advice on 5x5 sl

[ol2712]

hi there i am currently doing the 5 x5 stronglift routine and i am finding it great but i cant seem to improve my bench press very much any tips on how to push it a bit further ? i have been doing it for about 7 weeks now.
i had done weight training before but only about 8 months and high rep low weight but i wanted to step it up and try to improve my lifts.
my current stats are
i weigh 79 kgs

deadlift 145kg
squat 135 kg
bench 80 kg
barbell row 100 kg

i have do this with added exercises [dips, pull ups and some extra exercises after the main lifts are done] three times a week monday wednesday and saturday. i do one set of interval sprinting for 30 mins a week as well.

any advice appreicated

[Martin Brown]

Give it time and make sure you are eating enough to maximise strength development

7 weeks is nothing!

[ol2712]

i think i have my diet pretty good and i am supplement with shakes etc i find doing this routine makes me hungrier and hungrier the more i lift anyway! it just seems my squat and deadlift have rocketed up very quickly and my bench seems stuck at 80kgs [which is more than i was doing by about 15kg] how long can i stick with the 5x5 sl do you think ? i was planning on doing it for 3 to 4 months ? i try to add a couple of other exercises each day as well like shoulders, legs , back. I Had read somewhere that once you get to 2 x bw to move on but i dont know how accurate that advise is ?

[Martin Brown]

Well squat and deadlift should go up fast as they utilise the bodies strongest muscle groups. Your strength potential on both of those is always alot higher than a bench press so will usually go up faster until they level out.

I would look to get to around 1.5-2xbw squat, 1.5xbw bench and 2-2.5xbw deadlift assuming your weight does not go up alot. It's not a bad plan to stick to. Alot of people ditch the treid and tested programs and try their own thing and go backwards....

[Toomz]

SL5x5 program is 12 weeks so I would suggest at least sticking it out til then. Have you tried the deloading that the program suggests?

[dope540]

wise words from guru brown. i wish i had listened to martin more and not faffed about with programs. would've progressed loads by now.

[TarkMalbot]

What are these other exercises you are doing eack workout on your shoulders, back and legs?

These could be stopping you get stronger with your bench. In my opinion you should try and stick to the SL5x5 program as it was designed and see how you go rather than adding in extras of your own.

I have just started the SL5x5 and must admit I want to do extra work and put the weights up as it feels easy at the moment but I know that sooner or later its going to get touch when I am adding weight every time.

Do some deloading and see how you get on for the next 5 weeks.

[Toomz]

Does no one else do extra accessory work then for this? I'm considering doin this after my honeymoon to ease myself back into training and also to gain some more strength but would find doing 3 exercises only a bit weird. Usually did at least 5 on the other full body I did. Could you not throw in chins and dips at least?

[Rod-Steel]

Quote

Does no one else do extra accessory work then for this? I'm considering doin this after my honeymoon to ease myself back into training and also to gain some more strength but would find doing 3 exercises only a bit weird. Usually did at least 5 on the other full body I did. Could you not throw in chins and dips at least?

i try to stick to the programme as much as possible. Now and then I complete the main 3 compound exercises then on one day i will do a few sets of dips and on the other day biceps curls. On the day i do rows i also do chin ups as a warm up.

As i have been trying to lean up up i have cut my calories and carbs but my weight as gone up from 14st 7 to 15st. I have leaned up a bit so the only reason i can think of the weight gain is from all the squats...my legs are huge!

[Karl Hungus]

IMO if you've started stalling on stronglifts you're best moving on to something with less volume. Straight sets of 5x5 are a lot of volume so they'll case you to stall much quicker than ramping sets or 3x5.

I'd recommend moving to a similar but better set-up programme such as Starting Strength, Greyskull LP or Madcow intermediate. I've recently started on Greyskull LP and I'm loving it.

It's full body, squatting twice per week and deadlifting once with Bench and OHP rotated.
You do 2 sets of five then a third set of as many reps as possible starting at a weight that you can do for 8-10 reps on the last set.

You're meant to move up in small increments, 1.25kg upper and 2.5kg lower per week, this way progress can be maintained for months without stalling. When you do dip below 5 reps for two consecutive sessions you reset the weight by 10% and start again.