SL 5x5 questions ....
adelinue
Posts: 98 Member
Hello!
I want to join a gym and begin the SL 5x5 program. Anybody in here tried it before? I'm in it to lose fat, hopefully shape up a little and gain some strenght. Does it really work? And is it okay to do it with a calorie deficit? (I'm staying at around 1200-1300cal a day)
Also; in the program they say no Cardio in rest days (there's 4 of them!) but what about Cardio after the workout (same day) -if i'm up to it of course? And can I do some Yoga/Pilates along with the program? I've achieved some good flexibility that i'd like to maintain and expand upon
For a little background; i have never done weight lifting in my life. I was a complete couch potato until November, at 30.0BMI (Obese) I decided to take control of my life. I've mostly done PiYo (basically Yoga, Pilates and some low impact bodyweight work) and TurboJam (Cardio) along with running. I have lost for now a bit over 35lbs and have another 15lbs to lose to goal (Altho goal was to cut completely, I was planning to begin weight lifting AFTER). I really would like to lose that 15lbs by the second half of March (Spring break).
Thank you!
I want to join a gym and begin the SL 5x5 program. Anybody in here tried it before? I'm in it to lose fat, hopefully shape up a little and gain some strenght. Does it really work? And is it okay to do it with a calorie deficit? (I'm staying at around 1200-1300cal a day)
Also; in the program they say no Cardio in rest days (there's 4 of them!) but what about Cardio after the workout (same day) -if i'm up to it of course? And can I do some Yoga/Pilates along with the program? I've achieved some good flexibility that i'd like to maintain and expand upon
For a little background; i have never done weight lifting in my life. I was a complete couch potato until November, at 30.0BMI (Obese) I decided to take control of my life. I've mostly done PiYo (basically Yoga, Pilates and some low impact bodyweight work) and TurboJam (Cardio) along with running. I have lost for now a bit over 35lbs and have another 15lbs to lose to goal (Altho goal was to cut completely, I was planning to begin weight lifting AFTER). I really would like to lose that 15lbs by the second half of March (Spring break).
Thank you!
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Replies
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1200-1300 calories/day is too little unless you are really short/small. You should eat to lose at most 1% of your bodyweight per week. 1200-1300 calories/day is likely to lead to too large of a loss. Eating such low calories is counter productive to building strength/muscle and you aren't likely to get your needed micro/macro nutrients. Sure, you won't build a much (if any) muscle in a deficit, but eating so low your body sacrifices extra LBM is stupid.
Now on to the rest.
Many people on this forum use SL5x5 and it does work.
I've been running it for ~10 months now (give or take a tiny bit of time due to injuries/vacation/whatever) while losing weight (SW220, CW175) and I'm 5'11". I just recently deadlifted 300lb (started ~120lb), I just put up 265lb on squat (started ~120lb), and bench 182.5lb (started ~100lb). Run the program as designed and feed your body and you'll see results.
As for cardio, SL5x5 is focused on strength. Cardio goes against what the programs primary goals are. You can do cardio if you want, and you'll still get good results, but you'll have to see how much cardio your body can handle before you aren't seeing the gains you should be making in SL5x5.
However, the cardio aspect is immaterial if you are not feeding your body properly.0 -
^This.
If you haven't already, just search through some of the heavy lifting forums and see what it has done for people. I used SL when I first got into free weights a few years ago; I thought it was a great program to get me started. Good luck!0 -
Yes I've done it before and yes it works. You can do it on a deficit, although as a guy, I'd bump up your minimum to 1500kcal.
Cardio: it might say not to do cardio on the rest days, but there are plenty of us that did. It's easier to do when you first start as the weights are relatively light, but as they get heavier, you may need to tone down the cardio to keep from getting injured as it will be hard for your body to recover especially while on a deficit.
I'll warn you that lifting can be addicting and you may find that you want to slow your deficit in order to lift heavier weights. When I started I went from 235 to 185 doing almost entirely cardio with a little p90x worked in...that was all the weight training I had done in my life.
you can see the difference physically when I started lifting even though I only dropped 3 lbs in about 3 months. The other photos are going through a couple of bulk/cut cycles while still running SL 5x5.
