I posted last week about getting reacquainted with the iron after about 5 years off and got some great help from this boards members. With that being said I decided to start the stronglifts 5x5 program and will be posting my results and log here.
Age 29
Height 6’1"
Weight 250
Body Fat ~30, according to a body fat scale I have.
My diet will be anywhere between 2700 cals(off-days) and 3000(lifting days).
Workout A
Warm up 5 mins treadmill, 2x5 sets of barbell squats
Dips
Gym didn’t have a dip stand so I did bench dips
Bodyweight
1x10
1x5
1x3
15 mins elliptical machine 2.5 mph pace, my legs were fried at this point so I kept it slow.
I’m trying to decide if I should stick with those final set weights or drop them by 30% like the article suggest, I felt good doing them and my form seemed to hold up well until the last couple of reps.
Next workout will be Wednesday Squats, OH press, Deadlifts and Chins/pulls.
5 minutes on the treadmill followed by some light stretching.
Squats
2x5 with the bar
1x5 85, 1x5 85, 1x5 95, 1x5 95, 1x5 95
I was extremely sore and am extremely sore after Monday’s workout, so I backed of the weight by 30 percent like the plan suggest. Felt good and I feel like I can make a good progression from this weight.
OH Press
2x5 with bar
1x5 65, 1x5 65, 1x5 65, 1x4 65, 5x 55
Maybe loaded a lil’ too much weight on these to begin with. Ended up only making 4 reps on the 4th set, maybe not enough rest between sets.
Dead lift
1x5 90lbs
This will be coming up quick, thats was the recommended starting weight and it felt very light even after the other lifts.
Pull-ups
God these pissed me off, I used to be able to knock out about 15 pull-ups with fairly strict form. My fat ass cant do a single one now. I was supposed to do 3 sets to failure. I ended up doing negatives, and not many of them.
Hell ya man nice to see another log goin. What kind of lifting did you do previously? I am assuming you are trying to get lean from your calories, but what kind of nutrition are you getting, macro wise?
[quote]Get Stoked wrote:
Hell ya man nice to see another log goin. What kind of lifting did you do previously? I am assuming you are trying to get lean from your calories, but what kind of nutrition are you getting, macro wise?
Peace and good luck[/quote]
Hey thanks Get Stoked, and glad you asked, I’ve been meaning to post my diet.
Pendlay row
5x5 70lbs, these felt light as well but my legs were pretty shaky from the squats I guess, felt I could have done much more weight with the back but legs were hard to hold in form.
Bench Dips
To failure
1x10, 1x8, 1x5
I dialed back the starting weight of the bench and row to 70% of the weight i worked up to in my initial workout as per the Stronglifts website. I’m just trying to dial in my form right now. Weights will be coming up 5-10 lbs per workout.
Now I have to go write a 7 page paper on the causal relationship between the July crisis, the Morocco crisis of 1911, the Bosnia crisis of 1908-09 and the start of WW1. Lots of fun, huh?
This is caused from DOMS, and will happen anytime you start training or change from what you currently do.
It also looks like you have a misunderstading of the program :
5�?5. 5 sets of 5 reps with the same weight after you have warmed up properly. 5�?5 60kg means 5 reps with 60kg on all 5 sets.
1�?5. One set of 5 reps after you have warmed up properly.
3 x F. 3 sets until failure. Do as many reps as you can do with proper technique. Try to do more reps the next workout. Once you can do 10 reps on the first set, switch to weighted Pull-ups/Chin-ups/Dips doing 5�?5 & adding 1.25kg every workout.
You should be using the same weight for 5 consecutive sets, not ramping up which is what you’re doing.
Thanks Dude,
I just did that( ramping up the weight) in the first workout to get an Idea of the weight I should be using as per the stronglift 5x5 directions. I will be doing 5x5 with the same weight from here on out, increasing the weight every session.
Pull-ups
Still having trouble with these, i think it’s gonna take some time before i can get one with strict form, gonna keep at it until i can do 10, then add some weight.
Squat
5x5 125lbs
Felt good, I had to push myself on these, and I liked it!
Bench
5x5 95lbs
Still felt pretty light. I don’t really feel like i’m hitting my chest that much. I feel like my form is good, but only feel it in my chest during the last couple of sets. Maybe once the weight gets higher the chest will activate more.
