I'm writing this a bit prematurely as it's been more like 11 months, but whatever, close enough.

For pretty much my entire life (with maybe the exception of my infancy) I've been a pretty lanky guy. Now, I've gone in and out of really "caring" about this. Most of the time I'd tell myself things like "whatever, I'm smart and stuff, so I don't need to be jacked." The older I've gotten, though, and the more I read things like this, I realize that strength is much more than vainly seeking out six-pack abs and bulging biceps, strength is a state of mind that starts in the gym and ends with the rest of your character.

Let me just back up and say that I have dabbled in weightlifting since high school, but I never really did much research into things like "programs" and the like, I just went into the gym and used machines with maybe the occasional dumbbell exercises. I tried to go with the bodybuilding mindset of focusing on a single muscle group each session, which meant I had a leg day, back day, and chest day. Needless to say, I did not make much progress with this approach. I always figured that I just wasn't doing enough exercises, I wasn't working out frequently enough, etc. I told myself things like "I just want to be healthy, I don't care about getting jacked."

Then, a little over a year ago, I read some things about barbell exercises and how they are exponentially more effective than machines. To some degree, I already knew this. I knew that free weights forced you to balance the weight and thus worked more muscles, but in my simple mind I figured that you still got about 90% of the effectiveness with machines, with the benefit that they were easier to use and also available in my free apartment gyms (barbells tend to have insurance risks associated with them, so I've never seen them in any sort of unsupervised gym).

Boy, was I wrong. If you read anything from Mark Rippetoe he will tell you that barbells are the only way to train, and you are pretty much wasting your time with machines.

This peaked my interest, as it countered my long-held belief that I needed to do more in order to get "gains". Instead, I needed to be working out smarter. This meant doing barbell lifts, mainly squats and deadlifts.

My new-found knowledge was reinforced when I stumbled upon the Stronglifts 5x5 routine. From pretty much the moment I started reading Mehdi's backstory and philosophy on the program, I knew I was on to something. He wasn't a bodybuilder dude telling me that I need to spend 2 hours in the gym everyday to get six-pack abs, he said that he was a skinny guy like me who got big and strong from doing 3 exercises per session, 3 times per week.

I was sold. I'm a working man with lots of hobbies so I don't want to spend all my free time working out. Three times per week for around an hour per session was something I could commit to, in fact, pretty much anyone can commit to that.

And thus my journey began...

Training Details and Modifications

When I started lifting I did the 5x5 routine more or less as advertised. The two main changes I made were doing high-bar squats instead of low-bar, and bent-over rows instead of barbell (Pendlay) rows. I did high-bar squats because I liked the rack position better (it is more comfortable) and also because it works the lower body a little more evenly than low-bar, which has more emphasis on the posterior chain. If you don't know the difference between high and low bar squatting then Google it and come back here in an hour after reading many, many back and forth arguments on forums that come to no conclusion.

I did bent-over rows because the floor position for the barbell row looked scary to me, and I like bent-over rows better. From what I've read, they are both good exercises so I didn't feel there was too much risk making this substitute.

My substitution of high-bar squats started to make me wonder, though, once my progress stalled. Since low-bar works more of the posterior chain, it also plays a role in helping your deadlift (which you don't do for much volume on the program), so once my deadlift started to stall I began to question the high-bar squats. I still do them, though, and have no intention of changing, so try and stop me.

Stalling

Speaking of stalling, you WILL stall on this program more quickly than you think. I definitely recommend starting out every lift with either the bar (like Stronglifts recommends, with the exception of the floor exercises) or a very easy weight for you, because you need to give yourself several weeks of practice at the lifts to improve your form, if you are new to barbell lifting.

When you start out the program, it is going to seem easy and that you aren't getting results. This is very important, because the more reps you get in with "easy" weights, the more you train your nervous system with good habits that will eventually lead you to making real progress and, more importantly, not hurting yourself.

My friend and I started the program with 105 lbs on our squats, which was pretty easy for us, and for at least the first month of the program we would yawn through our squat sets and look forward to more interesting exercises, like bench.