Good luck and feel free to ask me anything.0 -
nordlead2005 wrote: »1200-1300 calories/day is too little unless you are really short/small. You should eat to lose at most 1% of your bodyweight per week. 1200-1300 calories/day is likely to lead to too large of a loss. Eating such low calories is counter productive to building strength/muscle and you aren't likely to get your needed micro/macro nutrients. Sure, you won't build a much (if any) muscle in a deficit, but eating so low your body sacrifices extra LBM is stupid.
Now on to the rest.
Many people on this forum use SL5x5 and it does work.
I've been running it for ~10 months now (give or take a tiny bit of time due to injuries/vacation/whatever) while losing weight (SW220, CW175) and I'm 5'11". I just recently deadlifted 300lb (started ~120lb), I just put up 265lb on squat (started ~120lb), and bench 182.5lb (started ~100lb). Run the program as designed and feed your body and you'll see results.
As for cardio, SL5x5 is focused on strength. Cardio goes against what the programs primary goals are. You can do cardio if you want, and you'll still get good results, but you'll have to see how much cardio your body can handle before you aren't seeing the gains you should be making in SL5x5.
However, the cardio aspect is immaterial if you are not feeding your body properly.
Great info. I'm using the app from the very beginning as I'm new to lifting and want to work on my form. While the weight on the bar is low, I'm doing cardio on rest days (just so I can eat more!), but I'm sure I'll have to cut back when I start lifting heavy.
ETA: I noticed a decrease in my running performance after just the first week of SL.0 -
I added SL5x5 along with circuits I had been doing. As you progress to heavier lifting you may want to alter your program to fit with your goal. Your progress may stall without focus. The SL5x5 program can help you get noticeable definition along with strength. The compound lifts are part of my life now along with other circuits that help my goal.0
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I love SL 5X5s and agree with @nordlead2005 . Six weeks of SLs progress:
I'm 5'9, currently 179 lbs, 40 year old female. I'm currently lifting 195 lb squats, 80 lb OHP, 200 lb deads, 125 lb bench and 115 lb rows. I usually tack on a couple extra exercises at the end now, but I didn't when I first started. I've been doing SLs for about 14 months. I don't do a ton of cardio, maybe once a week. I do lift while eating in deficit, but not an extreme deficit. My daily calorie goal is 1930.
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Hello!
I want to join a gym and begin the SL 5x5 program. Anybody in here tried it before? I'm in it to lose fat, hopefully shape up a little and gain some strenght. Does it really work? And is it okay to do it with a calorie deficit? (I'm staying at around 1200-1300cal a day)
Also; in the program they say no Cardio in rest days (there's 4 of them!) but what about Cardio after the workout (same day) -if i'm up to it of course? And can I do some Yoga/Pilates along with the program? I've achieved some good flexibility that i'd like to maintain and expand upon
For a little background; i have never done weight lifting in my life. I was a complete couch potato until November, at 30.0BMI (Obese) I decided to take control of my life. I've mostly done PiYo (basically Yoga, Pilates and some low impact bodyweight work) and TurboJam (Cardio) along with running. I have lost for now a bit over 35lbs and have another 15lbs to lose to goal (Altho goal was to cut completely, I was planning to begin weight lifting AFTER). I really would like to lose that 15lbs by the second half of March (Spring break).
Thank you!
You are a young male. 1200-1300 calories is way too little. I would personally suggest using http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ to get a calorie goal estimate. Don't go any bigger than a 20% deficit. Set your calorie goal manually, and they eat that much every day. No eat back of exercise calories as they would be included. It should get you a much more reasonable calorie goal. BTW, 1200 is considered the minimum for females, for males it is 1500. NOTE, That is MINIMUM, you should be eating more.0 -
Of course it works for building strength. I could barely lift a noodle when I started and now I can deadlift 3 plates (315lbs). You can do it with a deficit but you'll probably stall on your progress much earlier than if you ate around maintenance or a small surplus. It sounds like your deficit is pretty aggressive. I might consider raising your calorie intake closer to 1800/day if I were you.Hello!
