Reviews of Strength Training Programs

[Mehdi]

Several members have been posting awesome reviews of strength training programs. I'll add everything in this thread.

Stephan Korte 3x3
This would be a great routine to do after StrongLifts 5x5. It's simple and you don't have to think things over too much. Only problem is that workouts can get very long.

• Stephan Korte's 3x3 - Review by Mouse
• stephen korte's 3x3 - review by mpetry

Jim Wendler 5/3/1
It's Westside influenced. So you have to know how to choose your accessory exercises based on your needs & weaknesses. You should be training for a really long time before doing this.

• 5-3-1 Program. A One Month In Review by atypical1
• 5 / 3 / 1 Review After Three Months by Buffalo150
• Jim Wendler Seminar - Some Interesting Points by MikeD

Bill Starr (Madcow)

• Review at the end of Routine by atypical1
• MadCow/Bill Starr Review by luco

StrongLifts 5x5

• StrongLifts 5x5 Success Stories
• One year in ... a retrospective on SL 5x5Beg. for 9 months by holvoetn

Tips for Making Reviews
* Mention which routine you did
* Mention how long you did the routine
* Mention strength stats before/after routine
* Mention body fat/body-weight before/after routine
* Give general info on how you felt, how sleep was, what you ate, ...
* Share mistakes you made, things you would differently, things you recommend, ...


Make Your Own Review
* Make a new post where you share all the above info.
* Post a link to your review below
* I'll add it to the list

Thanks!

[TempestTenor]

Awesome idea! Thanks for making this thread.

[guru]

Great thread indeed. Quite a few members have also been doing Bill Starr's & TM. Their reviews will also be helpful.

[Mehdi]

Great thread indeed. Quite a few members have also been doing Bill Starr's & TM. Their reviews will also be helpful.

If you find the links, feel free to add them Guru.

[guru]

Great thread indeed. Quite a few members have also been doing Bill Starr's & TM. Their reviews will also be helpful.

If you find the links, feel free to add them Guru.

Thanks Mehdi, added a link to atypical1's review of Madcow in his old log. Will leave the short program description to you.

[holvoetn]

How about SL Advanced ?

adamr is doing it right now (2nd cycle, I think), so am I (first cycle).
I haven't found a review/testimonial on it, though (may fill that gap myself after having done some cycles if this is still the case by then).

[Mehdi]

Sure go ahead guys, add it all.

[MikeD]

Sweet, I'm part of a sticky.

I'd like more Bill Starr reviews, if anyone's interested in sharing.

[atypical1]

Added holvoetn's review on SL 5*5 for beginners.

james

[Mehdi]

Added holvoetn's review on SL 5*5 for beginners.

james

It's already here: stronglifts-5x5-success-stories-t8249.html

Do you want all the 5x5 reviews to be here too, or better in the sl5x5 category only? I hate redundancy.

[atypical1]

Ahhhh...I didn't see it there. Good question. To me a success story is more informal than an actual review but as long as people know where to find the 5 x 5 reviews then it doesn't matter I suppose.

james

[Mehdi]

Ahhhh...I didn't see it there. Good question. To me a success story is more informal than an actual review but as long as people know where to find the 5 x 5 reviews then it doesn't matter I suppose.

james

I see what you mean. Ok let's keep it there then.

[Westsider]

I thought that 5/3/1 was a routine for people of all levels. It is often critisized for its simplicity. Simple programmes are good for beginners.

Wendler has received a lot of positive feedback from trainees who used 5/3/1 to overcome plateaus in strength and size development. "And it's not just from advanced guys," he says. "I received a thank-you from a guy who went from 135 for one on the bench to 135 for 17."
- T nation.

The calculations are all based off of 90% of your one-rep max rather than 100 making sure beginners use their heads and not their ego. There is no speed work. There is no GPP work. There are very few assistance exercises. There are no variations of the lifts when heavy weights are performed eg safety bar squat, rack pulls, board press etc. The only lifts that are gone to a near max are the main lifts themselves. This is completely opposite to westside where the only time they max out in the big three is at a meet. The rest of the time they are doing slight variations. To be honest I see nothing in common between 5/3/1 and westside.

5/3/1 teaches beginners to strain and maintain proper technique under high percentages of their 1RM. Anyone can have perfect technique with just the bar but a lot less people can have good technique several plates loaded onto it.

It advices a few assistance exercises based on your weaknesses. Finding your weaknesses aren't hard. There is so much information out there based on this already. You just have to learn to read. I think a few assistance exercises are beneficial because a lot of the time beginners will have specific muscular weakness that will prevent them from doing the lifts properly eg weak hamstrings results in not being able to sit back properly on the squat and weak external hip muscles will result in your knees going inwards when you descent in the squat. These problems can easily be fixed with a small amount of isolation work.

It teaches a lot of other things but I can't be botherred to type them all.

Looking at the programme I don't see why you would need to have trained for a long time to do it.

[Mehdi]

@Westsider
Like I wrote: because you have to choose exercises based on your weaknesses/needs. At your level this will make sense, but someone who only lifts for 6months-1year: not enough experience for this. Just my opinion, I could be wrong, I'm often wrong.

[atypical1]

I've said several times that I think it's an intermediate program and I'll sum up my thoughts in no particular order.

First, the program gives you a lot of choices. If you're a beginner then choice isn't necessarily a good thing. For every one beginner who is committed and focused there are dozens who are not and who would get lost on this program.

Second, I think that beginners are best served with linear progression. This program really limits your newbie gains because it works with relatively lighter weights. That works well for me now but if I were just starting out then I wouldn't be progressing as fast as I could.

Third, I think that the beginner program and programs like Madcow really give you the base work ethic that you need. Let me explain myself on this. It isn't that someone just starting out doesn't know how to work out hard or that the weights aren't heavy for them. It's that once you've done a beginner program and stalled on it you have a much better idea of what hard work is in the gym. Then, once you've moved onto Madcow you get even more experience in that. You really learn how to push yourselves there. To me that's the key ingredient to 5/3/1. You have to really push yourself on both the last set and on the accessory work.

That's why I think it's an intermediate to advanced workout. Not because a beginner can't do it and get gains but because I think there's more appropriate programs out there for them.

james