In theory it might be beautiful, but I'd say 5x5 is a pretty awful way to start if you are new to lifting weights.
If you've been sitting on a chair for 8-12 hours a day you will have lots of muscular imbalances that needs to be corrected before starting a program like this.
For instance, you will most likely not be able to activate your glutes during the squat or deadlift. Your lower back will take the load. Meet pain and, if you are unlucky, injury...
> In theory it might be beautiful, but I'd say 5x5 is a pretty awful way to start if you are new to lifting weights.
Then you've obviously never tried it. It's actually a wonderful starting program. I lifted for years and never made remotely the progress I have on 5x5. I wish I could go back and tell myself to start it sooner!
> If you've been sitting on a chair for 8-12 hours a day you will have lots of muscular imbalances that needs to be corrected before starting a program like this.
Rubbish. They'll get corrected quite fast by actually doing the exercises.
> > In theory it might be beautiful, but I'd say 5x5 is a pretty awful way to start if you are new to lifting weights.
> Then you've obviously never tried it. It's actually a wonderful starting program. I lifted for years and never made remotely the progress I have on 5x5. I wish I could go back and tell myself to start it sooner!
Yes I have tried it and I love it. I'm actually doing it right now. But you really do not catch my point. You say "I lifted for years and never made remotely the progress I have on 5x5". I say: good for you. Of course you should continue on this program. But as you said yourself you had years of lifting experience before starting on 5x5. My point is that it is a no good starting point if you have never been lifting before.
I disagree. The fact that I made progress on this program proves it's worth. My prior experience with weight lifting isn't really relevant, especially given the multi-year layoff in between. When I came to stronglifts I was, for all intents and purposes, starting all over again. Based on my experience with it so far, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a beginner - and in fact, have.
It's important to note - at the risk of sounding like i'm appealing to authority - that the people who originally advocated this program have years of experience training themselves, and training other people. At least one well known proponent has a relevant degree. And no, these are not your usual PHd in bro-science "trainers" - they've trained elite competitors and olympic atheletes. If they say this a good program for beginners, I'm inclined to take them at their word.
Having watched most of the beginners at the gym I'm at now, I can say for a fact that stronglifts would be a hell of a lot better than the average beginner's routine of sixty sets of curls, 20 sets of calf raises, 10 sets of reverse-incline-dumbell-flye-extension-no-set-hyper-mega-extensions, etc. etc....
That's primarily why the program (and Starting Strength) preaches starting at the minimum weight possible (usually just the 45lb bar) for each exercise, even if you're confident you can do more.
This way you start at the bottom at each exercise, focus on getting your form right first, and then start stacking up weights. Better to take some time getting to lifting heavier things than to rush and make a mistake.
Yes, exactly this. People don't hurt themselves by doing exercises with the wrong form - they hurt themselves by doing them in the wrong form with too much weight!
> If you've been sitting on a chair for 8-12 hours a day you will have lots of muscular imbalances that needs to be corrected before starting a program like this.
Perhaps. But what can you recommend to correct those imbalances that's at least as good than e.g. very low-weight deadlifts and (air-) squats?
If you've been sitting on a chair for 8-12 hours a day you will have lots of muscular imbalances that needs to be corrected before starting a program like this.
For instance, you will most likely not be able to activate your glutes during the squat or deadlift. Your lower back will take the load. Meet pain and, if you are unlucky, injury...