starting strength gym
Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Female Advice?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Posts
    4

    Default Female Advice?

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
    • starting strength seminar jume 2024
    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    Hello everyone.

    I am about finished with Mark's Starting Strength and went in for my first A workout. Felt pretty comfortable and confident doing the lifts and was enjoying it. I saw in the book it mentioned females should go up by increments of 10 lbs. on the deadlift, 5 lbs. on the squat and 2.5 lbs. on the rest. However, I am still a teenager, 17, and heard that could affect the numbers. Is it unheard of for a teenage female to sustain heavier growth?

    Stats:
    Height: 5'5"
    Weight: 135 lb.
    BF: 22%
    Calories: 2200 /day (110+ protein)
    Squat: 85 lb. 3×5
    Bench: 70 lb. 3×5
    Deadlift: 120 lb. 3x5
    Press: 60 lb. 3x5

    Thanks for taking the time to read through this.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    7,856

    Default

    That deadlift recommendation is really only for a short time, when the learning curve of doing the movement more and more efficiently each workout allows some early gains. In the absence of working with an experienced coach, just do a few 10 lb jumps - assuming the weight still feels easy - and the switch to five. It'll sort out before too long. 5 lbs on the squat and 2.5 on the press should work well for a while, though you might later want to use some 2.5 lb jumps on the squat and 1 lb jumps on the press.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Posts
    4

    Default

    That's in total weight, right? So adding 2.5 lb. per side per workout (on the squat)?

  4. #4
    Brodie Butland is offline Starting Strength Coach
    Consigliere
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Cleveland
    Posts
    3,930

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sweetietea View Post
    That's in total weight, right? So adding 2.5 lb. per side per workout (on the squat)?
    I'm not Wolf, but yes.

    If you go to a commercial gym, you may have to bring your own 1.25 lbs weights for 2.5 lbs jumps. Commercial gyms usually don't have plates less than 2.5 lbs.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    793

    Default

    Also, when females begin to stall on 3x5 they should switch to 5x3. That's not on Starting Strength, but on Practical Programming.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    630

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sweetietea View Post
    Hello everyone.

    I am about finished with Mark's Starting Strength and went in for my first A workout. Felt pretty comfortable and confident doing the lifts and was enjoying it. I saw in the book it mentioned females should go up by increments of 10 lbs. on the deadlift, 5 lbs. on the squat and 2.5 lbs. on the rest. However, I am still a teenager, 17, and heard that could affect the numbers. Is it unheard of for a teenage female to sustain heavier growth?

    Stats:
    Height: 5'5"
    Weight: 135 lb.
    BF: 22%
    Calories: 2200 /day (110+ protein)
    Squat: 85 lb. 3×5
    Bench: 70 lb. 3×5
    Deadlift: 120 lb. 3x5
    Press: 60 lb. 3x5

    Thanks for taking the time to read through this.
    I have coached a decent number of teenage female lifters through LP over the last 2 years. Listen to Wolf's recommendations. Switch to triples (5 sets of 3) when you need to (when you start missing your 5's). Also, and this may be anathema to some here, when you start stalling out and are approaching the end of LP, don't be afraid to move your increases to once a week and do that for as long as you can. At that point, you can figure out Intermediate Programming.

    My experience is that teenage girls actually handle LP better than teenage guys. Guys are, as a whole, soft, conceited, and not committed. The girls show up, log their lifts, put in the work, and don't whine. You'll be fine. Don't let anyone tell you differently.
    Last edited by crookedfinger; 03-23-2017 at 03:29 PM. Reason: grammar

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Thanks for the help everyone! Out looking for some 1.25 lb. weights now.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    151

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sweetietea View Post
    Thanks for the help everyone! Out looking for some 1.25 lb. weights now.
    Cheapest solution - get 1.25 pounds of chain cut at Home Depot, zip tie the ends together, done!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    2,656

    Default

    Also an option: McMaster Carr washers: McMaster-Carr They're cheap, you can get six so you can load 1.25/2.5/3.75 lbs at a time. I paid $15 including shipping for them.

    Here's a good review of them: https://mannixcastro.com/2011/10/08/...-microloading/

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Posts
    311

    Default

    starting strength coach development program
    Quote Originally Posted by Sweetietea View Post
    Thanks for the help everyone! Out looking for some 1.25 lb. weights now.
    Look no further.
    http://startingstrength.com/resource...ates-sale.html

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •