Stronglifts 5x5 - Is That It? page

[john_solo]

I started strong lifts 5x5 today. I have been lifting for the past few months, but wanted to change things up and also simplify my routine. Today was Squat, Bench Press, and Barbell Row. The amount of weight was very light, especially compared to what I've been doing, but that's what Mehdi calls for.

Question - the whole thing took me about 20 minutes. Is that what others have experienced? I follow Lean Gains and I don't feel I did enough to even up my calories from a rest day today!

Thanks!

John

[primalrob]

i felt the same way when i started stronglifts; workouts were just too short and too easy. it won't be like that for long. the weight increases for each workout will be noticeable soon enough, and you could probably skip a few weeks if you're familiar with the exercises and comfortable with starting a bit higher.
it's been a while, but if i recall correctly, those early weeks are a time to learn the movements and really focus on form. if you want more of a workout when you're done, do it. pull ups and pushups used to be part of the program, just tacked on at the end...you could just do something like that.

[David Garner]

i felt the same way when i started stronglifts; workouts were just too short and too easy. it won't be like that for long. the weight increases for each workout will be noticeable soon enough, and you could probably skip a few weeks if you're familiar with the exercises and comfortable with starting a bit higher.
it's been a while, but if i recall correctly, those early weeks are a time to learn the movements and really focus on form. if you want more of a workout when you're done, do it. pull ups and pushups used to be part of the program, just tacked on at the end...you could just do something like that.

Exactly right. The length of time gets longer too, due to both increased warmup time and increased rest between sets. It takes me between 30 and 40 minutes to complete a workout now.

[Dirlot]

Light weight will make the routine easy. Treat it as a learning curve as you keep upping the weight,

[Leida]

Just wait till your weights go up. It progresses like wildfire. By the time I switched to 3x5, the workout took me over an hour.

[mike_h]

Takes me roughly 45 minutes with warm ups, just over 60 seconds between sets, and wrangling weights to set up each exercise.

[jasondubou]

pull ups and pushups used to be part of the program

[jfreaksho]

My wife and I lifted together for a few months- towards the end it would take about an hour, give or take, to knock out out our SL workout. I started a few months before her, so we were never at the same weight, and I moved most of the plates most of the time.

[Wanderlust]

You *should* be resting 2-3 minutes between sets. So you should be spending about 30 mins sitting on your bum. But that's mostly when you start getting higher weights on.