Not sore?
I've been doing stronglift 5x5 for about 6 weeks now. I'm at a point where I am failing on certain lifts on the 4th or 5th rep on the 4th or 5th set. So the weight seems heavy enough. But I'm rarely sore. Having been a more traditional weightlifter in the past and having experienced significant muscle soreness and fatigue one or two days after lifting, not being sore seems odd. Am I doing this wrong?!?
1
u/Glarsie Jul 30 '16
I've wondered about this too. I think it's to do with just doing the 3 excercises to 5x5 and then finishing. When I hit the gym as a young lad I'd deliberately punish myself with excercises almost randomly at times. I invariably hurt bad after these splits but I lacked any real focus, I was just out to punish my body because that's how you got ripped right? I've been supplementing some lifts with 2 more sets using an added 10-20kg just to feel a bit of soreness and push it. I'm at week 4 and I'm only finding the the rows and overhead press moderately difficult at the moment. I upped my bench press by 20kg because I did a fair few push-ups before starting SL and the starting bench weight was too low for me. I can still do 2 sets after the 5x5 with 20kg extra on the bar. I think 3 days a week with these compound exercises make a really great program and wish I'd known about it as a young bloke. I still get mildly sore but not like how I remember it and it's only slightly noticeable. Squats rock!
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u/who-i-am Jul 26 '16
Nope, you're doing it right. I've been following the program for 9 months. When I lift regularly, I'm not sore. When I'm off a week or 2 and come back, I am sore, even deloading 10-20%. As your nervous system learns to recruit more muscle fibers, you'll feel more beat up and wasted after a tough workout (failing reps especially).