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The StrongLifts 5×5 program, created by Mehdi Hadim, is by no means original. It’s important to mention I used the StrongLifts variation of the 5×5 program. Well, the 5×5 will always be special to me (and I’ll describe below) so I wanted to dedicate an entire article to the program. Specifically, he mentions the 5×5 program - originally created by Bill Starr (to my knowledge) and centers around the powerlifts: the back squat, the deadlift, and the bench press.Ī friend asked if this really worked - how could such a limited program add lots of muscle? He also wondered if certain muscle groups would be skipped. Recently, however, I shared an article from Men’s Journal called “Everything You Know About Fitness Is A Lie” that talks about the writer’s journey from “functional strength” and doing squats on a bosu ball to powerlifting and building real muscle.
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It was nothing spectacular, but it made my high school photos look strange and uncomfortable. In college, I messed around with weights – lots of bicep curls and chest presses – and put on some weight and muscle by the time I graduated and left for South Korea, I weighted about 130 pounds. Yes, in my Senior year of high school, I was “skin and bones” skinny. I can’t begin to tell you how inaccurate that is.
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#How to do stronglifts 5x5 how to#
It's also very very flexible.Ĭheck out for a better overview of 531 and try to purchase Wendler's book so you can completely understand it and how to tweak it to your needs if you do decide on using it.My Driver License says I’m 5’5” and 110 pounds. You also will be hitting rep personal bests every week so the mental motivation of progression is still there while not being able to move as much weight as before when u were not cutting. The only reason I mentioned 531 is because I found the lower frequency (you're only hitting every lift once a week) and the slower progression supplements a cut very well. Also, the assistant work that you do on 5-3-1 (do a search for Boring But Big) increases the volume a lot as well.īut If you can stick with STRONGLIFTS (recovery wise) then continue it by all means. So instead of 3x3, it's usually 2x3 then 1x5-8 or so with a higher weight. Also the last set is always a balls to the wall, do as many reps as you can set to failure. The volume isn't that much lower because the lower the rep range the higher the weight.
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The fear of losing precious muscle mass is definitely compromising my fat loss plan.ĥ-3-1 is actually better for more advance guys because the progression is slower. My real goal is reach 8% and then go on a clean bulk, just like you said its messed up to have to chose betwen size/fullness and aesthetics, its quite depressing for me to see my lifts going down and feeling small, even though its temporary. I feel its gonna be really harsh to go back on low calorie so i have been avoiding it, fulling myself that the fat will come off as i get stronger, obviously is not gonna happen, im just jeopardizing my goal further. I feel so much better and stronger now eating over 3000, my lifts are going up and the pump at the gym is insane, unfortunately so is the bodyfat. I was on low carb diet for a while and got stuck at 11% because i couldnt lower my kacls under 2000 without having really messed up mood swings and crazy food cravings, so i decided to go ahead and eat at maintenance for a couple months witch was a good move because i was getting really depleted and flat. Just go ahead and cut down to where u want to be, then dedicate yourself fully to your strength goals. The cycle will just keep repeating over and over before landing in a pool of frustration. Then when you're stuck at 12% you'll be unsatisfied with not reaching your bodyfat goal and start cutting again. You will psych yourself out and mess up your cut in efforts to keep your gains. IMO, if you're cutting, you need to set your pride aside and not worry about strength losses too much. Granted, I have way more fat on my body to use as energy (currently 195 at around 20% bodyfat think) which probably has a lot to do with why I haven't burned off much muscle (yet). I've cut around 40 pounds doing just this while maintaining strength. The mere lack of variety a low carb diet provides will stunt your appetite like a bish and things like chicken breasts and broccoli have a calorie density such that it will be harder to get as many cals. If you're having trouble eating under 2000 cals, try going on a low carb, moderate fat, high protein diet some days.