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Comment by morley | Hacker News Reader

I've used StrongLifts for 2+ years and second the recommendation.

HOWEVER.

Because it's just an app with videos, it's really up to you to learn proper form and execute it each time. Additionally, the app doesn't know your limitations, so take your pain seriously.

I hurt my knees squatting a couple years ago, and recently hurt my lower back deadlifting. It sucks, and I'm crossing my fingers that there's no permanent damage.

If I were to go back in time, I'd force myself to book yearly or twice-yearly sessions with a physical trainer who can check you on your form, particularly when I first got started.

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Are you still stronglifting after 2 years? How has your progression been for the last year or so of that? As I understand it it's a fairly novice focused program with aggressive weight increases, so I was wondering how you modified it to continue running it after the first 3-6 months of easy gains went away.

You're not supposed to run it for 2 years. OP has made adhoc adjustments and is no longer following the program if he has been consistent.

Even the SL5x5 site recommends moving on from the program. Their recommendation is Madcow 5x5 but there's other options out there.

I know, that's why I was curious. If you followed the program as written you'd be at like 2000 lbs of deadlift.

My own journey has taken me through Starting Strength to Texas method and then to various 5/3/1's (and occasional returns to Texas) through the years.

Yeah, I’ve been doing strength training 2 hours 3x/week with a coach, and I would never attempt this without a coach.

Every work set she’s watching me and making frequent adjustments. It would be impossible for me to do this without her. Maybe I could record video and analyze it, but I would have to essentially learn all of her expertise and even then it would be delayed so I couldn’t make fixes until after I have already completed a dangerous set.

At the very least I would recommend a good two months or so during your linear progression. After that you can do volume sets, pause sets etc alone, with coaching maybe twice a month for heavy days and to check in on your form.

(Shameless plug for Bay Strength in Berkeley CA!)

I have done strength training without a coach for 6 years. My squat went up to 185kg/407lb without any injuries. You can do it, and depending on the coach, you may be better doing it alone. However, with a good coach (not easy to find) you will progress much faster. I recently started competing and found a good coach, I wish I had found him earlier.

> However, with a good coach (not easy to find) you will progress much faster.

In what way coach is helping? Providing that your technique is correct, application leads you - so what's the coach's role?

Sounds like you might need to stretch your hamstrings. Hamstring flexibility is key to form in both squats and deadlifts. In particular, the hamstring must lengthen as you bend your knees in the squat, and it must lengthen as you bend over in the deadlift or you round your back, which is probably where the injury came from. Google "third world squat" for a good test of your flexibility. Most people have very tight hamstrings from sitting all day for most of their lives.

I'd pay for yearly clinics for compound lifts, especially if I could learn better form and better stretching techniques.

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