Stronglifts 5x5 for Women

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Triathlon AND Stronglifts?

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mgaither
mgaither Posts: 115
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Hi all! I'm new to Stronglifts and heavy lifting in general. I've been taking some kettlebell classes (which I LOVE), and know that I'm built for lifting, and not so much endurance cardio like my super awesome triathlon hubbs.

That said...I haven't started SL, mostly because I am training for a sprint triathlon in August. It's on my bucket list to do, and I signed up before I really thought about getting into strength, so there's no way I'm NOT doing the tri.

Should wait until AFTER the triathlon to start SL?

(I'm 5 feet tall, 115 pounds and really only looking to change my BF% number in the future, not lose any more weight)

Happy Lifting!

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  • miovlb6
    miovlb6 Posts: 339 Member
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    I would recommend starting Stronglifts now. I'm new to SL, but I've been lifting for a while. I don't do triathlons, but I do a lot of mid/long distance running. I don't really feel like lifting and running negatively impact one another. I might be better (faster or stronger) if I focused exclusively on one or the other, but I'm a big believer in doing what you enjoy, so if you like lifting, get on it. If you feel like it's too much, you can always take it slow until after your tri.
  • mgaither
    mgaither Posts: 115
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    True...it's not like I will have worked up to anything super heavy by then anyway.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    True...it's not like I will have worked up to anything super heavy by then anyway.


    ^^ exactly. might as well start now and if it DOES start to get heavy for you you can always halt the progression of weights and just increase rep until your tri is over.
  • papergirl22
    papergirl22 Posts: 21 Member
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    I'm struggling right now with running and doing SL. I'm about 3-4 weeks in. I'm still really sore after each workout, my knees are giving me a little 'overuse' discomfort similar to what I get when I up my mileage to soon too fast. Running on the in between days is doable, but by the week's end...I'm toast. I'm hovering at no more that 5k each time, which is hard for me since I did a half marathon in March and 10K was easy just a few weeks after that.

    So, I recommend listening to your body. This week I've decided that for the leg work I am keeping the same weight for 3 workouts even if I complete all 5x5s to see if it levels/balances out the soreness and overall muscle fatigue. Upper body I'm keeping with the increases as dictated by the program as I'm having no fatigue there like I am with legs.

    Overall I'm finding the endurance vs strength thing a major trade off and for me personally, I can't do both (added: and do both super well) but I like my results better with strength training. My blood pressure was 106/57 the other day at the pharmacy...so I think I'm in pretty good cardiovascular condition still despite backing off the running a bit.
    Best of luck!
  • mgaither
    mgaither Posts: 115
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    I'm struggling right now with running and doing SL. I'm about 3-4 weeks in. I'm still really sore after each workout, my knees are giving me a little 'overuse' discomfort similar to what I get when I up my mileage to soon too fast. Running on the in between days is doable, but by the week's end...I'm toast. I'm hovering at no more that 5k each time, which is hard for me since I did a half marathon in March and 10K was easy just a few weeks after that.

    So, I recommend listening to your body. This week I've decided that for the leg work I am keeping the same weight for 3 workouts even if I complete all 5x5s to see if it levels/balances out the soreness and overall muscle fatigue. Upper body I'm keeping with the increases as dictated by the program as I'm having no fatigue there like I am with legs.

    Overall I'm finding the endurance vs strength thing a major trade off and for me personally, I can't do both (added: and do both super well) but I like my results better with strength training. My blood pressure was 106/57 the other day at the pharmacy...so I think I'm in pretty good cardiovascular condition still despite backing off the running a bit.
    Best of luck!

    I think the "and do both super well" is so true! Since it's a Sprint Tri, I'm not going to kill myself for an awesome time, just seeing if I like it really. I won't be able to started lifting until the week after next anyway (family in town and you KNOW starting something when you have guests is a no go.) I'll probably err on giving the lifting a try and then backing out some if it's too much all at once.

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