Don't think of gains as "on gear" and "off gear". gains are gains and sometimes you will have growth spurts and your lifts will go up and sometimes they will stagnate for awhile. The trick to strength training is to look back at where you were six months or a year ago. are you lifting more then you were then> good-keep it up. 5x5 is an excellent strength building program so is 5/3/1 and pretty much all the other programs out there. it all workss the real secret is how much intensity you put into each one. If you put the drive and will into it you will make gains just doing regular proressive overload. dont get technical just get out there and lift heavy!

The program you choose will depend on your current level of development, and your body's ability to recover from the stresses of training. Starting Strength is a program for rank novice's, and as such it is designed to stress the body one day, assumes you will be fully recovered 2 day's later and that microcycle starts over. If you can't make progress still workout to workout then Starting Strength is not what you need. 5/3/1, is at almost the opposite end of the spectrum, being that it is a monthly progression system. If developing strength is your primary goal on cycle, I would recommend a system of weekly linear progression. Look up the Texas Method, or Madcow's 5x5. Something like that should do the trick nicely.

I am sure you will hear a lot of different responses to this, but I run a program similar to SS that has led me to more consistent gains in strength as well as not having to compromise the aesthetics side. I don't want to overstep my boundaries as far as linking to the source of the program, but if you PM me I will hook you up. I am sure plenty of other people will jump in here as well though.