StrongLifts 5x5, Cardio, Great Diet: 12 weeks

daniellerusbult2

Hi! I am in desperate need of some sort of routine in my life. I recently moved from Iowa to Texas and left my great 8-5 job for a waitressing job (new horizons, trying somethin different). I'm just unhappy without my normal routine, so I am going to make exercise my routine.

I want a 12-week plan, because that will end around my birthday in May. I am going to do StrongLifts 5x5 3 days/week and Cardio the other 2-3 days.

I am confused on StrongLifts. I have read about it, but I still have questions. Am I supposed to increase by 5lbs every day or every set? How should I warm up?

Also, I want help with determining a good goal. I always do better when I have a set goal/goal date. Because I'm lifting and understand that I will gain muscle, I don't have a weight goal in mind. I'm looking toward an inches-lost goal on my waist and thighs. My waist is about 41" at the belly button (widest part), and I have yet to measure my thighs. Do you think 7" lost on my waist in 12 weeks is too hefty?

Lastly, I need help with my diet. I love vegetables, lean proteins, fruit and whole grain pasta. I won't have a problem having a healthy diet, but I need help making a diet that complements my lifting schedule.

Here is my before set of pictures:

Ozzzy66

It looks like you have an Iphone in your pictures so just download the free 5x5 stronglifts app and follow the plan. It is lifing every other day. One to two sets of warmup with no weight should be fine before you start your working sets. Hope that helps.

daniellerusbult2

I didn't know there was an app! Thank you!

How about my goal and diet? Anybody have advice?

grantdumas7

On the working sets you would keep the weight the same for all 5 sets. You would warm-up with progressively heavier weights. For example if you were working set was 100 LBS for 5x5 then you're warm-up would look something like this

45x10
65x5
85x3
90x1
then go into your working sets You don't need long rest periods between these sets. Around 30-45 sec should be enough.

daniellerusbult2

Okay, great!

steve_mfp

Warm up:

Hit the bike/treadmill/elliptical for 10-15 minutes, not excessive pace, just to get the blood flowing and then do DeFranco's Limber 11.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSSDLDhbacc

You will need a foam roller and a racquet ball.

daniellerusbult2

My new gym doesn't have a foam roller, so I know I'll definitely be investing in one!

Thanks for the continued advice!

richardheath

A graphic description of Strong Lifts:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1019986-strong-lifts-5-x-5-program-for-the-beginner

A thread on overall diet:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

If you are in a deficit, you will likely not gain significant amounts of muscle, but your overall body shape will change (for the better). I'm not sure exactly how much you could lose around your waist, but 7 inches seems high for 12 weeks. Don't try to be too aggressive with cutting calories - you will need energy to complete the workouts!

btw - Stronglifts is not exactly a 12-week program. It's designed to be followed for a year or more until you reach too many plateaus. Then you migrate to an intermediate program. But it is a good place to start, and you should see results in 12 weeks if you are consistent.

daniellerusbult2

Hi! I'm actually not going to have a deficit at all. I plan to eat 1600-1800 calories(difficult because I don't always get to eat for an entire shift at work which is 4-11pm). I will check the thread out. I just need to know what to eat and when in accordance with my lifting.

Also, I meant to say 12 weeks just for a goal time . It is a lifestyle, after all, right?

daniellerusbult2

Bump

sixpacklady

Hi there.

I also have similar plans as yours, May being my birthday month as well. I am on the 4th week of SL and just added 2 X HIIT routine. So far I have not seen any inches/weight lost. I have a 35 inch waist at BB and that the only place I want to lose (:
btw, your waist do not look at 40" at BB, it looks like mine, around 35...

I am beginning to track my calories more accurately and will see how it goes.

there is a helpful SL women's group and you can have all your questions answered there as well:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/4618-stronglifts-5x5-for-women


And I also have a 12 week goal with SL, and will move onto something else...

richardheath

Hi! I'm actually not going to have a deficit at all. I plan to eat 1600-1800 calories(difficult because I don't always get to eat for an entire shift at work which is 4-11pm). I will check the thread out. I just need to know what to eat and when in accordance with my lifting.

Also, I meant to say 12 weeks just for a goal time . It is a lifestyle, after all, right?

Without a deficit, losing inches will be slower. Not impossible, just slower. Eating around your TDEE (if that is what you are doing) and lifting is a "body recomposition", and can take time.

As to what to eat - lots of protein (0.8-1.0 g / lb body weight), some fat (~0.4 g per lb), and fill in the rest with carbs. When is much less important.

