StrongLifts 5x5

JNick77

irridia: stiff leg dead lifts and good mornings for hammies and planks for ab work with minimal hip flexor involvement.

ashkaps: I would be doing some HIIT after a SL workout and taking the in between days off. It will eat into your recovery ability for strength a bit so you have to listen to your body. Low carb is fine IMO. Maybe not optimal for strength gains but as you are in calorie deficit the focus should be on getting adequate protein and fats anyway.

Completely agree. I think you'd be surprised at how sore your hammies will be with stiff leg deads. If you're just focused on strength gain the low carb is definitely fine. I actually eat 30grams or less Mon-Fri and this week I've broken 3 PR's so far, definitely doable.

irridia

thanks everyone! Not sure what the difference is between the deads I'm currently doing and stiff legged... I will search youtube tonight when I get home. Any pointers on good vids?

I found something called a pull through that looks like good back work, I've also found an explanation for a belly dance move that I never could get right that has reeeeeely been working my transverse abs along with my psoas. Called umis and you alternately squeese left and right psoas and release. Which is now showing that I need to be more diligent with my foam rollers on my ITB but of course I already knew that! *sigh*

I found the ham raises, don't think I can do them yet but maybe with a band assist... will try tonight. i'm considering redoing squats at 85 tonight.

JNick77

thanks everyone! Not sure what the difference is between the deads I'm currently doing and stiff legged... I will search youtube tonight when I get home. Any pointers on good vids?

I found something called a pull through that looks like good back work, I've also found an explanation for a belly dance move that I never could get right that has reeeeeely been working my transverse abs along with my psoas. Called umis and you alternately squeese left and right psoas and release. Which is now showing that I need to be more diligent with my foam rollers on my ITB but of course I already knew that! *sigh*

I found the ham raises, don't think I can do them yet but maybe with a band assist... will try tonight. i'm considering redoing squats at 85 tonight.

As far as the legs are concerned regular and sumo DL's engage the quads more whereas stiff-legged DL's / RDL's enage more of the hamstring, glutes, and lower back. When I'm doing I try to balance the weight between mid-foot to heel and just go down far enough to feel a good hammie stretch. Then I squeeze my glutes and pull it back up. Probably find something good on YouTube.

chrisdavey

and to add to that SLDL's aren't as taxing on the central nervous system CNS because you can't lift as much weight. Therefore, you can do them more regularly without cutting into recovery abilities as much as regular deadlifts.

irridia

Thank you Nick and Chris! I will check for those too.

emmab0902

Hi just come across this - for the girls who do this, are you building much size or is it more strength gains? I am after definition and strength/endurance but not size. My trainer currently has me on 3x15 at low weights and I am looking for a change.

JNick77

Hi just come across this - for the girls who do this, are you building much size or is it more strength gains? I am after definition and strength/endurance but not size. My trainer currently has me on 3x15 at low weights and I am looking for a change.

Yes not a girl... But you can definitely do this just for strength gains and not worry about getting "bulky." Size / mass is more dependent on diet than lifting alone, so as long as your in a calorie deficit and not taking any steroids, joking of course, you won't gain any significant size.

chrisdavey

Hi just come across this - for the girls who do this, are you building much size or is it more strength gains? I am after definition and strength/endurance but not size. My trainer currently has me on 3x15 at low weights and I am looking for a change.

Yes not a girl... But you can definitely do this just for strength gains and not worry about getting "bulky." Size / mass is more dependent on diet than lifting alone, so as long as your in a calorie deficit and not taking any steroids, joking of course, you won't gain any significant size.

agreed. Even maintenance cals is a good idea for a recomp. Rest assured, you won't turn into the hulk overnight. That takes a LONG time!

JNick77

Rest assured, you won't turn into the hulk overnight. That takes a LONG time!

