Kind new and have some questions

funfang

Hi everyone,

I am so happy to find this group! I am kinda new, this is my 3rd week with 5x5 and it's really getting hard. when I first started the program, I didn't feel much on my first work out, so I went to do work outs with dumbbell and keep going to my cardio classes. Then I was told I should really lay off on my cardio because my muscles need the rest. I had my double but I re-started the program and followed it really carefully... I now can feel I really need to "rest" on my rest days, I only stretche, use foam rollers or take a long walk on my rest days.

I use the app and thank god for the app or I won't remember how much I have lifted ;-) I do have a question, when I can't finish my reps, do I just not click on that set and finish the work out? It happened to me this Monday with my overhead press, I only finished 5 reps on my first set, it was like 5/4/3/1/1 should I not checked the set I didn't complete?

There are only smith machines in my gym and I heard it's not the best. Why?

I don't feel sore with my muscles ( when I used to excise a lot when I was younger, I would feel "sore" or "hurt" on the muscles I worked at) I do feel... kind " heavy" sorry, that's the best I can describe on my muscles now. Does that mean I did something wrong?

one least question, I often feel so hungry the day I lift ( I do my work out early in the morning) I feel I can eat anything everything on my sight! in fact my husband made an comment last week in a party, he said I was eating like a man :embarassed: is that normal? I do try to bulk but I don't want to gain too fast too much.

Thank you all for reading and I appreciate any input, :-)

canadianlbs

apart from my very-first-ever exposure to squats, i've never had much soreness either. the muscles that do show some doms are always the ones that were being stretched WHILE they were working. apparently this is typical since it's thought the soreness comes from microscopic tears in the muscle fibres.

so for instance my first try at planks gave me doms in all the tiny little muscles that connect your ribs. rows and deadlifts might hit my hamstrings but rarely my quads or lower back. i don't feel much from bench press unless i keep a wide grip and lower the bar all the way to my chest . that way my pecs have to kick in right from the bottom end of the lift, but if i narrow my grip or stop short of my chest the pecs are working without being stretched out at the same time. overhead press gets me in the triceps, but never much in my delts or traps. and so forth.

riding a bike has never given me any kind of quad soreness either. and i've done some big bike rides coming straight off a phase of couch-potatoness so there's no question that my legs were working.

I do feel... kind " heavy" sorry, that's the best I can describe on my muscles now. Does that mean I did something wrong?

i know that feeling. i'm taking these thoughts from the reading i've done, but for what it's worth: i usually assume it has something to do with either lactic acid left behind in the muscles, or the fact that my muscle glycogen is depleted. lifting tends to use up muscle glycogen as a fast/anaerobic fuel source, and your body takes around 24 hours to replace it. that's assuming you're eating and all , which it seems like you are :laugh: apparently carbs after lifting will give your body a faster means of glycogen replacement than protein.

smiths are disliked (reading again) for a couple of reasons: they force your body into movement patterns that might not actually be the best for you over the long term, and they make it so your body doesn't need to use nearly as many muscles as free weights, for things like balance and bar control etc.

TravelsWithHuckleberry

Hi funfang! Welcome to the group!

I'm also new to 5x5 - am in my second week, so hardly an expert. First, I agree with all of what canadianlbs said, so won't repeat those comments.

Regarding the app, if you have the page with all the circles up and you hit one of them once, a read five appears. If you hit the same circle again, a 4 appears, and so on down to zero / clearing the circle altogether. So if you don't make all your reps, put in the number you do get. So it might say 5/4/3/2/1 or 5/5/3/1/1 or whatever. At the end of the session, your workout is still complete, you just didn't make all your reps. The app will have you try the same weight the next time you do that exercise. If you can't get 5x5 in that exercise three workouts in a row, it will deload you to a lighter weight, then you work back up from there.

I also don't have typical soreness from this workout -- at least not yet. But I definitely get that heavy / depleted feeling. Unless you're in pain, I wouldn't worry that you're doing it wrong.

Finally, I wouldn't worry too much about the eating. As long as you're listening to your body, eat when you're hungry. I would try to eat things that are filling and fueling, rather than something that you know won't satisfy you for very long. You may find that you end up eating less on your recovery days, so your weeks will balance out.

Keep us posted on your progress!
Courtney

funfang

Thank you canadianlbs and crabada!!!

Thanks for the help on the app. Sadly I have to stop the program. I have talk to someone who's familiar with the program and realized that using smith machine is really not ideal. It might do more harm then good. I will have to search for a new gym that can fit my schedule and have the right equipment. Well, the gym by my office has all the right equipment but I can't get the schedule working....

I really like the program and I just start feeling the difference. I will keep you all posted when I find a solution. In the mean time, I will search from other workout I can do with dumbbells.

Thank you all!

canadianlbs

i have a suggestion, which is just a thought: don't quit on the whole program just because you can't squat. in your situation i think i might carry on exactly as planned with the other lifts, and for the squatting i might use dumbbells (or any other lighter weight that didn't need a rack, but increase the number of reps and/or sets.

it's not ideal, i know. but it seems like a real shame to quit the entire thing and lose out on all the other lifts too, just because your gym's too lame to give you a rack.

funfang

Thanks canadianlbs! I am going to go to the gym by my office, just have to leave really early on Wednesdays to make it work. I just hope on Monday and Friday there won't be a long wait for the rack and the bench since I only have an hour lunch time. Also, sometimes when it gets busy, I will have to skip lunch. Well, I will have to deal with that when it comes.

So I will be re-starting the program next Monday, hope I will be able to finish it this time. Thanks for your input! :-)