Winston's Log: Stronglifts 5x5

[WinstonPerry]

Started Stronglifts 5x5.

I'm about 5ft 11, weight just under 11 stones. Body type is skinny fat I'd say.

Started on Monday (green denotes success):

Squat 20kg 5/5/5/5/5

Overhead press 20kg 5/5/5/5/5

Barbell Row 30kg 5/5/5/5/5

Wednesday

Squat 22.5kg 5/5/5/5/5

Bench Press 20kg 5/5/5/5/5

Deadlift 40kg 5/5/5/5/5

Friday

Squat 25kg 5/5/5/5/5

Overhead Press 22.5kg 5/5/5/5/5

Barbell Row 32.5kg 5/5/5/5/5

I'm going to update every Friday.

I'm aiming for around 200g - 250g of protein a day.

One thing I've found though for deadlifts & the barbell rows is that because the weights are so low, I'm having to crouch down further and compromise my form just so I can get a grip - I assume that'll correct itself once I increase the weight, but is this a common problem?

Also, I've seen two different variants for the barbell rows - I'm pulling to the chest, but others have said you pull to the stomach / waist - what's the correct way of doing it?

Cheers

[WinstonPerry]

Things are going okay and I'm making progress. I've just stalled on OP at 30kg (5/5/5/4/3) - should get it next time.

But I'm getting slight soreness / pain in my left hip - the part between my hip and thigh. This was at 40kg. I double checked my form and I wasn't pushing my knees out - I've now corrected that and took a break from squatting on the Wednesday; I just squatted now with my form corrected and I was okay with just the bar and at 30kg, when I went up to 40kg it started getting sore again. I wouldn't say it's painful, more like a dull ache - didn't feel anything during the squat, just afterwards. Starting to go away now (an hour after training).

Could this be a simple strain or could it be something a little more serious?

[Deviation]

Probably your IT band. Try some foam rolling before and after to help loosen you up. There's a ton of videos on youtube showing you how.

I do it regularly. Just to prevent issues.

[WinstonPerry]

Thanks for that info - I squatted on Monday and there was no pain, I'm going to see how it is today. I'll update fully on Friday.

I'm reviewing what I eat though - the message seemed to be 'eat clean and eat a lot' but I'm starting to get a gut - none my jeans fit anymore and this after only a month on the pgramme. I'm 5ft 11 and 5 weeks ago I weighed about 10 stone 11 pounds (about 151 pounds), I now weight 12 stone 6 pounds (174 pounds).

I eat clean - nuts, meat, fruit etc. - but clearly I'm eating too much. Getting fat isn't part of the plan. This is my diet:


Breakfast Calories
Museli Mix 700
Banana 100
Protein Shake 100

Snack
200g Nuts 1100

Lunch
3 x Eggs 300
100g Biltong 320
Apple 100
Protein Shake 100

Dinner
Chicken 200
Peas / Beans 100
Protein Shake 100

Snack
Protein Shake 100


Total 3320 calories (give or take)

I was up until today drinking two pints of whole milk a day as well, which is about 750 calories, so I was consuming 4,070 calories a day (give or take).

I'm ditching the milk and see it goes - I'm a month in and although I'm making strength gains, my body doesn't look that much different but I'm getting fat and my clothes don't fit - that ain't good. Anyone got any suggestions?

[decu68]

In my opinion you are taking in too many calories at 3320. At 151 pounds and just starting out you don't need to eat a whole lot more; at least not yet. As you start to get a stronger and are seeing the muscles form that is when you start upping your calorie intake but do so slowly so that your body can adapt to it. Taking in too much all at once your body will not know what to do with it and that is when you will start to put on unwanted weight. One guideline used in the weight lifting world to maintain your body weight is to multiple your weight by 20. Even if you have solid muscle already at this weight you are taking in slightly more calories than needed. If gaining unwanted weight you need to cut back. This unfortunately will happen throughout your lifting; trying to find that happy medium of eating enough to grow and not eating too much you are gaining unwanted weight.

I won't be able to tell you what amount of calories you should take in as each person will be different but perhaps maybe start at 2500 calories. Also listen to your body and if hungry than eat. Eat at reasonable times and eat clean. Also don't mistake hunger for thirst because the body sometimes cannot distinguish between the two. Drink first and if not satisified than eat.

Also look at upping your cardio to burn those extra unwanted calories/fat. I was never huge on too much cardio until recently and oh what a difference especially visually.

Good luck.

