Stronglifts 5x5 for Women

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Yet another newbie with questions!

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alwyndacara
alwyndacara Posts: 30 Member
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Hi all, I'm starting SL tomorrow and I'm pretty excited, however I have a question about form on the squat.

I have pretty crappy flexibility in my hip flexors and was wondering if it would be ok to go down as far as I can (which is pretty much parallel but not quite) once warmed up instead of pushing for parallel?

Then once my hip flexors have eased off some I should be able to shoot for parallel. Do you think this is ok?

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  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    without going to parallel you're not really going to see the improvement there, I think. Do you already know some hip flexor stretches? I'd make sure you do those regularly, like daily, and then try and hit parallel unless you actually feel like you're injuring yourself (as opposed to just discomfort from stretching/inflammation from use) and then I'd also give yourself way more leeway in rest time.

    My husband had the same issues - not that he literally COULDN'T but after a couple sessions the ligaments in that area would be so irritated that he couldn't even attempt to squat for a day, so he'd take the day off from squats and then come back and try again the next session. I imagine if he'd actually stretched daily (he refused to) or took ibuprofen on rest days (also refused!) it would have gotten a lot better a lot faster, but after about a month he had no more issues with it although he did start stretching immediately before squats (he was willing to do that much). He doesn't need to do anything for it anymore, but in the beginning it was a problem.

    What does it feel like though? Are you 100% sure its hip flexibility and not a different form issue? I notice a lot of people in the gym who don't hit parallel are putting their weight too far forward onto their knees/toes and then its literally not possible to go down any further. Or I see stuff like ankle flexibility or back weakness kick in as they get lower and they stop before parallel because they can't get down any further without collapsing or injuring themselves.
  • alwyndacara
    alwyndacara Posts: 30 Member
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    I'm fairly sure it's hip flexibility. I've had it pretty much my whole adult life and nothing I do seems to sort it out. I'll try and incorporate the stretches (and walking lunges etc.) into my warm up and see if that does anything. It could also be a bit of back weakness, but again I'm sure that'll sort itself out once my back becomes stronger.

    At this starting point, I'm sure anything is better than nothing, but I get your point about maybe not seeing as much progression as I could. I'm wondering whether it'll get better once I lose a bit of fat off my thighs, but who knows!! I'll do as much as I can on good form without injuring myself and see how it goes!

    Thanks for the advice!
  • ahviendha
    ahviendha Posts: 1,291 Member
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    Maybe I'm a lazy lifter but I when I was getting the form right, and just using the barbell, I didn't go parallel. Thank the gods I didn't because after my first 2 squat sessions I was so sore it was hard to walk.

    Now that I'm stronger, and squatting 65 lbs, I'm doing the full parallel squat.
  • wannalosew82
    wannalosew82 Posts: 97 Member
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    I decided to start yesterday and did some warmup squats with hands behind my neck. Tried to go as parellel as possible. After the 5th warmup squat, I could hardly stand up. I tried lifting the 45 lb bar. Forget it. I could not even hold it. So for all those who were beginners once, how did you warm up? How heavy was your first weight and how did you ease into it? were you able to do the full workout at first try?
  • xidia
    xidia Posts: 606 Member
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    I'm lucky in that I rode horses a LOT as a kid/teenager (and hiked miles) so I have a lot of residual strength in my legs. I started with a studio bar weighted to about 30lbs, if that. I've now stalled because I can't safely get the bar over my shoulders from the floor and we don't have the right rack in the gym.

    So yes, start as light as you need to. The SL5x5 starting weights are for guys-who-want-to-be-big-sweaty-guys and there's no way we can start from scratch at the same weight.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    I decided to start yesterday and did some warmup squats with hands behind my neck. Tried to go as parellel as possible. After the 5th warmup squat, I could hardly stand up. I tried lifting the 45 lb bar. Forget it. I could not even hold it. So for all those who were beginners once, how did you warm up? How heavy was your first weight and how did you ease into it? were you able to do the full workout at first try?

    if you don't have access to a lighter bar, you can start with holding dumbbells in your hands. I was doing that for a few weeks before I moved to the barbell. Do the bodyweight 1-2 times, then do dumbbells. you'll get there.

    But also, I asian squat frequently when I'm tired of standing somewhere (as in I find it comfortable to drop into a bodyweight ATG squat and just hang out there as an alternative to standing).
  • alwyndacara
    alwyndacara Posts: 30 Member
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    Workout A done - was ok actually. I went as deep as I could and probably got almost parallel 70% of the time, with the rest only slightly higher.

    I think I found the rows a lot harder than the squats!!

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