StrongLifts 5x5

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  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    What do you guys think about weight lifting belts?

    I use one for heavy squats, OHP & deads but not bent rows. I have a cracked disc in my lower back from a pro wrestling injury back in 2002 and I'm not taking any chances.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    What do you guys think about weight lifting belts?

    I use one for heavy squats, OHP & deads but not bent rows. I have a cracked disc in my lower back from a pro wrestling injury back in 2002 and I'm not taking any chances.

    Personally I don’t use them, even on my max lifts. I am of the mind that I can strengthen my abs/back more without one and ward off injury that way. However, I also recognize that they do have a place. If you are going to use one get a 4’’ (all the way around. The ones that have a larger back are designed by people that don’t actually know how they work.) and only use it on your work weights, not your warm-ups or ramp-up sets. This way you are still strengthening your abs/back as well as gaining the additional support when you need it.


    Here is a good article from SL on the topic as well as a link out to another.

    http://stronglifts.com/weight-lifting-belts-to-wear-or-not-to-wear/
  • freerange
    freerange Posts: 1,722 Member
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    Thanks
  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    and only use it on your work weights, not your warm-ups or ramp-up sets. This way you are still strengthening your abs/back as well as gaining the additional support when you need it.

    This is what I do. No sense in using it when you don't need it. I definitely use a belt for my heavy squat sets but not for ramp ups.
  • NubyGloom
    NubyGloom Posts: 49
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    haha! random post did upper body today! and I benched 40lbs! 3 sets, 10 reps!! woot! I think Ill be ready to start stronglift in august!
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    I'm starting to find my max grip for deadlifts. Did 255 this morning and started to lose it. I'm still doing 5x5 deadlift, but will probably back down to 3x5 soon. Thinking about getting a pair of those hand grip strengtheners to use at the office on my off days to help.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    I'm starting to find my max grip for deadlifts. Did 255 this morning and started to lose it. I'm still doing 5x5 deadlift, but will probably back down to 3x5 soon. Thinking about getting a pair of those hand grip strengtheners to use at the office on my off days to help.

    Double-overhand or mixed grip?
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    I'm starting to find my max grip for deadlifts. Did 255 this morning and started to lose it. I'm still doing 5x5 deadlift, but will probably back down to 3x5 soon. Thinking about getting a pair of those hand grip strengtheners to use at the office on my off days to help.

    Double-overhand or mixed grip?

    currently doing double overhand. I know about the mixed grip ( and read the new article this morning on the subject), but wanted to put off switching to it until I got over 300. I'm still okay grip wise, but sometimes I have to reset my hands around the third or fourth rep.
  • thkelly
    thkelly Posts: 466 Member
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    get some chalk. it's amazing what a difference it makes
  • lclarkjr
    lclarkjr Posts: 359 Member
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    I have a question for those who have done or are currently doing SL 5x5. Do you guys do any cardio exercises as well such as running or biking? I ask this because I am planning to start SL 5x5 soon, but I am also a runner so I run on average about 15-20 miles per week. I don't intend to decrease my running mileage so will that have much of an impact on my progress with the SL 5x5 program. Obviously starting with the bar in the program my running may not have any impact at the beginning. I am just curious what everyone else does or did while doing the SL 5x5 program.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    I have a question for those who have done or are currently doing SL 5x5. Do you guys do any cardio exercises as well such as running or biking? I ask this because I am planning to start SL 5x5 soon, but I am also a runner so I run on average about 15-20 miles per week. I don't intend to decrease my running mileage so will that have much of an impact on my progress with the SL 5x5 program. Obviously starting with the bar in the program my running may not have any impact at the beginning. I am just curious what everyone else does or did while doing the SL 5x5 program.
    In the beginning you will be fine but when the weight gets heavy (around body weight squats) your progress will start to suffer and you will stall frequently. I would say once you hit body weight squats and start stalling to switch to either Madcow or 5/3/1. With the light, medium, and heavy days of Madcow and the flexibility of 5/3/1 these programs will work better with that level of running and will allow you to keep making strength progress, albeit sower than SL. 
  • lclarkjr
    lclarkjr Posts: 359 Member
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    In the beginning you will be fine but when the weight gets heavy (around body weight squats) your progress will start to suffer and you will stall frequently. I would say once you hit body weight squats and start stalling to switch to either Madcow or 5/3/1. With the light, medium, and heavy days of Madcow and the flexibility of 5/3/1 these programs will work better with that level of running and will allow you to keep making strength progress, albeit sower than SL. 

