[Changergirl]

Remington90- Congrats on your progress. I'm really hoping to see bigger gains as the reps decrease. And if you want a place to put your progress I don't mind you hijacking this thread, it's open to anyone whose doing NRs. It'd be interesting to see some comparisons as I feel I should be be doing more. I'm so weak or at least I used to be.

[Changergirl]

Did S1A3 today which meant my reps went down and the weight went up. I did my pushups on a lower bench, they still aren't very good but I feel like they are getting better which is good. The whole workout only took about 25 minutes with the step ups taking the longest. I still need to work on my form for them as I feel like I'm still using my back leg a bit. Overall I felt good. I'm actually looking forward to the next stage as I believe the workouts will be quite a bit longer and I want more!!!

Squats: 1x12@45kg; 1x12@50kg
Pushups: 12- 30 degrees(?)
Seated Row: 12@25kg
Pushups: 12- 30 degrees(?)
Seated Row: 12@25kg- this set was difficult to finish.
Step Ups: 12@10kg
Plank: 60 sec- on my elbows, still need to get my butt down lower
Step Ups: 12@10kg
Plank: 60 seconds.

I think right now my goals are to be able to do proper pushups by the end of this stage. I'm not sure if I'll make it as there are only 5 more days of pushups left and I don't do any outside of this. I'd also like to improve my form for the plank and get to 90 seconds, since I'm doing one every workout I think it should be doable.

[Changergirl]

S1B3 kicked my butt today. I upped the weights for everything and while I finished each set the last couple reps were really difficult. I think that is the point of this so I'm proud of myself. Though I'll be more proud once those numbers get even higher.

Deadlift: 2x12 @35kg
Shoulder press: 12@10kg
Pulldown: 12@25kg
Shoulder press: 12@14kg
Pulldown: 12@25
Lunges: 12@10kg
Plank: 60 seconds
Lunges: 12@14kg
Plank: 60 seconds- better form than the first go around

It took about 28 minutes. I have no idea what I want my goals to be for stage one weight wise. As long as I go up I'm happy. My biggest goal is to improve my dead lift form. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but I think I'm using my back to much which I know you shouldn't use at all. I may keep my weight the same and just work on that form.

[Changergirl]

Gah, I hate gym days like today. I just wasn't able to do things in the right order and it always seemed like whatever I needed was being used, especially the squat machine. At the end of my workout there was a dude sitting on the bench under it reading a magazine and then the odd time playing around with dumbbells. Of course there's nothing I can do about it because I don't speak the language. I ended up doing my squats after my cool down bike ride. It did end up alright as another older guy critiqued my form and it was all correct comments, he showed me how I should go down lower and make sure that my knees never go pass my toes, all stuff I know but it doesn't hurt to be reminded. With my warm up and cool down the workout was 50 minutes, 30 for lifting only which included a lot of waiting

Here are the stats, not much different from day 3 in what the proper order, not what I did.

Squats: 2x12 @50kg
Pushups: 12- they seemed less difficult today!
Seated Row: 12@25kg
Pushups: 12
Seated Row: 12@25, last couple in this set were tough
Step Ups: 12@10kg
Plank: 60 seconds- still need to work on my form, butt is way too high.
Step ups: 12@10kg- too easy, time to up the weight!
Plank: 60 seconds

[Changergirl]

I did B4 last night and because someone was using the only set of 7kg dumbbells for most of my workout I had adjust the weights I was planning on using. I went up for the most part and it was tough. I used to find B days made me sweat a bit more than A days however I don't think I worked up as much of a sweat last night as normal B days. It had nothing to do with the weights being too light as I found it tough to finish each set. Maybe my body is just ready to go to 3 sets. I didn't up the deadlifts as I'm still working on my form. It's makes me a bit embarrassed with how low of a number that still is but I want to make sure I'm doing them correctly and not pulling anything especially if I'm using a higher number, but I'm definitely reading about women who are close to double what I'm at, at around the same stage.

