StrongLifts 5x5

thanks everyone! Not sure what the difference is between the deads I'm currently doing and stiff legged... I will search youtube tonight when I get home. Any pointers on good vids?

I found something called a pull through that looks like good back work, I've also found an explanation for a belly dance move that I never could get right that has reeeeeely been working my transverse abs along with my psoas. Called umis and you alternately squeese left and right psoas and release. Which is now showing that I need to be more diligent with my foam rollers on my ITB but of course I already knew that! *sigh*

I found the ham raises, don't think I can do them yet but maybe with a band assist... will try tonight. i'm considering redoing squats at 85 tonight.

and to add to that SLDL's aren't as taxing on the central nervous system CNS because you can't lift as much weight. Therefore, you can do them more regularly without cutting into recovery abilities as much as regular deadlifts.

Hi just come across this - for the girls who do this, are you building much size or is it more strength gains? I am after definition and strength/endurance but not size. My trainer currently has me on 3x15 at low weights and I am looking for a change.

Hi just come across this - for the girls who do this, are you building much size or is it more strength gains? I am after definition and strength/endurance but not size. My trainer currently has me on 3x15 at low weights and I am looking for a change.

Yes not a girl... But you can definitely do this just for strength gains and not worry about getting "bulky." Size / mass is more dependent on diet than lifting alone, so as long as your in a calorie deficit and not taking any steroids, joking of course, you won't gain any significant size.

agreed. Even maintenance cals is a good idea for a recomp. Rest assured, you won't turn into the hulk overnight. That takes a LONG time!

read something really interesting on aworkout.com
Roid study. 4 groups of guys; A) All natural do nothing at all, no drugs no exercise. Roids only, no exercise at all. C) natural no drugs just exercise and D) Roids and exercise.
They gave them all the same exercises and fed them all the same as far as calories/body weight/activity and for the same length of time then measured changes in body composition.
obviously there were no changes in the do nothing group.
increased muscle mass by 7% drugs only no exercise!
C) increased muscle mass by 4%
D) incrased by 14%

Riods matter! dudes who id nothing other than drugs gained more than dudes working out and not doing drugs!
Women don't have any testosterone at all, so forget about bulk. Muscle only looks bulky on us and is measurable if there is fat over it. As an example my weight went up over the last 2 weeks (probably build up of fluids before TOM honestly) and my measurements went down! My arms look smaller because of all the fat I've lost but because it tends to gather below the triceps, when I flex I might look like I'm bulking up! I'm not, I just need to lose more fat!

For you guys, the only secret is correct form, dedication and nutrition and most importantly time. Unless of course you want your boys to be the size of grapes! lol. pretty much everybody you see in mags has been hitting the roids. Natural is waaay better.

Yeah, I'd be curious to see how much the Roid groups were taking and what their Free Testosterone was at the end of the study. If the average is around 600 dcl's then I'm guess the Roid group was given enough to get them around 1,400+ Free Test which is huge difference. If they took HCG and some kind of estrogen blocker like Arimidex / Anastrozol they probably saved some of their natural testical function at least.

Since I have been doing P90x and I run, I thought I was pretty fit. I am suprised how tired my muscles are though after just doing the bar weight! I was also having a hard time with my form on the barbell rows. I might lower the weight next time and use one of those 30 or 35 lb bars to get my form down, the go back to the olympic bar.

Videos like that are good but they don't work you like this type of weight lifting system. Glad to hear you're liking this.

It is amazing what weights can do for a female body, you may find that hardcore cardio is too much at least during 5x5. Yoga and gentle walking are much more beneficial to give you that extra calorie burn... if you need it.

I agree. I think too much difference is placed on the differences between men and women and the benefits of weight lifting. Yeah the hormonal differences are obvious and have definite impact but doing heavy lifting is somewhat universal in it's value. As you also mentioned, high-intensity cardio while doing such a lifting system can be too much and very taxing on the body. Much has been written about the benefit of weight lifting and steady-state low-intensity cardio.

It is amazing what weights can do for a female body, you may find that hardcore cardio is too much at least during 5x5. Yoga and gentle walking are much more beneficial to give you that extra calorie burn... if you need it.

I agree. I think too much difference is placed on the differences between men and women and the benefits of weight lifting. Yeah the hormonal differences are obvious and have definite impact but doing heavy lifting is somewhat universal in it's value. As you also mentioned, high-intensity cardio while doing such a lifting system can be too much and very taxing on the body. Much has been written about the benefit of weight lifting and steady-state low-intensity cardio.

I have been struggling with this because I run. I like to run and I want to get faster. I am hoping to PR and run a sub 2 hour half marathon in a few weeks (so I know I picked a bad time to start 5x5, but I got so tired of putting it off).

However I also want to lower my BF % and do some recomp and get stronger. Running won't do that for me.

Can the two never go together? I was hoping that by increasing strength, I would gain some speed in running as well. Do I have to take a season off running to focus on body recomp? Then what would happen when I start running again? Hopefully there is a happy medium somewhere that I can find.

I think the two can go together if you're careful. Not sure how mcuh you have to run for what you're trying to accomplish but if you could leave the running to non-lifting days that would probably be best.

I think the two can go together if you're careful. Not sure how mcuh you have to run for what you're trying to accomplish but if you could leave the running to non-lifting days that would probably be best.

Thanks, I definitely do not lift and run on the same day. I run 3x a week. I know lifting 3x is optimal, but I was thinking if I drop that down to 2, and keep my 3x per week running, maybe that will give my body enough chance to recover.

I have my longest run of the season, 14 miles, on Satuday, then after my race on Nov. 6, I won't have to run a long distance for a while. Maybe that is when I will switch things up and lift 3x per week and run 2x per week.