Rows
5x5 80lbs
These went better than last time, oddly. My legs felt more taxed in the squats today, but they didn’t seem as weak while in the row position. Really felt good in the traps, but felt like the middle and lower back was kind of left out. Maybe a problem with my form.
Dips
1x8 1x6 1x6
Did bench dips again as I have no real dip station. I think I may start using the dip machine that my gym has, the bench dips are really hurting my shoulders and I don’t seem to be able to isolate the tri’s.
17 minutes at 3 speed 2 incline on the treadmill. Building up 2 minutes a week until I hit 30 minutes.
I took some pictures of my fat ass today, gonna post 'em up in the morning.
Squat 135 lbs
5x5
These were tough but manageable. I really thought that after 125 on Wednesday that I would have struggled more on these. I’m gonna keep increasing by 10 while I can.
OH press 70lbs
5x5
These were really tough but I managed to get all 5 sets of 5.
Deadlift 120 lbs
1x5
These were easy, I’m really looking foward to adding more weight on these.
Pullups
3xf
Well I did manage to finally get one good pull up today. I did negatives after that.
17 minutes at 2 incline 3.5 speed treadmill.
Feeling good, been sticking to the diet. I had a cheat meal on easter Sunday. I think I’m gonna skip my cheat meal this weekend, we’ll see how I feel about that on Sunday.
Squats 145lbs
5x5
These were very tough, did manage to get all sets and reps though, gonna keep trying with 10lbs increases per workout until that wont work anymore.
Bench Press 105 lbs
5x5
These still felt pretty light. I’m still feeling it in my shoulders more than my chest though.
Rows 95lbs
5x5
These were rough, I forced my way through though, feels good to push it.
Dips
1x8, 1x8, 1x6
i started using a dip machine for these since they are just add on exercises, 110 lbs.
20 minute treadmill 3.5 speed
Weight this a.m 241 lbs, down almost 10 lbs in 2 weeks.
Keeping at it.
Squat 155lbs
5x5
These were tough again today, guess they are all gonna be that way from here on out. I managed to get all sets and reps though I did start to dip my upper body a little forward on the last rep of the 4th set. Oddly enough on the last set my form held up. Gonna try 165 Friday.
OH Press 75lbs
5x5
Toughed these out with what was probably pretty poor form. I think I may have been using too narrow of a grip. I looked at some videos of proper form for the OH press and I seem to be off a bit. My elbows have been too low and not forward enough and my grip is too wide. Gonna increase weight by 5lbs next time and try to correct my form.
Dead lift 135lbs
1x5
these still felt easy, I almost wish I did 5x5 on these as well, but I’m sure that I’ll increase weight fast on these and I’ll be glad that I’m only doing one set.
I didn’t attempt any pull ups today. I’m gonna wait a bit until I get a bit stronger and weigh less.
20 minutes on the treadmill 3.5 speed.
I was wiped after today’s workout.
I have been slacking on my NEPA, I am going to try to pick up the pace with it. I cheated on my diet yesterday as I had to go out of town, but otherwise I have been sticking to it well. Shooting for 3 lbs a week weight loss.
[quote]tom8658 wrote:
I would keep the weight on the OH press the same or even drop it back to 65, whatever feels easy for you.
Better to get the form right with relatively easy sets and increase the weight when you feel comfortable with the movement.
I’m doing the same program, how do you like it so far?[/quote]
I may do that, I want to get the form correct. I’ll probably just keep it the same and work on form since I’ll be doing the OH press twice next week.
As far as the stronglifts program goes I’m pretty happy with it. I have been making good gains in strength and according to the scale I use have dropped about 3% body fat. My weight has been pretty stagnant this week but thats OK as long as I’m getting stronger and eating right I know the weight will come off. I think I may stop weighing myself except for weekly, probably Monday mornings.
The hardest part of the OH press for me was moving my head out of the way instead of moving the weight forward. And locking it out behind my head, it just feels wrong at first.
I really like the simplicity of the routine. When I first started lifting, I wasted months on complicated bodybuilding routines when I should have been focusing on strength. The only thing I don’t like about this particular routine is the 1x5 deadlift, I feel like I could do at least 3x5, and I really like pulling. But like you said, once the weight moves up, I’ll probably be glad to do only one set.
If I were you, I would weigh myself daily and then use excel to track the moving average of the last 7 days, that would give you the most accurate picture of how much weight you’re losing. That said, if you feel like you’ll obsess over the day-to-day numbers, once a week is probably better.
