StrongLifts starters - does it feel like you will progress?

subakwa

So, just done my 4th SL workout, and hence the first "loading" beyond empty bar for OHP.

Squats was the first loading too having failed the first couple of exercises.

Now, I would count myself as a strong "non-lifting" woman, but even allowing for the muscle loss from dropping over 60lbs so far, these light lifts are seeming harder than they should, or She expected.

Anyone feel the same at the start and do you have good news for me? I have a nagging doubt about my ability to progress if 22.5kg feels heavy!

BrianSharpe

I've been doing SL for about 4 months now and followed Mehdi's 5lb per workout progression for the 1st few weeks now the rate has slowed down considerably.

It's like anything else, you will progress at your own rate. An empty bar felt heavy when I started. Be consistent and be patient, what you might want to try is adding the 5lbs to the last set, then the next workout the last two sets and so on until you're doing the whole 5 sets with the additional weight then start they cycle over again. It's a marathon not a sprint.

sammyliftsandeats

I just graduated to a 135lbs on squats after de-loading to work on form and depth. You WILL progress and it's a great feeling!

ETA: This took about five months. Agreed that it's a marathon, not a sprint.

quiksylver296

I worked SLs for a long time before I had to de-load because the lifts were too heavy. But, if you can't do the 5 pound (sorry, American here) jump, you can buy fractional plates and only jump by a pound or half-pound. I have these... (I didn't pay that much, though )

https://www.amazon.com/CFF-Competition-Rubber-Fractional-Weight/dp/B0158QP2EY/ref=sr_1_8?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1475163813&sr=1-8&keywords=fractional+plates

julie_broadhead

First a couple of suggestions, then I will tell you some good news:-)

I think you started too heavy. If you have access to those preloaded barbells try starting lighter. 35lb might work better for OHP and for your squats. You also don't have to add weight every session. I broke through my plateau on squats and OHP by adding weight every other session.

The great news is this will get easier and you will get stronger:-) Heavy is relative. Yes you can progress if 22.5kg feels heavy! Stay with it for another session and it will start to feel lighter:-) Stick with it:-)

Firefly0606

Yes - absolutely felt the same at the start. Just struggling to get the 45lb barbell onto the rack, I thought "there is no way I can squat this!" But I'm stubborn, so I gave it a go, and I did it!

And boy I was sore the day after, and especially the second day after. In my first few weeks I lifted twice per week, I just couldn't manage 3 that was recommended. I was squatting with that 45lb bar all by itself for 2 weeks before adding any weight. That was in May 2016, 2 nights ago I achieved a 99lb squat, and my muscles now feel like they have been used after a workout, not really REALLY sore like they were after the first few workouts.

Once I got my head around the fact that you don't have to add weight each time, progress comes when I'm ready - ready in my head and also when my body feels ready. Sometimes, that's the next workout. Other times, it's in 2 weeks.

It's also ok to fail. There have been plenty of times I can't lift 5x5... I just try again next time, and if I fail at that weight next time, I de-load. My lifting charts are like my weight loss charts - progress is not linear.

I also progress better and like some of the lifts better than others. I love squats and deadlifts, and have progressed well on them so far. OHP and bench press I am very slow to progress, and sometimes feel I'm lifting the same weight over and over. But there is progress - it does happen.

I still say this a lot too: "man, that's heavy!"

I'm asking Santa to bring me some fractional plates for Christmas this year - I know there is a point coming soon that the 5lb increase is going to be too much on my lifts.

Keep lifting!!! You will see progress - and you'll feel like you can conquer the world when you do

canadianlbs

subakwa wrote: »

I have a nagging doubt about my ability to progress if 22.5kg feels heavy!

to give you perspective . . . http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/PressStandardsKg.html. there's an age-adjusted one too, for people 40 and up.

tbh, i'm pretty impressed you can even do the 45 bar. a lot of women start out with 30 at first. it's a difficult lift.

press is almost everyone's 'weakest' lift. and it's harder for most women than it is for most men, too. our margins for progress tend to be narrower. i'm actually a little bit proud of mine, but it took me two years to get consistently confident about doing 60. right now i'm usually confident about 65 for at least one set of 5, but i can. not. get 70 pounds over my head. not even one time. it may take me all the way until xmas to chip me way up to that milestone with itsy-bitsy little fractional plates.

fractionals are great, by the way. they can go as low as 1/4 pound each, and you wouldn't think that could make a difference, but it can.

jolive7

You will definitely progress.. I felt the same way when I used to struggle with the 15kg bar for reps, I now rep 35! Just be consistent

subakwa

Thanks guys! I managed the 5x5 with 22.5kg but just wobbled in my mind thinking this is increased load one and already it feels heavy! Great to hear that isn't unusual.

I will look forward to the next session and see how 25kg feels, but bear in mind I could just stick with 22.5kg.

I seem to be ok at bench, and dead. Squats I suck. Bar row is ok.

jolive7

It's not necessarily a bad thing to stick with 22.5 for another session

curlsintherack

jolive7 wrote: »

It's not necessarily a bad thing to stick with 22.5 for another session

this is exactly correct especially in the beginning.

I've been doing sl 3x per week for about 8 weeks now and I can tell you it does work. It forces me to do lifts I'm not good at and also adds more warmup sets to the lifts where I am good. Having just finished the deadlift portion of workout b this morning my forearms are sore from working on my grip. My bench was stuck I deloaded it and now I'm almost back to my failure weight and the bar doesn't seem to be quite as heavy. I'm currently having trouble with my overhead press and will probably need to deload that and am hoping for the same results as my bench. I told myself that I would give this program a solid 3 months before I look elsewhere for another one and now I'm thinking more like 6-8 months.

