Balancing StrongLifts with other workouts
I am very eager to start StrongLifts 5X5, but am apprehensive about how to balance it with my other physical activities. I know that recovery is key to the program’s success.
Background
I am a fit female in my 20s. My goal is to build a better base of functional strength, but I have no insane lifting aspirations. I’m a novice recreational boxer and avid longtime equestrian, so my workouts need to fit those athletic goals.
Here is the proposed schedule.
Sun: Core (~30 min)
Mon: Box & intervals (~60 min)
Tues: StrongLifts
Wed: Core (~20 min)
Thurs: StrongLifts
Fri: Box (~50-80 min)
Sat: StrongLifts
The amount of core work is needed for my riding. So far I’ve been using those days as “recovery” because, while quite difficult, those workouts no longer wear me out. Boxing is a challenging mix of circuit conditioning and actual punch work, but I am reasonably accustomed to it.
This schedule is not any more “workout time” than I’m currently doing (and I’d be dropping steady-state cardio and dumbbell work that I now realize was a bit pointless), but still I wonder if there’s not enough recovery.
Questions
Is this schedule unreasonable?
Should I drop StrongLifts to twice weekly in light of all these other activities?
Currently, I’m also doing a lot of pushup and chin-up work every other day (basically greasing the groove) and am unsure of how to combine that with this already rather packed schedule. Would it be crazy to add pushups and chin-ups to StrongLifts? Should I wait until I’m satisfied with my strength in those exercises to start StrongLifts? 3.
(3)3 Comments
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This schedule looks pretty good! On the SL site he discusses how to break up rest when adding in intense cardio here. Assuming your core days are not too much, everything looks in order, though I'm a little curious about what that work consists of. Your core strength will be tremendously increased if you follow the SL plan with correct form. Just don't wear those muscles out before your weight training as having a stable core is essential for good lifts.
Good luck!
pass,
Since your goal is to develop functional strength, StrongLifts is a great program for that. To get the best of StrongLifts, it's recommended to perform them 3 times a week. One of the reasons is because since you're starting with a low weight (empty bar), it would take a longer time for you to start lifting heavy weights.
Since core days are recovery days for you (your schedule will be out of whack if this assumption is false), your schedule should be fine, at least temporarily. As the weights get heavier, your bottleneck regions will be your legs, arms, and shoulders. Keep those in mind.
At the initial stages of StrongLifts, you might be able to add pushups and pull ups to the mix. However, as the load gets heavier, you might not have enough juice for pushups and pullups. In any case, start it and if/when you reach that bridge, adjust accordingly.
If you wanted to continue with push up/pull up's also, a lot of people have found gains supplementing their normal workout routines with a PLP routine.
Starting at 10 reps each, do your push ups, lunge, pull ups, and each day increment the number of reps by one. So "Day One" do 10 pushups, 10 pull ups, 10 lunges (each leg), "Day Two" do 11 of each, "Day 30" you're doing 40 reps of each.
More info at:
NerdFitness
T-Nation
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