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All three lifts are done for five sets of five repetitions. The first workout emphasizes the squat but also includes the bench press and the from-the-floor “Pendlay” barbell row. At that point, Mehdi created a slightly modified version: StrongLifts 5×5. If Mark Rippetoe is to be believed-and his account seems credible to me-then Mehdi ordered Starting Strength, was sent a copy, asked to be an affiliate, and was refused. However, it seems that StrongLifts may actually be ripped from Starting Strength. Not necessarily easier to do, but easier to learn. So what we get is a much simpler workout program that’s quite a bit harder to recover from and not quite as good for developing general athleticism. StrongLifts uses the same weight for every set, making the workouts quite taxing.
#Stronglifts 5x5 workout b series#
The original program used a series of progressively heavy warm-up sets followed by a heavy set of 5 reps. Olympic lifts are great for developing explosive power and athleticism, but rather awful for stimulating muscle growth.
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The main principles that lay the foundation of StrongLifts are good ones. If you get stronger at the big barbell lifts, eat enough protein to build muscle, and eat enough calories to gain weight, you will indeed grow bigger and stronger.
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Now, just to be perfectly upfront: this article is pedantic. Is there any truth to that? Is StrongLifts the best way to build muscles that are big and strong and hard? Why is that?įinally, StrongLifts claims that doing low-rep sets on certain compound lifts builds bigger, denser, stronger muscles than all other training methods. The other people asking us about StrongLifts are often intermediate lifters who are seeing impressive increases in their squat strength, but they’re concerned that their bench press is lagging behind, and they’re worried that their upper bodies aren’t growing at the same pace as their hips and thighs. Is StrongLifts a good workout routine for a beginner who’s trying to get bigger and stronger? More often than not, the question is coming from a skinny guy who’s new to lifting weights and is just getting started with barbell training. One of the most common questions we get is whether StrongLifts 5×5 is good for building muscle.
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