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

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

Tap the button below to download it for free:

Download spreadsheet

Let me show you how to use the spreadsheet for Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate.

Copy the Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate spreadsheet

The Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate 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 Intermediate spreadsheet
2. Tap “File” in the top right corner
3. Tap “Make a copy”

Like this:

This will copy the Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate 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 Intermediate spreadsheet
3. Use that spreadsheet to calculate your weights

Don’t request access to edit my Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate 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 the Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate spreadsheet looks

Here’s a screenshot of the main workout area…

Your weights automatically increase every week. Your starting weights are calculated based on your best lifts. Here’s how to enter them in your copy of the Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate spreadsheet…

Select your program variation

The Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate spreadsheet supports all the different variations of the program. By default the “Pause Lifts” variation is set.

Click cell C17 to switch to the Tempo Lifts, Rack Lifts, Alternate Lifts or Dumbbell Lifts variation of Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate.

The spreadsheet will automatically update the exercises, sets, reps and weights when you switch to a different program variation.

Make sure you select your weight unit in cell C16. The spreadsheet supports pounds and kilograms.

Enter your best lifts

You can now calculate your starting weights for Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate.

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

1. Enter how much weight you lifted in C21-29
2. Enter how for how many reps you lifted that weight in D21-29
3. Enter the RPE for that set – how many more reps you could have done (0=10RPE, 1=9RPE, 2=8RPE, 3=7RPE).

Like this…

You may not have done the Pause Lifts, Tempo Lifts, Rack Lifts, Alternate Lifts or Dumbbell Lifts before. The spreadsheet will automatically suggest starting weights for these exercises based on what you enter for the main lifts. You can override these values if you want.

The spreadsheet will then use all 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 F21-29.

Your estimated one rep max is used to calculate your starting weights. Don’t change the gray cells F21-29. If you do, your spreadsheet will break. It needs this data to calculate your starting weights.

On-ramp settings

Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate uses an on-ramp period. The program starts with lighter weights to ease you into the new workouts and exercises. It takes about four weeks before you hit your most recent best lifts.

Two settings control the on-ramp period:

• Increments: how much weight you add per week (5lb is 2.5/side). The Bench Press exercises default to smaller increments because these lifts use smaller muscles.
• On-ramp weeks: how many weeks it takes to match your previous best. This is set to 4 weeks by default. Shorter on-ramps will not make you stronger faster but plateau faster.

These settings are in the yellow cells G21-H29.

The most common mistake lifters make is to start new programs with too heavy weights. The point isn’t to lift heavy once. The point is to consistently add weight on the bar. Start with easy weights so you have 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 first.

By default, the spreadsheet will give you four weeks before you hit your previous best lifts. That means there’s a four week on-ramp for you to get used to the program and exercises. You can set this to six or even eight weeks if you prefer. Less than four weeks is not recommended.

Automatic weight calculation

The Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate spreadsheet automatically increases your weights each week. It also adjusts the weights if you fail to complete your reps. Example:

Here’s how this works:

1. You Squat 5x340lb on set five of week 9.
2. In week 10 you add 5lb and do 345lb. But you only get three reps instead of five.
3. In week 11 the weight doesn’t increase but repeats. You get another try with 5x345lb

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 Intermediate 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 need to calculate how much weight to add on each side of the bar between your sets. Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate uses top/back-off sets – different weights per set. That’s a lot of math on every exercise. If you put the wrong weight on the bar, 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. If you have bad internet, your workout sheet won’t load.

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, history, videos, etc. It’s much easier to use than Google Sheets.

Other workout apps don’t create your Stronglifts 5×5 Intermediate 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 Intermediate workouts.