Newbie female lifting observations

tula1980

So I guess I've been going with Stronglifts for 6 weeks or so now. I've had a few observations about the program, some are probably pretty obvious, others were a surprise to me so I thought I'd share in case there any any other gals out there thinking of starting.

1. Back ache - what back ache? It's gone! I had the classic lower back pain which months of intensive yoga, physio and all sorts hadn't touched. By Stronglifts session 5 it had gone, and it hasn't returned. I delayed starting the lifting because I was worried about it making my back worse, now I could kick myself for not having started sooner!

2. Hunger - I am so hungry! I literally could eat my own arm sometimes. I've switched over to IF and am restricting my calories to between 12-1pm and 8pm daily and that is helping a lot. Somehow I was eating at TDEE and struggling to force down the last 200 calories before lifting, whilst lifting I have trouble stopping at TDEE +300, and not just on lift days.

3. Size - after initially putting on weight (5lb) it then came straight back off and I'm the same weight as when I started, despite the +300 calories. Having said that I have lost 1.5 inches from my waist (26.5 down to 25) and put on two inches around my booty (32 to 34) which is a MASSIVE cause of celebration for me. I'm very excited going forwards about getting my old shape back!

4. Muscle - I had a wobble about how much muscle was happening in my arms last week, mainly because it's my lower half which needs to change. I was convinced they were MUCH bigger so you can imagine my embarrassment when I measured only to find my biceps (un-flexed) have gone from 10 inches to 9.5! It's quite deceptive how as you start to lean out a bit that things can look bigger even though they are smaller. I'm glad I took measurements before I started.

5. Fatigue - I hit a phase where my muscles were just so tired. I felt fine during normal activities but set one of lifting felt more like set 5 and by the time I got to set 5 I was sweating (especially in the squats) about whether or not I was actually going to get back up or whether I was stuck literally from the first squat. I couldn't decide whether to drop one session a week, reduce sets for a short time from 5 to 3/4 or whether to drop the weight a little. I kept pushing through undecided and the issue has now resolved and I'm plodding on.

6. I really enjoy it! I never thought I would, I thought it'd be a 45 minute chore three times a week, but actually I love it. I find it very calming, centering and I feel great afterwards. It really gets the old blood pressure up and I feel like I could climb a mountain in about three strides after each set.

All in I can't recommend it enough and I'm really excited about where I'll be in a years time.

candiceh3

Awesome!!! I love lifting!

BreakinTheChains

love this

robin52077

FeelingLessChubby

Love this - thank you so much for sharing! I'm going to come back to this topic when I'm ready to start lifting too. It's fantastic what we learn when we actually do stuff, isn't it? And WELL DONE you - you are awesome!

Andibenni

Thanks for posting this. I've been thinking about lifting for a little while but don't have a clue what I'm doing or even where to start but I've just looked up the Strong lifts programme and I'll give it a go!

Care76

Thanks for posting! I have been trying to find equipment to do SL. This is good info to know! I can't wait to start. :-)

cats847

Great observations! Enjoy your lifting!