To wit: if someone's been sitting on a couch for ten years, getting them to do any exercise at all will produce immediate and dramatic changes. (To get an idea of some of these problems, see 2011 in Strength Training (PDF), a strength-science literature review by someone affiliated with Mark Rippetoe, who authored Starting Strength, which is very similar to StrongLifts.)Īnother massive problem with any scientific evidence regarding strength training is the problem of the novice effect. I have yet to see more than a handful of studies that control adequately for even a few of these. There's an enormous number of variables in strength training: nutrition, hormones, time of year, mood, prior training, genetics, exercise selection, proper form, proper coaching, degree of coaching, rest, program interruptions, mobility.the list goes on. We get a lot of this type of question: "we know X, but can we scientifically prove X?" The answer, almost invariably in the field of strength training, is no.
![stronglifts 5x5 stronglifts 5x5](https://i.redd.it/babcbyniqms31.jpg)
Starting Strength (the books) seems to have a more complete description of the program and techniques behind all of the lifts than Stronglifts provides. Starting Strength says add up 10-20lbs per session for the bigger lifts like deadlifts, at least at the start, when you're able to make quick gains in technique and strength. Stronglifts says add at most 5lbs per lifting session. Starting Strength incorporates power cleans, but Stronglifts doesn't. Stronglifts uses 5 sets at the work weight, while Starting Strength uses 3 sets at the work weight. The differences are basically small details.
![stronglifts 5x5 stronglifts 5x5](http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/uwygcGdazeM/maxresdefault.jpg)
There is less scientific evidence for choosing Stronglifts over Starting Strength, or choosing Starting Strength over Stronglifts.
![stronglifts 5x5 stronglifts 5x5](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7F7rC.jpg)
For example, squats have been shown to be well correlated with sprint times and vertical jump height. The usefulness of compound lifts in developing functional strength and allowing incremental increases is also fairly established. The novice effect has been demonstrated in the literature: untrained individuals gain strength more quickly than any other group. You can summarize each like this: " Take advantage of the novice effect and large compound lifts to allow incremental increases every workout for months." Stronglifts and Starting Strength are both based on fairly solid scientific evidence, however, neither program as a whole has been properly scientifically evaluated.