 4life and Supercharged. The newest and "best" being Supercharged. I think it is an amazing program. Full body workouts that focus on the major natrual motions of the body. After the break in routines workouts including RAMP warmups, through Post workout foam roller will take just over an hour most times. The workout will exhaust your entire body each time. The workouts are build your own... the way it is described in the book is by using a Chinese menu approach. Each workout is broken down into parts, and you pick the exercise that fits there. It sounds more complicated then it is, but it gives you a flexibility to engage each portion of the workout with the lift most appropriate to your fitness level. It really does help to read and understand the book as you progress.

Strong Lifts 5x5 is simpler to follow and takes much less time per workout. You are using heavier weights for less repetitions and really focusing in on Strength Training. There are only the 5 exercises to master and each one is great at helping you get stronger and stronger. As you advance in the workout you are using heavier weights to achieve the same lifts, if you are new to lifting you will probably see your strength grow pretty quickly at first.

Personally.... when I have the time to do the workouts I think NROL is great. It is a structured workout with a lot of variability. When I am pressed for time, like during the seasons I coach the kids sports teams and my workout needs to stay under an hour I go with a strength based program (I prefer 5/3/1 to stronglifts 5x5)

deksgrl

Read the New Rules for the info, there is a lot of good stuff in there, but do the Stronglifts workout.

I started with New Rules and initially it was good, but I felt that after the first couple of phases, the lifts went into more isolation exercises and I felt like I was not making the same progress that I did with the first phases that focused more on compound lifts.

jwdieter

Some people might find SL boring. Some people might find NROL too complex. It's personal preference.

sjohnny

Sure. Why not?

And best of luck!
:flowerforyou:

erickirb

Starting strength is another option and is a book with a lot of good info. Similar to 5x5, but does 3x5, which is the main difference

obum88

Wendler 5/3/1

erickirb

Wendler 5/3/1

Great program, but not meant for a beginner. It does not have nearly enough frequency of each of the big lifts and the progression is too slow for a new lifter. This is great for intermediate lifters and is the program I follow.