Strong lifts without the squat

Hey. I'm thinking of starting the strong lifts program after 6months of lifting with some decent results. But I'm wanting to try something different and have read some good things about the 5x5 program.

Question... Can this routine be done without the squat? I know this is deemed the most important of all the exercises however I also train for cycling and find squatting really messes up my cycling. Currently in the gym I only do upper body, I have plenty of muscle size in my legs with cycling. Is there another exercise I could add instead to make up the three exercises and add an extra upper body workout?

THanks for your input

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All it would do would throw your body out of proportion (upper/lower) and hinder your gains by inhibiting extra testosterone relases from working the legs with heavy weights.

However, this could be wrong; the best way to find out ALWAYS is to test it out for yourself and take weekly progress pics and evaluate its effectivenes after a duration of about 3-6 months.

Be sure to eat BIG and CLEAN. Also get at least 8 hours sleep per night for optimum growth.

My lower body is already larger being a female cyclist so not too concerned about that. I was thinking to add weighted push ups or chin ups instead but don't know if that would be overdoing the upper body. I know the program has the exercises in a particular order for a reason

I really advise you against working your upper body only as that will lead to postural imbalances which will eventually cause injuries. I know a lot of cyclists squat and benefit from it a lot for their sport, I think you should look for a lifting program deisgned for cyclists.

Stronglifts is a squatting program. That's why it's the first exercise and you do it every workout.

Being a cyclist will probably mean you have muscle in your legs and good endurance, but make no mistake, doesn't necessarily mean your lower body's strong.

I agree with the above post, if you're looking for something that's not going to affect your cycling, look for a strength assistance program for cycling.

How long have you squatted for at a time? (when it messes up your cycling)

Stronglifts only starts with 5x5x20kg(45lbs) so maybe it's worth a try. It builds up nice and gradual.

I guess I'm looking for a strength program to add upper body strength and size (mostly). I'm not looking for a cycling strength program to improve my cycling. I was a competitive cyclist and hence was always wary about adding upper body mass. I no longer plan to compete at that level and want to balance out my physique, so have only been doing upper body work. I have gained about 5-6 lbs mass with my current work-out (twice per week work out with 3 sets of 8-10 reps), but feel like I have stalled and thought the stronglifts program looked decent and simple.

You make a good point chewy with regards to starting out slowly and perhaps I could do squats and not lift too heavy, do higher reps and/or only do them twice per week instead of 3x. When I was cycling seriously we only did squats once per week and even that left a heavy fatigue feeling in my legs for high intensity sessions. However I certainly don't train high intensity on the bike like I was previously so maybe it won't be such an issue.

Bottom line is I want to add upper body bulk, not lower body. Happy to gain more leg strength so long as it doesn't result in increased size! Perhaps stronglift isn't for me if this is the case