NROLFW vs StrongLifts vs AllPro?

The best routine is one you stick with.

NROLFW: Lots of different exercises (10 in the first phase alone). Good if variety is what you need to stay motivated. However, weight lifting is all about technique, and lots of different exercises makes it harder to get technique down.

SL5x5: Only 5 different lifts. Good if constant measurable progression is what you want to stay motivated. Fewer lifts makes it much easier to focus on technique.

All Pro: Never heard of it.

I don't know anything about All-pro, sorry. If I had to pick between Stronglifts and new rules, I'd go Stronglifts - new rules is a bit skiddly for a beginner (I tried it first before switching to starting strength). Don't get me wrong, it's a good book and worth a read and many others like the programme, I just found it overly complicated, at the time.

Starting Strength, Stronglifts or Strong Curves are the ones I'd recommend.

AllPro - 7 exercises (squat, SLDL, bench, OHP, barbell rows, calf raises, barbell curls.) You do 2 sets of 8 to 12 , increasing by one rep each week. First workout of the week is done with 10 rm weight, second workout done with 90% of 10rm, third workout done with 80% of 10rm. In the fifth week if you get all 12 reps on on the first day (heavy day) you finish out the week as normal and then raise the weights for the next cycle, which is the first day of the next week. This is essentially a hypertrophy style program when you look at the reps.

SL5x5- More strength style due to lower reps. You'd be doing 5 sets of 5 for three lifts per day (cycles between a mix of squat, bench press, barbell row, OHP, and deadlift.) Your weight increases each workout.

NROLFW - 7 phases. In general, you get workout A and workout B, to be alternated so you workout 3x/wk. The phases are 4-5 weeks long (16 workouts if I remember right) and your exercises change slightly with each phase. The reps start at 15 and then work down to 12, 10, and 8 every other time you do A or B. The exercises for the first phase are squat, pushups, rows, step ups, prone jackknife, deadlift, shoulder press, lat pulldown, lunge, and swiss ball crunch.

I did All Pro's for 2 cycles. I like the exercises but didn't like how slow the weight progression went. If you miss one rep on heavy test day, you have to do the same weight for 5 more weeks. That kind of stinks.

Have the NROLFW book but didn't end up following it. It's a good beginner's program but wasn't for me. The book is a good reference tool though (good explanation of exercises) so I keep it around. I do like that one of the goals in the last phases is to train for pull-ups.

Have never done SL5x5. I am peculiar in that I don't want to do it simply because it seems like everybody else does it. Yes, I know that is not logical but I don't really care. It seems to be a good workout and people progress well on it so my lack of enthusiasm for SL5x5 means precisely nothing as far as its efficacy goes.

I attempted to try NROLFW but it seemed too complicated and too many exercises for a beginner. I wanted something simple so I could get form down.

I picked Stronglifts because it was simple but gave enough volume for me to work on form. Yes, it starts off slow but if you have very little experience with these lifts then it helps you practice form. For the first few weeks I just added extra exercise after the Stronglifts so I got a good calorie burn for the day. Eventually I didn't need it as the weight climbs fast.

Starting Strength is another good one, similar to Stronglifts. I didn't want to do one of the exercises as it seemed intimidating (can't even remember what it is now) so that's why I went with Stronglifts. I've heard its an excellent program though.

All I've heard of AllPro is that it's an intermediate program. I am not sure if they have a beginner program as well. The weight increases slower due to the program so it's not ideal if you are trying to gain strength fast. Again, if there is a beginner program, this information may be different.

dterpsy wrote: »

Wow, very prompt replies and really helpful! I tend to be a creature of routine, so it sounds like Stronglifts might be the way to go for me. I have done some lifting, so I'm somewhat familiar with most of the exercises.

I loved SL when I did it...and stayed with it for months until it was taking over an hour then switched to 3x5 for the summer....still loved it....still do but got a bit bored to be honest and my husband wouldn't do it with me...make sure you get the app too helps to have that info on your phone and backed up.

Switched to Wendler love it as much and husband will do it with me.