Deadlifts: 2x12 @35 kg
Shoulder Press: 12@14 kg
Pulldown: 12@25 kg
Shoulder Press: 12@18 kg
Pulldown: 12@25 kg
Lunges: 12@18 kg- weight was too much my form was definitely compromised.
Plank: 60 seconds- still trying to get my butt lower.
Lunges: 12@14 kg- this was tough as my arms were still sore for the 18kg set.
Plank: 60 seconds

It took me just short of 30 minutes. The lunges took up the longest time. With my 10 minute warm up/cool down on the bike I was in the gym for right around 50 minutes.

[Changergirl]

I realized today I'm not really getting much stronger, at least in my upper body. My legs have always been strong but I'm really hoping this program will increase my strength in my arms. I think my biggest problem is just not getting enough protein. I track with MFP and I went back over the month of June and on average I'm getting about 75g a day or about 1/2 of what I should. I'm also eating at a deficit so I know I'm not going to be gaining any new muscle I was just hoping that I'd make bigger gains than I actually have. The good news is I ordered protein powder today. That'll increase both my protein (clearly) and my calories as I'm just going to add it to my post workout smoothie. I'm hoping July will bring greater gains in strength.

And the stats:

Squats: 3x10@ 50kg/50kg/55kg
Pushups: 10- I'm trying to go lower by they're not the greatest, no where near ready to try real ones.
Seated Row: 10@25kg- still having trouble finishing the last couple and this is the same weight I've been at since day 2
Pushups: 10
Seated Row: 10@25
Pushups: 10
Seated Row: 10@25
Step Ups: 10@14kg- my right leg is so much stronger than my left, it's sad.
Plank: 60 seconds- still having trouble getting my butt to stay down
Step Ups: 10@14kg
Plank: 60 seconds
Step Ups: 10@14kg
Plank: 60 seconds

[Changergirl]

S1B5- I wanted to up my weights for most things as I was going down to 10 reps. I was pretty unsuccessful in most aspects...my protein is arriving today, so I'm hoping to make much higher gains the next couple of weeks. This weekend I think my protein averaged 65g which is nowhere close to what it needs to be.

Deadlifts: 3x10@40kg- I'm finally happy with this number I feel like compared to my squats it was low and while it still is I know it'll improve.
Shoulder Press: 10@16kg
Pulldowns: 10@25kg.
Shoulder Press: 10@16kg
Pulldowns: 10@25kg.
Shoulder Press: 9@16kg- I could not get that last rep down, my arms were going to fall off.
Pulldowns: 10@30 kg- the last 5 were difficult but I finished them!
Lunges: 14@14 kg
Plank: 60 seconds
Lunges: 14@18 kg
Plank: 60 seconds
Lunges: 14@18 kg- I realized I hate lunges so much more than step ups during this set.
Plank: 60 seconds

It took me 35 minutes to do everything. There was no waiting around for anything which was nice and very unexpected. With my 10 minute warm up and cool down on the bike I was in and out in less than an hour.

[Changergirl]

Just realized I didn't put in my last two workouts. Whoops.

Anyway so here's S1A6

Squats: 3x10@ 55kg/55kg/60kg
Pushups: 10- On my knees. It was tough.
Seated Row: 10@25kg- so pissed this number hasn't gone up at all.
Pushups: 10- on my knees
Seated Row: 10@30- was way too difficult. couldn't finish
Pushups: 10- on knees
Seated Row: 10@25
Step Ups: 10@BW- on a high bench.
Plank: 60 seconds
Step Ups: 10@8kg- on a high bench
Plank: 60 seconds
Step Ups: 10@9kg- high bench
Plank: 60 seconds

And S1B6

Deadlifts: 3x10@40/45/45- last set was tough to finish.
Shoulder Press: 10@16kg
Pulldowns: 10@25kg.
Shoulder Press: 10@16kg
Pulldowns: 10@25kg.
Shoulder Press: 9@16kg- had to take a quick break after 8, finished last 2
Pulldowns: 10@30 kg- 7+2, couldn't do anymore
Lunges: 14@16 kg
Plank: 60 seconds- this one was super tough
Lunges: 14@16 kg
Plank: 60 seconds
Lunges: 14@16 kg
Plank: 60 seconds