Stronglifts 5X5

[Tolley]

Have may members here tried the StrongLifts 5x5 ?

I have been reading a bit about it and was wondering what are the pros and cons?

Can you really keep on upping the weights all the time?

How stressful is it on the body?

Is is better for strength building?

Is it worth trying?

I currently am training every second day and doing basically chest, shoulders and back, legs and abs doing 5 sets of 8-10 reps for each body area.

[robblok]

I have done it or at least a variation of it by mark rippetoe.

Yes you can keep up weights all the time but you might have to use real small weights. I even had 250 gram weights made for my olympic barbel. This was for bench presses as i was already really close to my max. For deadlifts and squat it was easier to up weights as i never really did those before the program (squats yes but lighter deadlifts never)

Its the best for strenght building i even got some extra muscle from it. I liked it but now im back to splits and believe splits are better if you got some muscle.

Its stressful on the body after 3 months i had to stop but i went up a lot in strenght and muscle.

Yes its worth trying but its totally different if you are used to splits.. you miss out on exercises but its nice to have a small but hard program.

[how241]

I have done it or at least a variation of it by mark rippetoe.

Yes you can keep up weights all the time but you might have to use real small weights. I even had 250 gram weights made for my olympic barbel. This was for bench presses as i was already really close to my max. For deadlifts and squat it was easier to up weights as i never really did those before the program (squats yes but lighter deadlifts never)

Its the best for strenght building i even got some extra muscle from it. I liked it but now im back to splits and believe splits are better if you got some muscle.

Its stressful on the body after 3 months i had to stop but i went up a lot in strenght and muscle.

Yes its worth trying but its totally different if you are used to splits.. you miss out on exercises but its nice to have a small but hard program.

Good post. Thanks

[tropo]

"I have been reading a bit about it and was wondering what are the pros and cons?

Can you really keep on upping the weights all the time?

How stressful is it on the body?

Is is better for strength building?

Is it worth trying?"

My personal opinion on your questions:

1. Can you really keep on upping the weights all the time?

No, you'll get to a plateau sooner or later. The problem is that most people on this type of routine get careless with technique just to increase the weights. They start cheating just to show progress and start doing funky stuff. There's a lot of ways to muscle a weight up that are counter-productive to progress with high risk of injury. There's too much obsession with the amount of weight lifted. I believe this is counter-productive unless you're a weightlifter or powerlifter who competes and needs to lift heavy weights.

2. How stressful is it on the body?

Not very stressful as far as systemic stress is concerned because the routines are short and slow. There's very little cardio benefit. There's a lot of dangerous stress on the joints, especially if you fall into the group I mentioned above that get careless with form - which you inevitably will do if you don't have a good coach keeping a close eye on you.

3. Is it better for strength building?

You'll develop more strength in the movements you're doing compared to higher rep training, but strength is specific to what you do, so, for example, if you don't do bicep curls you won't gain much strength on bicep curls. It all comes down to the S.A.I.D principle - "specific adaptations to imposed demands". You're not going to get better at chinups by doing bench presses and deadlifts.

Having said that, if you develop an injury due to overdoing heavy weights you won't be getting stronger at anything.

4. Is it worth trying?"

No. You won't develop an aesthetic physique by this method of training. It's too limited. There are better, more productive ways to train. It's also not a good idea if you're a bit older, however if you've trained throughout your youthful years and you have a good strength foundation, then you will probably be able to handle it. I incorporate 5 rep sets in my training on some exercises but as part of a more balanced routine. I believe the best way to train is to vary the rep range from 5 all the way up to 20 to develop different energy systems... and add in regular cardio work.

That's it, my opinion on 5x5. Let's not get into a cat fight if anyone doesn't agree. Let's just discuss the reasons why you disagree so we can develop an interesting discussion.

Edited September 24, 2012 by tropo

[poanoi]

Well, both robblok & tropo know their stuff,

what worked like a complete charm for me was pyramid,

far and away better than 5x5, 10xetc

[robblok]

Tropo,

I think it is stressfull for the body, you are doing 3 compound exercises with real heavy weights. It can be done and you will gain a lot of strenght but in the end you will stop.

As for the constant adding of weights if you use 200grams weights (i had them made for this) you can go up all the time (every week that is) But you will have to start a bit lower as normal to let your body ease into it. If you already start at your top it will be real hard to do.

I did get some extra muscle from it but that was my experience.

Now im doing splits and i like it more but it was worth a try. Just like i have tried german volume training. It was something new and it did help me. Thing is mixing things up once in a while does help. I know of you that you always mix things up so you do that already.

And im not getting into a cat fight with you no fun there. You know your stuff and i respect that.

[robblok]

Well, both robblok & tropo know their stuff,

what worked like a complete charm for me was pyramid,

far and away better than 5x5, 10xetc

I have done and liked pyramid too, though im not that crazy about the low reps. It might be fun for things like benchpress. But for things like flies or other more isolation exercises i prefer more reps. That is of course personal.

