Strength / Weight Training

I believe it's about the observation. People will work harder when being watched and encouraged.

I pay about £40/hr for 2hrs a week. It's expensive but I enjoy it and it's healthier than midget chasing.

Stringlifts works with progressively heavier weights so this would negate this.

If you fail at a weight three times, the app drops the weight by 10% and you keep going. The weight drops are initially disconcerting but, once used to them, they actually work and you do progress.

I’m not sure about other lifting regimes.

My PT has made a world of difference. He's really good though, so he will not only teach your PROPER technique, but also set the right loading parameters. Good technique + good loading parameters = Great results.

A lot of PTs are shite though, you can observe them when they train people. If people squat high, technique is shit in big lifts, loading is too light (women) too heavy (men, so technique will suffer) then don't hire them.

Aside from my coach, there is maybe 1 other one that's good, the other 4 in the gym, nah.

Edit: He does video coaching too if you want somebody to set diet/help with technique/what loads to use :)

Stringlifts works with progressively heavier weights so this would negate this.

Over what time period though? If you start lifting weights that are too easy you might just have wasted 2 months of gym time. Also, with no one helping, watching, suggesting you might also never lift properly or find it harder to break through plateaus because there's no one helping to push you. I know when I walked into the gym sans-trainer, there was no fucking way I was going to lift what I would do when he's there. Brrk brrk :)

I need to find the comments and/or studies. This might be one of them:

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2014/07000/Effect_of_Supervised,_Periodized_Exercise_Training.25.aspx

Storer, TW, Dolezal, BA, Berenc, MN, Timmins, JE, and Cooper, CB. Effect of supervised, periodized exercise training vs. self-directed training on lean body mass and other fitness variables in health club members. J Strength Cond Res 28(7): 1995–2006, 2014—Conventional wisdom suggests that exercise training with a personal trainer (PTr) is more beneficial for improving health-related fitness than training alone. However, there are no published data that confirm whether fitness club members who exercise with a PTr in the fitness club setting obtain superior results compared with self-directed training. We hypothesized that club members randomized to receive an evidence-based training program would accrue greater improvements in lean body mass (LBM) and other fitness measures than members randomized to self-training. Men, aged 30–44 years, who were members of a single Southern California fitness club were randomized to exercise with a PTr administering a nonlinear periodized training program (TRAINED, N = 17) or to self-directed training (SELF, N = 17); both groups trained 3 days per week for 12 weeks. Lean body mass was determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Secondary outcomes included muscle strength 1 repetition maximum (1RM), leg power (vertical jump), and aerobic capacity (V[Combining Dot Above]O2max). TRAINED individuals increased LBM by 1.3 (0.4) kg, mean (SEM) vs. no change in SELF, p = 0.029. Similarly, significantly greater improvements were seen for TRAINED vs. SELF in chest press strength (42 vs. 19%; p = 0.003), peak leg power (6 vs. 0.6%; p < 0.0001), and V[Combining Dot Above]O2max (7 vs. −0.3%; p = 0.01). Leg press strength improved 38 and 25% in TRAINED and SELF, respectively (p = 0.14). We have demonstrated for the first time in a fitness club setting that members whose training is directed by well-qualified PTrs administering evidence-based training regimens achieve significantly greater improvements in LBM and other dimensions of fitness than members who direct their own training.

HippyLifts: Strut around the gym, waiting for someone to finish their deadlift set. Walk over to it immediately and press it (5x10 because 5x5 is for pussies). Like a boss. Go to pub. ;)

I wouldn't dare bench press / squat as much without a personal trainer.
A person you can trust to spot like a good gym buddy can of course also help.

Your query is difficult to answer. When you begin Stronglifts, you lift an empty bar (20kg) on the first session. The next session the weight increases by 2.5kg - 22.5kg total. The weights increase by 2.5kg each day. There is nothing to stop you starting at 100kg on day one - if you so wish and are capable.
As mentioned earlier, If you fail at a weight three times, the app drops the weight by 10% and you keep going as before - in 2.5kg increments. This will slow progression but, ultimately, you will lift heavier weights. (it worked for me)
So the query about timescale depends on the amount of time you are able to put into it. Ideally, you should have a rest day after each session. The last time I de-loaded to 20kg, I worked every day to bring the weight up quicker - this is not the best idea but it worked for me. Once I found the weight heavy, I was able to build in rest days.

