StrongLifts 5x5
Replies
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Firstly, HRM's aren't accurate for interval training or strength training so you don't have to be 100% accurate with eating back exercise cals.
See this link for my opinion http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/194124-interesting-article-re-women-s-fitness-goals
The objective is to lose fat not weight. TO be able to do this, you want to aim for 3 things.
1. calorie deficit (through diet and exercise)
2. do strength training (progressive overload like SL 5x5)
3. Consume adequate protein (I aim for 1g/lb)
So if you are set to 1350 and at 1lb loss per week then MFP has estimated your maintenance to be 1850. So if your resistance training burns 250 cals (estimate for a regular SL session) then you could aim for 1850ish and let the exercise create the deficit. On your off days, do some light cardio that you like like the ellipitcal, bike riding etc. You will most likely burn more cals doing this, say 500? So you could set it up something like this.
M/W/F: SL 5x5
T/Th/Sa/Su: cardio (weekends can be anything really, doesn't have to be gym specific ie. mine is usually hiking or something like that)
Eat up to 1850ish any day you want and let the exercise create your deficit.
That's what I'd do anyway
but do you think i'll gain weight from doing sl 5x5? cause ive read some women always gain weight when strength training regardless of whether they're eating at a calorie deficit or no. and i dont want to GAIN. the last few days since I started SL 5x5 ive gone up 2 lbs......I'm not sure if it has anything to do with lifting but ive been trying to follow MFP's plan for me to lose 1 lb a week for almost 2 months now. I lost 3 lbs really fast in the beginning then gained 1 back and stayed there for weeks and was already wondering if i should change my goal to 1/2 lb a week.... until this week when I gained another 1.5-2.
I wouldn't guess that you would gain much if any weight. But if you drop bodyfat, your measurements / pants sizes, etc drop, but weight stays about the same is that really a problem? I would imagine that if you have weight to lose you will still lose it on the right calorie defiict plan.0 -
Initial weight gains are common, especially when beginning weight lifting. I wouldn't be too worried about a couple of pounds in this beginning stage. Assuming your numbers are accurate (you burn what you say you burn & eat what you say you eat), the calories in-calories out principle cannot be trumped. It's the first and most important principle to remember when considering weight loss. If you're burning more than you're taking in, you can't gain weight, unless you got something really freaky going on with your genetics or something, not over the long haul.Firstly, HRM's aren't accurate for interval training or strength training so you don't have to be 100% accurate with eating back exercise cals.
See this link for my opinion http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/194124-interesting-article-re-women-s-fitness-goals
The objective is to lose fat not weight. TO be able to do this, you want to aim for 3 things.
1. calorie deficit (through diet and exercise)
2. do strength training (progressive overload like SL 5x5)
3. Consume adequate protein (I aim for 1g/lb)
So if you are set to 1350 and at 1lb loss per week then MFP has estimated your maintenance to be 1850. So if your resistance training burns 250 cals (estimate for a regular SL session) then you could aim for 1850ish and let the exercise create the deficit. On your off days, do some light cardio that you like like the ellipitcal, bike riding etc. You will most likely burn more cals doing this, say 500? So you could set it up something like this.
M/W/F: SL 5x5
T/Th/Sa/Su: cardio (weekends can be anything really, doesn't have to be gym specific ie. mine is usually hiking or something like that)
Eat up to 1850ish any day you want and let the exercise create your deficit.
That's what I'd do anyway
but do you think i'll gain weight from doing sl 5x5? cause ive read some women always gain weight when strength training regardless of whether they're eating at a calorie deficit or no. and i dont want to GAIN. the last few days since I started SL 5x5 ive gone up 2 lbs......I'm not sure if it has anything to do with lifting but ive been trying to follow MFP's plan for me to lose 1 lb a week for almost 2 months now. I lost 3 lbs really fast in the beginning then gained 1 back and stayed there for weeks and was already wondering if i should change my goal to 1/2 lb a week.... until this week when I gained another 1.5-2.0 -
agreed. Who cares about water weight!? Fat loss is the goal not weight loss hence measurements are more important to track than just scale weight.0
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Hi! I'm back in the saddle again! *Aerosmith not Gene Autry*
Squats 80
Bench 75
OHP 70 stalled again, got all of them done but was grinding on all but the 1st.
