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StrongLifts 5x5
StrongLifts 5x5 is the novice linear progression: two workouts, alternated three days a week, with the weight going up every single session. It is built into Ægir Iron and free to load for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster.
What this program is
StrongLifts 5x5 is Mehdi Hadim's packaging of the 5x5, the full-body barbell template that runs back through Bill Starr, whose The Strongest Shall Survive came out in 1976, to Reg Park before him. Two workouts alternate across three training days. Workout A is squat, bench press and barbell row. Workout B is squat, overhead press and one heavy set of five deadlifts. The squat is in every session, which is the point: on a novice program the squat is the thing that drives everything else.
Why the progression is per session, not per week
This is the whole program, and it is what separates StrongLifts from every other 5x5. The weight goes up EVERY workout, not once a week: five pounds on the upper-body lifts, ten on the squat and deadlift. Three sessions a week means the squat climbs three times a week, which is why a novice can add so much so fast, and also why it eventually stops. When you miss reps you repeat, and when you miss three times you deload ten percent and climb back. If you want the same two workouts climbing once a week instead, that is Classic 5x5.
At a glance
| Discipline | Powerlifting |
| Experience level | Beginner (the first program to run, or the one to come back on) |
| Length | 12 weeks |
| Training days | 3 per week, alternating A and B |
| Equipment | Barbell and a rack |
| Loading | Percentage of your max, climbing every session, resolved live from your PR page and rounded to the nearest five pounds. |
| Price | Free for individual lifters and rostered athletes |
Free for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster. Coaches pay only for roster tools.
How it works in Ægir Iron
StrongLifts is written in pounds added to the bar, and a template cannot know what is on your bar, so Ægir Iron carries the same climb as a percentage step instead. You choose where to start, with light being closest to the program as written, and how fast it climbs, and every set is then priced off your maxes and rounded to the plate. The climb stops at ninety five percent, because no honest program can promise you more than your own max in week eleven, and a flat last block is much closer to how a linear progression really ends. Nothing here is flagged as an all-out set: on StrongLifts the answer to a missed rep is the deload, not a bigger jump.
Start StrongLifts 5x5
Open Ægir Iron, go to Program and choose New Program, then the Program Wizard. On the first screen pick Powerlifting, then choose StrongLifts 5x5 from the cards under WHAT DO YOU WANT TO RUN? It is free on iOS, Android, and the web, with your data synced across all three.