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Even when beginners are coached in person, it often takes a few weeks to learn the lifts well enough to stimulate much muscle growth with them. The main downside to these workouts, at least for a beginner, is that they use complex barbell lifts that are often difficult for beginners to learn. In fact, doing fewer sets per exercise can often help them avoid crippling muscle soreness and excessive muscle damage, allowing them to train more rigorously more often. Beginners don’t need a very high training volume to build muscle. This is often used as a criticism for Starting Strength, and a reason for why StrongLifts 5×5 might be better for building muscle. Only three lifts are done each workout, and each lift is done for only 3 sets (on average). The other thing that’s notable about the Starting Strength workouts is that they use a fairly low volume overall. No surprise, then, that most of our gains will be in our hips, thighs, and lower back. That means that all of our best energy is going into the squat. Not only is the squat given twice the training volume of any other lift, with 9 sets per week vs 4.5, but it’s also the first lift of every workout. Power Clean: 5 sets of 3 repetitions (5×3)Īgain, we’re seeing a big emphasis on the lower body.Overhead Press: 3 sets of 5 repetitions (3×5).Bench press: 3 sets of 5 repetitions (3×5).These five compound lifts are organized into two workouts, both of which start with the squat: Workout A This explosive style of training is important for athletes, but it’s one of the worst ways of lifting for stimulating muscle growth. That’s not a problem if you’re trying to build bigger hips, but it’s decisions like this that make the program more lower-body dominant.įor another example, the power clean is a power lift, designed to take a strong muscle and train it to contract more explosively. For instance, the low-bar squat is chosen because it makes squatting easier on the lower back (less upper body) and harder on the hips (more lower body). These lifts are quite good at strengthening the hips, thighs, and lower back, which is incredibly important for power lifter and a number of sports, but they aren’t necessarily good for building overall muscle mass. The logic here is good, and these are indeed good lifts, but the program is rooted in powerlifting and athletics training, which is not the same as bodybuilding, not the same as hypertrophy training. These lifts are chosen because they engage the most overall muscle mass, allow us to lift with a large effective range of motion, and allow us to lift heavy.
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Starting Strength focuses on getting stronger at five compound lifts: But we’ll quickly break down the lifts and workouts here.
#Stronglifts 5x5 progress full#
We’ve written a full breakdown and review of Starting Strength, and if you’re considering trying it, I’d give that article a read. Starting Strength is a beginner strength training program created by former powerlifter Mark Rippetoe.