stronglifts question

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jardimgirl
jardimgirl Posts: 522 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Do I need to add 5 lbs every week to my routine for this to work? I know I will have to add more but seriously every week?

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  • gurlygirlrcr80
    gurlygirlrcr80 Posts: 162 Member
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    following for info...
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    supposed to- yes.

    but need to- no.

    some lifts progress quickly and some do not- drop the weight difference down if you can (finding weighted collars is useful for this) If you are failing lifts- deload and or give more rest time.

    My program is upping by 5 lbs ever lift and they say if you fail- repeat the weight for the next lift- and if you fail again- wait two days instead of one for rest- and repeat- if you still fail- deload and try again.
  • Bearpunk
    Bearpunk Posts: 4 Member
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    It's been a while since I've done SL so I hope people will correct me if I'm out of line.

    First of all, no one can add 5 lbs every week indefinitely. At some point you will plateau, that's just the nature of strength training. What I really liked about SL was that it was relatively high volume (compared to powerlifting) but still somewhat heavy. Also, I liked that I could increase my total volume by only increasing on one or more sets rather than all five. I know this is a bit of heresy, but you might want to consider it. So, my squats might have looked like:

    Session 1:
    135 x5 x2
    140 x5 x2
    145 x5 x1

    Session 2:
    135 x5 x1
    140 x5 x1
    145 x5 x2
    150 x5 x1

    Basically, the first set would be what I know I could do with some effort and then I would increase slightly based on how well that went.

    I think overall the point is meant to be that you should always be aiming to increase. Once you plateau you'll need to add assistance work (IMHO), which gets more complex. I have seen a number of articles where quite accomplished lifters point out that you can usually go further before a plateau if you increase slowly.

    Anyway, all of that was to sort of echo what the poster above said: you don't NEED to; that's just a target. As long as you're increasing either intensity or volume or both, you'll make progress.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Do I need to add 5 lbs every week to my routine for this to work? I know I will have to add more but seriously every week?


    Every week? No. Every workout. I realize this may sound rude, and I don't mean it to... But it sounds like you need to re-read the program.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    It's been a while since I've done SL so I hope people will correct me if I'm out of line.

    First of all, no one can add 5 lbs every week indefinitely. At some point you will plateau, that's just the nature of strength training. What I really liked about SL was that it was relatively high volume (compared to powerlifting) but still somewhat heavy. Also, I liked that I could increase my total volume by only increasing on one or more sets rather than all five. I know this is a bit of heresy, but you might want to consider it. So, my squats might have looked like:

    Session 1:
    135 x5 x2
    140 x5 x2
    145 x5 x1

    Session 2:
    135 x5 x1
    140 x5 x1
    145 x5 x2
    150 x5 x1

    Basically, the first set would be what I know I could do with some effort and then I would increase slightly based on how well that went.

    I think overall the point is meant to be that you should always be aiming to increase. Once you plateau you'll need to add assistance work (IMHO), which gets more complex. I have seen a number of articles where quite accomplished lifters point out that you can usually go further before a plateau if you increase slowly.

    Anyway, all of that was to sort of echo what the poster above said: you don't NEED to; that's just a target. As long as you're increasing either intensity or volume or both, you'll make progress.


    No. This is utterly and completely wrong. 5 sets of 5 reps at the same weight. If you make all 5 sets of 5 reps, then you increase the weights the next workout. Please re-read the program.
  • quellybelly
    quellybelly Posts: 827 Member
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    As per the program protocol, once you've completed 5x5 (or 1x5 for deadlifts) at a particular weight, you're supposed to add 5 lbs (or 10 lbs for deadlifts) to that weight the next time you do it (not necessarily the next week). If not, then you stay at that weight. But of course, do what you're comfortable with.

    Like another poster mentioned, some lifts will progress faster than others. I was able to squat quite heavy but overhead press will always be a struggle for me! Grr...

    Also speaking from experience, you eventually plateau for how much you can lift, and can't really go any higher, not with the Stronglifts program anyway. Once that happened for me, I switched up to a different lifting routine. I did Stronglifts for probably 4 months total.

    Good luck!
  • Of_Monsters_and_Meat
    Of_Monsters_and_Meat Posts: 1,022 Member
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    You should be increasing every workout.

    If you can't get all 5lbs increase. (failed attempt)
    Try to back down 5lbs and increase reps.

    next time try to increase 5lbs again... every workout.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Do I need to add 5 lbs every week to my routine for this to work? I know I will have to add more but seriously every week?


    Every week? No. Every workout. I realize this may sound rude, and I don't mean it to... But it sounds like you need to re-read the program.

    oh damn did I mis-read that lulz. good catch.
  • lrmall01
    lrmall01 Posts: 377 Member
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    Just my $0.02 but add weight whenever you succeed and de-load when you fail like the program says. Failing and de-loading isn't a bad thing and it sounds like that is what you are trying to avoid.

    If you are still convinced for some reason that you can't add 5lb then you might want to get some fractional plates and progress in smaller increments.

    http://www.amazon.com/Olympic-Fractional-Plates-Pairs-Great/dp/B008RP3KY8

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