StrongLifts variation advice

Since you can go heavy on rows, they're considered a good exercise for mass, whereas pullups are considered an exercise for width since they primarily target your lats.

Also, you're probably doing Yates rows which require a lot more stability in the lower back region, OR your back is going way too low, and that isn't good since you're hanging the weight off and not letting it drop to the ground like a Pendlay row - do Pendlay rows for a few weeks and just focus on your form, lower the weight and work back up with good form, I can't stress how important good form is, especially when you're doing compounds that stress certain areas of your body more than others.

Make sure you're drinking enough water in between sets and keeping your body hydrated, what you might be experiencing is an exertion headache, read about it.

tl;dr do Pendlay rows instead and add pullups to the end of workout A.

>>38563055
Thank you very much. I think that's the most civil, informed, and straightforward answer I've ever gotten on /fit/.

May your gains be mighty and your cuts short.

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As other anon said, pullups are great but mostly focus on lats. Shouldn't you be doing them in SL already? Chinups are often added in SS anyway.

The nice thing about rows is that there are multiple ways to do them. Pendlay rows always get recommended and they're a great exercise but a lot of people also complain the form just feels awkward.
What you can also try:
- T-Bar rows, there are some stations with horizontal support in gyms
- landmine rows also called Meadows rows (those are my favorites)
- dumbbell rows
- cable rows, high or low angles
- last resort, machines

Add chins and pull ups regardless, God-tier exercises. Bent over rows starting and ending on the floor, with your head in a neutral position, shouldn't cause you any neck/head pain.

>>38563055
>>38563208
>>38563268

OK, OP here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlRrIsoDpKg

These were the type of barbell rows I was doing at 115lb. Not too stressful a weight, just following the program from the beginning. My gym sadly lacks T-bar row machines from what my memory is recalling.

Thank you again for pointing me towards exertion headaches, I'll take steps to prevent it on my next A day. If still get migraines from the awkward position my head is in, I'll swap over to the cable rows and supplement with pull-ups on my A days.

Thanks a lot you guys!

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seated cable rows, maybe?

>>38562638
I'd say do pull ups on the day you do deadlifts instead, after your deadlifts. As far as the migraines are concerned, are you sure you aren't hyperextending your head by looking forward? You should look straight down during Pendlay rows, that way your neck is in a neutral position.

>>38562638
>would be catastrophic to replace with the barbell row with pull-ups?
rows are already pretty bad. the whole point of bill starr's original program was to squat, press and pull every workout. the best pull is the deadlift, but since it's pretty hard to recover from you can't do it 3 times a week. you could do light or speed deadlifts, but an even better solution is to do power cleans since they're relatively light, but train explosiveness at the same time.

if you use rows for the pull then you're missing out on a lot. it simply doesn't train nearly as much muscle mass as a deadlift/power clean. if you take it one step further and replace it with pullups then you're no longer anywhere close to the original purpose of the program. also, chins/pullups are supposed to be done in addition to the pull, so you're not even replacing, you're removing one of the 3 main exercises.

>>38563589
He's not doing Bill Starr's 5x5
Mehdi probably doesn't even know who Bill Star was

>>38563625
I know that, but bill starr was the one who created this kind of setup, and rip was his student and developed it further. mehdi is just a moron trying to make money off of other people's work. it's useful to know the idea behind the routine so you can avoid doing stupid shit like making pullups one of your two pulling exercises.

>>38563665
I wasn't gonna get into it, because someone who's giving themselves headaches trying to row probably ain't gonna get the power clean (or want to do them no matter what Starr says).

>>38563589
Rows are very good for upper back hypertrophy and posture. Power cleans will develop explosiveness, which is nice, but how many non-athlete novice lifters actually need that? For most beginners, rows are a much better exercise (also much easier to learn)

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I've been doing neutral grip chinups for a while, started doing Chinups, been having some problems.
I'm not overweight but I'm pretty heavy in respect to my upper body.
I'll keep it up a while, maybe add some negatives - I have trouble starting from a dead hang - and if I see no progress I'll do Pulldowns instead of chinups.

A
>BP/OHP 2x5, 1x5+
>Chinups 3xF
>Squats 2x5, 1x5+
>Incline DB press (if BP) / Dips 3xF +5kg (if OHP)
>Lat raises (if OHP) / Facepulls (if BP)

B
>BP/OHP 2x5, 1x5+
>Pendlay Rows 2x5, 1x5+
>Deadlift 1x5+
>Incline DB press (if BP) / Dips 3xF +5kg (if OHP)
>Lat raises (if OHP) / Facepulls (if BP)

AxBxAxx

>>38564425
Last thing, I have some mobility issues, aka have trouble getting my back parallel when setting up for rows.
Do I raise the barbell starting position or just bend my legs a bit more?

I do weighted chin-ups, don't think rows hit the arms enough and it saves me from having to do curls.

Also looks fucking badass ripping out chins with a 20kg plate hanging off you

>>38563563

Your grip will be fucking annihilated from heavy deadlifts, they are better done on bench days.

>>38563563
Nonono
deadlifts kill your grip and eat your overral strenght