Can StrongLifts be modified to be just as effective with light weight?

Question

Allow me to inject some context. I'm sure some of you saw my post about the hemorrhoid. I went and found out that it was thrombosed and this morning I had the blood clot removed. The doctors said that I didn't have to stop lifting today but did say of course lifting could cause another hemorrhoid(I'm assuming I got it from strenuous pressure on my rear while squatting).

I feel fine but my ass is a little sore. I still want to continue to lift but I don't want to go in and do random isolations and I want to be cautious of going right back to my working sets.

Right now my stats are as follows:

Squat: 225lb Deadlift: 225lb Bench: 180 Row: 105 OHP: 105

Now there are a few reasons I do StrongLifts as opposed to splits and other routines. It's easy to follow and adhere to. It doesn't take me as long in the gym. It's pretty exhaustive and the strength gains are incredible. One of the biggest reasons I like it is for how effective it is in a short amount of time spent(e.g. calorie expenditure).

Can the intensity(weight) be lessened and the volume per set(reps) increased to give me the same sort of calories expended or the same intensity that a workout where I do everything at my working weight would be so I don't strain myself or put unnecessary pressure on my ass while it heals from being sliced open?

This is only a temporary modification until I feel more confident to return to my working sets. Thank you.

Answer 1

The short answer is no. The program is a take off Starting Strength and it is specifically designed as an introductory program for a strength athlete. The purpose is purely to get you stronger. If your goal is to be more fit, then you can take the program and only use light weight and probably do well by yourself. But you will not be doing the StrongLifts program.

Answer 2

It depends on what you're going for, really.

You can't just alter your workout and expect the exact same results. With that said, you can of course keep the overall volume by dropping weight and adding reps. But due to the change in rep-range you would be focussing not on maximum strength anymore, but on hypertrophy (8-12 reps) or endurance (12-25 reps). That in itself is not bad and might be quite beneficial, especially if you don't change rep-ranges that often.

All in all, a changed program may not provide the exact same stimulus as before, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. The calorie expenditure and overall training effect should be sustainable if you alter your workouts accordingly. So at least you won't regress, but will more likely still see gains (although they might differ from what you're used to).

Answer 3

When rehabing after an injury it's always smarter to drop the weight and work back up. You had a procedure done, and while it was minimally invasive, your body still needs to heal.

The stronglifts program isn't really flexible. It's designed for beginners, so the only flexibility is in dropping volume as the weights get heavier. If you are after slower strength gains that allow you to put in a lot of work and expend some energy, then I recommend a 5/3/1 variant called 8-6-3. Your intensity (heaviest amount you lift) only goes up monthly, but you put in a lot of work with the main lift and assistance work.

Wendler 5/3/1 is built around the principle of getting a lot of work done in as little time as possible. According to Wendler, a balanced program will take care of:

• Strength--more weight on the bar over time
• Hypertrophy--more muscle on your body
• Mobility--ability to move with correct body alignment and perform the exercises
• Conditioning--aerobic capacity so you aren't out of breath just going up stairs.

The strength portion of the program is one major lift a day (Bench Press, Deadlift, Squat, Military Press), and you cycle the reps week by week. You only have one set at the top weight for the day. The hypertrophy portion is taken care of by the assistance work which is typically 5x10 (weight should be light enough you can do 5x10, but heavy enough that you actually do some work).

Mobility is taken care of as you warm up, and conditioning is either done on off days or after training.

All in all, when I ran 5/3/1 I was done with the lifting in about 45 minutes--which was less time than I was spending on Starting Strength/Stronglifts.