Stronglifts 5x5 for Women

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Last four weeks

nexangelus
nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
edited December 2024 in Social Groups
Woo hoo! Last four weeks of stronglifts strength training before I change things up and trim the fat. Not sure what to do when I am done, as want to reduce body weight by going into slight deficit and then get back to strengthening up again to build some more lean mass hopefully. Do not want to do countless hours of cardio though. I know I am fit enough to run 10 km if I need to.

Any suggestions?

Maybe just do some circuits with heavy-ish resistance in between and some military style exercises....still want to stay strong as well as lose some more fat?!?!?!?! Hmmm....

Replies

  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    Woo hoo! Last four weeks of stronglifts strength training before I change things up and trim the fat. Not sure what to do when I am done, as want to reduce body weight by going into slight deficit and then get back to strengthening up again to build some more lean mass hopefully. Do not want to do countless hours of cardio though. I know I am fit enough to run 10 km if I need to.

    Any suggestions?

    Maybe just do some circuits with heavy-ish resistance in between and some military style exercises....still want to stay strong as well as lose some more fat?!?!?!?! Hmmm....

    You could switch to 3x5, and maintain or do a 10% cut in your weights rather than increasing them. Possibly add some assistance work - alternately you could do a program like NROLFW which I think is much more circuit-y. How long is your planned cut?
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    You could switch to 3x5, and maintain or do a 10% cut in your weights rather than increasing them. Possibly add some assistance work - alternately you could do a program like NROLFW which I think is much more circuit-y. How long is your planned cut?

    Yeah, sounds good tameko2, as does crossfit...I need to lose, well want to lose about 20 lbs, so 2 lbs per week, I guess 10 weeks. Maybe just 1 lb per week? I have never done strict cutting, so this is new. A bit of an experiment for me. Long story short I am a recovering anorexic/bulimic who needs to be very careful/mindful of "dieting". This is why the eating 2000 calories per day and seeing my body change and being comfortable as a big and strong girl is a huge improvement...hope this is not out of place here...
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    You could switch to 3x5, and maintain or do a 10% cut in your weights rather than increasing them. Possibly add some assistance work - alternately you could do a program like NROLFW which I think is much more circuit-y. How long is your planned cut?

    Yeah, sounds good tameko2, as does crossfit...I need to lose, well want to lose about 20 lbs, so 2 lbs per week, I guess 10 weeks. Maybe just 1 lb per week? I have never done strict cutting, so this is new. A bit of an experiment for me. Long story short I am a recovering anorexic/bulimic who needs to be very careful/mindful of "dieting". This is why the eating 2000 calories per day and seeing my body change and being comfortable as a big and strong girl is a huge improvement...hope this is not out of place here...

    I would think with only 20 to lose you might want to go even slower, a 15% deficit off what you are maintaining at and let things fall from there.

    Also its recommended that people take diet breaks - every 6-12 weeks. So you'd be doing 6 weeks cut, followed by 2 weeks maintain, followed by another 6 weeks cut, etc etc.

    Good luck! I need to cut badly - I've got about 15 lbs to drop as well - but I am so miserable when I eat less than 2k. I'm going to try something where I just dial up the cardio this fall a bit.
  • Martucha123
    Martucha123 Posts: 1,089 Member
    I second tameko,
    switch to 3x5, small deficit, it's enough to do 3x5, 2 times a week, you can add 2-4 cardio days to up your kcalorie intake
  • longblog
    longblog Posts: 4
    Why count your loss in pounds? "Pounds" are made up by lots of stuff, such as water, fat, muscle, glycogen, etc. I'm assuming you only want to lose fat, and not the muscle you've fought so hard to add. You can lose up to 2% body fat per week by going into diet deficit and continuing your same workout. Do the math on the nutrition and make the necessary adjustments.