Dead 110
Rows 75
Had to stop due to kool-aid induced injury (dropped a gallon of it on my toe and bruised the bone, it still hurts some), so I started over, i had orignally started w/a 15lb bar, but got an olympic weight bench w/squat rack for an early bd presie (that's thursday)
Was crazy sore, like couldn't walk after the 1st day back on. I stretched like crazy but nothing helped. I was going to deload some or at least stick to the starting weight, but my hubby talked me into moving up. I did and pushed through the 1st set and my legs instantly felt better! It's like the weight bearing exercise pushed the lactic acid out of my muscles. Even Icy Hot didn't help. I've only been sort of sore since then.
Almost fell off my chair watching Riptoe's vid on OHP, "Well, you could do leg presses, I gues, but thats just gay."0 -
So in the past week I changed my goal from 1 lb loss/week to 1/2 lb loss/week and I am 5 workouts into sl (about 1.5 weeks). I gained 1.1 lbs in the last week! I did go over my calories on 2 or 3 days but definitely NOT by 3500!! Also, this morning when I woke up and went to the bathroom I seemed still well hydrated (i.e. clearness) after sleeping all night and then thats when I weighed myself to see this gain. Do you think its my body reacting to the change in workout?0
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So in the past week I changed my goal from 1 lb loss/week to 1/2 lb loss/week and I am 5 workouts into sl (about 1.5 weeks). I gained 1.1 lbs in the last week! I did go over my calories on 2 or 3 days but definitely NOT by 3500!! Also, this morning when I woke up and went to the bathroom I seemed still well hydrated (i.e. clearness) after sleeping all night and then thats when I weighed myself to see this gain. Do you think its my body reacting to the change in workout?
1.1 lbs, I wouldn't even worry about it. It could be anything. If you hit 10lbs worry a bit. LOL0 -
So in the past week I changed my goal from 1 lb loss/week to 1/2 lb loss/week and I am 5 workouts into sl (about 1.5 weeks). I gained 1.1 lbs in the last week! I did go over my calories on 2 or 3 days but definitely NOT by 3500!! Also, this morning when I woke up and went to the bathroom I seemed still well hydrated (i.e. clearness) after sleeping all night and then thats when I weighed myself to see this gain. Do you think its my body reacting to the change in workout?
1.1 lbs, I wouldn't even worry about it. It could be anything. If you hit 10lbs worry a bit. LOL
agreed0 -
yea i know you guys are right just sucks cause my goal is to lose 12 lbs!0
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yea i know you guys are right just sucks cause my goal is to lose 12 lbs!
I hear ya on that, it can be frustrating. One thing through this is that you should keep an eye on your body and really focus on body composition, take measurements if you can. You may only end-up losing a couple pounds in the end but it's not unlikely that your waiste size and all the other points will drop as well. I started really focusing on my weight loss back in April a few months before I joined this site. To-date I've only dropped 28lbs and maybe have 5 to 10 more to go but I've gone down 4 pants sizes and I follow a similar strength training method.0 -
yea i know you guys are right just sucks cause my goal is to lose 12 lbs!
forget the scales and take some pics/measurements. 0 -
hey guys so I just today completed my 6th SL workout, so 2 weeks in, and i'm having a problem with overhead presses. My upper body strength is pretty terrible and I started out every exercise with just the 45 lb bar. its been going well except for the ohp. The first time i did it I could only do max 2 reps each set (I think I did 1 rep for most of them). The second time I did 3 reps for the first 3 sets and then only 2 reps for the last two sets, so still not 5x5 but definitely better. Today was the third time, and i could only do 3 reps the first time and 2 reps each for the following 4 sets....so I regressed? I don't know what to do....any suggestions?0
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The 45lb bar might be too heavy for you and that's fine there are options. First, may gyms have a 25lb mini-bar or pre-set standard weight bars that usually start at 10 or 15lbs.
You can probably find videos on form, so do searches on YouTube and stuff. One important thing is to keep your elbows tucked at the beginning. Often people start with a very wide elbow spread and creates a weakness in that lift.0 -
On OHP, it seems weird, but they are just much harder for me than the others, even rows or benches and I've pretty much lived w/virtually 0 upper body strenth, even in my youth when I was active and somewhat athletic, but I didn't have the right way to work on it and girls weren't realyl encouraged to lift then. One thing I have found that is critical for me is warming up all of the small muscles of the rotator cuf first. Here's some stuff to try:
grab your hands behind your back and then while holding hands, rotate your sholders front and back for 10 reps. Then with both hand s still behind your back turn your hands palm up and palm down, iniitiating the movement from the sholder, 10 reps. Then do sholder rolls both sides one at a time frontward and backward 10 reps each. Then hold your right arm out paralell to the ground with your palm facing the wall behind you (there's gotta be a wall behind you somewhere, right? ;-) ). Now pretend there's a rope and you are going to grasp it, one finger at a time starting from the pinky. As you make a fist with your last finger, pull that rope toward your body, initiating the movement from your shoulder blades, this is a small movement with elbow barely flexed at the end. 10 reps, then hold your arm next to your ear and do the same, again initiating from the shoulder blade area. repeat on the other side, then repeat the parallel to the floor with both arms at the same time and again with the arms next to your ears. I tend to start these between squats and finish before starting OHP and Bench and Rows. I find since I've started, my shoulder is less crunchy during the OHPs.
