StrongLifts 5×5Workout guide.

Build a simple week around five lifts

Stronglifts 5×5 gives new and returning lifters a small set of exercises, a repeating schedule and a practical progression question: did you complete the prescribed work? That simplicity is useful when the hardest part of training is arriving with a clear plan. The important details are how you choose the first loads, record missed reps and adjust a lift that becomes difficult.

Use the Stronglifts companion planner to work through those decisions. Enter the total weight and the actual reps for the exercise you are reviewing. A completed squat can earn an increase while an unfinished press repeats its load. Your progress does not need to move at the same speed on every lift.

This guide covers the base Stronglifts 5×5 arrangement. Stronglifts Intermediate, Plus and Ultra change the prescription and should be identified separately. Nor does every routine called 5×5 mean Stronglifts: five sets can be straight sets, ramped sets, or part of a different weekly structure.

See the whole program before the first session

The base routine alternates two workouts across three nonconsecutive weekly sessions. The creator's quick start guide provides the public program and its starting guidance.

These are working sets, after suitable warmups. Most exercises use the same working weight for all five sets. The deadlift exception matters: 1×5 means one working set, not an instruction to copy the five-set volume from the squat.

A typical first week is A, B, A; the next is B, A, B. Keep that alternation moving instead of restarting A every Monday. The squat appears frequently, while bench, press, row and deadlift have different exposure counts over an individual week. Assess their progress against their own previous sessions rather than expecting identical weekly increases.

Choose it for the right job

Stronglifts fits a lifter who wants frequent practice on basic barbell movements with little daily exercise selection. It is particularly convenient in a gym with a rack, bench, barbell and a complete range of plates. A reliable three-day schedule also leaves room for ordinary life and other activities.

It demands patience with light beginnings and sufficient time as the working sets become harder. Five squat sets plus two more exercises can occupy a substantial session when rests are long. If you have a firm short time limit, check the actual duration rather than assuming a short exercise list always means a short workout.

The program also asks you to tolerate repetition. If a more varied routine helps you train consistently, compare GZCLP or a suitable upper/lower approach. The useful selection criterion is whether the structure supports your training goal and schedule, rather than which program has the most enthusiastic online supporters.

Set starting loads that leave room to learn

Starting too heavy can turn the first week into a string of failed targets. Starting modestly gives you practice with setup, range of motion and repeated sets before the bar becomes more demanding. Do not confuse easy with useless when the task is learning to execute a new routine consistently.

For someone entirely new to lifting, the official guide suggests light beginnings, including an empty bar for several lifts and appropriate loaded starting heights for rows and deadlifts. For a returning lifter, current ability matters more than an old personal record. Choose a load you can control for the entire prescription rather than one set performed at your limit.

The weight is the total on the bar. A 20 kg bar with two 10 kg plates totals 40 kg. If you add 2.5 kg overall, that normally means another 1.25 kg per side. Use the plate calculator before the session when small plates or an unfamiliar bar make the arithmetic less obvious.

Record separate starting values for all five lifts. There is no requirement for the bench and row to match. An exercise you have never practiced may need a more conservative beginning than a familiar exercise using similar muscles.

Warm up without spending the working sets early

Build toward the work weight with lighter sets. Keep the early sets easy and reduce reps as the load approaches your target. Your warmup should make the first working set feel familiar, while leaving enough energy to complete all five working sets.

Use the warmup calculator for a starting sequence, then adjust for the exercise, the room temperature and the load. At very light working weights, a long list of percentage warmups is unnecessary. At heavier weights, jumping straight from an empty bar to the target is rarely a useful rehearsal.

Choose a technical standard that you can repeat. Review squat depth and balance or overhead press setup before training. When comparing sessions, a rep should describe the same movement. Increasing the load while shortening the range creates an impressive graph with a weaker explanation.

Understand what earns the next increase

In the base progression, complete every prescribed working set before adding weight to that lift. A squat logged 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 qualifies. A squat logged 5, 5, 5, 4, 3 does not become a success because the total number of reps felt close enough.

The official progression article explains this exercise-by-exercise logic. It is especially helpful when a session has mixed results: one lift increases, another repeats, and the workout remains useful.

Consider an illustrative example. You squat 50 kg for all five sets, bench 35 kg for all five sets and row 40 kg for 5, 5, 5, 5, 4. With selected 2.5 kg increments, the next squat target is 52.5 kg and the next bench target is 37.5 kg. The row remains 40 kg. The incomplete row does not invalidate the completed pressing work.

Choose increments that your equipment supports. A 2.5 kg increase may be reasonable for one lift and too abrupt for another. Smaller increments can make the plan more sustainable, especially as pressing loads become challenging. A smaller earned increase still represents progress.

Log the difference between failure and interruption

The planner needs actual results, not a guess about what you would have done. If you finish only three sets because the gym closes, record that interruption. If you attempt all five but miss the target reps, record the rep counts. Both outcomes may lead you to repeat the load, but they do not provide the same evidence about strength.

