weak and short, starting stronglifts

yourpalsoap

I'm a small guy (5'4") and I want to build muscle. I tried to start stronglifts, since it's supposed to be great for beginners, but I'm really struggling with the weights suggested.

I'm fine for squats/deadlifts/etc but my arms are like noodles. I can't do a single full set of 5 with the empty bar on overhead press or bench. yesterday I managed a pathetic 4/3/2/1/0 on overhead press with the empty bar... my legs are getting stronger but, because I can't improve my upper body strength, I'm just getting more and more unbalanced.

I'm not sure where to start with my overhead/bench presses. I can't afford to buy my own equipment to get something lighter than the empty olympic bar...

zipa78

You are working out at a gym? Grab some dumbbells or see if they have women's bars, an EZ-curl bar, preloaded barbells or weight bars. If nothing else is available, then just use a weight plate.

You could also try a different progression since you can push the empty bar. Go for 3 sets of 3 reps (or even 2), then 4 sets, 5 sets. After that go back to 3 sets of 4 reps, then 4 sets, 5 sets etc.

I reckon that you'll be strong enough for 5 x 5 with the empty bar in no time. It's not that much a question about having the necessary muscles to do it, it is just that those muscles aren't used to doing heavy lifts. Once you get accustomed to the workout you'll see that you make big gains in strength in no time just by learning how to activate your muscles properly.

yourpalsoap

at a gym, yeh. they have ez-curl bars but they don't say how much they weigh on them and the staff are pretty useless. I asked a few different people about the regular bar and they couldn't remember if it was 15 or 20kg. it's gonna be hard to make any progress without knowing what I'm lifting.

doing less reps seems like a good idea, so thanks for the advice. I felt ok for the first 3 reps of set 1 and after that my form was terrible and I've somehow hurt my upper back.

how would you suggest warming up then? the guy says to do 2 sets of an empty bar before your loaded weight but if you're using the bar for heavy sets, what would you warm up with?

hazleyes81

Use dumbbells. There isn't a magical benefit to using the barbell, especially if it is too much weight for you at this point.

I prefer them anyway since they prevent your stronger arm from carrying more load and allow a more natural range of motion. You can either log your weight as the weight of one dumb bell or the weight of both added together; just be consistent.

zipa78

hazleyes81 wrote: »

Use dumbbells. There isn't a magical benefit to using the barbell, especially if it is too much weight for you at this point.

Absolutely this. Just do the presses with dumbbells for as long as you need to. Just start light enough, pressing with dumbbells is going to be a bit harder than pressing with a barbell because you need to stabilise yourself much more. Then again, when you get in the groove with the dumbbells, switching to a barbell is going to be really easy.

zipa78

Oh, and FYI: A standard bar is 20 kg, a women's bar is 15 kg and EZ-curl bars are usually around 7,5 kg. There's probably a scale somewhere around the gym, you can use it to check the weights of various equipment.

JoRocka

well- you can't do anything about being short- and honestly that's an advantage for lifting.

but you can get stronger- if the starting weights are to heavy- back down off of them and pick something else- or even use a broom stick.

yourpalsoap

thanks everyone. I'll see if there's a scale in the gym to check the weight of the bars. hopefully the women's or ez-curl bars will be ok and I'll start to see the ~gainzzzz~ everyone talks about lmao