I want to join a gym and begin the SL 5x5 program. Anybody in here tried it before? I'm in it to lose fat, hopefully shape up a little and gain some strenght. Does it really work? And is it okay to do it with a calorie deficit? (I'm staying at around 1200-1300cal a day)
You can definitely do cardio/yoga/pilates on rest days.Also; in the program they say no Cardio in rest days (there's 4 of them!) but what about Cardio after the workout (same day) -if i'm up to it of course? And can I do some Yoga/Pilates along with the program? I've achieved some good flexibility that i'd like to maintain and expand upon0 -
@quiksylver296 HOLY SMOKES! Well done. I'm toying with the idea of doing SL again and you have literally pushed me to get started. Excellent work!0
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@quiksylver296 HOLY SMOKES! Well done. I'm toying with the idea of doing SL again and you have literally pushed me to get started. Excellent work!
Thanks. I was a little apprehensive about posting that.0 -
Hello!
Also; in the program they say no Cardio in rest days (there's 4 of them!) but what about Cardio after the workout (same day) -if i'm up to it of course? And can I do some Yoga/Pilates along with the program? I've achieved some good flexibility that i'd like to maintain and expand upon
You can't maintain a significant calorie deficit and plus do cardio, yoga/pilates, and weights. You are trying to get your body to go in several different directions at once.
You have to figure out your priorities.
Here is what I do:
I keep yoga as a pretty constant 2-3 times per week. In the Spring and sometimes Fall, running is a priority for the non-yoga days. During the summer and winter, weights are a priority for the off days.
I like the exercises in SL 5x5. I've had a few strains from trying to increase SL 5x5 weight too fast. Now I modify the program so I do not add weight every workout. I add weight until I reach a plateau. Then I hold that for several workouts. When I feel ready, I carefully bump up the weight again. My goal is to build strength slowly and avoid injury.
At 46 years old, I don't recover from injuries quite as quickly as I used to.0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »@quiksylver296 HOLY SMOKES! Well done. I'm toying with the idea of doing SL again and you have literally pushed me to get started. Excellent work!
Thanks. I was a little apprehensive about posting that.
That's a great transformation. I understand the feeling of apprehension, but you've already done something awesome.0 -
BecomingBane wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »@quiksylver296 HOLY SMOKES! Well done. I'm toying with the idea of doing SL again and you have literally pushed me to get started. Excellent work!
Thanks. I was a little apprehensive about posting that.
That's a great transformation. I understand the feeling of apprehension, but you've already done something awesome.
Still working on it, too!
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Did y'all buy the converse or do you just use normal shoes? I have some minimal cross-training ones which I find I prefer over my runners.0
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I just use an old pair of chucks I had lying around.0
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Thank you all so much for your insight!
So I probably will up my calorie intake lol. I was following MFP's set goal (1260cal). If I follow scoobyworshop's calculator; it's 2000cal per day which seems like A LOT to me. I mean, I didn't really feel hungry with a 1200cal but i'm guessing i will once I start lifting lol. So probably gonna switch to a 1500-1800cal diet; althou I guess I have to change somethings in my diet to not go overboard on my macros. Btw any advice on that? What macro should I focus on? Some tell me to eat more protein and less/no carbs (beside those from vegetabes/fruits). Is that a good/healthy idea?
@quiksylver296 OH MY! That's an awesome transformation! So happy you put it up; definitly made me eager to start lol.
@McCloud33 ^^ Same thing ^^ Great motivation too, i'm basically the same weight and bodyfat % as you were when you started SL 5x5 and i'll be aiming to achieve something similar!
@goanothermile What i gathered from the answers here is that I'll probably wait and see what the workouts gonna be like. If they tire me out; I probably won't add Cardio. My mind is already taxed with med school; don't need to tax my body too lol. I'll keep doing some Yoga in the week end tho; I grew quite fond of it x)
@TaraTall I planned to use some flat baskets like these : http://www.royaltings.com/images/chaussures-baskets-sport-rasta-lion-judah.jpg Think it'll do okay?0 -
Did y'all buy the converse or do you just use normal shoes? I have some minimal cross-training ones which I find I prefer over my runners.
I use Vibrams when I lift. Closest thing to barefoot I've found without bare feet. I've used converse and don't like the high top on them, personally.0 -
Thank you all so much for your insight!
So I probably will up my calorie intake lol. I was following MFP's set goal (1260cal). If I follow scoobyworshop's calculator; it's 2000cal per day which seems like A LOT to me. I mean, I didn't really feel hungry with a 1200cal but i'm guessing i will once I start lifting lol. So probably gonna switch to a 1500-1800cal diet; althou I guess I have to change somethings in my diet to not go overboard on my macros. Btw any advice on that? What macro should I focus on? Some tell me to eat more protein and less/no carbs (beside those from vegetabes/fruits). Is that a good/healthy idea?