The coaching/trainer point is not really for me to answer, as I have never had one. I do think that, TO ME, it would make little difference to the weight I was lifting - I am happy lifting alone and unwatched - I don't need an audience. I can definitely understand that there are some people who need someone there for encouragement.
I would consider a coach/trainer to do a form check for me if I was struggling with form - if I progress from last night up to over 100kg squats - this is a very likely option.

There is a lot of good info on-line and in books - written or demonstrated by good coaches eg
Mark Rippetoe
Mike Matthews
Greg Nuckols
Mark Lauren (bodyweight exercises)
Having read a lot of their information, it is all very similar with slight variation. Mark Rippetoe is brilliant for advice on performing the lifts (Starting Strength - book and app).
Mike Matthews provides great info on all aspects of body building - Muscle For Life - website.
Greg Nuckols (very similar to Mark Rippetoe) provides in depth analysis on lifting.

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned previously, but Stronglifts is a strength building programme and not a body building one. That is important for anyone considering it. I would presume that it could be used with an appropriate meal plan to assist bodybuilding but, from what I have read, there are other (and possibly better bodybuilding options).

I bet you'd lift more if you had a trainer or someone else pushing you on.

You can't read Rippetoe while lifting nor can you examine key body parts while you're at your limit (sometimes not at all, depending on mirrors, position of rack, etc).

Anyway, the evidence from studies suggests you will be stronger with a coach or training partner/group. That doesn't make it a rule but it makes sense to me.

How easy is it to get the right form if doing it solo?

If you've never lifted before, someone to coach you on your form would be a good investment, but not necessarily essential.

Starting light means that you'll get away with poor form initially. Once it gets heavy you risk injury and the longer you lift badly, the harder it'll be to break those habits.

But take advice on who you take your advice from (whether it's written, video or in person). One of my customers is a PT, but that's not what I pay her for: she's a powerlifter. I only see her every month/six weeks to check my form.

And she was enthusiastic about Stronglifts when I asked her about it.

I’m not arguing but I am happy with my own company when I lift - I have a cage etc in my garage. To me, it is personal preference. The cage is vital for safety.

Also you can video yourself to check form. Mark Rippetoe’s book has around 80 pages on squatting and covers just about an issue you can think of.

Each to their own.

everyone lifts more when they have a PT

I do.

Or rather, I find it "easier".

Perhaps that's because I'm tight though and want my money's worth...

I pay about £40/hr for 2hrs a week.

I only get an hour for that!

Which is a lot of midgets...

Greg Nuckols stuff -

Deadlift guide - https://www.strongerbyscience.com/how-to-deadlift/

Squat guide -
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/how-to-squat/

Bench guide -
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/how-to-bench/

A person you can trust to spot like a good gym buddy can of course also help.

With "trust" being the key word there: the guy who offers, unasked, to spot for you, should be dealt with firmly.

By "firmly", I mean...

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I don't have a garage so I have no choice but to don my spandex and squat like a champ for all the boys* at the gym.

At 6am there's usually a couple of pensioners and a busy mum.

You pay a trainer 80/hr?

I did investigate another guy but he was crazy spendy, and I have to pay for gym membership AND I'd have to get into the City. He's good but this is just my off-season larking I'm not going to powerlifters camp.

As i said, each to their own. I work shifts and usually have started work at 6am so evening time is best for me.

Not so sure about spandex though .... LOL

Adidas Freelift Prime - bought one for ~£12 in sales and it's awesome, long front (they say designed for overhead movements) without looking like a Bieber tee. It's also good at wicking sweat and not smelling if you forget to wash it.

I misread you: £40 for two hours (ie £20 per hour), rather than £40 per hour for two hours.

So I'm paying the same as you, out here in the sticks...

I just had a look at the other guy's rates - £90/session
It was cheaper long-term if joined the gym AND booked 12 sessions in advance.
I have no idea what the average trainer charges over here but I like mine and £40 isn't enough to make me spit my beer out.

Shit on their bonnet too, right? ;)

The gym is go to is creep free actually! But it's not a commercial gym, it's a small lifter ran gym off the Falls Road.

Me too.
Yes.

Fucking hell my mum gets around.

Yes shes does... Yes. she. does.

Goddammit.