Ladies doing 5x5...results?

My friend is a pretty avid lifter and he started me not on a 5x5 program, but a 3x10. It's insanely easy, but you actually end up lifting more (5x5=25 vs 3x10=30). And try to move up 5lbs each week (though I haven't been able to keep up with that every week). I've seen decent results. In January I started out squatting with just the bar, 45lbs, and last night I did 125lbs. I have lost weight and feel healthier and stronger. I have some tone, though I want more. And I didn't cut calories. I actually started eating more. I'm about 5'6" and around 138lbs. In January I was more like 145lbs.

Rest days are important. It's almost impossible for me to take a full day off, but sometimes your body just lets you know you have to. And make sure to eat healthy and stay hydrated.

I can't imagine doing it at a deficit. It was a taxing workout. When referring to scale weight, I had a friend that used to say "no one see numbers on the scale on your *kitten* when you walk down the street, but they do see a smaller *kitten*"

Lifting will make you smaller and firmer, which in my opinion is more valuable than weighing a specific amount.

If you do some searches on here, lots of ladies have actually gained a few pounds while lifting, but looked twice as good.

Maybe you really don't need to drop pounds. You can do a recomp instead, where you would eat just about maintenance (during this period you can figure out exactly what your maintenance number is, and if you do so slowly you may lose another few pounds) and lift heavy. It's slow, very slow, but you'll start to build muscle while trimming just a little bit of fat, which will make you look leaner and get that "bikini body" but the number on the scale won't go down.

And BTW, if you are itching to be active on your off day, don't do any lunges or curls or whatever... Cross train. Go for a walk, go swimming (I'm all over that right now), cycling, etc.

So should I up my calories to maintenance and just focus on losing inches instead of pounds? I still feel as if I've got some extra fat that needs to go. I know that lifting will burn fat, but I was hoping to get down to 130 lbs before I increased my calorie intake. However, I don't want to wait months to start lifting. This is all so confusing! I'm sure I'm making into more than it is.

Has anyone tried this program while eating at a deficit? I know my progress will be slower, and that's fine, but I don't want to waste my time if it won't do anything.

I've been doing a modified version while on a deficit. Basically I do 3 sets of 6 instead of 5 sets of 5. But try it. If it gets too hard then cut down your sets. You won't progress as fast but you'll still progress.

But no you aren't going to see awesome muscular physique difference in 16 weeks eating at a deficit.

:noway:

That's bull.. if she is in the fitness/acceptable range of body fat, eats well and lifts, she will see amazing results. Maybe I am just not understanding your post but there are countless people on here (including myself) who have seen amazing change and reduction of body fat in 12 weeks or less.

For what it's worth, I am 27, 5'3", and 141 pounds. I used to weight train, so I might have that whole "muscle memory" phenomenon going for me, but I hadn't lifted for a year before I started doing Starting Strength (which is a 3x5 program) about 8 weeks ago. I do no cardio and lift 3 days a week (sometimes 2) doing 3x5 of 3 exercises and sometimes an extra set of abs or bicep curls or burpees/light power cleans for funsies.

I started out weighing ~148lbs. and eating what I thought was a surplus (2700 calories), because I really wanted to get stronger. I did. I got so, so much stronger. But then I cut to maintenance level (which I thought was 1800 cals, even though I always ended up averaging about 2300...) However, at this 2300 calorie level, I have lost 1lb. every week. This would suggest that on this program, my maintenance level is a solid 2800 calories, which is insane.

As for my results, I look a lot different nekkid. I lost a nice amount of belly/hip fat and put on a ton of muscle, especially around my back and shoulders. My shape is so much nicer and firmer--like it used to be--but I am the same size. I will add that when I am able to stick to my 1800 calorie limit, I am feel weak in the gym. I actually deadlift 10 lbs. less than I did when eating as much as I could, and my squat has stalled out as well. I'm going to just continue lifting at these stalled weights and reduced calories for a while, and hopefully I can lean up more. After that, I will focus on putting on additional strength/muscle.

I hope that is somewhat helpful. Basically, my thought is that you can get by eating much more than 1600 calories.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

I'm thinking about upping my calorie intake to 1700 per day. This is what Scooby's site recommends for TDEE - 10%. If I feel like I'm making no progress or I'm weak, I'll up it to 1900, what Scooby recommends for gaining muscle and losing fat. My maintenance is between 1900 and 2000, according to these calculators. I just don't want to gain fat. I don't care if the scale says I gained a few pounds if I look and feel better, but I don't want to look like I'm gaining the fat back.

The thing is, I usually net pretty low (too low, around 1200) and I eat back my "extra" calories during the weekend so my weekly average is at my goal. I'm not really willing to give up my weekends when I can be more lax on my calorie intake. I still log everything, of course, so I'm hoping it'll all even out and I won't see any lack of output because of this.

Maybe I'll stop logging exercise (just put 1 calorie there like others do), make my goal 1700, and eat about 1500 per day so I can still have my weekends. I know it's all trial and error, so I'll just see how that works.

Sounds like a solid plan. GL!

There's a SL 5x5 group for women on here. But the best results I've seen have been in the Mom's success thread. Many of the women in there (they were talking about saggy skin after kids) have been AMAZING. I realize I probably won't get there any time soon (I still have right at 25lbs. or more to go), but after about 6 weeks, I'm seeing good progress. Mostly in that even at 178lbs., things are getting tighter, I look smaller even though I haven't lost much lately, and I can throw big *kitten* bags of dog food around like it's nothing. LOL You'll never know how you feel about it until you try it. And if you hate it or get bored, you can switch it up. But it's been a great program for me so far.

I ate at a deficit to lose weight, did cardio and weight lifting to maintain strength. When I wanted to gain muscle I ate a surplus while doing 5x5. Now I am again eating at a very modest deficit to look more lean (while still lifting and doing cardio). I have been pretty pleased with the results. I find when I focus more on progress pictures and inches rather than the scale I remain more sane.