@quiksylver296 OH MY! That's an awesome transformation! So happy you put it up; definitly made me eager to start lol.
@McCloud33 ^^ Same thing ^^ Great motivation too, i'm basically the same weight and bodyfat % as you were when you started SL 5x5 and i'll be aiming to achieve something similar!
@goanothermile What i gathered from the answers here is that I'll probably wait and see what the workouts gonna be like. If they tire me out; I probably won't add Cardio. My mind is already taxed with med school; don't need to tax my body too lol. I'll keep doing some Yoga in the week end tho; I grew quite fond of it x)
@TaraTall I planned to use some flat baskets like these : http://www.royaltings.com/images/chaussures-baskets-sport-rasta-lion-judah.jpg Think it'll do okay?
Those shoes will not be optimal for lifting. There will be too much flex in the sole which will create some instability. You want something that is not cushion-y at all.0 -
BecomingBane wrote: »Did y'all buy the converse or do you just use normal shoes? I have some minimal cross-training ones which I find I prefer over my runners.
I use Vibrams when I lift. Closest thing to barefoot I've found without bare feet. I've used converse and don't like the high top on them, personally.
I have the lower ones. I don't think I'd like the higher ones for lifting, either. Like this:
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I actually prefer squatting in bare feet (socks), but my gym frowns on that...
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nordlead2005 wrote: »1200-1300 calories/day is too little unless you are really short/small. You should eat to lose at most 1% of your bodyweight per week. 1200-1300 calories/day is likely to lead to too large of a loss. Eating such low calories is counter productive to building strength/muscle and you aren't likely to get your needed micro/macro nutrients. Sure, you won't build a much (if any) muscle in a deficit, but eating so low your body sacrifices extra LBM is stupid.
This seems a tad off, as 1% of 200lbs is 2lbs... so you are saying that a person at 200lbs, say 6' tall, in reasonable shape, could do a 1000cal a day deficit.
I am 5'9" and around 190lbs... and I think at around 18% body fat.
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I loved doing SL 5x5. I felt very strong and I could definitely see some toning. The one thing I added because I felt I was ignoring some muscle (even though the program says you are not) was smaller muscle groups and cardio. SL helped improve my cardio performance and helped my healed torn rotator cuffs that causes bursitis. One other bit.... don't be afraid to start low and slow in order to have good form so you don't injure yourself. Have someone watch your form to make sure your doing squats and deadlifts correctly. You will get more out of it doing it this way in the long run. I wore mat shoes and increased protein significantly but did not eliminate carbs.0
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I lost most of my weight while doing 5x5. Of course it works. Any strength training program focused on progressive overload will work if executed correctly. 5x5 is a great beginner's program for newbie lifters.
If you're lifting heavy, you're going to need more calories than that. I was losing about 0.5 lb/week at 1850 calories per day. Everyone is different, but I'm 99% sure you don't need to eat 1200-1300 calories to lose weight.
I did 5x5 on MWF, 45-60 minutes of cardio on TTh, and rested on weekends. I don't see any problem with cardio on off days as long as it's not so intense that it interferes with your lifts.0 -
nordlead2005 wrote: »1200-1300 calories/day is too little unless you are really short/small. You should eat to lose at most 1% of your bodyweight per week. 1200-1300 calories/day is likely to lead to too large of a loss. Eating such low calories is counter productive to building strength/muscle and you aren't likely to get your needed micro/macro nutrients. Sure, you won't build a much (if any) muscle in a deficit, but eating so low your body sacrifices extra LBM is stupid.
This seems a tad off, as 1% of 200lbs is 2lbs... so you are saying that a person at 200lbs, say 6' tall, in reasonable shape, could do a 1000cal a day deficit.
I am 5'9" and around 190lbs... and I think at around 18% body fat.
Yes. Studies show that up to 1% is a good rate of loss to lose fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible (if not all) even for bodybuilders. Not everyone will have the same results though, some people may be better off losing at 0.5% of your body weight per week. Some people may get away with higher rates of loss with no bad/undesired side effects. 1% is the most I'd recommend though without very close supervision.0 -
Thank you all so much for your insight!
