This guy asks if StrongLIfts 5x5 will build thick, heavy, dense muscle. My answer is below his question...
### QUESTION ###
"Hi, I'm new to weightlifting, I don't want to be a bodybuilder but would like a body similar to Tom Hardy's in the film Bronson. I believe I need to follow a powerlifting routine so I'm wondering if 5x5 Stronglifts is a program that will give me thick, heavy and dense muscle?"
*** MY ANSWER ***
Okay, first of all. I hate to burst your bubble but you won't get a body like Tom Hardy in Bronson, Batman, Mad Max or any of his other movies.
You can train like him, you can eat like him, you can do every single thing he's ever done in his life...
... and you still won't get a body like him...
... because...
... YOU ARE NOT TOM HARDY!!!
You are *you*.
Not him, not me.
Heck, my two brothers lift weights.
They lift the same way I do.
They eat pretty much like I do.
We have the same parents and therefore similar genetics.
And yet we *still* don't look the same.
16 years ago, I met my early mentor did...
... trained the same way he did...
... ate the same way he did...
... but never looked like him either.
I became a stronger and more muscular version of ME.
And you will become a stronger, more muscular version of YOU.
NOT of someone else.
People have different bodies for the same reason they have different FACES.
Different muscle shapes and attachments.
Different bone shapes and length.
No amount of training can change that.
You can make a muscle bigger or smaller, but you can't change its shape.
And you definitely can't change the shape of your bones.
Anyway, back to your question about building thick, heavy, dense muscle...
The typical bodybuilding routine consists of training one muscle a day.
It has you do dozens of exercises per workout, for high reps, until pumped and sore.
The idea is to hammer your muscles and "tear them apart" so they grow bigger after resting.
In reality, bodybuilding routines typically just pump and bloat your muscles with water.
They create that "puffy" look (of which half is gone as soon as you leave the gym...)
They build mostly gym strength due to all the isolation exercises and machines.
And they take tons of time because you have to do so many exercises.
I trained like that for five years.
It drove me nuts.
Now StrongLifts 5x5 is different.
It's about getting STRONGER in the first place.
You do three free weight, compound exercises each workout.
You only train three times a week so your muscles get plenty of rest to grow bigger.
Every compound exercise works several muscles at the same time.
You can lift heavier weights as a result.
The heavier you lift, the stronger you get.
The stronger you get, the more muscular you become.
That's the more strength is more muscle I keep talking about.
Many people don't "get" this, but muscle is a natural by-product of training for strength.
You don't have to do a bodybuilding routine to build muscle.
Strength training builds muscle too.
It actually builds muscle faster because it creates a better foundation of strength and technique.
And it builds muscle with less exercises and workouts since you do mostly compound exercises.
Some people will disagree but I believe strength training builds a better physique.
It's less "show-off", "puffy" and "pumped".
It's more athletic instead with thick, heavy, dense muscles.
I've trained both ways, and I like my body much better today now that I do strength training.
I also like that it takes less work/time to maintain it...
... and that I have more functional strength too.
This is the natural result of lifting heavy each workout instead of pursuing pump and failure on each set.
Anyway, if you want to look better but don't want to be a bodybuilder, I think you'll like StrongLifts 5x5.
Just make sure you use my apps.
They'll guide you through each workout so you gain strength and muscle as fast as possible.
Keep it simple.
-Mehdi
P.S. The typical bodybuilding routines don't even work for most people. You can't "pump" a muscle you haven't built yet. You must build it first by getting stronger. This is the foundation most people never lay.
More info in the StrongLifts 5x5 guide here:
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