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Weight loss and recovery

dearannna
dearannna Posts: 60 Member
edited November 8 in Social Groups
Hello helpful people,

I am a 5'6 lady who joined mfp in January at about 390lb and pretty much a heart attack waiting to happen. I started eating better and exercise and have fallen in love with lifting. I also do cardio (like dance aerobics) a few times a week cause I love that too.

It all went well for a while, I dropped about 70lb and followed stronglifts to 230lb on squats and deadlift and about half that for bench and press. As the weights have gone up I've been having an issue with my recovery being absolutely terrible whilst dieting. I just cannot squat 5x5 3 times a week at those weights. My legs feel ruined all the time and my weights are going down instead of up. I've been doing my own thing which has mostly consisted of doing as much as I can but it's not working for me at all. With my diet I generally follow 20% carbs and 40% of each fat and protein but I've tried all different macro splits and they don't make a difference, all the time I run at a calorie deficit I have this problem.

I'm really looking for any advice on how to improve my recovery or suggestions for alternative programs to follow.

Thankyou :smile:

Replies

  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,179 Member
    edited November 2014
    As the weights have gone up I've been having an issue with my recovery being absolutely terrible whilst dieting.

    Try more days between rests.
  • dearannna
    dearannna Posts: 60 Member
    Commander_Keen wrote: »
    As the weights have gone up I've been having an issue with my recovery being absolutely terrible whilst dieting.

    Try more days between rests.

    How often would you suggest? I had a really good leg workout on Saturday and today (three days later) I tried to do my squats and was rubbish, had to take weight off twice and have been walking like an old lady all day!
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,179 Member
    So this just my suggestion.
    -- 1 if three days aren't enough then do 5 days.
    or
    you can try lower weight but more reps. or more sets. then slowly increase the weight by 2lbs or 5lbs.
    When it comes to Squats what were you doing.. how may sets/reps/weights and how much did you go up by?
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    edited November 2014
    If you are following Stronglifts and have gotten up to 230lbs in squat/deadlift (I assume this is your 5x5 working weight) then you are pretty damn strong. Have you thought about switching to a more intermediate/advanced program? Beginner programs will have you squatting multiple times a week but intermediate+ programs will not (once or twice a week, max). Once you become an advanced enough lifter, squatting heavy three times a week is just impossible to recover from and will lead to strength plateaus or even decreases. Possibly even injuries.

    Madcow is the suggested progression from Stronglifts (suggested by the creator himself) which reduces heavy squatting volume substantially but I think that might even be too much still. Still better than sticking with Stronglifts.

    IMO, look at something like 5/3/1 which focuses on only one main lift (+complimentary accessories) per day and trains said lift only once per week. Plus it has a much slower rate of progression (increases of 5lbs upper body and 10lbs lower body every four weeks) which is more conducive to a more advanced lifter.

    Stronglifts is a great beginner program, IMO, but you are not a beginner anymore. Not even close if my assumptions are correct about your lifts.
  • dearannna
    dearannna Posts: 60 Member
    I generally do 5 x 5 on Saturday I lifted 255lb feeling good and this morning 220lb and felt right on the limit. A couple of months ago (when I wasn't restricting my calories) I was at 280 having gone up in 5lb increments as my gym don't have smaller weights. It's really frustrating to be going down!
  • dearannna
    dearannna Posts: 60 Member
    Thank you dopeitup I think I have some reading up to do but from your comments I think the 5/3/1 might suit me really hitting an exercise once a week.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    When was the last time you took a training break? Also, have you followed the suggested progression when you miss reps?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Oh, forgot to mention - congrats on your loss so far.
  • dearannna
    dearannna Posts: 60 Member
    Hi Sara, I took a week long break at the end of September when I went on holiday. Up until a couple of months ago I followed the program exactly including the recomended repeats and 10% deloads - although I will say I didn't often miss a weight three times in a row. This worked for about 6 months and then I'd have one or two terrible sessions followed by one where I felt really good. A couple of months ago (before my break - which I came back fresh from but hasnt made much of a difference overall) I just got so I felt sore and weak all the time and my lifts were going down and down so I changed to just do one of each workout a and b each week to give me longer recovery and have been doing what I can. Warming up as usual and just going up as heavy as I felt able to. I am more inconsistent with my legs and back than my arms and chest - at the moment there can be as much as a 40 or 50lb difference between a 'good' day and a 'bad' day.
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