It doesn't seem like much, but adding 5 lbs to your squats EVERY session, and squatting 3 times per week, really adds up in the long run. In case you aren't very good at math, that's 15 pounds a week, and about 60 lbs a month. While the progress seemed painfully slow at first, once we got into squat numbers that were near out max, things started to get painful. All the sudden those 5 easy sets of squats that were more or less our warm up turned into the most grueling and awful part of the workout.

So, the moral of the story is: start out with a painfully easy weight, make great efforts to do every rep of that weight with perfect form, and maybe you won't hit a brick wall once the weights start to get heavy (trust me, it is soreness like you wouldn't believe).

Sure, it is difficult to lift light weights for a month or two because we live in an "everything now" society, but be patient, and most of all, cherish it. It's going to get hard eventually, live it up while it is still easy.

Progress

You're probably wondering about my starting and current numbers. I'll break them down by lift:

-Squats: I started out with 105 lbs on my squats and actually progressed without deloading for about a month and a half, until I hit the wall at 190. This, however, was partially due to me compromising my form and probably not quite hitting parallel once the weights got heavy. I began to get a lot of lower back pain after squatting due to my hips shooting up and lifting the weight with mostly my back (not recommended for high bar squats). I decided that this was not good, so I deloaded down to 155 lbs and forced myself to go ATG (ass-to-grass, i.e. as far down as you can go). It took me several months after this to become accustomed to the "new" way of squatting, and the progress was much slower. On the up-side, I get little (if any) lower back pain after squatting because I am sinking into a more natural and upright position. My current squat sets are at 195 lbs, and the last time I maxed out I hit 220 lbs.

-Deadlifts: Deadlifts scared me because I have had chronic lower back pain since my early 20s, but everything I read said that deadlifts, when done well, were a great exercise, so I looked forward to the challenge. I started out with 130 lbs and experienced the longest range of progressive improvement with them (although I read the program wrong and increased the weight 5 lbs each session, you are supposed to increase it 10 lbs until you hit 225). I think that mistake actually helped me though, as the slower progress was really good for improving my form and not hurting myself. I made it up to 235 lbs before my first deload, and eventually got up to 250 lbs for my 5 rep max and 275 lbs for my 1 rep max.

-Bench Press: Ah, good ole bench, every guy's favorite exercise. Benching was the one exercise that I started the program near my actual limit at the time, so it experienced the lowest gain numbers, but it is still my best lift in terms of strength standards. I started at 155 lbs and am now hitting 190 lbs as my 5 rep max. Last time I did a one rep max I joined the 200 club. I realize that I am a bit of a bro since I am benching almost as much as I squat, but that is because I had been doing dumbell bench or dips for several years before starting this program, so it had something of a head start.

-Overhead Press: My worst exercise in terms of weight but possibly my best in terms of improvement. The technique for OVP is deceptively difficult, and I am still improving it (as with the technique on all my lifts). I actually started out with the bar on this one (which was still kind of hard for me at the time) and am now doing 105 lbs on my 5 rep sets. I've never done a one rep max with it.

-Bent Over Rows: I actually really like these, but don't put quite as much thought into them because I see them as more of an accessory lift for the program. I started at 115 and linearly progressed until I hit around 170 for my first deload. In the past few months I've been doing these for higher reps (for added grip strength work), so the weight has gone down. A few months ago I also started alternating these with power cleans on certain sessions, because I think power cleans are a useful lift and I wouldn't mind getting into the Olympic lifts one day.

-Body Weight (and Shape): When I started the program my body weight was in the 135-140 lb range, and I'm about 5'11" in height (so yeah, I was pretty skinny). Now I'm at about 160 lbs (but still 5'11"), so definitely an improvement in my physique (my waist size is still about 32"). I'd like to go up to the 185-200 lb range, so still a ways to go, but I feel encouraged by my results thus far. Speaking of my physique, my legs have definitely gotten bigger from all the squats...and most of my pants that were once well-tailored I am now starting to pop out of. My shoulders have gotten broader and I actually have some lats forming. I can also make my pecs dance, which is fun. My arms are still pretty skinny because I don't work them out directly, but they've at least gotten more defined. Oh, and I have buns of steel (don't underestimate the squats, lads, because the ladies like a guy with a nice butt).

