Reminder: StrongLifts.com is Not About Bodybuilding
Jan 3rd, 2008 by Mehdi Posted in StrongLifts.com
Some questions I received during the past weeks:
- What exercises can I do for my forearms?
- What’s the best way to work the outside muscles of my legs. The ones closer to my knees?
- I’ve read for better development & strength in the arms it’s better to do close grip Pull-ups.
- I want to get a complete body workout. I’ve added Flys, Sit-ups, Lat Pull-downs, Dumbbell Curls & Leg Press to StrongLifts 5×5 program.
Strength Training. StrongLifts.com’s title & tagline reads build muscle & lose fat through strength training. StrongLifts.com is about strength training. If you’re interested in bodybuilding, check out Iron Addicts & Intense Muscle.
You won’t find information on isolating muscles here. StrongLifts.com is about getting stronger. The stronger you get, the more muscles you’ll have. The more muscles you have, the more calories you’ll burn, and the lower your body fat.
Ivan Stoitsov. Image credit: robbymacklem
Bodybuilding. Get into bodybuilding once you can at least Squat 1.5x your own body-weight for 1 rep. Bodybuilding is about “shaping” muscles, you need some base muscle mass, and thus base strength, before you think about that.
I’ve done bodybuilding for years. Strength training is more fun. Picture above: Ivan Stoitsov, Olympic Weightlifter, 77 kg. You know he’s strong just by looking at him. Here’s a video of Stoitsov doing a Clean & Jerk with 205kg.
Answers to the Questions.
- Forearms. Deadlifts, Pull-ups, Chin-ups, Barbell Rows. Squeeze the bar hard. You’ll get strong & muscular forearms.
- Outside Leg Muscles. Front Squats build muscular quad muscles, assuming that is what you mean.
- Arm Work. You’re stronger using a shoulder-width grip on Pull-ups & Chin-ups. Focus on your back & legs by the way, not your arms.
- Complete Body Workout. StrongLifts 5×5 is a complete body workout. Reread the whole post & the FAQ. No need for Flyes you have the Bench Press & Dips. No need for lat pull-downs you have Chin-ups & Pull-ups. No need for dumbbell curls you have Chin-ups, Pull-ups & Barbell Rows. No need for leg presses you have Squats & Deadlifts. Do the routine as it is laid out or do your own routine. Don’t mix things up unless you have a solid understanding of how the program works.
If you’re on StrongLifts 5×5 or another strength training routine for some time now: share your progress in the comment section. Your story will inspire more beginners to focus on strength. Click here to comment.
Funny how you write about this subject. I have started working with your 5X5 download for about two weeks now. I keep thinking I need to add more- to do more, instead of focusing on what I am doing now. Good timing.
Mehdi,
I was just perusing the links you provided on lifting and ended up at the following:
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=182&pid=2095
An 800+ page lifting manual where the proceeds go to cancer research? Sign me up.
Yeah James I’m going to be getting that lifstrong book too.
One interesting thing, for the forearms, the best exercise I have experienced is the hang clean. The last few times I did them I felt it in both my grip and forearm extensors big time. I really think this is an underrated exercise. Also snatches work the forearm as well.
@John
You’re welcome
@James
Cosgrove’s book, I haven’t read it yet.
@Alex
Hang cleans will work your forearms if you squeeze the bar hard yes. But correct hang clean technique means pulling with the traps. You can only do that by relaxing your forearms, using the hook grip.
After just wandering around the gym doing my own thing with no routine whatsoever, I came across Stronglifts 5×5 program. Not only am I more focused as I know what I’m going to be doing before I get there, but it’s made going to the gym so much more fun!
I go with a friend and we’re always amazed at how we’re progressing. We started the 5×5 on the 17thth of December with the following weights.
Squat: 25kg
Bench: 50kg
Barbell Row: 30kg
Overhead Press: 20kg
Deadlift: 40kg
As of yesterday, we are now at:
Squat: 55kg
Bench: 57.5kg
Barbell Row: 37.5kg
Overhead Press: 25kg
Deadlift: 50kg
It might not look like a total body workout and I was skeptical too at the start. But since we began, we’ve never felt as though we’ve pushed ourselves anywhere near as hard as we do now and we feel great and I’m already noticing a huge improvement in both my appearance as well as getting on with day to day activities.
Hey Mehdi, I’ve been doing sports pretty much my whole life (I’m only 19, but even as a kid…), and have started doing strength and conditioning training along with rugby in the past couple years.
I finally decided to clean my diet up to get the best performance possible, and your articles on the anabolic diet have been a great help, however I have a couple questions (not sure If I should have put them on comments under one of those articles…but I figure you will read this one more often because it is more recent):
1) My training is high intensity intervals on certain days, and heavy Max Effort lifts on others. This both builds strength and mimics the type of efforts put forth in rugby. It will not be possible for me to put all of the high intensity training in one part of the week (as suggested for your training on the AD article), so I was toying with the idea of doing a mid week carb up to help with that (after I have adjusted to the diet, of course).
