I'm just starting out, and looking to do something light on off days? Would cardio be good, or some light muscle isolation workouts like bicept curls? I also have a question a diet. What does it look like on off days? I'm wondering if I should still be drinking my protein shakes, I'm a skinny fat building. About 140lbs and want to gain weight. Or should I bring my calories down a bit when not working out. Thx

Been doing SL since November thru mid Jan, took a break then have been going again since late Feb. I'd basically call it 2 good training blocks of 3 mos each.

In honesty, felt like I really needed the break in late Feb. Had not deloaded and maybe that would have done it, but feel like it's best to keep my training periods to 3 mos. In the current block, did deload a wk ago. Still feels like I'm up against my limit and need a wk or 3 off.

How many mos (or wks or yrs) are you guys chasing in SL?

Also looking for a program to hop into following this, that is more focused on cutting/aesthetics, selfishly for summer looking good.

Feel strong as hell with a good base and incredible functional strength, looking to shift gears for a bit. Probably jump back in SL in the fall.

Appreciate any advice.

Info - Age : 37, Weight is 178lb (80kg), Height is 6ft

5x5 Stats - Bench is 185lb (84kg), Deadlift is 260lb (118kg), Squat is 205lb (93kg)

Nutrition: I skip breakfast to do Intermittent Fasting

How long doing SL5x5: 2 Months, but I was lifting before for about a year but I started very light to work on form

What feels good/right in your set: Overall it feels good, I think my form is okay. BTW the thing behind me is to make sure my depth is good.

What feels wrong/painful in your set: I am spending up to 5min between sets on squats already and it feels a little early. I am spending a lot of time resting and my workouts are becoming really long. This isn't happening yet on bench but I think it will soon.

What questions do you have?: How does my Squat form look and should I be switching to a 3x5 sets because I seem to always need 5min for squats. I can also feel my bench starting to get difficult without more than 3 minutes rest. Overall I feel like I have a long way to go to my goals (1.5x for bench, 1.75x for squat and DL) and I just feel like I am going to struggle to get there if I am already having a hard time.

https://youtube.com/shorts/KDomyDVndKo

Edit: added an intermittent fasting

I have this machine in my gym where we can do a squat like motion. I use this if the squat rack is not available for 5x5 as it takes a lot of time to do 5x5 squats ( 15min including warm up sets ) I am only able to do 70kgs in barbell squats but I am able to do 85kgs in this machine The physics feels the same to me. I think this helps in stabilisations a bit Please let me know how to track progress if I’m switching between barbell and this machine ?

I’ve been running a modified 5/3/1 since the start of the year, I’ve taken my reps of 185 for 1 to 3, but I have yet to put any weight on my 1 rep max (195), every time I attempt to go heavier I always fail the lift half way up, my thought is I need to work on my triceps but any advice is greatly appreciated.

Yet another physio recommended dropping bench press because my tight pecs are pulling shoulders to front which results in back pain when walking.

Love bench press, that's partly how I got to this situation probably - neglected back exercises in the past but kept bench pressing. No pain while in gym.

I would say chest is more developed than shoulders anyway, should be win win if I switch to incline bench press, would it help to relax pecs in addition to stretches and massage?

Was watching video from a respected exercise science phd and he mentioned heavy programs like 5x5 get taxing on older joints. He said they should be replaced with with a lighter weight program with more reps.

Anyone have some insight on this? I’ve been doing 5x5 on and off (mostly off) for about 5 years. I got my bench to 255, squat and DL in the mid 3s with no joint complaints other than a sore lower back once in a while.

I can only do SL 2x a week right now because of work and life and just trying to ease into it as I’m new to lifting again. I’ve lifted before and am very conscious of form.

I’m also doing a mile run almost daily, depending how I feel. Right now I’m doing like 13 minute miles. It’s only been like 2 weeks. It’s getting easier mentally and physically.

Should I even worry about accessory exercises right now? My only goals right now are lose weight, get stronger, and get better at cardio. I’m currently 222# at 5’10”.

Hey guys,

So, I've been working out for a bit now, but I haven't really been paying attention to my diet. I want to start focusing on that now, but I'm not sure what my body fat percentage is.

Do you think I have enough muscle to cut? I can bench my body weight, and I can overhead press 0.8 times my body weight. I've been working on my squat and deadlift form, and I can currently deadlift 130kg and squat 100kg.

I'm 173cm tall and weigh about 75kg. I fluctuate between 71kg and 78kg, but I'm usually around 75kg.