Just a quick note on rest between sets: early on in the program my training partner and I could get away with 1-2 minute rests, but once we started hitting our max we needed at least 3 minutes. Once we started to plateau at 5x5 after about 6 months we switched to 3 sets of 5 reps (3x5) and took 5 minute breaks between sets, and saw a lot of progress.

Diet

Any bro who works out will tell you that what you do in the gym is only half the battle (if that). It's what you do (and what you put inside your body) during the 165 hours of the week that you aren't working out that will determine your results.

This is pretty true, and for it meant eating...a lot. In Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program (similar to the 5x5), he recommends eating 3500-6000 Calories per day. That was a little much for me, but I still try to eat somewhere in the 2500-3500 Calories per day range. Should I eat more? Probably. Would I get better results if I eat more? Probably.

I have started, though to gradually increase my daily caloric intake. I used to only eat lunch and dinner, but now I eat breakfast (500 Cal), lunch (900 Cal), pre-dinner (700 Cal, which is my post workout meal), dinner (1000 Cal), and usually a late night snack of Greek yogurt (250 Cal). Calorie total is around 3,350 on my workout days and a little less on my rest days. I enjoy cooking, so most of my meals are things I cook for myself, and they are decently "clean" (lots of chicken and brown rice).

I don't really count Calories or macros too closely, though. I just try to eat as much as I can and make my meals as balanced as possible with fats, carbs, and proteins. I don't impose any restrictions on my diet, so I feel free to eat things like pasta, doughnuts, fried foods, hot dogs, etc. Everything in moderation, I say.

If you are trying to lose weight then you may not need to change anything in your diet to get good results with this program, since you are already probably getting a caloric surplus.

I don't take any supplements, either. I made a protein shake after workouts when I started the program, but after I ran out I didn't see any change in my progress so I just stopped buying it. I've never really trusted supplements, I feel like they are mostly marketing. They probably won't hurt you, but I'm skeptical as to whether or not they really help you. From everything I've read, you are simply better off eating real food.

In case you are wondering, my post-workout meal consists of 4 tablespoons of peanut butter and a pint of whole milk (sometimes I make it chocolate milk).

Injuries and Injury Prevention

Most people shy away from heavy squats and deadlifts due to fear of injury. Yes, you can injure yourself doing these exercises if your form sucks. You can also injure yourself from living a sedentary lifestyle and bending down to pick up a 20 lb box.

Like I said before, I got some lower back pain from squatting incorrectly. I also tweaked my back one time when I tried to force the last rep of a deadlift set. Neither of these injuries prevented me from skipping a lift day, but they did make me more aware of my bad form and pushed me to improve it. I've watched just about every Youtube video and read every article on squatting and deadlifting, and suggest you do the same (or at least ask a personal trainer to critique your form).

It's also a lesson in knowing your limits. If you can't get the weight up, don't compromise your form to do so. Keep your ego in check and live to fight another day.

Flexibility is also key to preventing injuries. If you live a sedentary lifestyle then you probably won't be able to sink into a proper squat position when you start the program. It's because you probably have all kinds of tight muscles preventing you from doing so. Adding some stretching and foam rolling to my non-lifting days was vital for improving my form on the lifts.

Cardio

While cardio isn't part of the program, most health experts agree it is good for you.

In spite of having a "runner's build", I absolutely despise any sort of distance running. I like to play tennis, so I do that 1-3 times per week and count that as cardio. It (and most sports) fall into the category of high intensity interval training (HIIT), which some sources say is actually best. So take that, marathon runners!

Some weightlifters avoid cardio because of some notion that it will "deplete their gains." While I don't think this is actually true, one problem that arises is that cardio will burn extra calories. If you are trying to lose weight, this might be a good thing, but not so much for me. Whenever I do cardio I always try to be disciplined and eat more food than I normally do (mostly in the form of carbs).

Motivation

I lift every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after work. I'm lucky enough to have a gym at my workplace so that makes life easier. I've read a lot of things that say you should work out in the morning because if you save it until the end of the day then you probably won't do it. I am a zombie in the morning so lifting then never seems to work out well for me.

