New :)

Quest529

I started out trying the New Rules of Lifting for Women (only did the first workout), and found that it was a hassle finding all the props needed to complete the exercises. My gym didn't have benches and their steps were too low, the swiss balls were either always in use or the wrong size, etc. I like that SL5x5 doesn't require a huge variety of equipment.

I'm new to the lifting world, and pretty much exercising in general. I'm a week away from completing Couch to 5k and am looking for something else. My husband and I are signed up for Warrior Dash next month and I know I need to increase my strength if I'm going to do all the obsticles.

I'm looking forward to doing this. If anyone has any tips or things you wish you had known/done when you started, I'd love to hear them!

DaniH826

1. Focus on form over weight.
2. You're only as strong as your weakest muscle, so give your body a chance to catch up, and focus on strengthening your weaknesses when you're not doing the Stronglift lifts.
3. Yoga is a most excellent compliment to weight lifting because it'll help loosen up your tight spots, which will holler at you when you increase weights. And lifting with tight muscles isn't any fun.
4. Buy a foam roller and use it. A lot.
5. Tennis balls are a wonderful way to loosen tight muscle knots.
6. Do as many body weight squats as you need to, to get down to parallel in good form.
7. Don't be afraid to push your knees out.
8. Don't be afraid to grunt.
9. Learn to rack and de-rack, load and unload your own weights.
10. Start with dumbbells if you have to. Don't let anybody's program bully you around. It's fine to adapt.
11. Read Starting Strength if you haven't already.
12. Watch many Rippetoe Youtube videos on proper technique until you know how to perform the lifts, because they are very technical. Re-watch the videos as often as you need to, because there's always room for improvement.
13. Enjoy the journey!

jstout365

1. Focus on form over weight.
2. You're only as strong as your weakest muscle, so give your body a chance to catch up, and focus on strengthening your weaknesses when you're not doing the Stronglift lifts.
3. Yoga is a most excellent compliment to weight lifting because it'll help loosen up your tight spots, which will holler at you when you increase weights. And lifting with tight muscles isn't any fun.
4. Buy a foam roller and use it. A lot.
5. Tennis balls are a wonderful way to loosen tight muscle knots.
6. Do as many body weight squats as you need to, to get down to parallel in good form.
7. Don't be afraid to push your knees out.
8. Don't be afraid to grunt.
9. Learn to rack and de-rack, load and unload your own weights.
10. Start with dumbbells if you have to. Don't let anybody's program bully you around. It's fine to adapt.
11. Read Starting Strength if you haven't already.
12. Watch many Rippetoe Youtube videos on proper technique until you know how to perform the lifts, because they are very technical. Re-watch the videos as often as you need to, because there's always room for improvement.
13. Enjoy the journey!

Words from the wise!!

Welcome to the group and to strong lifts!

Only other tips I can give are:

1. Don't rush progression, but strive to progress each time. 1 additional rep from workout to workout at the same weight counts as progress, enjoy that and be proud of the achievement.
2. Fractional weights - allow you to go up by 2.5 lbs or less rather than 5 lbs.
3. Form matters more than you may think. What is heavy and hard with poor form can become easy if you do it correctly.
4. See #12 from Dani!! IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOW!!!
5. Listen to your body. It really will tell you "Yes" or "No" if you listen to it.
6. Don't be afraid to eat to fuel your strength.

Quest529

Thanks for the tips!

I'm a stickler for making sure I'm doing things the right way, so I'm trying to focus a lot on form. In my mind, diagrams with suggested angles and such drawn on would be perfect.

A couple questions though.

I have a foam roller and kind of flop around on it. I push where it hurts, but do you have any recommended exercises with it?

Also, I was looking at the first workout that has you starting at 45lbs. If you're supposed to do the warm-up with lesser weight, how do you do this if the bar itself is 45?

BikerGirlElaine

Welcome! Hope you will really enjoy Stronglifts!!

6550mom

1. Focus on form over weight.
2. You're only as strong as your weakest muscle, so give your body a chance to catch up, and focus on strengthening your weaknesses when you're not doing the Stronglift lifts.
3. Yoga is a most excellent compliment to weight lifting because it'll help loosen up your tight spots, which will holler at you when you increase weights. And lifting with tight muscles isn't any fun.
4. Buy a foam roller and use it. A lot.
5. Tennis balls are a wonderful way to loosen tight muscle knots.
6. Do as many body weight squats as you need to, to get down to parallel in good form.
7. Don't be afraid to push your knees out.
8. Don't be afraid to grunt.
9. Learn to rack and de-rack, load and unload your own weights.
10. Start with dumbbells if you have to. Don't let anybody's program bully you around. It's fine to adapt.
11. Read Starting Strength if you haven't already.
12. Watch many Rippetoe Youtube videos on proper technique until you know how to perform the lifts, because they are very technical. Re-watch the videos as often as you need to, because there's always room for improvement.
13. Enjoy the journey!

Words from the wise!!

Welcome to the group and to strong lifts!

Only other tips I can give are:

1. Don't rush progression, but strive to progress each time. 1 additional rep from workout to workout at the same weight counts as progress, enjoy that and be proud of the achievement.
2. Fractional weights - allow you to go up by 2.5 lbs or less rather than 5 lbs.
3. Form matters more than you may think. What is heavy and hard with poor form can become easy if you do it correctly.
4. See #12 from Dani!! IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOW!!!
5. Listen to your body. It really will tell you "Yes" or "No" if you listen to it.
6. Don't be afraid to eat to fuel your strength.

ALL OF THIS!! and... start warm ups with dumbbells if you have to. My gym also has smaller barbells with adjustable setups that are used for body pump and so on. They served me well in earlier warmups.

I need to do more with the foam roller too. Now, I only use it to roll up and down my back. I also was lucky enough to receive a killer spa/hot tub for my valentine's/anniversary/birthday present last year with great jets. That helps me a bunch, actually, too.

jstout365

For the foam roller exercises:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder/lookup/filter/equipment/id/14/equipment/foam-roll

And yes, if you start with the bar, use either dumbbells or other bars that are lower in weight. For bench press you could even do a few sets of incline push-ups using the bench as an incline.

Quest529

I did my first workout. I left the gym feeling pretty bad-butt


Until, I shot wide awake in the middle of the night and realized I had done Deadlifts instead of Squats. OOPS!

DaniH826

I did my first workout. I left the gym feeling pretty bad-butt


Until, I shot wide awake in the middle of the night and realized I had done Deadlifts instead of Squats. OOPS!

Ehhhh it's okay. You're going to be doing hundreds upon hundreds of squats over the next whatever months/years, so no hurry on those anyway. Plus, deadlifts are fun! :laugh:

bimmer2331

Hey welcome!!!

ur update made me laugh so hard in a nice goofy way...

Hope you enjoy lifting as much as we all do..