Strong lift 5x5

Has anyone used this program? I am a beginner but want to start lifting and I heard this was a good program. Any tips you can give would be great.

Replies

  • Steve_PB
    Steve_PB Posts: 8 Member
    Great program for a beginner. No real tips just follow the program and add weight each time. When you get to a weight that starts to challenge you. Stay there until you can perform all lifts comfortably and with good form.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It's a good beginner program...just follow the program.
  • piperdown44
    piperdown44 Posts: 958 Member
    Great beginner program. Ran it when I got back into lifting after a long, long layoff from weights. Ran it for a couple of cycles. Every once in a while I'll run during the year just to see if I can make more gains on my squats.

    Just follow the program as written.

    The first couple weeks, if form is good, you'll be thinking "this is worthless, I'm not getting anything from this".
    Last couple weeks of the 12 week cycle you'll be thinking "damn, this is seriously hard.. I've got to do how much weight for squats today?! and 5 sets of 5?!!".
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    That's where I started and I thought it was a good place to start. It just got hella boring after 6 months, so switched to a different program. It feels easy in the beginning, but that changes pretty quickly.
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    It's a good beginner program, as stated above. It's simple, too and there is an app to track your progress. I've done it for more than a year & got great results. It does get boring after you've done it for a while. I'm about ready to move to an intermediate program.
  • Negative_X
    Negative_X Posts: 296 Member
    edited December 2015
    As many have said, it's a great program to get you going and build a solid foundation.

    Can easily be modified to make it a more advanced program as well.

    5 years later and I still use a 5x5 regimen for most of what I do... all tho I'm always changing and tweaking things every few months, depending on my goals.

    But as with any workout regimen, make sure your nutrition is dialed in for what you're trying to achieve.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    I started doing it a few months ago. Love it.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,320 Member
    It is a great starting program. Follow it exactly as many people don't, and they say it doesn't work. That includes deloads when you cannot increase the weight for two days in a row. All of that is in the program. I wish I knew of this sort of program when I was in my 20s as I would have made much more progress.
  • cherrybomb333
    cherrybomb333 Posts: 332 Member
    Starting for the first time this Tuesday. I've heard nothing but great recommendations, here and elsewhere. Good luck!!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    I recently tried it because I skipped it as a beginner and wanted a change while I was cutting. I think it is great for a beginner. I stalled out pretty fast being intermediate and in a deficit, but probably would have been fine for quite awhile if I had just started lifting. Follow the program. Don't mess with it. Tape yourself and watch the form videos-more than once. Like, over and over again.
  • arac62
    arac62 Posts: 65 Member
    I've been doing it for about two months and i love it! I go to powerlifting classes at a lifting-oriented gym near me a couple times a month to get tips on form and general guidance. If you can find something similar in your area, I would recommend looking into it. The feedback has helped me break through some stalls.
  • 1krazycat
    1krazycat Posts: 8 Member
    Hi, what program are we talking about here please?link?
  • mweckler
    mweckler Posts: 623 Member
    edited December 2015
    www.stronglifts.com
  • Marcel_Sky
    Marcel_Sky Posts: 9 Member
    I'm starting next week, heard great things about the program! I've been lifting for a while, but I want I to do it to get stronger so that any other workout I do 12 weeks from now will be more effective. I'm also following the intermittent fasting (16/8) diet.

    By the way any one that is also starting out this program or is already doing it feel free to add me!
  • McCloud33
    McCloud33 Posts: 959 Member
    Excellent program to start with. As others have said, it's going to seem easy at the beginning if you start with just the bar, but that's your time to work on form. If you've lifted in the past and think you can handle a little more weight, you can start with 50% of your max. I started in June '14 and by December of that year I was up to a 290x5x5 squat, 205x5x5 bench, 345x1x5 deadlift, 125x5x5 OHP and 195x5x5 Row. I also added weighted pull-ups to the "B" workout and got up to at 70x3x5 on that as well. Download the app...it makes keeping track of your day to day weights easy and automatically will reduce them if you stall.