StrongLifts 5x5 modifications

[daedala]

Hi all. I just realized I've been stalled on deadlifts in my current program for two months. Yikes! That means it's time to move on.

I am thinking of doing Stronglifts 5x5. It's a pretty basic squat/bench/row/press/deadlift program where you do 5 sets of 5 reps, start very light, and add weight every workout.

1. I bike a lot. Heavy squats and deadlifts will interfere with this. Given a choice between biking and lifting, biking wins. My average last year for the season was 70 miles per week; I'm aiming for 100.
2. I'm kind of worried about the form of barbell rows and the starting weight needed. Starting with 65 lbs (you need plates on the bar because you're starting from the floor) is reasonable for men. I'm not sure how reasonable it is for me. Stronglifts recommends starting with inverted rows if you have trouble with that, but those make my shoulders feel funny in a bad way.

Therefore, I'm thinking of doing 5x5 with the following modifications:

1. Reduce the volume on squats to 3x5 as soon as I feel like it interferes with biking. Maybe not the first week, but very soon. And go to twice a week rather than three times per week if needed.
2. Do assisted pullups (which my shoulders are fine with) instead of barbell or inverted rows. Start with 50% bodyweight as counterweight. My goal is pullups anyway.
3. Being female, my upper body strength kind of sucks. While I know I can do 5x5 with the 45 lb bar easily, I'll plateau really fast that way. So I will start with the 30 lb bar they have at my gym.

That would mean my workouts would look like this:

A
5x5 or 3x5 squats (start with empty bar at 5x5, go up 5 lbs per completed workout, drop to 3x5 fast)
5x5 bench (start with empty 30 lb bar, go up 5 or 2.5 lbs per competed workout, if I can find the fractional plates)
5x5 assisted pullups (start with a 70 lb counterweight, go down 5 lbs per completed workout)

B
3x5 squats
5x5 press (start with empty 30 lb bar, go up 5 or 2.5 lbs per competed workout, if I can find the fractional plates)
1x5 deadlift (not a modification, the is in the original, though I may use a lower starting weight)

Thoughts? I always get annoyed when someone talks about modifying an established program, so now I'm annoyed at myself. :) I realize that this program is somewhat compromised. But the original Stronglifts is very heavily geared towards men, and strongly recommends against doing cardio. I'm not as strong as a man, I won't make gains as quickly, and I want to go biking.

Comments

[daedala]

Oh, I agree it's appropriate to tailor programs, but then complaining that your tailored version of [whatever] doesn't work so [whatever] doesn't work gets up my nose. :)

And yes, I should have mentioned -- it's originally scheduled for 3x per week, I figured I'd start with that and drop to 2x if needed. Now that my health insurance no longer gives me anything for going to the gym regularly *mutter mutter*.....

My biking is Happy Commuter Biking. But apparently I do enough that I can keep up with competitive cyclists on a casual ride. I can't keep up if they go all-out, but their comfortable riding pace is good for me. I'm still pretty o.O about that. However, I didn't train much during the winter, so even a 20-mile ride now is noticeable....

My biggest concern is the assisted pullups for barbell rows. I've been reading around and it looks like inverted pullups are harder to do in good form than many people think, though, so maybe I just wasn't strong enough when I tried them. I can try again, I suppose. But I really want to do a pullup. I'm at the point where my 1rm for assisted pullup needs a 25% counterweight. I guess the worst that can happen is that I don't progress as quickly in bench and press as I would have, and I don't really care that much. I mean, I want to get stronger, but I'm not in a rush.

[abyssinia]

Oh, I agree it's appropriate to tailor programs, but then complaining that your tailored version of [whatever] doesn't work so [whatever] doesn't work gets up my nose. :)

Fair enough. I'm pretty sure if your goal is to get stronger, you're going to do that just fine.

I'm thinking about it, and pullups and barbell rows both engage your lats so there's definitely similar muscle groups. I've done plenty of barbell rows with an empty bar, so you should be okay with not having plates, but I agree the form is a bit tricky - it's something my coach corrects me on more than other lifts. I guess I'm not really clear what the difference is between a barbell row and inverted row, but I'd say if pullups are your goal, substituting them isn't a bad thing.

Honestly, I do think it looks good. Good luck and have fun!

[daedala]

Inverted rows are where you hang from a lowish (hip-height?) bar, with your legs stretched out, and row yourself up. One of the few valid uses for a Smith machine. :)

The more that I think of it, the more I bet the issue was strength/lat engagement, rather than form per se, since my lats are lazy little bastards. I'll do the program I made up for a while and THEN try the rows again.