What else do you do besides SL?

osualex

I'm in the middle of Week 2 and I really like the program so far! It feels nice to go into the gym, have a plan, do it, and get out! But I feel like I'm missing something. I usually do 2-3 days a week of cardio as well, but I'm wondering if I should do some accessory lifts as well and if so, which moves do you recommend?

Graelwyn75

I do hiit running once or twice a week, stationary bike interval training, elliptical and outdoor cycling along with some general body weight exercises.

JBG1987

I'm doing C25K and SL 5x5 together right now and seeing great results. Workout 3 days a week for about an hour.

Mads1997

I just do walking on the treadmill quite fast paced 30-45mins on the days I don't lift.

Fittreelol

Currently I find it too hard on my knees to do too much else.:sad: I'm hoping once my joints get more used to squatting I'll be able to do spin 1-2 times a week and/or actually cycling in warm months. I'm new to spin (not cycling, but I've been off since August) and a few weeks ago I tried squatting on mon, spinning on tues, and squatting again on wed. My knees did not approve. I went to a trainer who said my squat form wasn't causing knee issues, and it was probably overuse. If I had already been spinning I'm sure I would have been fine. I had a forced week off from a cold and my knees are fine now, but I don't want to retest it for a while.

I had a few month semi break before I started 5x5. Moving and settling had me working out 1-2 times/week. Before moving I did 1hr/cardio usually arc trainer 4-6/week and body weight training.

I really want to get into mountain biking now that I live in an area with amazing trails, and rock climbing has always interested me, so we'll see what the summer brings. :laugh:

tameko2

if you want to add some assistance work, you can add dips, chins, or ab work to the end of your routine. Its not really necessary though, and in a few weeks almost everyone says they don't have the energy left to do anything else.

Those are medhi's recommendations anyway. For me personally I'd recommend dips over anything else, the genuine kind on a dip station (I use a machine with assistance but you could also use a band to assist) as Nick and I both credit those with some seriously rocketing bench press strength and they hit the core pretty well too (unless you put so much assistance on there that you don't have to work for it, so don't do that). Chin ups are also pretty good, but we've both just felt like dips are slightly more helpful.

I probably wouldn't add leg work, but the other thing we've found useful are 1 arm rows although really, at the end of SL you mostly are so tired that you don't have a lot of GO time for anything else. You could do farmers walks instead - basically I'm looking at these as grip strength training more than anything. I would ...hrm. I dunno. The rows are kinda strenuous done properly, you won't have juice left for them. I'd probably do the farmers walks.

so like. ..I'd probably do dips on DL day and then farmers walks on the other day.

I personally just do some light jogging (and short, 20 minutes) 2-3x a week

osualex

Thanks for all the answers! I think I'm gonna add a few (like 10 mins) on off days or at the end of my workouts (if I have the energy at the end) and maybe 1 or 2 strength moves.

HIITMe

I'm triathlon training. so I take formal swimming lessons once a week and try to practice strokes and breathing on my non-SL days. on those days I also alternate C25K and cycling. I'm honestly having trouble fitting it all in. I like lifting but it's taking over my training and my #1 goal is the Tri.