    Thanks for the tips. I am interested in improving my strength as well as my overall fitness but right now it won't be until Mid-December that my training stops being so running focused. I don't want to wait until then to start stronglifts 5x5 but I wanted to know how my running will affect my strength gains. I will just take it as far as I can and look to switch to a different program when I really start stalling. Thanks again!
  • jgdragonfly411
    jgdragonfly411 Posts: 34
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    This may have been covered, but I'm gonna ask anyways lol. For those of you lifting, how are you noting calories burned in yoru exercise diaries? I started Jamie Eason's 12 week program today on bodybuilding.com and am trying to figure out how to note that. I know good and well that I'm burning more than 50 calories in one of those workouts :|

    I also do bodyrock, and free weight work on my own at home, as well as running a few times a week. Any idea how accurate the calorie needs on bodybuilding are?
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    I have a question for those who have done or are currently doing SL 5x5. Do you guys do any cardio exercises as well such as running or biking? I ask this because I am planning to start SL 5x5 soon, but I am also a runner so I run on average about 15-20 miles per week. I don't intend to decrease my running mileage so will that have much of an impact on my progress with the SL 5x5 program. Obviously starting with the bar in the program my running may not have any impact at the beginning. I am just curious what everyone else does or did while doing the SL 5x5 program.

    If you check out this link (#5):

    http://stronglifts.com/fat-loss-101-how-to-lose-fat-fast-with-free-fat-loss-diets/

    he says to add cardio right after the workout. I just found this myself and incorporated it this week, and believe me, it definitely helps as I can already feel a difference in my gut.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    This may have been covered, but I'm gonna ask anyways lol. For those of you lifting, how are you noting calories burned in yoru exercise diaries? I started Jamie Eason's 12 week program today on bodybuilding.com and am trying to figure out how to note that. I know good and well that I'm burning more than 50 calories in one of those workouts :|

    I also do bodyrock, and free weight work on my own at home, as well as running a few times a week. Any idea how accurate the calorie needs on bodybuilding are?

    I used to just time it and enter it under strength training. I now have an HRM with a weight training setting and it says about the same number that MFP does.
  • thkelly
    thkelly Posts: 466 Member
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    This may have been covered, but I'm gonna ask anyways lol. For those of you lifting, how are you noting calories burned in yoru exercise diaries? I started Jamie Eason's 12 week program today on bodybuilding.com and am trying to figure out how to note that. I know good and well that I'm burning more than 50 calories in one of those workouts :|

    I also do bodyrock, and free weight work on my own at home, as well as running a few times a week. Any idea how accurate the calorie needs on bodybuilding are?

    I used to just time it and enter it under strength training. I now have an HRM with a weight training setting and it says about the same number that MFP does.

    HRM do not work for weight training. there are a number of threads on here about the topic
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    This may have been covered, but I'm gonna ask anyways lol. For those of you lifting, how are you noting calories burned in yoru exercise diaries? I started Jamie Eason's 12 week program today on bodybuilding.com and am trying to figure out how to note that. I know good and well that I'm burning more than 50 calories in one of those workouts :|

    I also do bodyrock, and free weight work on my own at home, as well as running a few times a week. Any idea how accurate the calorie needs on bodybuilding are?

    I tried MFP's calorie recommendations for a while and did t feel like I was getting enough (not enough energy for workouts) so I started to look into how it was calculated. MFP used the Harris-Benedict equation to calculate you BMR and then bases your  calorie deficit off of this number. The problem is that while this method is the most popular it is not the most accurate for most people. In my research I discovered that the Mifflin equation has become known as the most accurate so I started using that and manually configuring my calorie goal into MFP. 

    MFP recommendation: 1990 calories for 1lb per week
    Mifflin recommendation: 2147 calories for lb per week

    This is a really long way for me to say that I do not eat back my exercise calories (I know, shame on me, I'm going to starve, etc...) however I don't deliberately try to stay under on my workout days either, I eat if I am hungry and if I go over some then oh well. This method has allowed me to lose the 1lb per week fairly consistently also. 

    That being said, the calorie burn for bodybuilding isolation type exercises is going to be significantly lower than the compound full body lifts done as part of SL, I would just try and eat an extra 100 calories or so to make up for it if you want to go that route. 
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    This may have been covered, but I'm gonna ask anyways lol. For those of you lifting, how are you noting calories burned in yoru exercise diaries? I started Jamie Eason's 12 week program today on bodybuilding.com and am trying to figure out how to note that. I know good and well that I'm burning more than 50 calories in one of those workouts :|

    I also do bodyrock, and free weight work on my own at home, as well as running a few times a week. Any idea how accurate the calorie needs on bodybuilding are?

    I used to just time it and enter it under strength training. I now have an HRM with a weight training setting and it says about the same number that MFP does.

    HRM do not work for weight training. there are a number of threads on here about the topic

    As I already said, my HRM is only about 100 over what MFP says, which makes sense because MFP takes out the amount I would have burned any way. The first time I used it, I forgot I had left it on running mode, and it said I had burned 1200 calories, since switching it to weight training mode, it has been consistently either 325 or 400 depending on which workout day I'm doing. I prefer to add what my HRM says because I know I get a good long after burn from weight lifting, so I'd rather have that extra 100 calories, even if I don't eat it.
  • BR1986FB
    BR1986FB Posts: 1,515 Member
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    HRM do not work for weight training. there are a number of threads on here about the topic

    Why is this?
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    HRM do not work for weight training. there are a number of threads on here about the topic

    Why is this?

    My guess is that a lot of heart rate monitors only have a general setting where they assume you'll be running or something similarly strenuous. If this is true, then they would read high ( just like mine did when I accidentally left it in running mode).

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