Your results depend on your age, sex, body weight, technique, nutrition, sleep, experience, persistence, etc.

The usual result that you can expect provided you do this program as laid out, will be strength and muscle mass increase. Do it precisely and this is what you can get:

More strength. With each exercise on 5×5 you get more strength. In no time you’ll start lifting heavier than most people do.

More muscle mass. Your muscles will become stronger and bigger so as to be able to lift the weights. With this program it is possible to increase your muscle mass for 1 kg a month.

Less fat. The heavier the weights, the more energy you will burn. You will also burn energy after the workouts for muscle recovery. Your metabolism will be faster. With proper nutrition you will lose the excess fat, without having to do cardio.

More sex. A muscular body is more attractive than a chubby or a skinny one. Your clothes will fit better. Your posture will improve. Your testosterone levels will increase. You’ll look and feel better.

More endurance. Your muscles will need more time before they get tired as they will be stronger.

Greater explosiveness. Stronger muscles can do more work in shorter time. Increasing you strength will make you more explosive in any sport. You’ll be faster and harder to defeat.

Better heart. You heart muscle will become stronger just as any other muscle. Your daily activities will require less energy from you and will be less demanding on your heart. Your cardiovascular health will improve.

Greater flexibility. The mobility of your hips will increase. Squatting three times a week makes your legs go through a whole-range movements. The flexibility of your shoulders will improve by holding the bar over your head – this opens your chest and improves your posture and physical attitude.

Better health. Improved hormonal profile. Your HGH will increase. Improved fat usage, better nutrient absorption, greater nutritional effects. Your metabolism will get better. All this will make you feel more energetic, fresh and more alert.

Less injuries. Your bone density will increase and your balance will improve. Your joints, spine and the muscles around them will get stronger and will provide greater support and protection. This will make you more resistant to injuries and can also eliminate certain annoying aches.

More self-confidence. People will notice your new body and strength. Some will compliment you. Some will maybe ask your advice. This positive feedback, the respect you’ll get, and the changes you achieved will cause you to have more confidence in yourself.

More toughness. Adding weights each workout is hard work. But this strengthens your mind and body. It increases pain tolerance and mental toughness. It will be easier to work hard because you become tougher.

More time. Only three workouts a week. Each workout is 45 minutes. It’s around 2.5 hours in gym a week. You can have the rest of 165 hours, guilt-free to spend time with your family, friends, activities, etc.

With this program it is usual to reach weights of 140 kg for squats, 100 kg for bench press, 180 kg deadlifts. Anything under this is not sufficient for a dramatic improvement. Your focus should be on increasing the weights until you reach this minimums.

Warning: this program seems easy but it’s not. In each workout you add more weights. This triggers the body in creating strength and muscle so it can lift more in the next workout. It is the most effective way to do weight lifting but it’s not easy. Some people don’t have the mental toughness it takes. If you have it, then you’ll achieve all the gains from the program.

This workout program is a full-body program. Each exercise works multiple muscles at once. Each of these exercises comes under the heading of Compound Exercises. Together, these five exercises work the whole body. This is one of the reasons why this program is time-effective – you can train every muscle just with three exercises per workout.

If you’re used to working out one muscle a day with many different exercises per workout, this might be hard to believe. But you don’t have to train separately each muscle to make them grow. They actually grow better with compound exercises because that way you can lift heavier and create much stronger hormonal response. This stimulates more growth.

Thus the more strength the more muscle. The stronger you become, the heavier you can lift and the more muscles you’ll have. Your muscles must grow bigger to be able to lift the increasingly heavier weights. That’s why the amount of exercises is not so important as the intensity is.

The intensity in compound exercises is greater because you lift heavier weights. StrongLifts 5×5 uses the five best compound exercises – the big five.

By doing Squats, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Deadlift and Barbell Rows each week, these are the muscles you work on:

Chest. Each part of your chest works to push the bar up when you bench press. Upper chest works to lift the weights up when you do overhead press.

Shoulders. The front, side and back part of shoulders work to lift you hands up when you do overhead press. The front part of the shoulders work also to lift your arms up when you bench press.

Arms. The biceps pull the weights toward you when you do barbell rows. Triceps pushes the weight away when you do bench press and overhead press. Arms contract on each exercise to hold the bar.

Forearms. Your forearms hold the bar in your hands on each exercise. They work very hard on deadlift to keep the hands closed so you don’t lose the weight because of the gravity.

Abs. Your abs work on each exercise to support your spine. They help your lower back to keep it from curving while you do deadlifts, squats and barbell rows. They prevent your back from curving while you do overhead press.