One other thing i did was drop sets, i loved that but it really hurts and you have to have a buddy to do that. I sometimes do them at home for exercises that i use dumbbells for. Also i can do them on some of my pulley exercises.

[tropo]

Well, both robblok & tropo know their stuff,

what worked like a complete charm for me was pyramid,

far and away better than 5x5, 10xetc

I have done and liked pyramid too, though im not that crazy about the low reps. It might be fun for things like benchpress. But for things like flies or other more isolation exercises i prefer more reps. That is of course personal.

One other thing i did was drop sets, i loved that but it really hurts and you have to have a buddy to do that. I sometimes do them at home for exercises that i use dumbbells for. Also i can do them on some of my pulley exercises.

I think low reps on isolation exercises eg. triceps extensions, curls etc is extremely dangerous to tendons and joints. Some exercises just don't lend themselves to heavy, low rep sets. I learned this the hard way many years ago on barbell triceps extensions. I should have known better.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for 5 reps in any workout on some exercises to help push up the strength level, I just don't see the point of exclusively limiting reps to a specific number. One must also remember that when one goes heavy there is always a higher risk of injury and sometimes these injuries can come unannounced.

For example, a few years ago I sustained a minor pec tear (muscle not tendon) lowering the bar to my chest on bench press. There was no prior warning - it just popped. Had the same problem more recently going down in the squat - popped a groin muscle (adductor) which is still causing problems... never had this in all my years of training. If you're going heavy when something pops, the injury is going to be far more severe.

[Tolley]

Well, both robblok & tropo know their stuff,

what worked like a complete charm for me was pyramid,

far and away better than 5x5, 10xetc

I have done and liked pyramid too, though im not that crazy about the low reps. It might be fun for things like benchpress. But for things like flies or other more isolation exercises i prefer more reps. That is of course personal.

One other thing i did was drop sets, i loved that but it really hurts and you have to have a buddy to do that. I sometimes do them at home for exercises that i use dumbbells for. Also i can do them on some of my pulley exercises.

I think low reps on isolation exercises eg. triceps extensions, curls etc is extremely dangerous to tendons and joints. Some exercises just don't lend themselves to heavy, low rep sets. I learned this the hard way many years ago on barbell triceps extensions. I should have known better.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for 5 reps in any workout on some exercises to help push up the strength level, I just don't see the point of exclusively limiting reps to a specific number. One must also remember that when one goes heavy there is always a higher risk of injury and sometimes these injuries can come unannounced.

For example, a few years ago I sustained a minor pec tear (muscle not tendon) lowering the bar to my chest on bench press. There was no prior warning - it just popped. Had the same problem more recently going down in the squat - popped a groin muscle (adductor) which is still causing problems... never had this in all my years of training. If you're going heavy when something pops, the injury is going to be far more severe.

I think on balance that it is probably not worth it for me.

The risk of injury is very off putting.

I tend to underlift anyway as I dont like to put unecessary stress on the body.

I see a lot of guys going too heavy with bad form just so that they can put the weight stack up.

That has never been my ideal.

I am just getting a bit bored with my routine.

[robblok]

Well, both robblok & tropo know their stuff,

what worked like a complete charm for me was pyramid,

far and away better than 5x5, 10xetc

I have done and liked pyramid too, though im not that crazy about the low reps. It might be fun for things like benchpress. But for things like flies or other more isolation exercises i prefer more reps. That is of course personal.

One other thing i did was drop sets, i loved that but it really hurts and you have to have a buddy to do that. I sometimes do them at home for exercises that i use dumbbells for. Also i can do them on some of my pulley exercises.

I think low reps on isolation exercises eg. triceps extensions, curls etc is extremely dangerous to tendons and joints. Some exercises just don't lend themselves to heavy, low rep sets. I learned this the hard way many years ago on barbell triceps extensions. I should have known better.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for 5 reps in any workout on some exercises to help push up the strength level, I just don't see the point of exclusively limiting reps to a specific number. One must also remember that when one goes heavy there is always a higher risk of injury and sometimes these injuries can come unannounced.

For example, a few years ago I sustained a minor pec tear (muscle not tendon) lowering the bar to my chest on bench press. There was no prior warning - it just popped. Had the same problem more recently going down in the squat - popped a groin muscle (adductor) which is still causing problems... never had this in all my years of training. If you're going heavy when something pops, the injury is going to be far more severe.

I think on balance that it is probably not worth it for me.

The risk of injury is very off putting.

I tend to underlift anyway as I dont like to put unecessary stress on the body.

I see a lot of guys going too heavy with bad form just so that they can put the weight stack up.

That has never been my ideal.

I am just getting a bit bored with my routine.

I believe the risk of injury is certainly there. I was feeling the stress on my body. I think its harder for those who have trained a lot already because they will hit their ceilings faster.

If your bored with your routine you can do stuff like supersets / drop sets / parcours ect. Just to get the fun back into it a bit.