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I've also just started 5x5. Lifted a little bit a few years ago but very much out of practice/fitness right now. So not a beginner, but not loads better.
Since it's easy enough to tweak a workout then I've decided to err on the side of things being too easy, and if need be I can nudge a workout up a few kg and let the algorithm handle it. I'm avoiding trying to figure out exactly what my max 5x5 is as I figure it'll get close enough fairly quickly as the weight increases and if it gets a few nudges from me for obviously easy things. Worst case I'll be a few weeks behind where I 'should' be. But given where I 'should' be is entirely subjective then who cares.
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I think you’ve got the right idea for finding that 5 rep max.
If the weight you’ve chosen feels too light by the third rep, stop and move up. 3 reps at under a 5rep max weight shouldn’t impact a max effort set later on.
If you get to the 5th rep and have just a little bit more, do that 6th or even 7th (or 8th! You’d be surprised) rep and use that to estimate 5rm.
You’re right about starting a program too light not being a bad thing either. If in doubt, round down.
Good luck with it and have fun! Max testing is the best.
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warm up and then do 4x5 of very easy weight followed by 1xamrap. Plug in your result from last set into one fo the strneght calcs. You have your estimate.
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I can echo most of whats already been said.
I've recently started Stronglifts 5x5 after a good while away from lifting. Previously I was squatting 95kg for 4 sets of 6. Body weight was 83-85kg back then and I'm currently about 91kg
I wasn't too sure about what sort of weight to begin with on the app. The suggested starting numbers from the app seemed quite low for squat at 40kg on day one. This obviously felt very light and easy. I was tempted to start higher but decided just to go with the app to get into the swing of things.
Currently at 55kg for squat which still feels very easy but its good working on form while the weight is low.
Its easy to get impatient but it ramps up really quickly anyway.It will feel good once I'm back to squatting around 95kg again. I'm trying to be realistic with targets but aiming for 120kg by Christmas and 140kg by next summer!
Should mention I've got a squat rack and olympic bar and weights in the garage now so I'm lucky in that I can lift every other day without driving back and forth to the gym.
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Rather than half-arsing lifting, I'm committing to doing 5x5 properly.
I need to dial in my current 5 rep max, but I'm not sure how best to go about this.
I'm thinking of a standard warm up of progressive lifts from an empty / light bar with a lot of reps, to low reps / single lifts as I approach the main set weight, where the set weight is a little bit more than the weight I've been doing for 3x5s recently.
How do I do this without hitting the 5x5 set too fatigued, or choosing a weight that is too light.
Or doesn't it matter that much, and I should just fine tune as I go - My rationale being that, as long as I've got an overall upwards trajectory for the weights I'm adding in the program, the starting weights don;t need to be dialled in precisely. Particularly as the program has room to accelerate / decelerate the progressive weight increase.