Here’s the official Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet updated for 2024.

• It calculates your starting weights
• It automatically adds weight each week
• It adjust your weights if you miss reps

Tap the button below to download it for free:

Download spreadsheet

Let me show you how to use the Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet to calculate your starting weights and log your workouts.

Copy the Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet

The Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet is hosted on Google Sheets. Before you can edit this file, you need to make a copy for yourself.

1. Open the Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet
2. Tap “File” in the top right corner
3. Tap “Make a copy”

Like this:

This will copy the Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet to your Google Drive. After that you can use it like this…

1. Go to your Google Drive
2. Open your copy of the Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet
3. Use that spreadsheet to calculate your weights

Don’t request access to edit my Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet. If I did that, everyone would use the same sheet. Someone else would overwrite your data, making the spreadsheet unusable for all of us.

Make a copy of the spreadsheet for your own use.

How to Use The Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max Spreadsheet

Here’s a screenshot of the main workout area…

Each workout in the program has a different color. For each workout you’ll find the exercise, sets, reps, and weights.

Calculate your starting weights

The Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet automatically calculates your starting weights for you. It does this based on:

• Your recent best lifts
• Your increment settings
• Your on-ramp setting

Once you’ve set these, the Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet will automatically increase your weights each workout if you completed all sets. If you fail, it will repeat the weight next workout instead of adding more.

Here’s how to set up the spreadsheet…

Enter your best lifts

Enter your best lifts in the spreadsheet. These should be lifts that you’ve done in the past 3-4 weeks (not a year ago or so).

1. Select lb or kg in C16
2. Enter how much weight you lifted in D20-29
3. Enter how for how many reps you lifted that weight in E20-29
4. Enter the RPE for that set – how many more reps you could have done (0=10RPE, 1=9RPE, 2=8RPE, 3=7RPE).

Like this…

The Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet will use the information you entered to estimate your one rep max (how much weight you could lift for one rep).

This estimate will show in the gray cells G20-29.

The spreadsheet uses your estimated one rep max to calculate your starting weights. Don’t change these values in the gray cells G20-29. If you do, your spreadsheet will break. It needs this data to calculate your starting weights.

Set the on-ramp

Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max uses an on-ramp period. The first three weeks are easy to give your body time to adapt to the workouts, volume and exercises. The program gets harder week by week as you add weight on the bar.

Two settings control the on-ramp period:

• Increments: how much weight you add per week (5lb is 2.5/side). Smaller increments work better than bigger ones, particularly on upper-body exercises like the Bench and Overhead Press.
• On-ramp: how many weeks it takes before you match your previous best lifts. By default this is set to four weeks.

You can find both settings in the yellow cells H20-29 of the spreadsheet…

Avoid the common beginner mistake of starting with a short on-ramp because you want to progress faster. This usually results in slower progress because you will get more sore and your body doesn’t get time to adapt to the program (this can potentially result in aches and pains).

The goal isn’t to lift heavy once. The goal is to consistently add weight on the bar. Start with easy weights that give you room to progress. This also gives you time to get used to the new exercises that you may not have done before. You can focus on proper form before the weights get heavy.

By default, the spreadsheet gives you four weeks to reach your previous best lifts that you achieved before starting this program. You can set this to five or six weeks if you’d like more time to get used to the workouts and exercises. Less than four weeks on-ramp is not recommended.

Log your workouts

You can log your workouts using the Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max spreadsheet. The reps and weights are prefilled for you. They automatically increase each week if you complete all sets. If you fail and log that in the spreadsheet, the weight will repeat next workout. Example…

Here’s how this works:

1. You Squat 285lb in workout but did 3 reps instead of five.
2. The weight on the Squat repeats next time you do this exercise.
3. If you complete all sets next time, the weight will increase again.

Notice also how your back-off sets are automatically calculated based on your top set. The weight is automatically lowered by 10%.

Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max Spreadsheet vs Stronglifts app

The Stronglifts app does everything the spreadsheet does but better. It also does a lot more than the spreadsheet. Compare…

Feature	Spreadsheet	Stronglifts App
Starting weight calculator	✓	✓
Workouts planned for you	✓	✓
Automatic weight increase	✓	✓
Repeat weight if fail	✓	✓
Warmup calculator		✓
Plate calculator		✓
Rest timer between sets		✓
Workout duration timer		✓
Progress graphs weights		✓
Progress graphs volume		✓
Log with Apple watch		✓
Exercise videos		✓
Exercise instructions		✓
Add assistance work		✓
Log any program		✓
Ease of use	★ ★ ★ ★☆	★ ★ ★ ★★

If you print the spreadsheets, you better be good at math. You’ll have to calculate how much weight to add on each side of the bar between sets. If you make a mistake and put the wrong weight, you can fail reps by mistake.

The Google Sheets app is a pain to use on mobile devices. It’s made for accounting on a big screen, not logging workouts on a phone. The cells are hard to tap. You need to zoom in and out all the time. There’s no rest timer.

The Stronglifts app was made for lifting. Logging sets only takes a tap. The rest timer notifies you for your next set. You don’t need to switch between half a dozen apps during your workout. Everything you need is in the same app – warmup, plate calculator, history, graphs, videos, etc. It’s much easier to use than Google Sheets.

Other workout apps don’t create your Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max workouts for you. Nor do they add weight automatically. You have to do that yourself. This wastes time better spent lifting and makes mistakes more likely.

Use the Stronglifts app to log your Stronglifts 5×5 Ultra Max workouts.