I'm a 20 year old male: 235lbs with a kind of skinny fat build. In about July / September of 2023 I entered a caloric surplus, an unhealthy one admittedly, and started seriously working out since October / November of last year and I have seen progress since then which I am proud of. However, I feel that I'm still too skinny / not big enough whenever I compare myself to what I want to become, that being a "bear / bear mode," see these images:

ExampleA

ExampleB

ExampleC

Myself

I haven't followed any programs other than sticking to a 5x5 for my workouts, and I mostly do compounds (deadlifts, barbell rows, and benching). I'm not too sure on what to do at this point, and I feel like I hit a plateau. I'd really appreciate any advice, conversations, or suggestions on what to do. Thank you.

Haven't picked up weights in about 10 years. I'm trying this program because it seems easy to start.. but my body is super sore. Especially my legs. Can't even get up from a chair. Do u guys still try and work out or do u wait? My last work out was 3 days ago and I'm still really sore. Thx

Morning all,

I've recently been getting into paused pressing and been building on this for most of my top sets.

For example, my last benching session i worked up to my top set and did a pause on 130kg. However touch and go on my PR attempt of 140.

However, today i thought f*ck it and decided to pause on my top set....and hit a PR of 140kg! Pausing felt so good warming up to that top set.

I recently saw that the 'gym reaper' baker is pausing all his pr benches now.

My thought is that if you pause at the bottom maybe you can catch the whip a bit better and might help get it back up past the normal sticking point.

But anyone got a reason as to why my pause felt so good and actually surpassed my touch and go pr?

Maybe i was just full of energy today and was a one off. Any way, i think moving forward i will exclusively do paused presses. Seems safer and i quite enjoy the feeling or at least do a cycle of pausing.

** I know not quite 5x5 chat as 1rm, but my 5x5 is now using pausing too

Thanks!

I saw this video recently and thought it was thought provoking. It’s saying your back should be flat at a 45 degree angle is not at all vertical I.e. chest is not raised.

This goes against typical cues such as having your chest vertical. I also see in the video example where his chest leans over quite a lot and the barbell does not look to be over mid foot.

Can anyone comment on this and address potential discrepancies between this video and what is normally taught around here?

I know SS is a very reputable program with good tutorial videos, so I’m wondering if I should be tweaking my form a bit to address my balance mobility issues.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nhoikoUEI8U&pp=ygUXU3RhcnRpbmcgc3RyZW5ndGggc3F1YXQ%3D

I currently do 2 days a week of workout A and B (Monday and Thursday), B is modified to remove squats, instead I do more sets of deadlifts and added chin ups. So basically I'm doing each exercise once per week.
I was wondering if it would be better to instead do one exercise a day, for example Monday - Squat, Tuesday - Bench, etc. That would allow me to train each exercise harder. I frequently stay in condos that have a gym in the building so there is not much difference in time / convenience.
Is this a good idea or should I stick with 2x a week?

Is the set break timer not functioning in notification mode for anyone else after today’s app update?

I'm looking for help figuring out my goals and the next step in my fitness/strength journey. SL5x5 was a game changer but I want to change courses somewhat.

I am 42 year old male, 6'1", 238 lbs, and on my initial run of SL5x5 I reached a DL of 300lbs, squat 225lbs, bench 115 lbs, OHP 100, row 150. I'm happy with those numbers and the muscle mass I built up. This run was about 12-15 weeks starting with just the bar.

I then wound up taking a six week break due to life events, and started prioritizing cardio -- but haven't found a rhythm of doing that as much as I'd like. I do 55 minutes on the Arc Trainer at a time.

My goals are to maintain my strength and muscle mass (I don't care much about increasing either), reduce my belly for my wedding (in three months from now), and improve my conditioning. I'd like to not count calories. (I know, I know. I think increasing output with cardio plus SL will create a deficit based on what I know about myself.)

Can someone suggest a schedule and a SL program that I could use to incorporate weight training and cardio? I'm OK not doing weights 3x/week -- maybe half that is fine. What program would optimize for this frequency? And how can I program my cardio to make it trackable and show progress over time?

Thanks in advance.

Two days ago, as I was performing squats (with belt on), I felt some pain on the way up which seemed localized in my left floating rib. Pain is about 0 or 1/10 in daily activities ever since, and maybe 4 or 5/10 to touch.

I don’t have much experience with injuries related to lifting yet. I’m not asking for a medical diagnosis, but basically my first question is: should I wait it out a few days or see a doctor about this? If the pain was 7-8 or more I’d see someone right away obviously, but it doesn’t seem like something serious. Seeing a doctor is quite a pain where I live (no pun intended) and will probably take several days, which why I thought I’d ask for a second opinion first.

Second question: what could have triggered this? Anything specific I should check in my form?

Hello, Today I want to start the program but I am currently suffering from chronic patellar tendonitis. I can still lift and do squats, what tends to set it off is doing explosive activity, but squatting tends to flare up my tendonitis if i use incorrect form; I am also wondering if squatting thrice a week could aggravate the injury. Should I still run the program or should I wait until I recover from tendonitis?