Op depending on where your lifting there are mens and women's olympic bars. the mens are normally 45lbs with a grip diameter of 28-29mm and the ladies bars are also 7ft long but weigh 35lbs(off the top of my head) and have a grip diameter of 25mm. Most budget bars aren't 45lb bars the are generally 35lbs or so but have a larger diameter of around 30mm which allows a cheaper less tempered steel to be used due to the greater diameter of the grip area. The larger diameter grip areas are harder to grip. Your gym may have one of these lighter womens bars that may work better for you in the future when you progress to heavier and heavier weights.

subakwa

All these lbs!

My bar is a 20kg Olympic 7 ft bar, but I don't know the grip size. Seems OK so far, but I am 5'8" so not a petite lady!

Smallest plate I have is 1.25kg, so about 2.5 lbs. Will definitely keep an eye open for smaller ones.

mreichard

OP, especially with squats I think most people who haven't done them before progress much more slowly than the stronglifts site suggests. When I started, I thought I knew how to squat because I did some in high school 30 years ago. I started at 115, and it took me months of not progressing beyond 150 to realize that I had no idea what I was doing. I kept deloading, watching form videos, stretching and trying different stuff until now I feel like I have some rough idea of what to do. I lifted 205 yesterday, and my progress lately has been slow but steady --- usually adding 5 lbs per week.

Pathman1

I've been doing SL for about 2 months and started a little light for some of the exercises, but I did that because it gives me the opportunity to work on my form and hopefully get it right to prevent injury. Since you are already struggling it sounds like you didn't start light enough. I add weight at a rate that matches how hard the lift is, so for overhead press (currently at 95 lbs) I add every two weeks and pretty soon it will be even less frequent than that.

jessiferrrb

i'm doing session 8 today of SL 5x5 and so far i've progessed on schedule with everything except overhead press, where i think it's always going to take me more time to go up because my shoulders are so weak. i haven't moved to the olympic bar there yet, still using dumbells for that one. whereas my workout partner loves overhead press and stalls out on bench press. every body is different.

even where i am making quick progress though i have to temper my enthusiasm. i'm considering deloading my squat since i've been having trouble breaking parallel at 60 lbs. it's really kind of thrilling to load more each session, but not at the expense of form. so if i have to go back to bar only, then so be it. in a few weeks i'll be further along and better for it.

i read recently in one of the million lifting articles that the first three months are where you see the quickest progress so i'm trying to lap it all up now and enjoy it because i think the days are soon coming where i won't be able to add 5lbs per workout anymore (i'm looking at you bench press!).

a few weeks ago the ideas of benching 55 pounds seemed laughable. today i move up to 60 hopefully. the idea of squatting 100 impossible. but now i know i'll get there, even if it's later than others, even if it's months and months away.

ugh, i'm rambling again. tl:dr - everyone progresses differently, but if you stick with it you'll surprise yourself!

robdowns1300

Stick to it. It takes a lot of time. I've been doing SL5x5 since February. I've gone up & down the deloads & the repeats. Eventually, you do break through your sticking points. Currently squatting 220, benching 170 5x5. I'm happy enough with that much progress at my age. i will get to the better numbers. OHP has been very hard for me. Just broke 100. I think the program works when followed.

canadianlbs

jessiferrrb wrote: »

i read recently in one of the million lifting articles that the first three months are where you see the quickest progress so i'm trying to lap it all up now and enjoy it because i think the days are soon coming where i won't be able to add 5lbs per workout anymore (i'm looking at you bench press!).

just a quick note about the bolded part. when they talk about progress i don't think it's literally about the time frame. it's more like, everyone has a certain amount of growth their body is going to be able to do before it starts getting harder and harder to keep on growing because by then you're trying to push past your body's 'factory set' thresholds. so 'three months' actually means that it just takes most people about that long before they reach the threshold.


idk if that's clear. i'm saying this because i've been through several back-to-square-one cycles in two years, and that's how it's been for me. doesn't matter if i do 40 or 80 while i'm on that fast-gains freeway, the dirt road always starts at about the same weight.

KDar1988

I'm doing SL and asked this question a while back. I have progressed slowly in the 4 1/2 months I've been doing it. I bought fractional plates and I use them a lot. If I can add 1/2 lb that day I consider it progression. You will progress, give it time. Now just the empty bar feels like a toothpick to me

shor0814

If you follow a program then you should follow the program as written. You should add the weight every workout and attempt the reps and if you fail, you fail. Come back next time and try. If you fail again then follow the deload and move on.

Just realize that at some point you will miss a lift and get stuck. It will happen and it is part of progression and the deload is the method for overcoming the stalled lift.

You won't know if you can do it until you try it.

CSARdiver

I scaled down my lift weights on the advice of a pro lifter and she had me focus on form using only the bar or in many cases - a stick. I used the 5x5 methodology and stuck to the program. While this took longer I am very happy I did this. I have not had an injury or setback since I began and lifting heavier than I ever thought I could.

2manyhats

Glad I am not the only one who struggles with OHP. This has been the best thread I have read all week! Thank you all for your comments!!

pondee629

So many people talking SL 5x5 yet no one active in the group. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/5542-stronglifts-5x5

Why?

Started SL5x5 yesterday, let's get the group reactivated.