5x5 Q's

AntiqueRiced

I've been seeing a lot of people mentioning the 5x5 workout and I went over to Stronglifts to see what it's all about. While it looks great (ie. daunting) I've seen some debate on whether or not to do cardio on the "rest days" or afterward; doing too much after can ruin your gains or going too hard on your rest day will prevent your body from healing.

I'm looking to lose 30lbs and while I used to lift 3 days a week, it wasn't doing much. I have a lot of muscle already so I figured maybe circuit training, Zumba and spin might be the way to go. I'm currently doing one or two of these classes per day 3x a week.

So my questions are: Stick with cardio to shed and then tone when I reach goal weight? If I should do 5x5, do I still do one or more cardio intense classes on my rest days?

IsaackGMOON

If you do SL 5x5, there is a possibility you can do cardio. But when the weight gets heavier, it might be hard because of the DOMs. As long as you eat back 100% of your calorie burns from cardio, you should be fine.

AntiqueRiced wrote: »

So my questions are: Stick with cardio to shed and then tone when I reach goal weight? If I should do 5x5, do I still do one or more cardio intense classes on my rest days?

Remember that weight loss comes from a caloric deficit - doesn't matter what exercise you do.

If you do 5x5, you can, but you might find it hard. You have to make sure you eat back your exercise calories on this.

jimmmer

It's entirely dependant upon your personal recovery capabilities.

These things are governed by diverse factors from age, sleep, hydration, size of caloric deficit, etc. Get all these things in order and you can build work capacity to do most things and recover. The key is to build it in slowly.

So, do 5x5 and one lighter cardio session and one more challenging one. Run this setup for a few weeks. Recovering well? Making strength gains? Then increase one of the sessions to a harder session. Run this set up for a few weeks. Again: recovering well? Gaining strength? Yes. Great! No? Reduce the intensity/frequency/volume of the cardio work and slowly build it back up again over a few more weeks. Rinse/repeat.

Do not wait until you are a goal weight to start a progressively loaded routine though. You'll end up losing a bunch of LBM that will take ages to reclaim and make you feel like you wasted a bunch of extra time unnecessarily.

lemonsnowdrop

I do Zumba on my off days and walk on Sat and Sun. I haven't noticed a decrease in my strength so far, but I think it's more of a personal preference. Just don't spread yourself too thin!

SJMask89

Speaking from personal experience. This year I started @228 with 29% body fat and am currently 216 with 15% bf (as of 6/1/2015 measured with calipers). SL5x5 on a deficit, and the morning of lift days I would do Couch to 5k. Rest days were 100% rest days. I think if you can keep cardio down to about 30 minutes a day for only 3 days a week you'll be fine, humans are endurance animals. Besides you get to eat more with cardio

loconnor466

I have been doing 5x5 with some other auxiliary lifting for about 10 weeks now. I lift 3 days a week with walking/bike riding 2-3 days. I will do a short 30 minute HIIT type of class 1-2x per week, and it is usually after a lifting session. Listen to your body, some weeks I have skipped the HIIT classes, but I never skip my lifting session!

AntiqueRiced

Thanks for the input! I think I'll try it starting Monday and then just cut out my circuit class for now and see how I feel.

A new question: How important is it to get your hips below the knees when squatting? I've noticed that I start to get off balance around knee level and my hips tighten up. I'm kinda scared I might drop the bar or something. Did any of you have tight hips when you started and did it just get better over time?

fishgutzy

I'll have about 10 to 11 hours between morning 4 mile swim and weight room visit. We'll see how that goes as I try starting SL5X5. The only thing I really cannot do in the rotation is barbell squats. I have to do dumbbell and machine squats. Tried a body pump class once. Not fun trying to hold a bar in front. Shoulders prevent me from getting the bar behind.

kindrabbit

I do compounds 3 times a week (it used to be stronglifts, I now do madcow). I tend to just do 15 mins of cardio afterwards. It could be anything from HIIT to a brisk walk. I also do circuit training twice a week plus 2 rest days. I've had good results so far.