Im new to SL 5x5

[massey]

Hello all

I have just started the SL 5x5 program a freind of mine told me about it and said he had seen some good results from it, so i thought i would give it a go as well, done my first week last week and i am very impressed with SL 5x5, never been so excited about going to the gym,

ive just got a few questions to ask,

Ive started with more weight than instructed instead of just 20kg i upped it up to 40kg for bench press also started squatting with more weight as well, am i fine to do this?

also why it is at an easy stage of the program i am adding 5kg of weight instead of 2.5kg is that wrong?

also with having to work shifts i sometimes can not go to the gym with a rest day in between so last week i had to go Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday is this going to be a problem, do i need to have a rest day to be doing the progam properly?

any advice would be appreciated

[jfh26]

Good to hear you're enjoying the program. To answer your questions:

1) You should only be starting with more weight if you are 100% sure you can do the exercises correctly. The reason you are supposed to start light is so you can perfect your technique for when the weights get heavy and it really matters. Also, make sure you don't start too high or you will stall on your lifts much faster.

2) Same explanation as above. If you are 100% confident with your technique and the weight is really that easy, you can use larger jumps for now. But, as I said, if you jump up to quickly you will find yourself stalling a lot sooner than you should be. Also, note that this only applies to squat and deadlift. You will stall quickly on Bench Press doing this, and will fail completely trying to do this on overhead press.

3) It probably won't matter while the weights are light, but once the weights get heaver you will absolutely need that rest day. You are going to have a damn hard time squatting heavy two days in a row.

Hope this helps. Make sure you read Medhi's SL5x5 FAQ thoroughly - it will answer most, if not all, of your questions about the program. Especially look at the sections titled "How to Choose Your Starting Weight" and "Progressing: Adding Weight."

stronglifts-5x5-official-faq-t11443-15.html#p214197

[Portillo]

2 days is ok. But never workout more than 2 days in a row.