The current official app support guidance makes progression and deload settings configurable. Its default reduces a lift by 10% after three consecutive unsuccessful sessions on that exercise. That is a default for the base progression, not a rule that a skipped exercise proves three failed attempts.

Keep the unsuccessful-session count tied to the exercise and the same relevant target. Changing the weight manually, switching the movement or taking a long break changes the context. A spreadsheet that simply counts any red cell can prescribe a reduction for the wrong reason.

Leave a short note when the normal decision does not apply. Loaded the wrong bar, stopped for pain and ran out of time are more useful descriptions than bad workout. They also stop you from blaming the program for an event that needs a different fix.

Work through a plateau before changing everything

Suppose you attempt an 80 kg squat and miss the five-set target. The first normal response is to repeat that load, not to add weight because the calendar says progress is due. Take the next exposure seriously: load correctly, warm up consistently and give the later sets enough rest.

If the same target remains unsuccessful across three proper attempts, the default 10% reduction produces 72 kg before rounding. Choose a total you can assemble using the planner's rounding setting. That choice should be visible in the export. A hidden upward round can partially undo the intended reduction, while inconsistent rounding makes later comparisons confusing.

The point of the reduction is to rebuild useful work, not to manufacture a temporary run of green boxes. Look for a reason that the previous attempt failed. An oversized increase, rushed rest periods or deteriorating technique can reappear at exactly the same place unless you address it.

The creator's failure guide and plateau guide discuss those adjustments. Use them to understand the decision rather than treating every setback as proof that you need an advanced routine.

Rest long enough to judge the load fairly

An early working set may feel comfortable, while the fourth and fifth sets demand much more. That does not automatically mean the starting load was wrong. Accumulated fatigue and the amount of rest affect what you can repeat.

If you repeatedly complete the first three sets and lose reps late, time the rest intervals. Compare a deliberate, adequately rested session with your rushed attempts. Make one change at a time so you can see whether it helped. Resting more and reducing the load and replacing the exercise simultaneously creates an unclear experiment.

When time is the binding constraint, be honest about it. You may need a different schedule or prescription instead of trying to compress hard five-set work into an unsuitable appointment. A planned change is easier to evaluate than an unofficial version produced by cutting the last two sets every week.

Keep the schedule intact when life interrupts

After one missed session, continue with the next workout in the A/B sequence when you can train and recover normally. Do not add an extra heavy day immediately beside another just to make the week look complete. Maintain the order and let the calendar shift.

The Stronglifts app offers return-from-break reductions after sufficient time away, and its support page lets users adjust that amount. The useful principle is to resume at a load you can perform now. A week of travel, a month without training and a week of illness are different situations, even if a tool only knows the date.

If your working weight changes on return, keep the old record. Mark the new session as a return rather than deleting the past. Later, compare regular training blocks and note whether the rebuilt work is more controlled, more complete or heavier than before.

Make substitutions deliberate

If the gym has no suitable place for barbell rows, you can train a different pulling exercise, but it becomes a different performance record. A cable stack number should not replace a barbell row load in the same progression column. Machines also vary between gyms, so record the equipment when it changes.

For a squat or bench that is painful, stop that movement and seek qualified help with the cause and a suitable alternative. Avoid repeatedly forcing the same exercise because a planner has already printed the target. A five-set calculation does not assess pain or technique.

If you choose a permanent alternative, establish its own modest starting load and progression. You can still use the logging principles from this guide while being clear about the modified exercise selection. For a routine designed around a broader menu, compare other program field guides rather than accumulating exceptions indefinitely.

Read progress beyond a perfect streak

The following is an illustrative before/after training record, not a testimonial or a guaranteed time course. The examples show different ways the log can improve.

Review trends across several exposures. Does a repeat restore the missing reps? Does a smaller increment keep the press moving? Are resets becoming less productive despite consistent execution? The answers matter more than whether every planned increase happened on its original date.

When the base routine becomes a poor fit, choose the next structure for an observed reason. Madcow 5×5 uses ramped sets and different weekly roles. Starting Strength has a different novice volume prescription. Classic 5/3/1 extends the loading cycle. Their differences deserve more attention than the shared use of barbells.

Leave with a usable next workout

Enter the completed reps in the companion planner, check whether the lift increases, repeats or reaches your chosen reduction threshold, and export the calculation. Keep the actual-result fields beside the target so the sheet remains a training record rather than a prediction.

Before the next session, check the one thing that most often interrupts your execution: the correct workout, the smallest plates, the rest timer or a technical cue. A simple routine becomes useful through reliable details, repeated often enough to learn from them.

Sources and further reading

Primary sources checked on 15 October 2026: Mehdi's Stronglifts quick start, progression guide, failure guide, plateau guide and the official app progression settings. Trainer's planner is an independent companion; its editable settings and examples should be read alongside the selected version of the original program.