But if you do please share your secret!

irridia

read something really interesting on aworkout.com
Roid study. 4 groups of guys; A) All natural do nothing at all, no drugs no exercise. Roids only, no exercise at all. C) natural no drugs just exercise and D) Roids and exercise.
They gave them all the same exercises and fed them all the same as far as calories/body weight/activity and for the same length of time then measured changes in body composition.
obviously there were no changes in the do nothing group.
increased muscle mass by 7% drugs only no exercise!
C) increased muscle mass by 4%
D) incrased by 14%

Riods matter! dudes who id nothing other than drugs gained more than dudes working out and not doing drugs!
Women don't have any testosterone at all, so forget about bulk. Muscle only looks bulky on us and is measurable if there is fat over it. As an example my weight went up over the last 2 weeks (probably build up of fluids before TOM honestly) and my measurements went down! My arms look smaller because of all the fat I've lost but because it tends to gather below the triceps, when I flex I might look like I'm bulking up! I'm not, I just need to lose more fat!

For you guys, the only secret is correct form, dedication and nutrition and most importantly time. Unless of course you want your boys to be the size of grapes! lol. pretty much everybody you see in mags has been hitting the roids. Natural is waaay better.

chrisdavey

Do you have a link to the study? Interesting, but would like to see more details. And remember that normal no drugs guys can have vastly different testosterone levels also. However, as with everything heavy squats fixes this

JNick77

Yeah, I'd be curious to see how much the Roid groups were taking and what their Free Testosterone was at the end of the study. If the average is around 600 dcl's then I'm guess the Roid group was given enough to get them around 1,400+ Free Test which is huge difference. If they took HCG and some kind of estrogen blocker like Arimidex / Anastrozol they probably saved some of their natural testical function at least.

kobzal

I did my first SL 5x5 workout today! It only took me 35 minutes, which is awesome because I was having a hard time fitting the 1h20min P90x videos in.

Since I have been doing P90x and I run, I thought I was pretty fit. I am suprised how tired my muscles are though after just doing the bar weight! I was also having a hard time with my form on the barbell rows. I might lower the weight next time and use one of those 30 or 35 lb bars to get my form down, the go back to the olympic bar.

JNick77

Since I have been doing P90x and I run, I thought I was pretty fit. I am suprised how tired my muscles are though after just doing the bar weight! I was also having a hard time with my form on the barbell rows. I might lower the weight next time and use one of those 30 or 35 lb bars to get my form down, the go back to the olympic bar.

Videos like that are good but they don't work you like this type of weight lifting system. Glad to hear you're liking this.

irridia

Roids: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199607043350101

I just read the summary on aworkoutroutine.com: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/steroids-vs-natural/
I evidently posted his website wrong the first time, sorry guys.

It is amazing what weights can do for a female body, you may find that hardcore cardio is too much at least during 5x5. Yoga and gentle walking are much more beneficial to give you that extra calorie burn... if you need it.

JNick77

It is amazing what weights can do for a female body, you may find that hardcore cardio is too much at least during 5x5. Yoga and gentle walking are much more beneficial to give you that extra calorie burn... if you need it.

I agree. I think too much difference is placed on the differences between men and women and the benefits of weight lifting. Yeah the hormonal differences are obvious and have definite impact but doing heavy lifting is somewhat universal in it's value. As you also mentioned, high-intensity cardio while doing such a lifting system can be too much and very taxing on the body. Much has been written about the benefit of weight lifting and steady-state low-intensity cardio.

kobzal

It is amazing what weights can do for a female body, you may find that hardcore cardio is too much at least during 5x5. Yoga and gentle walking are much more beneficial to give you that extra calorie burn... if you need it.

I agree. I think too much difference is placed on the differences between men and women and the benefits of weight lifting. Yeah the hormonal differences are obvious and have definite impact but doing heavy lifting is somewhat universal in it's value. As you also mentioned, high-intensity cardio while doing such a lifting system can be too much and very taxing on the body. Much has been written about the benefit of weight lifting and steady-state low-intensity cardio.

I have been struggling with this because I run. I like to run and I want to get faster. I am hoping to PR and run a sub 2 hour half marathon in a few weeks (so I know I picked a bad time to start 5x5, but I got so tired of putting it off).

However I also want to lower my BF % and do some recomp and get stronger. Running won't do that for me.

