Strong Lifts 5x5

November 10, 2010 – January 7, 2011

The Strong Lifts program consisted of the following, it has since changed a bit, you can check their site here.

Workout A

Squat 5x5

Bench Press 5x5

Barbell Rows 3x12

Workout B

Squat 5x5

Overhead Press 5x5

Dead lift 1x5

These alternated every other day and I kept a M-W-F schedule. Each lift started at 45 lbs except for the dead lift which I started at 60 lbs. I would add 5 lbs weight the next time I did that exercise when I was able to complete the 5 sets of 5 reps.

The only thing I didn't have was a squat rack, so I ended up doing front squats instead. I had terrible form on this having never done squats before and still being inflexible. This lead to me resetting the weights back to the starting weight on December 14^th, and a knee injury on January 7^th that kept me from exercising regularly until April 4, 2011.

Here's my starting and highest reached lifts for these couple of months (all in pounds)

Start

Squat 45

Bench Press 45

Overhead Press 45

Barbell Rows 45

Dead lift 60

Highest reached

Squat 65

Bench Press 73.6

Overhead Press 55

Barbell Rows 70

Dead lift 105

Weight wise, I varied from 138 lbs starting to 148 lbs at my heaviest. Each work out I had 54g of whey protein and my appetite had gone up a bit.

January 31, 2011^t – March 31, 2011

I did some lifting along the same SL5x5 program during these months 2 to 4 times a month without the squats or dead lifts. I added body weight squats back in the last half of March. At the end of March I finally decided I could get back to lifting. This time I got a squat rack so I could do proper back squats and changed to the Starting Strength 3x5 Practical Programming Novice Program since it looked a bit easier for me.