Stronglifts + x? or: Badminton + Stronglifts

gr34t

After a few months' break I have started playing badminton one to two times a week (two hours on a somewhat competitive level) again - simply because I enjoy doing so and it is decent exercise (although my doctor keeps telling me that it's bad for me knees. Whatever...).

After having lost some weight now I looked into the Stronglifts programme and decided to give it a go. In fact, I just came back from my first session - and was fortunate enough that barely anyone was around while I was using empty bars

My question: is there anything I should keep in mind? Badminton does put a strain on especially my right arm/shoulder muscles and I don't think I'll be able to do both on the same day soon (competitive badminton is rather exhausting!). But playing badminton during a Stronglifts rest day might prevent some of the muscle repair and growth?!

Also, my endurance is not where it should be so I thought to add in some C25K (I've never run before but am already seeing improvements after the first two sessions - and am also enjoying it for now). That's a lot of cardio to combine with lifting... Is there any significant reason to not reduce both running and lifting workouts to two each week and see how it goes?

Like: Monday: running / Tuesday: lifting / Wednesday: - /Thursday: badminton and running / Friday: - / Saturday: lifting / Sunday: -

My primary goal is health/overall fitness, my secondary goal is to become better at badminton (which relies more on endurance than strength for the time being - although squats should drastically improve my jumping abilities). I don't need to be able to squat 300lbs (what Mehdi proposes), but being able to deadlift 250lbs with good form in the future might prove useful for everyday life.

GradatimFerociter

I would carry on as you are and adapt if you are not experiencing the results that you want. Some people find that a lot of cardio impedes their strength gains and some people don't. Ultimately if you are starting from the bar it should be quite a long time until you stop seeing progress irrespective (although you really should do all of the workouts inherent to a specific program if you are going to expect the results it suggests). If you are interested currently in taking a more holistic approach to your fitness then I don't see why you shouldn't do what you want until it stops producing results you personally (pardon the pleonasm) are happy with. We all have different aims and motivations after all.

Jus' make sure your nutrition is on point.

neandermagnon

carry on doing badminton. I don't think it's going to interfere with recovery because it works the muscles in a different way. Your main issue will likely be trying to play badminton when you're still sore from weight lifting. The main thing with that is to be really careful to warm up and stretch out well before doing badminton. I pulled my hamstring playing ice hockey because they got too tight as a result of DOMS from killer skating drills earlier the same week. DOMS and stiffness goes together, any activity where you move suddenly and erratically, such as pretty much every sport there is, you need to make sure you're fully warmed up and stretched out first.

darrensurrey

I play non-competitive tennis (well, it is competitive, I don't go around purposely giving points away IYSWIM!) twice a week and train legs the night or day after. It's worked for me in both weight management and building muscle/strength.

gr34t

Thanks for the input guys. I'll just do the above for now and will adapt where necessary.