Let's talk about who StrongLifts 5x5 will work for, and who it won't work for. Here's a question I received about this, my comments are below...
### QUESTION ###
"Hi my name is Tim. I'm 39 years of age. My maxes are Bench 335, deadlift 550, squat 525. I weigh about 225 and 6 foot tall. I take a little creatine but other then that nothing. I don't think starting with the bar is going to help me so I was wondering what u suggest to start w."
*** MY ANSWER ***
It's not just starting with the empty bar that won't help you...
It's the WHOLE StrongLifts 5x5 program that won't help you :-)
If you're truly Squatting 525lb/238kg *parallel"...
... then you're an "advanced" lifter.
... StrongLifts 5x5 isn't for advanced lifters.
I mean that 525lb/238kg Squat is 2x your body-weight...
I've done 2x body-weight Squats and my legs were still sore and tired two days later.
So there was no way I could have Squatted another 5x5 with 2.5kg/5lb more the same week.
If I had tried, I would have missed reps.
Different story for "normal" people lifting "normal" weights :-)
My girlfriend had no problem Squatting three times a week and adding weight each workout.
But she didn't start out already Squatting 2x her body-weight.
Heck, she couldn't even Squat the empty bar at first.
Same with my little brother.
He increased his Squat to 140kg/300lb in seven months.
And he also did it by starting light and adding weight each workout.
My point is, if you can't Squat 140kg/300lb yet...
... with your hips going below your knees ("parallel")...
... then StrongLifts 5x5 will work for you.
But if you can Squat more than that, you need a different program...
... one where the weights increase more SLOWLY...
... not three times a week anymore...
... but once a week or so.
This is the way I train nowadays.
An example program that works like this is Madcow 5x5.
But most people aren't advanced enough to need that kind of program.
Even if you "think" you're advanced, you'll progress faster with StrongLifts 5x5.
Especially if you use my apps to guide you through each workout...
https://stronglifts.com/apps/
Keep it simple.
-Mehdi
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