I have been Robert Scoble like in my rabid reading of blogs. While doing so one day, I ran across stronglifts.com. I subscribed a while back, but I never really read much of the content. It was too body-builder-ish for me. But a recent post caught my attention: How Will Smith Became Successful and How You Could Too. Take a look. There is a great video where Will Smith says the two keys to life are Running & Reading.
Motivated and Inspired. I needed to do some reading. I thought to myself. What can I get my hands on to read? I have said in the past, “You are What You Eat, Read, and Do.” So, if you read junky, rumor-monger tabloids. then, you become a rumor-monger yourself. If you read economics books, you will become an economist.
I want to improve my physical fitness. So, I need to read Fitness books. Since, I subscribed to stronglifts.com rss feed, I noticed a link for a free StrongLifts 5×5 eBook, and I decided to check it out.
Wow, There are some gems in that book, and I can’t believe it’s free.
Bad workouts are better than no workouts. They train you mentally & reinforce the exercise habit. Don’t rationalize.
You are what you repeatedly do. Make a plan & stick to it. No matter what.
See, what I mean about gems.
I don’t agree with everything the eBook suggests, but I can not knock it because I have not tried the 5×5 program.
At a glance, The program suggests working out 3 times a week 30 minutes each time. During your workout you will perform:
- Squats
- Overhead Press
- Bench Press
- Deadlift
- Barbell Row
- Pull-ups & Chin-ups (optional)
- Dips (optional)
Here’s why I will not do it. The author strongly recommends squats. To do squats effectively one needs the appropriate gym equipment and fairly flexible hips and ankles. Guess what, that strikes me out on two accounts. I do not have the appropriate gym equipment and my hips and ankles are stiffer than a rusty break-dancing Wizard of Oz Tin Man trying to do a Mr. Robot move.
Of course, it does not help that StrongLifts does not mention Simpleweight as the service for tracking your eating, exercising, and biometrics. (strike 3 and your out) I’ll give him a pass since Simpleweight is still a rather new service.
The other thing I love about the ebook are the inspirational quotes from Napoleon Hill. Napoleon Hill is excellent. I love his books. So, Of course, I have to follow with the closing strong lifts Napoleon Hill quote.
“You can do it if you believe you can.”
If I believe I can follow the weight lifting program prescribed, then I can do it. There I go again: Thinking and Losing Weight.
So, Do I recommend the book?
Yes, I recommend the book. One can not beat the Price (free), and it’s a good quick read.
Do I recommend the workout?
I recommend the workout plan for those with the appropriate equipment and reasonable hip & ankle flexibility. The exercises are great and the program looks straight forward.
However for those without access to the appropriate equipment, I think the are other methods to achieve the same benefits using more of a dumb-bell workout. I’ll talk about those in the future.