Newbie Woman Questions

[Neilfamily]

Hi,
I am a 37 yr old mother of 4. I've always been weak and decided to change that.
I started doing the SS program 3 weeks ago after studying the book and video.
There is so much info in the book about men and how much they should eat and expect to gain in the way of weight and strength, but not as much info for women on these subjects.
I would be so grateful if someone experienced would glance at my training log and tell me if I'm on the right track...Also, how much more than normal I should expect to eat and gain...
I started out at about 120 pounds, and I am 5' 4''...have gained 2-3 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks. The only measurements of mine that have changed are around the top part of my chest. There I have gained a good inch.
I didn't include warm-ups here, but I did them...

Day1:just figuring out movements and weights
Squat 50+bar=68 lbs Press 48x5x3 Deadlift 88x5x1
Day2: Squat 68x5/58x5/48x5 Deadlift 88x5x1 Bench 58x5/53x5/48x5
Day3: Squat 60x5x3 Press 48x5x3 Deadlift 93x5x1
quads quite sore but not injury-sore
Day4: Squat 68x5x2/63x5 Deadlift98x5x1 Bench 58x4/58x1,53x4/50x5
Day5: Squat 70x5x3 Press 50x5x3 Deadlift 103x5
Day6: Squat 73x5x2/73x3 Bench 58x5/58x3+2w/help/58x5 Clean 40x5 (learning)
Day7: Squat 76x5/73x5x2 Press 50x5x3 Deadlift 105x5
groin sore, a not-so-good soreness
Day8: Squat 76x5x3 Bench 60x53 (last rep needed help) Clean 40x5x3
groin worse, skipping one session to heal
Day9: Squat 76x5x3 Press 53x5x3 Deadlift 108x5
Day10: Squat 78x5/78x1/58x5 Press 61x5x3 Clean 43x5x3
sharp groin pain in 2nd squat set
any advice?

THANK YOU for your help!

[xcardiobunny]

Hi and welcome! The first thing I suggest as you are having pain is doing a form check. Actually, I would lay off a day or two before squatting again. I have not experienced pain as a result of squatting so can't give more insight on that, there are a lot of experienced people here who can look at videos of your squat and help.
As far as what to eat, it is hard to say while not knowing where you are starting. Generally the advice is to eat more protein then you are used to, but for all I know you are eating 200 grams of it a day.

I'm older then you (44) and progression has been slower then 5 lbs a session for me but other women here progress quickly and lift a lot more, so I think it is an individual thing that relates more to lifestyle then cut and dried "You've trained this long and should lift this much". Also, I've taken a month off here and there to go on vacation or deal with things out of town which hasn't made my strength progression any faster. I'm uncoached and trying to avoid injury too and so err on the side of caution.

I suggest you take a look at the other women's logs here (T-Bone, Gillian, Gwynn, michele, melody, yonkyogirl) if you haven't already done so, even if they are in the competitive section, for a look at what is possible. If you want you can also see mine which is linked under my member name here. Also, search Repetitive Inquiries for groin pain while squatting, there must be info there.

I hope that helps a bit, good luck and have fun!

[Kyle Aaron]

Men, same, women, same, everyone same. Physically anyway. Obviously there are psychological difference, how much is due to nature and how much to culture is up to argument. But the bodies are the same when it comes to progressive resistance training - at least for beginners.

There's a difference between sore and hurt. Any time you try a new exercise or increase reps or something you'll be sore, but this soreness disappears within 72 hours and is not an actual injury. When you have an injury you're hurt. To say more we'd need to know your health issues (if any) and see your form. Someone with no health issues and good form is going to be sore. Someone who has health issues and/or has poor form may end up hurt. This is why people get coaches to start them off, or at least post up form check videos on this forum. Get a coach.

As for food, basically almost everyone needs to eat more protein, more fresh fruit and vegies, more nuts and beans, and consume less alcohol and junk food; "junk food" is any food where the packet is more colourful than the contents. From there you adjust as you go. If after a month you are smaller or the same and wanted to be bigger, eat more; if bigger or the same and wanted to be smaller, eat less; if bigger, smaller or the same and wanted to be that way, keep doing what you're doing.

Unless you are seriously underweight or obese, which at 5'4" and 120 you're not, don't worry too much about bodyweight. Eat good food and lift properly, and your body will find the right weight for it. As for where you can go, as Teri said, look at logs of others for examples. How far can you go? Further than you think, your mind will limit you much more than your body.

You're not doing the programme, you've started too high and are increasing weights when you can't handle the lower weight. The programme is to do the target sets and reps, and if you can complete them with good form, do more next time - even just one pound. But if you can't complete all the sets and reps, you DO NOT increase the weight.

So for example -

Day 4 you squatted 68lbs for 2 sets of 5, then for some reason dropped the weight 5lbs and did a set with those. '
Day 5 you increased the weight to 70lbs and did 3 sets of 5 with that. Why did you increase to 70lbs when you couldn't do 68lbs 3 sets of 5?
Day 6 you increased to 73lbs and after 2 sets of 5, perhaps felt fatigued or something and dropped the weight to do 73lbs x3.
Day 7, despite not successfully completing 3 sets of 5, you increased the weight, and again couldn't do 3 sets of 5 with it.

All this jumping up and down within workouts, abandoning of weights you could handle followed by leaping up next workout, is very very characteristic of beginners working out on their own. Focus, stay the course.

