Few Questions: 5x5 and protein queries!

[Anna PS]

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Yeah? It does appeal but generally anything that has "diet plan" anywhere on it makes me instantly sceptical because I'm a veggie and like to eat what I like rather than stick to some rigid kind of schedule. Have you tried it?

I've done two sessions this week, much to the hilarity of the massive boys in weights section of the gym who've been very sweet and helpful but insist on making me using the Smith instead of the power rack for squats which I'm not sure about, but I'm moving gym next week so should be able to start fresh!

Why!?!?!?!?!? the smith sucks for squats! The New Rules of Lifting is a GREAT lifting program and you can totally ignore the 'diet plan' section, i mean it informs you about general macros you should be aiming for (carb/prot/fat) buts its mostly a 6 month lifting program that I caaan't recommend enough! its amazing - big fan here ;-)

[GloomCookie]

Thanks, I suspected as much! I've really only heard bad things about the smith machine in terms of squats. It's just that I'm quite a little girl with pink stripy dreadlocks and these guys are mahoosive geezers with gold teeth etc and they're entertained and terrified by me doing serious weights in their bit of the gym in equal measure one of them insisted on bench pressing me the other night!

[Anna PS]

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Thanks, I suspected as much! I've really only heard bad things about the smith machine in terms of squats. It's just that I'm quite a little girl with pink stripy dreadlocks and these guys are mahoosive geezers with gold teeth etc and they're entertained and terrified by me doing serious weights in their bit of the gym in equal measure one of them insisted on bench pressing me the other night!

Hehe yeah well its quite common that women get given wack "advice" and not treated like equals in the weight floor but hey its time to show 'em eh? that's why i always recommend that book, gives you a rundown of the basic and so forth :-) there's also Starting Strength but its for some reason absurdly expensive in the UK....but yeah, get yourself properly educated about training so you don't have to listen to the 'mahoosive geezers' ;-)

[GloomCookie]

Yeah I'm really looking forward to my new gym where hopefully there won't be groups of guys saying things like "what's a little ting like you wanna do that for?"! I'm sold on that book having just read the first few pages on Amazon, the whole "toning" thing always makes me laugh, albeit it with a tinge of hysteria when I hear girls saying they haven't lost weight because they've put on muscle... I've ordered it and shall give it a good read but will crack on the 5x5 for the time being just to get started. Thank you!

[Anna PS]

Yay you've ordered it! you seriously won't regret it, it's amazing! it'll turn u into a gym pro; hehe so much misinformation in the context of women lifting weights; one could write a whole book on it! It's why i like NROL4w, tells it like it is, no more 'toning' "advice" and endless reps of myth :-)

[MissVanda]

Get off that Smiths Machine and tell those boys to shove it...use the power rack and crack on. The guys at my gym were great, made a few friends out of doing some decent squats and guys commenting on it being nice to see a girl training properly. They'll probably respect you more for holding your ground and insisting you use the rack. I did 9 weeks on the SL program and loved it. Will definitely revisit at some point in the future. It's a fantastic, easy program to follow and you will make big gains in strength. I haven't seen much of a change in weight, but I'm measuring in thinner and feel tighter, so I guess that's what you're looking for?

[GloomCookie]

That's exactly what I'm looking for! New gym is working out well, doesn't seem to have quite the same resident crew that my old one did, so I can get on with it a bit more. It's going well, but I am huuuurting (which feels good, but in a rather stiff kind of way!). Thanks for the replies, hopefully that book'll arrive soon so I can get into that as well.