Hope this helps.0 -
hey guys so I just today completed my 6th SL workout, so 2 weeks in, and i'm having a problem with overhead presses. My upper body strength is pretty terrible and I started out every exercise with just the 45 lb bar. its been going well except for the ohp. The first time i did it I could only do max 2 reps each set (I think I did 1 rep for most of them). The second time I did 3 reps for the first 3 sets and then only 2 reps for the last two sets, so still not 5x5 but definitely better. Today was the third time, and i could only do 3 reps the first time and 2 reps each for the following 4 sets....so I regressed? I don't know what to do....any suggestions?
If you don't make progress for 3 weeks in a row drop the weight 10%. But I agree the 45lb bar may have been too much to start with. SOHP will always be the first of the SL exercises to stall on though. Also, try making smaller increments. I only increase 2lbs per workout if I make the reps. Longer progression is better IMO. Marathon not a sprint0 -
Well it's a day after my 51st birthday and my stats are at:
Squat 105
Bench 85
OHP 70
Row 85
I started with a standard bar.
Not sure I can keep going at 5 lbs each time I row.0 -
is it normal to get pain where your legs and crotch meet? Sorry, dont know how else to explain it. It feels like sore tendons.
I assume this is a result from doing squats 3x a week. should i maybe rest a week or just keep going?0 -
is it normal to get pain where your legs and crotch meet? Sorry, dont know how else to explain it. It feels like sore tendons.
I assume this is a result from doing squats 3x a week. should i maybe rest a week or just keep going?
Kind of like your hip flexors?0 -
is it normal to get pain where your legs and crotch meet? Sorry, dont know how else to explain it. It feels like sore tendons.
I assume this is a result from doing squats 3x a week. should i maybe rest a week or just keep going?
Kind of like your hip flexors?
yes, thanks. i guess its called a hip flexor strain? i guess i should just ice it?0 -
is it normal to get pain where your legs and crotch meet? Sorry, dont know how else to explain it. It feels like sore tendons.
I assume this is a result from doing squats 3x a week. should i maybe rest a week or just keep going?
Kind of like your hip flexors?
yes, thanks. i guess its called a hip flexor strain? i guess i should just ice it?
Yeah, that happened to me with frequent squatting too. Make sure you get some good stretching in before hand and after the squatting. Also, make sure to stretch your hip flexors even on non-leg days. Basically stretch them everyday. Ice might help I guess, not sure.
One thing that I like to do is some light plyometrics in the form of Frog Jumps for warm-ups before squatting and deadlifting. Take a wider than shoulder width stance and squat all the way down, touch your finger tips to the floor, jump up, land, go back down, repeat. I'll do like 3 or 4 reps, then do a warm-up set, do another 3 or 4 reps, warm-up set, and by the time I get to my work sets I'm more than ready for the lift.0 -
Well it's a day after my 51st birthday and my stats are at:
Squat 105
Bench 85
OHP 70
Row 85
I started with a standard bar.
Not sure I can keep going at 5 lbs each time I row.
That is awesome! You're an inspiration.
Re groin pain: if it is a sore muscular pain then it is probably not something you have to worry about. As always, RICE is a good starter. If it is a sharp pain, then I would be seeing a doctor/physio. I tore an adductor and hip flexor 5 months ago and I can tell you that you will definitely know about it. Most pain I've ever been in in my life.
Good news though. Squatted 111kg(245lb) x9 yesterday. 143kg (315lb) calc 1rm and my actual is 130kg(286lb) so very happy First time squatting heavy since hip/groin injury. 0 -
thanks JNick. i will try that.0
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Never heard of this before. I will def read up on it later. Thanks Q0
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Good news though. Squatted 111kg(245lb) x9 yesterday. 143kg (315lb) calc 1rm and my actual is 130kg(286lb) so very happy First time squatting heavy since hip/groin injury.
Damn, Nice!