Can the two never go together? I was hoping that by increasing strength, I would gain some speed in running as well. Do I have to take a season off running to focus on body recomp? Then what would happen when I start running again? Hopefully there is a happy medium somewhere that I can find.

JNick77

It is amazing what weights can do for a female body, you may find that hardcore cardio is too much at least during 5x5. Yoga and gentle walking are much more beneficial to give you that extra calorie burn... if you need it.

I agree. I think too much difference is placed on the differences between men and women and the benefits of weight lifting. Yeah the hormonal differences are obvious and have definite impact but doing heavy lifting is somewhat universal in it's value. As you also mentioned, high-intensity cardio while doing such a lifting system can be too much and very taxing on the body. Much has been written about the benefit of weight lifting and steady-state low-intensity cardio.

I have been struggling with this because I run. I like to run and I want to get faster. I am hoping to PR and run a sub 2 hour half marathon in a few weeks (so I know I picked a bad time to start 5x5, but I got so tired of putting it off).

However I also want to lower my BF % and do some recomp and get stronger. Running won't do that for me.

Can the two never go together? I was hoping that by increasing strength, I would gain some speed in running as well. Do I have to take a season off running to focus on body recomp? Then what would happen when I start running again? Hopefully there is a happy medium somewhere that I can find.

I think the two can go together if you're careful. Not sure how mcuh you have to run for what you're trying to accomplish but if you could leave the running to non-lifting days that would probably be best.

sniperalza

hi there i have just found out about this stronglifts 5x5 i dont no much about it but i do bench press and squats just now in my
gym routine so i think this is for me...atb sniper

kobzal

I think the two can go together if you're careful. Not sure how mcuh you have to run for what you're trying to accomplish but if you could leave the running to non-lifting days that would probably be best.

Thanks, I definitely do not lift and run on the same day. I run 3x a week. I know lifting 3x is optimal, but I was thinking if I drop that down to 2, and keep my 3x per week running, maybe that will give my body enough chance to recover.

I have my longest run of the season, 14 miles, on Satuday, then after my race on Nov. 6, I won't have to run a long distance for a while. Maybe that is when I will switch things up and lift 3x per week and run 2x per week.

chrisdavey

Re running & lifting

You're body has a finite recovery ability. Each time we exercise, it stresses the body and we need the nutrition and rest to recover. It is up to the individual to know their own recovery abilities. Google for overtraining.

I would probably try and set it up with high and low days like you do with lifting (when you surpass beginner levels).

ie. M 5x5
Tue rest
W long/fast run
Th 5x5
Fri: light run
Sat: 5x5
Sun: rest/light run

Just an example. Or could drop one of the strength training sessions. It really depends on what your main priorities are. As they say for guys, you can't be a powerlifting, mma fighting, pro bodybuilder. Pick one and go for it

irridia

So last night I did 2 sets of squats at 125 and decided it was not a great idea, dropped to 95 and could only squeeze out 1 more set. My deads are at 150. I had to use the over under grip and it was kinda grindy. Today and last night my hip flexor is screaming at me. I did a llittle massage trick last night and released the Psoas and that helped some.

Here's my stats with my last successfull 5x5 for each exercise:
Squats: 120
Overheads: 90 barely
DL:150
Rows: 90 barely
bench: 100 barely

Someone suggested that I drop the weight by half and go really slow on each rep and build back up. Today's focus is yoga and tonight foam roller on my ITB and back. My main goal in this is changing body composition and blood glucose controll. I still have a high BF %age and I want to keep the muscle I've gained but need more core strenth especially transverse abdominus and psoas. I also need to strenghten hams and the erector spinae group. Ideas? is it time to go to 3x5? time to drop my compounds by 5 -10lbs and add some isolations to work on weaknesess?

Thanks in advance.

JNick77

So last night I did 2 sets of squats at 125 and decided it was not a great idea, dropped to 95 and could only squeeze out 1 more set. My deads are at 150. I had to use the over under grip and it was kinda grindy. Today and last night my hip flexor is screaming at me. I did a llittle massage trick last night and released the Psoas and that helped some.

