Strong Lifts 5x5 Newbie

MrsB123111

Starting Stong Lifts 5x5 tonight and I have no idea what weight to start with... I've never even done some of these lifts before in my life!

A little about me: I'm 5'4", I weigh about 155lb, I have been primarily focusing on cardio to drop the pounds, but now I'm at a plateau and have heard lifting weights helps tremendously! My current bench press max is 75lb (just to give you an idea of how weak I am!).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance...

Calliope610

Read this

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

and this

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/887158-faq-read-the-summary-then-me

and maybe join this group

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

Loftearmen

You always want to start lower than you think is necessary when beginning a new training cycle. I would recommend starting with just the bar on all of your lifts. You'll be surprised how quickly that bar will get heavy even with just 5lb increases. Spend the first month or so while things are light trying to perfect your form and that way you'll be ready for the weight when it comes.

cwolfman13

I did Starting Strength and have been doing that for the past 7-8 months (just switching to 5/3/1 this week). It's pretty similar to SL and SS had you start with the bar and move up 5 Lbs every workout. I didn't quite start with the bar as I wasn't completely new to the weight room, but I started out very light relative to what i was capable of. Don't worry...it'll get heavy soon enough. You just want to keep that linear progression going for as long as possible.

I'm to the point now that I can't recover from doing squats every single time out and I've had to de-load a few times over the past few weeks and have been unable to get up more weight, so indicates to me that I need to change up my programming to allow for more recovery.

kar328

Starting Stong Lifts 5x5 tonight and I have no idea what weight to start with... I've never even done some of these lifts before in my life!

A little about me: I'm 5'4", I weigh about 155lb, I have been primarily focusing on cardio to drop the pounds, but now I'm at a plateau and have heard lifting weights helps tremendously! My current bench press max is 75lb (just to give you an idea of how weak I am!).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance...

Hey, I do 75 lbs too! Okay, I did it last week for the first time, I'm hoping to get more into it. I just got the New Rules of Weightlifting for Women book in the mail today. Lots of people recommend it. I'd check the links that are posted here, lots of great info from people who know what they're doing. I'm looking forward to more.

vorgas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP2g3Sj3qSw

enjoy. from the main man himself.

brillmer

Just do what is recommended on the app.

Literally start from the minimum on everything - and then work your way up, 5 lbs per exercise per workout.

The only ones where you need to have weights on the barbell to start are Barbell Rows and Deadlift (so the bar can rest)

Workout A
Squats - 45 lbs (just the bar)
Bench Press - 45 lbs (just the bar)
Barbell Rows - 65 lbs (bar, and 2 10lb weights - 1 on each side)

Workout B
Squat - 50 lbs (bar + 2 2.5lb weights) (added 5 lbs because this will be the second time you are doings squats, aka add 5 lbs per exercise per workout!)
Overhead Press - 45 lbs (just the bar)
Deadlift - 95 lbs (25lb weight on each side)

Then just add 5 lbs per exercise per workout as you can.

That's how I did it - worked wonders.

svgarcia

Bump for reference

Kimsoontobe

Bump