Summary of StrongLifts 5×5

Complementary info (from here)

Schedule
Three work-outs per week, alternating workout A and B: one week A/B/A, next week B/A/B and so on. Train on non-consecutive days. If you skip a work out, pick up where you left the next time.

Starting weights
Empty bar (20 kg) for all lifts but the deadlift, where you start with two 20kg plates, one on each side, with the bar that’d be 60kg.

Progression
Each time you manage to complete all your sets with all the prescribed reps (5×5 – except 1×5 deadlifts) correctly, with good form, the next work-out you increase the weight by 2.5kg, if it was a lift other than the deadlift, otherwise you increase it by 5kg. If you fail to complete 5×5, it is called a stall. Attempt again the same weight the next time. If you complete your sets, go on like nothing happened – increase the weight. If you fail, attempt once more the next time. If you fail again (that makes it three failures in a row), reduce the weight by 10% the next session and start over from there. The progression on each lifts is independent of the others.

After you deload three times your squat, switch to 3×5 instead of 5×5. It is up to you if you wish to go on with 5×5 on the other lifts or not, depending on how many times you stalled and deloaded. The deadlift stays at 1×5.

Rest between sets
It is largely individual. At the beginning 3 minutes is fine, but when the weight gets heavy, you will necessarily need more rest in between sets. In any case, you rest until you are ready to do the next set, trying too keep your sessions below 60-90min.

When to call it quits
The effectiveness of a linear progression program is evaluated in terms of rate of weight added per week. You should be adding 2.5kg to your squat per work-out, ie 7.5kg per week, for example. At some point, your body will not be able to keep up with that, you’ve reached the end of your linear gains. For example, if you see you’re adding 2.5kg per week to your squat on average, you’d be doing better on a weekly-based program, aimed at adding weight to your squat weekly.