Stronglifts 5x5

I did stronglifts for a few months. I have been lifting for almost 20 yrs now so it was tough to me to get away from my regular 10 rep range. It was enjoyable at the time and more efficient than most programs. I will probably revisit stronglifts in the summer when my current workouts stall.

OP: I did SL for sbout 4 months b4 switching to Starting Strength (not much different) and then modifying the programs to suit my needs and physical limitations over the following 2 yrs.

I was able to achieve the advanced and elite levels in the major lifts (SQT, FL, BP & OHP) for men my wt and age (155/60+) as measured on the Strength Level website just doing that, which was good enough for me. See: https://strengthlevel.com/.

3-4 months (14 wks in your case) is when most people peak w/Strong Lifts and Starting Strength because that's when all of the newbie gains have been achieved. I agree w/others that there is no point in repeatedly lifting to failure and deloading.

However, while you may achieve SOME additional gains by changing your training method, if you want to lift SIGNIFICANTLY more wt, the only way you can do that will require you to get BIGGER by gaining more weight which will require you to EAT MORE (especially protein) and lift heavier (more wt/lower reps).

There's a reason why bigger heavier men can lift more wt than smaller lighter men. And, a lot of these men carry a lot of bodyfat. It's called weight lifting, not body building. Just go to any weight lifting competition to see what I mean.

So, if you want to lift more, that's what you've got to do BUT, if you don't want to gain any more wt/fat, you will reach a plateau beyond which you can NEVER break thru w/o getting bigger and trying to do so w/o getting bigger will be a futile and frustrating effort.

Been there, done that.

cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

Unlike all the awesome people above, I ran Stronglifts for over a year. I really liked the program and it fit in my life at the time. I just deloaded like the program said to, when I failed on a lift.

Can I ask if u used micro plates for ohp or bench? My ohp well and truly stalled despite several deload a and using micro plates. To the point that I was swearing out loud each time I had to do the lift.

Yes. I purchased a set off Amazon, specifically for freaking OHPs. OHP is the devil's exercise.

Chieflrg wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

However, while you may achieve SOME additional gains by changing your training method, if you want to lift SIGNIFICANTLY more wt, the only way you can do that will require you to get BIGGER by gaining more weight which will require you to EAT MORE (especially protein) and lift heavier (more wt/lower reps).

There's a reason why bigger heavier men can lift more wt than smaller lighter men. And, a lot of these men carry a lot of bodyfat. It's called weight lifting, not body building. Just go to any weight lifting competition to see what I mean.

So, if you want to lift more, that's what you've got to do BUT, if you don't want to gain any more wt/fat, you will reach a plateau beyond which you can NEVER break thru w/o getting bigger and trying to do so w/o getting bigger will be a futile and frustrating effort.

Getting stronger doesn't mean you have to get bigger. Getting stronger is relative to good programming including adequate volume and recovery for your needs.

There are plenty examples of lighter men lifting heavier than heavier men.

I invite you to watch a powerlifting meet or two and you will see plenty of lower body fat individuals that are super strong to heavier counter parts.

I could name hundreds of people that aren't overweight that performs at near or elite levels. Most you wouldn't even know they lifted in public.

From my personal experience, my trainees, and just bad azz people...we can train for almost 8-10 years on average without needing to move up a weight class if we started untrained or general fitness.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

I've been to many different types of lifting competitons, including powerlifting, and they all have different size/wt categories for the competitors and the heavier competitors will almost always lift MORE WT than lighter competitors.

In someclocal competitions, a lighter competitor might lift more than a heavier competitor but that due IMO to the lesser quality of the competition. In statewide, national and Olympic competitions that NEVER happens.

sgt1372 wrote: »

Chieflrg wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

However, while you may achieve SOME additional gains by changing your training method, if you want to lift SIGNIFICANTLY more wt, the only way you can do that will require you to get BIGGER by gaining more weight which will require you to EAT MORE (especially protein) and lift heavier (more wt/lower reps).

There's a reason why bigger heavier men can lift more wt than smaller lighter men. And, a lot of these men carry a lot of bodyfat. It's called weight lifting, not body building. Just go to any weight lifting competition to see what I mean.

So, if you want to lift more, that's what you've got to do BUT, if you don't want to gain any more wt/fat, you will reach a plateau beyond which you can NEVER break thru w/o getting bigger and trying to do so w/o getting bigger will be a futile and frustrating effort.

Getting stronger doesn't mean you have to get bigger. Getting stronger is relative to good programming including adequate volume and recovery for your needs.

There are plenty examples of lighter men lifting heavier than heavier men.

I invite you to watch a powerlifting meet or two and you will see plenty of lower body fat individuals that are super strong to heavier counter parts.

I could name hundreds of people that aren't overweight that performs at near or elite levels. Most you wouldn't even know they lifted in public.

From my personal experience, my trainees, and just bad azz people...we can train for almost 8-10 years on average without needing to move up a weight class if we started untrained or general fitness.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

I've been to many different types of lifting competitons, including powerlifting, and they all have different size/wt categories for the competitors and the heavier competitors will almost always lift MORE WT than lighter competitors.

In someclocal competitions, a lighter competitor might lift more than a heavier competitor but that due IMO to the lesser quality of the competition. In statewide, national and Olympic competitions that NEVER happens.

If you are suggesting that the heaviest lifter will outperform the lighter lifters in the same weight class, you are wrong. Body weight may give better leverages, body weight does not mean stronger.

I hazard you misread my post.

This is why competitions will use the Wilks formula, IPF point systen, etc...in competitions. It helps compute strength of the individual, not necessarily leverages because more mass.

Simple example would be Jen Thompson.

Bench 331lbs. Deadlift 396lbs. Total 987lbs. Raw: Squat 325 lbs Bench 308 lbs Deadlift 446 lbs.
Body Weight: 132 lbs., 138 lbs.

Even in her her 40s she was considered at one point the strongest lifter of all competitors female and male regardless of body weight.

She didn't need to add body mass alone to get stronger which is the case for most individuals.