I would like an opinion. In phase 3 workout B it says to a back flexion exercise. In the description of that exercise, it says to substitute a prone cobra as a home gym alternative. I'm confused because the prone cobra is later one of the exercises listed for everyone to do. Am I supposed to just do twice as many prone cobras then? That seems like a lot of prone cobras to me.
Moving onto the second half of stage 1 where I do 3 sets now. Phew! Feeling pretty good about my form on the deadlift and squat but I can't be sure. Can't wait to put some "big" plates on the ends of my bar. (by that I mean atleast 25lb where they look impressive haha)
Whoever said they could pump out a bajillion prone jack knives -- wow! They kill me at about rep 8 or 9.
Valaltogether--Isn't that a big step up when you go to three sets? I remember feeling it then. In stage 2, the workouts start to get longer. Now in stage 3 I'm often working out for a full 90 minutes. It actually makes it a little tricky for me to fit workouts into my schedule where I won't be interrupted. Don't worry, you'll be putting big weights on soon enough. There is at least 1 lift where I've got 70 pounds on the bar.
Ugh, I've had to postpone a couple workouts AND my diet hasn't been terrific, but that isn't going to stop me from trucking on ahead..
I had a fellow tell me I had good form on my deadlifts, happy about that!
3 sets has been different but not totally killer. I'm now up to less reps (8 instead of 10), so atleast there's that
So totally not taking the rest periods as I should. I just wait til I catch my breath and feel okay to do the next set. I think I was at the gym somewhere around 30 to 40 minutes for the latter half of stage 1. Hm..
I remember doing phase 1 workouts pretty quickly. Those were the good old days--lol! I know what you mean about not taking the rest between sets that you should. I'm still in phase 3 where you're supposed to take 105" between sets. With these workouts taking so long, I'm often cutting the rests short to move along. I don't think it's hurting anything, but I do wonder if it's changing anything. Lately, between being so busy and procrastinating, I've only been getting in 2 workouts some weeks. But I'm still going. I think that's what is important. And lately, I've been eating way too much with the Easter holiday and spring break here. I'll get back to eating right next week. So far, I haven't seen it on the scale so that's good. Congrats on those deadlifts! That's awesome.
Hi all! I'm Laura, 27 today, and I'm plugging away at reading NROL4FW. The first half of the book is extraordinarily boring, I can't wait to get to the meat of it.
I have never lifted before, but I am really excited to start. I'm super intimidated about doing it in a gym full of people, but I'm going to do my best to just suck it up and get over it. I'm going Tuesday to join a gym that just opened this week.
I work with all men, and everyone I work with is joining this gym, so I'm hoping that will make it less anxiety inducing for me, to have friendly faces there.
Those of you that went from being complete WLing newbies to doing NRLW, how long did it take you to feel comfortable in the weight room?
I wanted to buy equipment and do it at home, but I have been looking for over two months and can't find anything in my price range used that is what I need. They gym is only $40 a month, I figure I can justify that for my health's sake.
I have been stuck at 142 for 15 days now, to spite staying at my very reasonable calorie goal and exercising to DVDs 6 days a week. I am hoping lifting is the ticket to seeing some real changes in my body. I will takes inches or scale weight; I will be thrilled with any positive change!
Hi Laura! I busted through a plateau a few months ago and the only thing that I changed was that I added weight lifting. I started out as a complete newbie to weight lifting and am really enjoying it. I'm finishing up phase 3 right now. I bought everything to do it at home because I just don't have time to get myself to the gym. There have been many times I wished I was in the gym because I just don't have all the equipment to do all the exercises. I feel like I'm making it work though. Sorry, I don't have too much to tell you about the gym. If I were you, I would see if any of the ladies at work who are joining the gym might be interested in doing the program with you. I would have loved a workout buddy to do this with. Keep us posted on how it goes for you.
Hey Laura! I was a complete newbie, too. In the past, I had done some of the machines but never spent more than 10 minutes out there. I still like to go to the gym during the more "off" hours just for the sake of not having to wait.
If you are on facebook, look into the NROLFW group. People are posting there constantly! Always uploading helpful videos. Always eager to answer any questions you might have. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/NROL4W/)
As for your weight..you might want to ditch the scale for a while and switch to a tape measure.
And for me...two more workouts and i'm done with stage 1! I'll miss you stage 1. Going to take pictures by the end of this week, and i'm a little nervous to compare them to my before before pictures (took these like, 7 months ago). Going to take sets of pictures after every stage. Woop woop.
Feelin proud! Stage 2, I will focus more on my diet since it has been less than ideal. My weight is up but i'm trying not to let it bother me since my clothes more or less fit the same.
Those are some very impressive stats! You should feel proud. Don't worry about the weight gain. As you already know, it's how those clothes fit that will be most telling. Keep going!
OH my god..so my one week off between stages became almost a month! So embarrassed I went back to the gym yesterday to do a stage 1 session just to get me back into the swing of things before starting stage 2 and I think I died. Was doing squats @ 85 lbs and it felt like I pulled a muscle in my leg. I actually cut my workout short..couldn't make it through the step ups because I didn't want to injure myself. Feeling the pain today, but its just soreness.
Oh man! That's too bad. It's good that you went back to it and didn't just give up. I'm finishing up stage 4 this week and think sticking with it is totally worth it. I can seriously see that I look and feel better than before I started lifting. You were smart to cut it short today if you were concerned about injury. I've done that too before, especially when I was concerned about my knees. Better to be safe than sorry. You'll have a better assessment of the situation tomorrow, for better or for worse. I got my first weight lifting injury two days ago, but thankfully it was just a flesh wound. I tripped over my weight bench while trying to maneuver a loaded bar over it. Stupid, unsafe maneuver, I know.
May I revive this thread? I have been wanting to shake up my workouts for a while so I read NROLFW and this week I started the program. I am an experienced lifter and so Stage 1 workouts feel a little abbreviated and easy to me. What I mean is I can make the individual exercises challenging with load selection, but the workout itself is very brief and I still have energy left in the tank when I'm done. That said, I decided to follow the routines exactly anyhow; it's not a bad thing to lighten up for a bit and I know they will get more challenging later. And, there are some exercises in there that I haven't done before - I never did those Swiss ball jackknives and they are legit difficult!
Anyway I'm excited about it. I geeked out and got a workout-tracking iPad app to record my workouts in, and so far it's a lot of fun.
but i'm trying not to let it bother me since my clothes more or less fit the same.