I did 145 yesterday. Friday, on to 150! LOL0 -
HI! I am new to the site and the group. I am currently doing stronglifts and love it so far. 6 weeks into program and Just Did 245lb on squats and deadlifts and 100 ohp. Wanting to hit the 1 x bw bench, 1.5 x bw squat, and 2 x bw deadlifts.0
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Well it's a day after my 51st birthday and my stats are at:
Squat 105
Bench 85
OHP 70
Row 85
I started with a standard bar.
Not sure I can keep going at 5 lbs each time I row.
That is awesome! You're an inspiration.
Good news though. Squatted 111kg(245lb) x9 yesterday. 143kg (315lb) calc 1rm and my actual is 130kg(286lb) so very happy First time squatting heavy since hip/groin injury.
THANK YOU!!!
I have however, stalled on OHP again @75 and have back down again to 65. Got up to 120 on squats and figured out that my form is wrong. I'm crumpling forward in order to muscle the bar up. I blame my hamstrings, so accessory exercises for me. Pretty sure I can't yet do ham raises. I bought some of the type of shoes that work your hamstrings, I'm also planning on walking backwards up hills and maybe doing mountain climbers. I also need to do some ab work. I'm also keeping squat position when I sit anywhere. :blushing: looks silly but I don't care
So my current de-loaded stats are
Squats 115
OHP 65
Bench 80
Dead 130
Rows 85
Need to find abwork that focuses more on psoas and less on hip flexors, my hamstring work along w/squats and deads should be enough there. Ideas on how to proceed w/this accessory work would be most welcome.0 -
I read about StrongLifts the other day and am quite intrigued by the concept. I'm thinking of starting it sometime this week but have a few questions to those who are undertaking it or have done it before.
Can you add cardio to the StrongLifts regime as I am currently doing 2-3 sessions of HIIT? My main goal is to get rid of my fat as I still have a lot to lose but also, if possible, gain some strength and muscle in this process.
Can I still remain on a low carb diet (all my carbs are coming from veg and fruit) on this programme. I have stopped eating rice, bread, pasta and potatoes to quicken my fat loss. Do I need more intake of carbs for StrongLifts?
If anyone could help that would be great.
Thank you!!0 -
well poop. :grumble: looks like I need to deload all the way down to 85 on my squats and I still am breaking form a little on the last rep. 2 more sets to go. oy.
got those done... barely.
stalled at 3.75 sets of 95 on bench.0 -
Well it's a day after my 51st birthday and my stats are at:
Squat 105
Bench 85
OHP 70
Row 85
I started with a standard bar.
Not sure I can keep going at 5 lbs each time I row.
That is awesome! You're an inspiration.
Good news though. Squatted 111kg(245lb) x9 yesterday. 143kg (315lb) calc 1rm and my actual is 130kg(286lb) so very happy First time squatting heavy since hip/groin injury.
THANK YOU!!!
I have however, stalled on OHP again @75 and have back down again to 65. Got up to 120 on squats and figured out that my form is wrong. I'm crumpling forward in order to muscle the bar up. I blame my hamstrings, so accessory exercises for me. Pretty sure I can't yet do ham raises. I bought some of the type of shoes that work your hamstrings, I'm also planning on walking backwards up hills and maybe doing mountain climbers. I also need to do some ab work. I'm also keeping squat position when I sit anywhere. :blushing: looks silly but I don't care So my current de-loaded stats are
Squats 115
OHP 65
Bench 80
Dead 130
Rows 85
Need to find abwork that focuses more on psoas and less on hip flexors, my hamstring work along w/squats and deads should be enough there. Ideas on how to proceed w/this accessory work would be most welcome.
Squat accessory work: I would recommend Good Mornings for specifically helping your back, you mentioned crumpling forward.
Accessory work specific to legs: This has become my favorite accessory work and my legs have improved a ton. Walking lunges, Romanian Deadlifts, Lying Leg Curls. I'm still following 5/3/1 and so my accessory work is 5 sets of 10 reps but I superset the RDL's and Leg Curls and you can probably do the same. If you have a Glute Ham Raise bench at the gym that would be great.0 -
Nice to see some other ladies on the SL thread!!! (Nothing against you guys, of course!)0
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irridia: stiff leg dead lifts and good mornings for hammies and planks for ab work with minimal hip flexor involvement.
ashkaps: I would be doing some HIIT after a SL workout and taking the in between days off. It will eat into your recovery ability for strength a bit so you have to listen to your body. Low carb is fine IMO. Maybe not optimal for strength gains but as you are in calorie deficit the focus should be on getting adequate protein and fats anyway.0
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