Calves. Calves work to strengthen your ankles when you lift the weights on squats and deadlifts. They stabilize you when you do overhead press, bench press and barbell rows.

Traps. Traps work to keep your shoulders in place while you do deadlifts and barbell rows. They transfer the power to the bar. They also contract when your hands are at the top in overhead press.

Thighs. Your quadriceps (upper-legs front muscle), buttocks and the muscle on the back of your upper legs are strengthening your legs and hips when you do squats and deadlifts. They also help you to stand stably when you do overhead press, bench press and barbell rows.

Back. Your lower back keeps your spine from curving on deadlifts, squats and barbell rows. Your upper back pulls the weight back when you do barbell rows. On deadlifts your upper back helps you to hold the bar near your legs.

Free weights. Machines balance the weights instead of you. Free weights make you to balance it. Thus free weights require use of more muscles, they improve balance and build strength which is valuable outside the gym as well. The movements you do while you work out with free weights are more natural and safer as you control the bar’s movement.

Barbells. You can lift heavier with the bar than with dumbbells. Thus exercises using barbells give a more intense stimulation to the body to build strength and muscle.

Compound exercises. In compound exercises as squats you can lift heavier than in isolation exercises such as leg curls. Squats activate more muscles – you can lift heavier and thus build more muscle. And because compound exercises work multiple muscles at once, you don’t need 50 exercises. You save time.

Squats. Squats are the backbone of this strength training program. They work the whole body with heavy weights through the full range of movement. Squats is the best exercise to build strength and muscle. You’ll hate them because they are hard but you’ll love them for the results they will provide.

Light start. You start StrongLifts 5×5 with light weights. This prevents excessive soreness and allows the body to adapt gradually. It prevents plateauing (when you can’t lift more heavy and muscle growth stagnates), i.e hitting your limits too early. It directs you to lift with proper form. And it readies you for the heavier weights that will come after a few weeks.

Intensity. The workouts are short but intense. Each exercise works multiple muscles at once and the weights are increasingly heavier. But as you do three exercises only, you can’t lose focus. Just when you’ve started getting tired, you’ve finished your workout.

Progressive overload. Progressive increase of weights stimulates your body to become stronger. The body adapts to handle the weights better the next time. Muscles get bigger, bones tougher and denser, tendons (tissues connecting the muscle with the bone) get stronger.

Frequency. Doing squats three times a week is better than just once, as in this way you stimulate your legs to build muscle three times more. You also have more opportunity to practice proper form. Proper form allows you to use the maximum of the exercise, to lift more and build more muscle.

Fives. If you do five reps instead of eight, ten or twelve, you will be able to lift heavier weights. The number of repetitions is almost the same between lifting three sets with eight reps and 5×5. But with 5×5 the weights are heavier and thus stimulate more growth.

No training to failure. Training to failure pumps your muscles and makes them sore. This soreness prevents you to train those same muscles again in the same week. And still the more frequent training of the same muscles triggers more strength and muscle mass. So with this resistance-training program you don’t train to failure, you just add more weights.

Rest. Each workout triggers more muscle growth and strength. It makes you stronger. But it also exhausts your body. You need rest between workouts so your muscles can recover, get stronger and lift heavier. With this resistance-workout program you have four days a week for rest.

Planning. Failure to plan is planning to fail. Most people have no plan in the gym. They do as they feel or as someone else does. 5×5 gives you a plan for each workout. It gives you a simple way by which to progress. You know what to do and what to expect. You’ll have certainty.

Consistency. The best workout program is the one you adhere to. It’s easier to adhere to 5×5 as this program needs only three days a week. And in your first 12 weeks each workout is less than an hour. It’s easy to follow. You’ll miss less workouts and be more consistent.

Purpose. In this muscle-building program results are not measured by arbitrary opinions as “feel your muscles” or by how you look in the mirror. The results are measured by looking at your bar and noticing how much weight is there, each time. If the weights are increasing, and be sure they will, then you are getting muscle mass and strength.

Challenge. Many people get hooked on adding weights each workout. You’ll be curious as to how far you can get with 5×5. You’ll look forward to going in the gym and lift more than your last time. You’ll set new personal records quite often. Your motivation will be high.

Simplicity. You don’t need a doctorate to understand this weightlifting program. It consists of two workouts only, with three exercises per workout. You do five sets of five reps and add weights each workout. That’s it. It is even simpler if you use the app as it can take care of the numbers for you, and you can focus more on your training.