This is how it should look, just for example

Session 1: 45lb 5,5,5 - completed all sets, increase weight next time
Session 2: 50lb 5,5,3 - could not complete all sets, try again next time
Session 3: 50lb 5,5,5 - completed all sets, increase weight next time
Session 4: 55lb 5,5,5 - completed all sets, increase weight next time
Session 5: 60lb 5,3,5 - here you could do it at the end but not in the middle, what happened? Probably you didn't rest enough between sets. You note in your journal to rest more next time.
Session 6: 60lb 5,5,5 - completed all sets, increase weight next time
(etc)

Start with just the empty bar. Try for the target reps. When you can do all sets and reps at that weight, increase next time. If you can't do them, don't increase. There's no hurry. Add 1lb a week to the empty bar and in two years you'll be squatting 265, which by then will be just over twice your bodyweight.

The programme has this simple method for the very good reason that people are inclined to fuck it up. People tend to either wuss out and not increase weights when they can, or be too ambitious and start too high and progress too fast. Start low and easy, progress slowly and steadily. This is much better for your body and mind, and stops you burning out, cracking the shits and giving up and returning to the couch to eat Doritos and watch bad television.

[hrat]

I'm no expert, but I'm female and "did SS"
In terms of weight gain etc, I think I managed about 3 months on SS, went from BW(bodyweight) 130 to 135 lb and squat about 70lb to 135lb. You can likely reach about BW squat without having to gain much weight. Don't eat a ton, just get decent amounts of fat and protein, and eat more if you're hungry, little less if you're gaining more than say 1lb per week.
For pain, what I've heard is; if it's getting worse as you warm up, stop, there's a problem. If it's improving, carry on but obviously cautiously. If neither, just have to use your judgement.

[Neilfamily]

Hi and welcome! The first thing I suggest as you are having pain is doing a form check. Actually, I would lay off a day or two before squatting again. I have not experienced pain as a result of squatting so can't give more insight on that, there are a lot of experienced people here who can look at videos of your squat and help.
As far as what to eat, it is hard to say while not knowing where you are starting. Generally the advice is to eat more protein then you are used to, but for all I know you are eating 200 grams of it a day.

I'm older then you (44) and progression has been slower then 5 lbs a session for me but other women here progress quickly and lift a lot more, so I think it is an individual thing that relates more to lifestyle then cut and dried "You've trained this long and should lift this much". Also, I've taken a month off here and there to go on vacation or deal with things out of town which hasn't made my strength progression any faster. I'm uncoached and trying to avoid injury too and so err on the side of caution.

I suggest you take a look at the other women's logs here (T-Bone, Gillian, Gwynn, michele, melody, yonkyogirl) if you haven't already done so, even if they are in the competitive section, for a look at what is possible. If you want you can also see mine which is linked under my member name here. Also, search Repetitive Inquiries for groin pain while squatting, there must be info there.

I hope that helps a bit, good luck and have fun!

Thank you! I will check out their logs.

[Neilfamily]

Thank you so much for pointing out how my log "should have" looked. In the book, I don't recall him mentioning people not being able to complete their reps! It emphasized how you were supposed to add weight every time, and that if you were eating enough and resting enough you would be able to do it. And when I couldn't, I wasn't sure what to do. That may sound dumb to experienced people, but I just didn't know what to do.
Regarding the groin pain, it is hurt pain, not sore pain. I had been told by a phys therapist 3-4 years ago that my groin muscles were weak and tight. So I guess they will be the limiting factor on my squats. I will lower the weight and do what you said--take it easy and do 3 sets and let the groin muscles get up to speed (after taking a good break to let them heal). Thanks.
My husband is spotting me, and that has been necessary and helpful. I looked at the list of SS coaches, and there are none anywhere near me.
Any suggestions on finding a good coach, or is it just going to gyms and seeing who's available?

[bob g]

...
I suggest you take a look at the other women's logs here (T-Bone, Gillian, Gwynn, michele, melody, yonkyogirl) if you haven't already done so, even if they are in the competitive section, for a look at what is possible. If you want you can also see mine which is linked under my member name here. Also, search Repetitive Inquiries for groin pain while squatting, there must be info there.

There aren't too many women around these parts and it's a shame. You'll find that their contributions are consistently worthwhile and usually quite funny. I have three daughters and coached women's sports. I understand that a fella can be accurate with his comments but a lot of the time it is just better to hear it from another woman. Ask questions when you have them and maybe, if the usual suspects can stay out of it, you'll get some great advice from the SS womenz.

I hope that helps a bit, good luck and have fun!

Indeed.

[Karl Schudt]

Try to get some weights for micro loading. Ironwoodyfitness.com has some. My wife goes up slowly but steadily in all her lifts. Remember that it is a marathon, and you have the rest of your life to get strong. Going up a pound a workout is still going up! My wife has tripled her squat so far, from 45 to 139.

[Austin]

What kind of "hurt" pain was it? I've had muscle soreness, but I've also had bone soreness and tendon soreness. Can you tell what part of your body is talking to you? When I had bone soreness it was in my femurs and hips - my form was off, and I ended up doing a reset and fixing my form and it went away. Maybe take some calcium supplements? Or drink milk...
My toes weren't out enough, but I was pushing my knees out. So there was like a shearing/twisting force on my femurs. I wouldn't really feel it when I was lifting but I felt it right after I was done and for a couple hours after that.
Finding a coach isn't that easy - you never know what you're going to get. Re-reading the chapters and recording yourself and looking for flaws could help as well.

[yonkyogirl]

I've had groin pain from squatting for a while now, but only during the warm up sets and never particularly bad. My knees have a tendency to come in on the heavier sets and I have a feeling it's from that so I'm resetting down to where I can maintain good form and working back up from there. Not saying that's your problem, or that my diagnosis is correct, but it may be something to check. Welcome!