Introduction

Last January, after a difficult breakup and living in an apartment by myself in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of the Laurentians, I realized that through a mix of circumstances, I've let myself go. I wasn't fat or anything but I felt weak. Many people who work from home may have a similar experience: long hours in front of the computer, lack of exercises and a general feeling of not moving enough.

Working from home as it's perks but with the added freedom, it's easy to let ourselves go and not do as much activities as we should. What we do not use, we lose...so it goes with our body and it's strength.

There was another reason why I decided to take on strength training: mental fitness. There is something to be said about the psychological benefits of pushing your limits by progressively raising the difficulty of the exercises. I also came to believe that men ought to be strong if they want to be in a position to defend and protect what is good in the world.

After much research, I've decided to pick the Stronglifts5x5 program and just run with it. Then, after a while, to make my own opinion about it. This review is from my personal experience and is only my opinion. I'm not a health professional or anything. Just a regular dude who wanted to get stronger.

*Disclaimer: I do not profit from promoting this particular program. I have no affiliate links or connection with the creator of the app and website that promotes it.

What is Stronglifts5x5 ?

From the stronglifts.com website:

Stronglifts is the simplest workout to get stronger. Effective for gaining strength, building muscle and burning fat fast. Three exercises, three times a week, 45 minutes per workout with an apps to coach you through each 5x5 workout.

The beauty of this program is how simple it is. For a beginner, complexity is the number one killer of progress. This program is specifically designed to help people get started down the path of strength training with progressive overload. Some people think that "beginner" mean someone who is not experience with the gym...that's not the case. If you want to know what level you are at in strength training look up at the charts of weight lifting strength standards here.

Stronglifts 5×5 uses five free weight compound exercises: the Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Overhead Press and Barbell Row. You do three of these exercises each workout, three times a week, for about 45 minutes per workout. You Squat every workout, three times a week. 5×5 stands for five sets of five reps. These are the sets and reps you do on every exercise except Deadlifts. Deadlift is only one set of five reps (1×5) because doing more would beat you up. Plus, Squatting three times a week will get you stronger at Deadlifts since it works similar muscles.

That's pretty much the program in a nutshell. Now on to my review.

My Experience

As mentioned above, the beauty of this program is how simple and fast it is. I downloaded the app, watch the videos on how to have correct form during exercises and went to my sister's gym monday, wesnesday & friday for 45 minutes.

I started all exerices at the very bottom of the ladder, with a 45lbs barbell only. I was so out of shade that my muscles cramped out after the first workout...but I went again and again. Everytime I succeeded my 5 reps or 5, I added 5lbs to the next workout. I went from doing a 5x5 squat of 45lbs to a 5x5 squat of 180lbs in only a few months. I felt stronger, more confident and centered in my body. I started looking at myself in the mirror and being proud of the body that was being shaped before my own eyes.

Very addicting and eventually a little scary.

Since every time you go you increase by 5lbs, it gets quite addictive to see yourself succeeding at increasing the stakes workout after workout. It helps build confidence in our ability to adapt and become stronger.

But later on, reality sets in...you can't increase by 5lbs forever...since if you did it would mean that you would be lifting 780lbs on each exercises after a whole year.

Whenever I hit a wall and couldn't complete the workout 3 times in a row, the app autogenerated a "deload" of 10% of the weight...and from there I could keep going and very often blow pass off my previous sealing. DELOAD WORKS.

Also, there are some psychological barriers. At the beginning it's fun to succeed and add 5lbs...but when the weights starts getting scary, you hope not to succeed so that you don't have to add an extra 5lbs next time around!

Here is an example of what you progression may look like inside the app once you start doing this program.

It's a squat program

This program is mainly a squat program. There is nothing wrong with that since the squat is "the king of exercises", the whole body is working during that exercise and it provides a strong "core". (for the ladies who want to tone their legs and buttocks, you can't ask for a better exercice).

Many people hate squats because they are challenging and technical. But avoiding squat may turn you to look like this guy:

Conclusion

I highly suggest anyone who want to get stronger to try stronglifts5x5 and give it a serious shot for at least 6 months without trying to tinker or change it. Just follow the program. Don't worry, you won't get bulky and have ridiculously huge muscles. You will simply feel better, healthier, stronger, more confident and it will make sure you don't turn into a toothpick by spending too much time in front of the computer.