Bamacraft

I love strong lifts in my bulking season to gain muscle. However, not so sure 5x5 may be the best for your goal in 12 weeks. I would consider doing it for 4 weeks and changing to an 8 week giant set program. Only reason i say this is b/c you'll eat in a deficit to lose and even tho the 5x5 will help maintain what muscle you have while in that deficit, you could take advantage of additional fat burn with giants (IMO). i like doing a fasted cardio session in the a.m. (except leg day -Wed, and some off days -Sun) then hitting my giant sets in the p.m. not sure if your schedule allows that but works great if you eat clean. Diet is the key but sounds like you will be fine there since you like clean foods. i mix my cardio up almost everytime too. one long slow (~45 -60min), intervals (10-15 min warm up then 20min HIIT) once or twice per week, one elliptical (45min), one elliptical (30min) stairmaster (15min) mixed per week..i do the elliptical to give my knees a break. i add the stairmaster sometimes just so i dont get too use to the same ole elliptical routine.

HappyStack

Personal experience. When I first started lifting, as a rank beginner - only having done cardio & calisthenics previously - I found that 5x5, plus a calorie deficit, plus running on my off-days wore me out. It was unsustainable, for me, and you may find the same is true for you. 5x5 plus warmup sets was too much volume to then go out the next day and do even 45 minutes of running.

I would recommend only a slight deficit for any kind of strength training. I learnt the hard way that you absolutely do need to adequately fuel your body, and a heavy deficit does not complement that. Progress won't be any slower, because without eating sufficiently you're not going to progress.

lrmall01

I am confused on StrongLifts. I have read about it, but I still have questions. Am I supposed to increase by 5lbs every day or every set? How should I warm up?

Did you download the free pdf that you get when you subscribe to Medhi's mailing list? Everything is explained in there. Here is an article on warm ups - http://stronglifts.com/5-rules-to-find-your-perfect-warm-up-weight/

Also, I want help with determining a good goal. I always do better when I have a set goal/goal date. Because I'm lifting and understand that I will gain muscle, I don't have a weight goal in mind. I'm looking toward an inches-lost goal on my waist and thighs. My waist is about 41" at the belly button (widest part), and I have yet to measure my thighs. Do you think 7" lost on my waist in 12 weeks is too hefty?

I like that you are targeting a waist circumference and not a body weight. IMHO the 7" lost in 12 weeks is fine for a goal but it is aggressive.

Lastly, I need help with my diet. I love vegetables, lean proteins, fruit and whole grain pasta. I won't have a problem having a healthy diet, but I need help making a diet that complements my lifting schedule.

IMHO use Scooby's calculator and put those into a custom goal in MFP to track.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Good luck!

LiftAllThePizzas

I didn't know there was an app! Thank you!

How about my goal and diet? Anybody have advice?

Yep, you add 5 lbs each new session, so 50 on Monday, 55 on Friday, 60 the next Wednesday, etc.

Goals should be something you actually have control over. You waist size will be what size it's going to be. Yes you can cause it to shrink or grow, but setting a particular size/date for it to happen is like setting a goal that it's going to snow next weekend.

DopeItUp

Just a side note, losing 7" on your waist is a pretty hefty amount. I just checked my logs and it took me 16 months to lose 7" on my waist (that was about 50lbs of weight loss, in comparison at 100lbs of loss I had lost 13" off of my waist). Eating at maintenance is going to further slow that down. I can't say how long it will take but it definitely won't be 12 weeks, that's for sure.

Long story short, eating at maintenance and lifting is good, but it makes for very slow progress. I don't know what your goal body composition is but if you want to end up looking athletic it's going to take years. If you want to get your weight down 30lbs or so (according to your ticker) I'd recommend a small deficit like .5-1lb/week and a solid year of work.

daniellerusbult2

Yes, I promise it is 41" lol I checked again just to be sure. I am going to friend you so I can see progress from others.


Next, I really really appreciate the advice that the program is too much and to try something else, but I am "new" to lifting for a purpose and have chosen this program. It seems easy enough to follow. If I have any troubles, I will switch it up!

Lastly, it is actually fairly easy for me to lose weight. I just have to do it! I know for some it takes a long time, but I feel like losing a lot of inches off of my waist in a shorter amount of time is okay for my body type. I WILL, however, change my goal to 5" in 12 weeks. It still feels ambitious to me but attainable!


Thank you for all of the feedback!!

lrmall01

Here's what the SL site says regarding cardio FWIW.

http://stronglifts.com/cardio-fat-loss-hiit-vs-long-duratio-cardio/