Few Questions: 5x5 and protein queries!

[GloomCookie]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to tighten up my training (and my body!) a bit and was hoping to get some help with a few things I'm puzzling over...

Firstly, I assume the 5x5 is as good for women as it is for men, but will it benefit me if I've already been doing BodyPump classes for a few years?

And I'm a bit confused on the protein issue; I'm not sure whether I really need to be having 1g per pound of body weight, it seems an awful lot! I was told before that it was 1g per kg of bodyweight so I'm unsure which is correct.

At the moment, per week (and over 4 - 5 days as some of these are back to back), I do 3 spin classes, 2 -3 pump classes, an abs/back session, 1 - 2 mixed aerobics/free weights & resistance classes, some yoga and a bit of running and swimming. I'm moving to Virgin Active next month so hoping to take advantage of their swanky sounding ViPR and TRX classes, but for the meantime I just want to cut some body fat, get leaner and stronger so thought perhaps 5x5 might be the trick?

I'm a veggie but my diet is very clean, the only potential issue is that perhaps I'm not eating enough protein.

So, sorry for the ramble, any suggestions gratefully received!

[Tox]

Hi..idealy yes..1g of protein per bodyweight for improoving muscle mass etc. If your a veggie then there is nothing wrong with getting a lot of that from a few shakes, natural yogs and cheeses is also good (cottage cheese/quark etc).
5x5 is also good for woman training there is two lasses here (at least) that train using that kinda routine, im sure they could help. Really there is no difenerce betwen male and female resistance training..apart from males tend to want to lift heaver and bigger to gain lots of muscle mass, but routines should be similar.
You must be fairly fit already doing all these classes!

[GloomCookie]

Thank you! More chocolate mint for me then, awesome. I am trying to ramp up the dietary protein but I would struggle to hit 120g a day on diet alone I think so an extra shake as a snack might be the answer. I'm going to look into the 5x5 tonight to see what kind of weights I need to be doing then but if anyone can give me a hand that'd be great.

I guess I'm pretty fit, nothing like what I want to be but then I guess we're never satisfied!

[Tox]

120g per day..easy. 2 x 40g protein shakes (1 morning, 1 night), 1 tub quark or cottage cheese and 3-4 eggs (do you eat eggs). Eat fish at all? you also get decent protein in nuts...and some in oats. Mix oats with you protein powder..i do this every morning for breakfast and mix in a smoothy maker with fruit also.

not sure how much weight traing you do ...or have done. But if you start off light for a few sesions then the weights will ramp up quickly. Youll know when you start getting somehwere!

[SphinX]

kidney beans, lentils, soy beans, tofu, soy meats, variety of cheese or soy cheese, brown rice, quinoa, oats, wholemeal breads - pasta - pitta variety of green veggies like broccoli, milk, variety of nuts.

breakfast : oats, milk + some berries
snack: nuts, some fruit
Lunch: omelette with 10g cheese variety of green veggies
pre-post workout: oats,whey protein,banana,milk = smoothie - best time to have your carbs as body will use this during and post your workout.
dinner: beans, lentils,tofu with selection of mixed veggies maybe some brown rice/pasta
Late snack: (if you're still hungry) cottage cheese + fruit

you don't have to have 6 meals but if you feel you can't fit that much food into a meal seperate it into more meals..120g protein /6 meals = 20g of protein per meal which is nothing or have 4 meals consisting of 30g protein in a meal..main thing is consuming the protein needs.

5x5 is a great way of strengthening your core. Main aims are to build strength, muscle while losing fat. It consist of compound exercises so uses more muscles. I wouldn't advise doing 5x5 alongside your current routine, as it may get a bit too much. Anyway good luck, let us know how you get on.

P.S i always pressume people workout in the afternoon hence why i put pre-post workout later in the day :P

[GloomCookie]

Thanks so much for the replies guys

I haven't been able to start yet because I've come down with a proper nasty cold but I'm going to try and give it a whirl tomorrow, starting light and doing three sessions a week with a couple of HIIT sessions on alternating days.

I began my 120g protein a day target yesterday, which proved highly entertaining as 1) Wagamamas turned up at the university on their "Noodle Tour" giving away free noodles and 2) Ben & Jerry's have brought back my favourite flavour for a limited time only (but I think it'd be too sweet for me these days, hopefully anyway) but I managed 100g and my food looked like this:

Fruit, Greek yoghurt, oats, protein shake
Bioskinny bar
Greek salad & Nakd bar
Roasted soya beans
Mushroom, cashew nut, edamame, various kinds of leaves stir fry type affair
Marmite rice cake & cottage cheese, protein shake

I got stuck for lunch so had to buy the salad which was low protein, today's is much better, aduki bean and edamame salad with eggs so 27g, I should get 120g today I think.

I'll let you know how I get on, not sure how fast to increase the weights but I suppose it's kind of trial and error a bit?!

[dope540]

Weight increase on 5x5, is a 1.25kg each side each workout

[Anna PS]

Why don't you try the New Rules of Lifting for Women!??? Aweeeeesome lifting program!

[GloomCookie]

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!

[tony4100]

You deffo want to stick to the rack for squats. If they try that in the new gym, just tell 'em the smith machine was invented to do inverted rows!