Stronglift 5×5 – Discover the proven workout program that will maximize your muscle gains..!!

Till now I have talked about the basic exercises (Stronglifts 5×5) that you need to perform to build strength and grow muscle, however, you need to set these exercises in correct place to build your muscle patterns.

Building your workout program not only helps you to build strength and grow muscle but also help you recover easily so that you can increase your intensity as you progress.

A newbie might be wondering that I haven’t lifted any weights, don’t know the correct form to perform the exercises (Don’t worry further articles will take care of that).

Before you just start doing exercise, you need to take note that these exercises should not be performed only by going through motions.

Building muscle requires you to focus on using each and every muscle i.e; to build mind and muscle connection.

To build mind and muscle connection, you need to increase the frequency of the exercises that you perform.

Points that you need to take in an account before you even head to the gym.

What’s your fitness goal Fixing a time that you go to the gym consistently. Find a good training partner that is at the same fitness goal. Choose your fitness gear correctly.

After considering these points you need a workout that helps you get to your fitness goals.

I’m sure everybody wants to build muscle and lose fat.

Building muscle needs you to be performing exercise consistently that means the frequency of exercise each week helps you ingrain the muscle firing pattern so you produce force efficiently.

In the previous articles, I have discussed the main 3 lifts that if performed with correct form will give you massive gains.

Coordination of these 3 primary exercises with other supplementary exercises will create thick, dense and functional muscle.

Now for newbies fixing a workout program is pretty simple.

You just need 3 things.

Correct exercises Correct form Frequency

The program that contains all the 3 things in the Stronglift 5×5 workout.

You might have heard about this program, I’m sure the intermediate lifters are knowing about this program.

Stronglifts 5×5 was discovered by Reg Park in 1960s and were the mentor of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Stronglifts 5×5 is a program that focuses on 5 key exercises.

They are

Squats Deadlifts Bench press Military press Barbell row

I have discussed squats, deadlifts, and bench press about their principle muscle groups that these exercises target.

However, military press and barbell rows are also compound exercises that target multiple muscle groups, joints, and tendons.

These exercises are performed strictly on the barbell and that too with free weights.

This means that you need to perform these exercises without any support of machines.

For example, squats, barbell rows, bench press, the military press should not be performed on smith machines.

The reason being, smith machines only let the barbell move in a straight vertical path.

This causes the person is not able to fully activate the muscles that are to be used.

Stronglifts 5×5 program is named like this because you need to perform 5 sets of each exercise per 5 repetitions.

Also remember that you don’t need to go to the gym every day, just 3 days a week is enough for recovery and growth of your body.

Don’t think for now that everybody goes to the gym 6 days a week and you only go 3 days a week will make fewer gains for you..!!

Things that are done in 6 days can be done in 3 days if done efficiently.

The Stronglifts 5×5 program is divided into 2 workouts A and B.

Workout A Workout B Squats Squats Benchpress Military press Barbellrow Deadlifts

These workouts A and B, need to be performed alternatively.

Following is the schedule which you might want to follow

DAY WORKOUT Monday Workout A Tuesday Rest Wednesday Workout B Thursday Rest Friday Workout A Saturday Rest Sunday Rest

You might be wondering, why squats are there for every workout?

As I told you, if you want to build your lower body, you need to squats. So doing them frequently will help you grow muscle fast.

You must remember to perform squats as the first exercise only because the other exercises may take away the energy you need from your lower body.

Talking about sets and reps, you need to perform five reps for 5 sets on all exercises except deadlifts.

Do you need to perform 1 set for 5 reps on deadlifts, why?

Deadlifts also attack your whole posterior chain, which is taxing your central nervous system.

As you have squatted 5 sets for 5 reps, You have already taken away the energy from your lower body. So as deadlifts is a push and not a pull, the most important part used is your lower body.

Don’t worry after you have the good practice and have the mind and muscle connection while performing all the 5 exercises, I will tell you how you can increase the intensity of your lagging lifts and help you grow those muscle.

You don’t exercise every workout with the same weight on the barbell, you go under progressive overloading.

This means if you are able to do each set with 5 reps for 5 sets without missing even a single rep, you can increase the weight on the bar by 5 lbs. i.e; 2.5 lbs on each side for your next workout.

You need to take care of the resting period between each set.

This is not bodybuilding, where you take 30-60 secs of rest, you need a bit longer rest of about 1.5-2 mins because you need to have your breath under control to perform these lifts.

Don’t worry about the exact time frame that you allot to rest, it’s up to you, however only do other sets when you feel your breath is under control.

Now you might be wondering that from which weight should I start following Stronglifts 5×5?

The answer is simple,

Just pick a weight that allows you to perform 5 sets with 5 reps each with a bit of difficulty.

How to progressively overload?

Once you complete 5 sets of 5 reps on any exercise, you need to increase 5 lbs (2.5 lbs on each side of the bar) in your next workout session till you hit a plateau.

But in the case of deadlifts, you need to increase 10 lbs (5 lbs on each side of the bar), as the maximum amount of weight can be lifted on deadlifts.

Concluding words

When you start this program, you might not feel it much taxing on your central nervous system (CNS). But as you start progressing, you might find that exercises start clashing with your strength and at that time you need to change your training method.

But don’t worry, until that time comes you will gain enough muscle that you didn’t even think of..!!!

I have recommended Stronglifts 5×5 just because it will provide a great foundation to your body so that you can start getting heavy lifts under you belt..!!

Always remember that the more weight you lift the more strength you acquire and more muscle you build.

That’s it for building sufficient muscle..!! We will get into diet part of this program for building muscle in the immediate post. So stay tuned with Fitness For Generation..!!

If you like this article then share it with the one you care for. Comment for any discussion and we will meet in the next post..!!