So I probably will up my calorie intake lol. I was following MFP's set goal (1260cal). If I follow scoobyworshop's calculator; it's 2000cal per day which seems like A LOT to me. I mean, I didn't really feel hungry with a 1200cal but i'm guessing i will once I start lifting lol. So probably gonna switch to a 1500-1800cal diet; althou I guess I have to change somethings in my diet to not go overboard on my macros. Btw any advice on that? What macro should I focus on? Some tell me to eat more protein and less/no carbs (beside those from vegetabes/fruits). Is that a good/healthy idea?
It isn't about feeling hungry, it is about fueling your body. There was another user who tried SL5x5 and crash and burned because he wasn't eating enough and was doing lots of cardio. Also, MFP shouldn't give you 1260 calories, as the minimum MFP will give a man is 1500. I don't know if it is possible to switch genders on MFP and possibly when you signed up your account was setup wrong. You can use Scooby's TDEE calculator, or you can use the MFP method, it doesn't matter which you choose. What matters is getting enough calories using whichever method you find fits you best.
Get 0.64-0.82 grams of protein per lb of body weight per day. Get 0.35g/lb of fat minimum. After that, eat whatever macros you want to hit your calorie goals. With your stated goals there is little reason to make it any more complicated than that. I personally only get ~35% of my calories from carbs, but it isn't because of any conscious decision to do any specific kind of diet, and most of those carbs are definitely not from fruit or vegetables.
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I do own some flat converses; I don't wear 'em nowadays but I guess I can take them out of the closet now lol. They are the same as the one Mehdi used in his videos (All Star).
I changed my goal from 2lb loss per week to 1.5 loss (although according to your method I should hope for 1.7lb/week) and set up my goals accordingly in MFP (checked, it does have me as male ) and my new calorie goal is 1450cal a day (in MFP).
Here's how i set it up
I know that food is only fuel but I think that when I see 1800cal it's more of a mental block. 1800cal is what i was eating when overweight and gaining so it's a bit hard to get it in my mind that it can help me lose weight even though I know that the problem then was probably not the amount of calories but more like the quality of the food I was eating (a.k.a Junk food).
Again, thank you all for your answers, definitely going to bookmark this thread ♥0 -
I train mma with SL on the same day sometimes even (very long break tho.) I just don't intend to actually lift much beyond 200, I'm not a body builder don't want to be one but being able to move that kinda weight is useful. Also I average around 1700 cal for the week tho at my goal weight with maintenance it'll be 2000ish.0
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I'm currently doing SL5x5 and am also training for a 70 mile ultra as well. I have only just started up my running again after a bit of a break from my last ultra.
I have been doing SL for about 9 weeks and have been making steady increase in my lifts, my running has only restarted for 2 weeks.
So far the only issue I can foresee will be the squats on Wednesday. I currently run 10k Tues/Thur and then will be doing my long runs at the weekend. I will probably drop the midweek squats just to give my legs a bit more time to recover.
At the end of the day you own priorities will dictate how you want to do things. Personally I'm not too bothered about lifting huge numbers. I would be very happy to get to body weight lifts on everything except DLs which will of course go quite a bit higher.
So I'll continue add weight until I reach a point where I am happy and then I'll stop there, I have no desire to create non-functional strength as it were. Weight that I will only lift in the gym isn't that important to me0 -
I do own some flat converses; I don't wear 'em nowadays but I guess I can take them out of the closet now lol. They are the same as the one Mehdi used in his videos (All Star).
I changed my goal from 2lb loss per week to 1.5 loss (although according to your method I should hope for 1.7lb/week) and set up my goals accordingly in MFP (checked, it does have me as male ) and my new calorie goal is 1450cal a day (in MFP).
Here's how i set it up
I know that food is only fuel but I think that when I see 1800cal it's more of a mental block. 1800cal is what i was eating when overweight and gaining so it's a bit hard to get it in my mind that it can help me lose weight even though I know that the problem then was probably not the amount of calories but more like the quality of the food I was eating (a.k.a Junk food).
Again, thank you all for your answers, definitely going to bookmark this thread ♥
No, it's not. You may have thought you were eating that much, but I'm absolutely sure were wrong. I'm the same height and 15 years older than you and I maintain on 2300 calories a day without exercising.0
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