Switching to Stronglifts - muscle gain or just strength?

Cool. At my age, I'm not trying for the Jeff Seid look. As long as I gain muscle/strength and burn fat I'll be happy!

It's near impossible to do both. You will definitely see strength gains and burn fat for a good few months+ at least since your form will be getting much better and your muscles used to the lifts, however this will eventually slow and then come to a stop. It's unlikely you will gain much/any muscle during this period however always lift whilst cutting to retain as much muscle as possible.

So you DON'T gain muscle on Stronglifts?

Not going to go into newbie gains as I haven't looked it up but in general while on a deficit you won't gain muscle doing anything. However whilst bulking and doing any strength programs you are pretty much guaranteed to put on muscle. In fact with my main lifts I still use a lower rep range. Overhead press I generally do 3-5, bench 4-8, deadlifts 1-8 and squats I do up to 8.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

It's near impossible to do both.

"There are a handful of situations where the combination of muscle gain and fat loss occur relatively readily. The first of those is in overfat beginners. I want to really stress the term overfat in the above sentence. This phenomenon doesn’t happen in lean beginners for reasons I’m going to explain in a second.
A second situation where this phenomenon occurs readily is folks returning from a layoff. Folks who are previously lean and muscular but who get out of shape (whether deliberately or not) often find that they get back into shape much faster than they did initially: they seem to magically replace fat with muscle. In fact, with the advent of before/after transformation pictures for supplements, this has become a growth industry: people who are already in great shape will deliberately get out of great shape so that they can quickly reattain their previous shape in a short period. Apparently there is huge money in selling such before/after pictures to help move supplements." - direct quote from link provided.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

It's near impossible to do both.

"There are a handful of situations where the combination of muscle gain and fat loss occur relatively readily. The first of those is in overfat beginners. I want to really stress the term overfat in the above sentence. This phenomenon doesn’t happen in lean beginners for reasons I’m going to explain in a second.
A second situation where this phenomenon occurs readily is folks returning from a layoff. Folks who are previously lean and muscular but who get out of shape (whether deliberately or not) often find that they get back into shape much faster than they did initially: they seem to magically replace fat with muscle. In fact, with the advent of before/after transformation pictures for supplements, this has become a growth industry: people who are already in great shape will deliberately get out of great shape so that they can quickly reattain their previous shape in a short period. Apparently there is huge money in selling such before/after pictures to help move supplements." - direct quote from link provided.

I read that and I'm guessing it's due to muscle memory.

I still don't see how it's relevant in this thread?

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

It's near impossible to do both.

"There are a handful of situations where the combination of muscle gain and fat loss occur relatively readily. The first of those is in overfat beginners. I want to really stress the term overfat in the above sentence. This phenomenon doesn’t happen in lean beginners for reasons I’m going to explain in a second.
A second situation where this phenomenon occurs readily is folks returning from a layoff. Folks who are previously lean and muscular but who get out of shape (whether deliberately or not) often find that they get back into shape much faster than they did initially: they seem to magically replace fat with muscle. In fact, with the advent of before/after transformation pictures for supplements, this has become a growth industry: people who are already in great shape will deliberately get out of great shape so that they can quickly reattain their previous shape in a short period. Apparently there is huge money in selling such before/after pictures to help move supplements." - direct quote from link provided.

I read that and I'm guessing it's due to muscle memory.

I still don't see how it's relevant in this thread?

The question was asked "So you DON'T gain muscle on Stronglifts?" ... I answered.

But, looking at the photos of the guy who asked the question, he's not over fat, and he did not mention trying to regain a physique after years of lifting, so I'm guessing the second situation wouldn't apply either. Most people are not able to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. In addition, newbie gains will be relatively slow and don't last all that long. It would be much more efficient to do bulk/cut cycles if the OP's intention is to build muscle. But it seems like he still wants to cut for now.

OP, the great thing about SL is that it works great either during a cut or a bulk. Just keep in mind that you will be able to lift more on a bulk, and you may have to deload on a cut. I believe you are still cutting currently, so it's a good time to start the program since it suggests starting from the bar and working your way up.

ETA: Just realized this was in the gain weight section. Everything above still applies, but if you're eating at a surplus to gain weight, you will build muscle mass and gain fat (you always gain both, but a controlled/moderate bulk can limit fat gains). If you want more muscle definition, you may need to lose more fat off the top of the muscles. Or both, which is why I suggested the bulk/cut cycles.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

It's near impossible to do both.

"There are a handful of situations where the combination of muscle gain and fat loss occur relatively readily. The first of those is in overfat beginners. I want to really stress the term overfat in the above sentence. This phenomenon doesn’t happen in lean beginners for reasons I’m going to explain in a second.
A second situation where this phenomenon occurs readily is folks returning from a layoff. Folks who are previously lean and muscular but who get out of shape (whether deliberately or not) often find that they get back into shape much faster than they did initially: they seem to magically replace fat with muscle. In fact, with the advent of before/after transformation pictures for supplements, this has become a growth industry: people who are already in great shape will deliberately get out of great shape so that they can quickly reattain their previous shape in a short period. Apparently there is huge money in selling such before/after pictures to help move supplements." - direct quote from link provided.

I read that and I'm guessing it's due to muscle memory.

I still don't see how it's relevant in this thread?

The question was asked "So you DON'T gain muscle on Stronglifts?" ... I answered.

But, looking at the photos of the guy who asked the question, he's not over fat, and he did not mention trying to regain a physique after years of lifting, so I'm guessing the second situation wouldn't apply either. Most people are not able to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. In addition, newbie gains will be relatively slow and don't last all that long. It would be much more efficient to do bulk/cut cycles if the OP's intention is to build muscle. But it seems like he still wants to cut for now.

Took the words out my mouth!

OP, look at the link I provided before and make the decision yourself. I think there are answers given in this thread that include correct and not-complete information is causing some confusion based on your beginning question of if the program adds muscle mass and additional comments you replied to of "As long as I gain muscle/strength and burn fat..."

Can you gain muscle in a caloric surplus, yes of course, this is a no-brainer.

Can you gain muscle in a caloric deficit, yes of course IF... see information provided by link to see if you fall into these scenarios. http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html
If you do not fall into those scenarios, then the answer would be generally NO, but again read the article as its not a 100% absolute NO, just generally no.

Will this muscle gain (in a caloric deficit) be short lived, again if you fall within the parameters of the information given in link, YES.

Is it better to cut to lose weight and then bulk to gain muscle, YES absolutely in my opinion. Trying to do both at the same time (recomp) by say eating at or really close to maintenance is spinning your wheels...again, my opinion.

Stronglifts is a beginner powerlifter routine, it is not a bodybuilder routine. There are a good amount of fundamental differences between the two types.

It is geared towards developing strength not really maximizing size.

Don't use it and expect to look freaking awesome at the end. Use it to be able to lift awesome at the end.

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