You just have to find a time that works for you and your lifestyle. There is some literature on "optimal" times of day to work out, but I say don't worry about it. If you can only work out in the morning, then work out in the morning. If you can only work out at midnight, then work out at midnight. If you can stick with it, then keep doing it.

Like I said, I don't take any supplements, and that includes pre-workout. It's mostly just caffeine and other sorts of nasty artificial stuff, so I don't really care to take it. I try to find my energy from within. Now, do I burst into the gym every time with limitless energy and enthusiasm? No. That is pretty rare, in fact.

Some days all I want to do is get in my car, go home, and take a nap after a long day of work. But I go to the gym instead because it's what I do, and to not do it would feel weird to me at this point. Sometimes you just have to do things anyway, whether you feel like it or not:

I'm always surprised, though, at how I can be so lethargic when I enter the gym, and leave the gym after doing heavy squats, deadlifts, etc. feeling like I can climb a mountain. Sure, I'll be tired from the exercise, but I'll feel completely invigorated. Don't use being "tired" as an excuse, your body is tired because you trained it to be that way. Once it knows that you have a few hundred pounds on your back and need to stand up, it will start firing on all cylinders.

Shoes

It seems simple but it's important.

I wore Chuck Taylors for the first seven months of training, and they worked okay. They are good for every exercise in this program except high-bar squats. If you do low-bar, you can get away with them, but for high-bar squats (especially ATG) it is really helpful to have a shoe with a raised heel, so I switched to Olympic weightlifting shoes. Now, these are actually worse for deadlifts because they are farther off the ground, but I've slowly adapted. It'd be nice if you didn't do squats and deadlifts on the same day with this program, because then I could just wear Chucks on deadlift days.

You can probably get away with tennis shoes early in the program, but once the weights get heavy you will want to switch to something with a non-cushioned sole.

Conclusion

This post was a lot more wordy than I anticipated, so I apologize for that.

I've really enjoyed this program for the past year. I started on 5x5 and am now doing 3x5 because five sets just got to be too much (I've made some pretty good progress since switching to 3x5). I'll probably be switching to an intermediate program pretty soon.

Whatever your program, though, heavy barbell exercises are really the way to go, in my opinion. While my results haven't been exceptional, I've gotten more progress through doing just 5 barbell lifts than I have with anything else.

I've also been more motivated to do this program than any other. Many times I look forward to seeing if I can hit a new PR (or get back to old PRs after a deload). I love the objectivity of powerlifting. It's not about aesthetics, it's not about getting a "pump", it's just about putting more weight on the bar.

I used to be apprehensive about eating enough to gain weight out of fear of getting fat. Once I started this program, though, I felt less inhibited than ever before. As long as the weights kept going up, I would keep shoveling food into my mouth (not at the same time, of course).

So whatever your goals, whether it be to get big, lose fat, or just be stronger and healthier, I would definitely recommend some sort of barbell lifting regime.

If you have any questions, suggestions on how I could improve my gains, or success stories of your own, please post them in the comments.

Resources:

Pretty much everything I know about weightlifting I've learned from the internet. Here are a few of the sources I recommend:

Alan Thrall: He makes a lot of great, informative videos on how to do the basic lifts, as well as meal ideas and other neat stuff. I love the subtle humor he adds to his videos.

Elliott Hulse (Strength Camp):  I started watching his videos for technical tips on lifts, but then kept watching them for his interesting and somewhat controversial philosophies on life.

Mark Rippetoe: He literally wrote the book on barbell lifting (which I haven't read, but probably should). He also did a great series of videos with Art of Manliness founder Brett McKay. He is very knowledgeable and also has some entertaining philosophies with brash delivery.

Buff Dudes: If bodybuilding is more your style, then you should check out these guys. They produce high-quality videos with training knowledge, humor, and overall entertainment value.

Omar Isuf: He makes a lot of informative videos and also collaborates with many other knowledgeable powerlifters on Youtube.

BroScienceLife: Not recommended for serious knowledge, but if you want a good laugh about things regarding lifting then this is probably the best source. Always fun to drop quotes to fellow gym-goers between sets.