    edit: You will also lose some muscle, but less than you will by completely changing your routine.
  • jenluvsushi
    jenluvsushi Posts: 933 Member
    I am in the same boat as you as far as wanting to cut fat. We actually previously discussed how I felt like I was spinning my wheels due to my caloric deficit and the 5x5 program. There is only so much strength or size you can gain in a deficit (at least for me). I feel that my diet was really working against me for the 5x5. I have a lot to lose still body fat% wise so my focus is really there more than just building strength. I found myself being too tired to keep up with my usual cardio work. I have since switched to SL 3x5 but have tweaked it a bit and am slowing down on the weight increases with more cardio and the same deficit (about 25% from TDEE)....so far it's great. I don't feel exhausted anymore. I think to eat at a deficit and to continue to lift really heavy in the strength rep range wasn't a great idea for me personally....eventually something was going to give. Another thing I am trying instead of always adding weight each session, is that I now am adding reps. I've been staying at the same weight but adding one rep every session instead of just adding weight. If I can do my full three sets at 8 reps instead of just 5, I am going to slowly add more weight (like 2 pounds instead of 5) and repeat. I know this is kind of against the SL concept but it works for me. What we need to do is keep progressing...whether it’s done through more weight or more reps. And as Tomeko mentioned, I have also added in some assistance work.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    Why count your loss in pounds? "Pounds" are made up by lots of stuff, such as water, fat, muscle, glycogen, etc. I'm assuming you only want to lose fat, and not the muscle you've fought so hard to add. You can lose up to 2% body fat per week by going into diet deficit and continuing your same workout. Do the math on the nutrition and make the necessary adjustments.

    edit: You will also lose some muscle, but less than you will by completely changing your routine.

    At some point, some people still need to lose actual pounds though. I mean, I get and appreciate what you are saying, but at some point your body is not going to recomp anymore.

    I'm 5'6" and 165. (very close to Nexus's stats actually). If I want to lean up to say, 20% bf, there's no way I can do it at this weight outside of maybe using performance enhancing drugs to build unnatural amounts of muscle. I'm 25% ish now, which is really very low for my current weight.

    If someone is my height and 145, I would strongly encourage them to try for a re-comp first and THEN if they want to get to a leaner weight drop a little more fat. I mean I'm 10lbs overweight according to the BMI chart, btu I am a perfectly healthy size, weight, and body fat percentage, and I look good in my clothes, but if I want to look that good naked or in a bikini (which, I wear anyway thank you very much) I think I'll need to drop that 10 lbs, and that's all there is to it.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    Why count your loss in pounds? "Pounds" are made up by lots of stuff, such as water, fat, muscle, glycogen, etc. I'm assuming you only want to lose fat, and not the muscle you've fought so hard to add. You can lose up to 2% body fat per week by going into diet deficit and continuing your same workout. Do the math on the nutrition and make the necessary adjustments.

    edit: You will also lose some muscle, but less than you will by completely changing your routine.

    Well you can only work out how many pounds of lean mass you have by weighing yourself and subtracting the amount of fat mass in pounds that you have. So loss of fat/weight is also in the same measure. I just said I wanted to cut/trim the fat, which means lose fat, not muscle. I know I have about eight pounds in glycogen stored in my muscles and I also know that by keeping my protein intake at 162g per day, the loss of lean mass will be less than with normal deficit "diets". I have read Lyle McDonald and several other fat loss gurus' literature...I cannot continue stronglifts on deficit calories, that is why I am stopping at the 12 week mark and rethinking the workout, then continuing on after some fat loss. If I tried to lift heavy (and I am lifting really heavy now if you look at my stats in my profile thingy) on less calories I would lose muscle, energy. motivation and strength no doubt about that!

    From experience I burned out three or so years ago, overtraining. I was not as strong or as vital as I am now at a heavier weight. This programme with the higher calorie intake has helped me bulk up and get a lot stronger than I was when I thought I was back then.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    3 weeks to go after tonight's session...I am REALLY tired this week...must be autumn blues, training hard and lack of sleep (not sleeping well lately)........EXCITED!!!!!!!!
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