Here's my stats with my last successfull 5x5 for each exercise:
Squats: 120
Overheads: 90 barely
DL:150
Rows: 90 barely
bench: 100 barely

Someone suggested that I drop the weight by half and go really slow on each rep and build back up. Today's focus is yoga and tonight foam roller on my ITB and back. My main goal in this is changing body composition and blood glucose controll. I still have a high BF %age and I want to keep the muscle I've gained but need more core strenth especially transverse abdominus and psoas. I also need to strenghten hams and the erector spinae group. Ideas? is it time to go to 3x5? time to drop my compounds by 5 -10lbs and add some isolations to work on weaknesess?

Thanks in advance.

Dropping the weight 50% seems a bit much. Try taking maybe 80% of what you're lifting and try that, so maybe startover with 120lbs on the DL. Also, lifting slow is not a good route. Each lift should be a controlled-explosive movement. As the weight gets heavier obviously it's going to be a slowed movement but the intent for each lift should be explosive. It's funny if you watch some DL training vid's and you'll see some of the guys do the training with 130lbs and because they're use to being explosive you'll see them damn near fall backwards because they lift explosively and they're use to several 100lbs on the bar.

irridia

Yeah, it's pretty grindy as it is for everything at this point, with out deliberately trying to slow down. Thx.

irridia

Totally lost it last night and fell on my butt in the hole at 120 lbs lastnight, first rep even. Still trying to decide if I'm hurt. I did deload even more to 115 and squeezed out 3 sets until I thought I might be aggrivating things. I also got 5 sets of 5 bp @100 lbs , and rows at 90.

neck is more sore than it should be. lower back right around L1 kinda hurts.

JNick77

Totally lost it last night and fell on my butt in the hole at 120 lbs lastnight, first rep even. Still trying to decide if I'm hurt. I did deload even more to 115 and squeezed out 3 sets until I thought I might be aggrivating things. I also got 5 sets of 5 bp @100 lbs , and rows at 90.

neck is more sore than it should be. lower back right around L1 kinda hurts.

Wow, sorry to hear that! Weight lifting accidents are never good. Hopefully you're not feeling any nerve damage or anything, take a few days off. How did you increment your weights on your exercises, 2.5, 5, 10?

irridia

been doing 5 incruments. (gads I can't spell)
I'm ending up taking time off, more coincedentally, didn't have time Sunday and then felt super dizzy from a sinus infection last night so I'm just going cardio, back and neck still a little sore. It was frickin scary that's for sure.

JNick77

been doing 5 incruments. (gads I can't spell)
I'm ending up taking time off, more coincedentally, didn't have time Sunday and then felt super dizzy from a sinus infection last night so I'm just going cardio, back and neck still a little sore. It was frickin scary that's for sure.

Yeah, lifting exercises can be scary. Sometimes it's best to pack it up and live to lift another day.

kobzal

bump...

Had my first stall today at 60 lbs on overhead press. I got in 3x5, 1x4, 1x3. Kind of disappointing, I thought I would be able to lift heavier. Oh well.

After about 5 weeks (sometimes only getting in 1 or 2 workouts a week), here's where I'm at:

squat - 90
bench press - 65
barbell row - 55
overhead press (stall today) - 60
deadlift - 85

The exercises are starting to get hard for me! Hopefully I can hold off stalling a while longer on the rest.

tigeratty

Hi all, have been on the sidelines due to an ankle injury. Gradually coming back, but I'll have to work my way back up gradually on the squats and deadlifts due to the pressure on the ankle. Frustrating.

I think it's cool to see how much people are lifting. It strikes me that other ladies can lift quite a bit on the upper body but relatively less on the lower. I'm the total opposite. I got up to 145 on my squat but could never do more than 60 on the bench. LOL.

After my involuntary month off I discovered my shoulders stopped hurting. Then I did bench presses and they hurt again. I'm reviewing my form, but I've been substituting push ups for the benches and they are feeling good. Might continue that for awhile.

Glad to see everyone again!