However, while I was doing some research I found another VERY similar diet on menshealth.com that was called the TNT (tactical nutritional timing) diet. The difference is that they have 5 different plans depending on your goals (plan A putting more emphasis on fat loss, and Plan E putting most emphasis on gaining muscle). I would be doing plan E, which is exactly the same as the AD, save for one thing: they have a period of one hour surrounding your workout that they suggest the following (I am just going to copy and paste their description to make sure I don’t leave anything out):
Prepare a protein shake (mixed with water or milk) that provides a blend of at least 40 grams of whey and casein protein, and 40 to 80 grams of carbohydrates. When choosing a product, look for one that contains both whey and casein protein, and which has little or no fat. As a good alternative, opt for a 16-ounce carton of low-fat chocolate milk or low-fat, fruit-flavored kefir.
• Drink half of the beverage 30 minutes before your workout; drink the other half immediately after your workout.
• Eat a Fat-Burning Time Zone meal or snack that contains high-quality protein within 30 minutes to an hour after your training session. (Keep in mind, your Fat-Burning Time Zone snack could be another 20 to 40 gram protein shake, made without the carbs.)
I was just wondering how you felt about this as apposed to simply doing a Wednesday carb up when my training is usually very high intensity. If I were to do this after 4 strict weeks of adapting, would this be too many carbs, therefore switching back to carb burning?
Thanks for putting together the site and answering all the comments…and sorry this one turned out to be so long..heh
@Taz
Great. Thanks for sharing
@Austin
Thanks for the motivating words on the blog. I’m not familiar with the TNT diet from menshealth. The goal of the wednesday carbup is just to carbup. Get carbs for an hour, get a lot of carbs, then go back to high protein/high fat the meal after.
Next time you have questions unrelated to the topic of an article, post them in StrongLifts.com Forum
One thing I’ve always wondered about with the 5×5-where do you get hamstring work, and do you risk the risk of imbalance with all the squatting and no hamstring work?
Low bar Squats work your hamstrings more than your quads. Deadlifts work your hamstrings. Power Cleans if you add them, also do. StrongLifts 5×5 heavily emphases your posterior chain.
Yeah I’ve always found squats and deadlifts work the hamstrings a lot especially romanian dls. When I squat I actually try to put more weight on the post chain rather than letting the quads handle it. Wide stance and going to below parallel.
“the more muscles you’ll have”? I surely hope I do not develop more muscles! Might be worth fixing Mehdi
Great post, that clean and jerk was amazing… And yes, he surely does look as strong as he is.
Sorry for the question on forearm work outs it seems as though it’s a part of my body that will never develop at a good pace. Thanks for your answer I only ask you because you’re a very respectable source. I revamped my workout for the new year I hope to incorporate these forearm workouts into my workout.
I include:
Squats
Calf Raises
Bench press
Push ups
Dips
Pull ups
Chin ups
Crunches
Any other exercises that would be key to developing a stronger body????
@Young Athlete
No need to appologize at all. Calf raises useless compared to Deadlifs. Push-ups are useless as you already have the bench press + dips. No overhead press = you can get shoulder imbalances from doing the bench press only. Crunches are a silly exercise compared to Turkish Get ups. I recommend you to try StrongLifts 5×5 for 2-3 months.
I’ll will try stronglifts 5×5 when track season comes because i will be up near the gym every day. Thanks for the tips. I don’t do deadlifts since I’m not fully grown and don’t want to stunt my growth. I will get those into my routine probably around the end of next year.
I will look into Turkish get ups and try them today.
Thanks for your help, keep shooting out the good info.
Weight lifting doesn’t stunt your growth, it’s a myth
Good luck with the routine, keep asking if you have questions.
Is there anyway to incorporate Leg Press into the 5×5? On my leg days I do Squats, Deadlifts, and Leg Press and it just feels like a complete workout. I am 21, 5′11, 185lb, and have been lifting on and off for 2 years. However, I am still amazingly weak, for example, i bench 100 lb’s (incl bb), and Squat 115 lb’s. I really hope this 5×5 gets me going. My goal is to go from 20% body fat to 10% and get MUCH stronger.
Thanks for this great website, and all your hard work Mehdi!
@Piyush
You’re workout will feel more complete once you can at least Squat your own body-weight. No leg press: do the routine as it’s laid out. Focus on getting your squat numbers up. That will get you strong, increase muscle mass & lower your body fat. Thanks for the motivating words on the blog. Good luck.
Thats the kind of look I want from training. Ya know that look of “power”? Yea, I want to be that guy. And doing traditional bodybuilding will not get you that look of respect and awe.