Welcome to Workout of the Week, number 71. This time we look at a three-day-a-week modified intermediate StrongLifts 5×5 workout. So the first step is taken—I didn’t butcher the name.
So last week we looked at the beginner program. This time we look at the intermediate program.
What’s the training goal? As with all StrongLifts 5×5 workouts, it’s to build strength.
The training variables: 75% to 85% of the one-rep max. Rep ranges: 5. It’s a 5×5 workout. Yeah. The exertion is moderate to near maximum. The effort is a repeated effort. Please go back to the introduction series where I discuss whether it’s a maximum or a repeated effort. It’s more a repeated effort rather than a maximum effort.
If we look at the exercises, the main exercises: squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, and barbell row. The exercise order: we go from squat to push and pull to deadlift, and then assistance exercises if it applies.
Training variables: Again, same mistake as in the previous Workout of the Week 70. So it’s not two days a week, it’s three days a week, but it’s only two workouts. Yeah, so we’ll go into that. It’s a station training but includes some complexes.
How does it look? Here we are, and we’ll jump right into it.
Here we are inside the modified 5×5 intermediate three-day workout. You get an overview. You get the table of contents, and then you see the structure similar to what we’ve done in Workout of the Week number 70. Yeah.
So the only difference here, basically, is the training intensity. And that is also in the original StrongLifts 5×5. The difference between a beginner and an intermediate is the training intensity, which makes a lot of sense to me as well.
So we have Workout One and Two, and they alternate. Yeah, so week one and three: Workout One, Workout Two, Workout One. In week two and four, we have Workout Two, Workout One, Workout Two.
So how does it look? Here we are again. If you’ve seen the previous Workout of the Week, number 70, you see it’s exactly the same except the training intensities. Yeah, so this time we do five sets of five at 75% of the one-rep max, which equates to an RPE of 6, which is still quite low. But again, you can go and download the four-week periodized program where you see the progressions from workout to workout. Yeah. Inter-set rest: five minutes. And then the only change to the original StrongLifts 5×5: I’ve organized the upper body push and the upper body pull into a complex. Yeah, so an antagonistic complex.
Then if we look at Workout Number Two, we see again the front squat. So I’ve modified that as well. Not two times back squats. It’s back squat in Workout One, front squat in Workout Two. Then we have the overhead press and the deadlift. And similar here, we have five sets of five at 75% of the one-rep max. The deadlift volume is reduced to three sets.
If you download the PDF, you get a glossary explaining the terms. You can read about myself. You can read what other people have to say about me—my former athletes, my colleagues, mentees. And last but certainly not least, this is what I have alluded to: you can download the four-week periodized program inside the membership.
So let’s go back and finish the presentation. What are the next steps?
You download the PDF. You join the membership if you want to access the full four-week periodized program as well as 70 other four-week periodized programs. You like and subscribe. You can grab all workouts here. You can watch the previous workout. And if you haven’t already, you subscribe.