[Deviation]

I'd have to agree with decu68 on this. You're way over. And when you hit 4000+, wow.

I don't know how old you are, but a 30yr old at 5'11" & 151lbs has a BMR of 1670 calories. That's the absolute lowest calories you can take in and function. That said for the SL 5x5 program, you'd be looking at about 2300-2500 calories tops. That's going to vary some depending on how active you are outside of training.

To bulk, you need to start by adding roughly 300 calories to that. So 2800 calories to get started. You can run your own numbers: http://digitaldeviation.com/calc/ Everyone is different. Start low and work up. Remember it takes more than a week to see changes. Give it a few weeks and adjust as needed.

What are you tracking your food intake with?

[WinstonPerry]

I'd have to agree with decu68 on this. You're way over. And when you hit 4000+, wow.

I don't know how old you are, but a 30yr old at 5'11" & 151lbs has a BMR of 1670 calories. That's the absolute lowest calories you can take in and function. That said for the SL 5x5 program, you'd be looking at about 2300-2500 calories tops. That's going to vary some depending on how active you are outside of training.

To bulk, you need to start by adding roughly 300 calories to that. So 2800 calories to get started. You can run your own numbers: http://digitaldeviation.com/calc/ Everyone is different. Start low and work up. Remember it takes more than a week to see changes. Give it a few weeks and adjust as needed.

What are you tracking your food intake with?

Thanks both of you for the input. The 4,000 calorie intake is what was recommended on the stronglifts site - it's clearly a load of BS. At 5ft 11 and at about 150 or so pounds I was underweight and wasn't eating enough, so putting on a couple of pounds probably wasn't too bad a thing. I've just turned 25.

I've been chatting to someone and he's told me my protein intake - which is about 200g at the moment - is way too high for my current bodyweight; so this is what I've decided to action:

• Halving cashew nuts to 100g
• Halving biltong to 50g
• Scrapping two protein shakes

[*][/LIST]
That should give me about 2,410 calories and about 140g of protein - what do you think?

Comment was also made on the amount of carbs I eat, which is mostly from the museli & fruit / veg. The museli is a mix of flax, hemp, wheat germ & wheat bran, so it's full of good minerals / nutriets / fibre - don't really want to touch that to be honest, but I could scrap the fruit and veg if that'd make any difference?

Cheers guys.

Incidentally, as for tracking food everything I eat is measured / taken into work in a container, so overeating isn't really an issue. Once I've decided on the measurements, I'll be fine sticking to it.

[Deviation]

If you want to pack on some weight, you'll need those carbs. I would look at a 50/30/20 ratio of carbs/protein/fats. How you get those is up to you.

[WinstonPerry]

If you want to pack on some weight, you'll need those carbs. I would look at a 50/30/20 ratio of carbs/protein/fats. How you get those is up to you.

I've revised my diet now and ended up with something like this:

Breakfast Calories
Museli Mix 700 (Protein: 28g) (Carbs: 55g)
Banana 100 (Carbs: 27g)

Snack
100g Nuts 550 (Protein: 18g) (Carbs: 30g)

Lunch
4 x Eggs 300 (Protein: 25g)
Apple 70 (Carbs: 16g)

Dinner
Cheese 325 (Protein:20g) (Carbs: 1g)
Mackerel 325 (Protein:25g)

Snack
Protein Shake 100 (Protein:20g) (Carbs: 2g)
30g Peanut Butter 174 (Protein: 6g) (Carbs: 6g)

Total 2,644 (Protein:142g) (Carbs: 137g)

Cheese is hollumi, which has 3g salt per 100g, it's quite high but it should be okay as it's the only high salt content food I'm eating really.

What do you think?

[Deviation]

It's less about exactly what you eat and more about the macros (macronutrients) & calories. Let's use the numbers you have.

2644 calorie diet

548 calories from carbs (137g * 4)
568 calories from protein (142g * 4)
-------
1116 calories

2644 - 1116 = 1528 calories remaining

1528 calories = 169.7g of fat (1528 / 9)

Your ratio (carbs/protein/fats): 21%/21%/58%

This is completely opposite of what you want to do. You're missing a macro when you layout your diet: FAT. Fat itself doesn't make you fat, but it's very calorie dense. On that note, let me explain the above numbers a little.

1g of carbs = 4 calories
1g of protein = 4 calories
1g of fat = 9 calories

Again, FORGET what you're eating. You need to design the diet (macros & cals) THEN fit your food in it. Get an app like www.myfitnesspal.com. Hope this helps some.