Nrolfw
 

I'm starting NROLFW tomorrow, June 3rd. I joined a gym yesterday and it appears to have all the equipment that I need. I want to use this thread to stay accountable and track any my changes, both in body measurements and weight gains. If anybody wants to join me that would be awesome.

I just took my pre-NROLFW measurements and here they are:

Chest: 39.75
Waist: 30
Belly Button: 36
Hips: 40.75
Butt: 43.5
R. Thigh: 26
L. Thigh: 25.5
R. Calf: 17
L. Calf: 17.5
R. Arm: 12
L. Arm: 12

I know it's a ton of measurements but I think they're all important. I actually took more but I figured these were the important ones.

Oh and my starting weight is 78kg or 171.6 pounds.

I have no goals because I've never really lifted before so I'm not sure what my body will do. I'd love for everything to tighten up though.

I plan to follow this program MWF and attempt to run on TuThSa, if my body is too sore and needs an off day the running will stop. Sunday will be my day of rest. If I stick with this schedule I should be finished stage 1 July 12th.

As for my diet, I am a calorie counter, and will continue to do that. However following the advice of a ton of people I will for the most part be increasing my calories and try my hardest to increase my protein. My goal for lifting days is 1800 calories, 1700 on running days and 1500 on rest days (aka Sunday). If I feel like that's not enough food I will increase each day by a maximum of 200 calories. I'm also going to try and follow the idea of 3 smaller meals and 3 snacks. I'm coming from normally eating 3 largish meals and no snacks so this will be something I have to work on.

I am a little confused. It doesn't appear that you want to lose weight?--because you're adding calories to build muscle mass? Is that correct?

I'm adding calories from what I am currently eating, however I will still be eating at a deficit. I'm hoping to continue to lose weight, slowly though. But my main goal is to build muscle.

I'm starting the program tomorrow! I'm getting more nervous thinking about it, but I'm just going to go in there, and own the workout.

Good luck to you as well!

Day 1 is done and I will say that the step ups are by far my least favourite exercise. I think it's because I had to do them on a bench so it was quite high. I suck at push ups, but I knew that ahead of time and I substituted the prone jackknife with a plank because the balls at my gym were kinda deflated.

And here are my stats.

Squats: 2x15- 30kg
Pushups: 1x12 @30 degree angle, 1x15 @45 degree angle
Seated Row: 1x15- 20kg, 1x12-25 kg. Sucks that my gym's increments were so high, I felt the 20 were just a bit too easy but I clearly couldn't finish 25.
Step up: 2x15- 10 kg.
Plank: 60 seconds. had to stop at 40 first go around but made it to 60 after a bit of a break, 2nd go around made it all the way to 60 seconds but my form wasn't the greatest.

Including my 10 minute warmup and 15 minute cool down on the bike my total time in the gym was 55 minutes.

My arms are already quite sore, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow!

Ahh I keep getting so nervous to go to the gym alter to do this workout. I'm excited, but nervous. That's awesome you completed it with or without variations.

I'm nervous about the weighted squats. I just don't feel like I'll know how to use that machine and I'm such a wimp when it comes to asking for help. Just have to buckle down I guess.

Congrats on day one! :carrot: :broc:

Remington90- I felt the exact same way going to the gym. Those butterflies that you'd get on the first day of school, excited but scared at the same time. To tell you the truth, I was scared of the squats as well. I had no idea how to use it properly but it turned out to be pretty easy to use. I watched a thousand youtube videos on every thing I was supposed to do and I think that helped a lot.

I hope your day 1 went well.

It did ! Tired as heck though. Trying to force this protein drink down and my tummy is not wantif any part of it haha. I feel great though !

Congrats!!! Hopefully you finished off that protein drink. I'm going to have a ton of trouble getting any where close to the recommended protein I'm supposed to be having. I live in Korea and unless you're eating bbq everyday protein is hard to come by. Cheese, greek yogurt, cottage cheese are all impossible to find in my tiny area, protein powder is absurdly expensive and I don't eat nuts! All my extra money this month went to the gym for the next 2 months so I'm going to have to wait till next month and suck it up and spend too much money on some protein powder.

Day 2 is done. I think I was more worried about the B day than the A because of deadlifts, I don't know why but they scared me. I'm not sure how my form was but I think I was doing it correct. I'll be upping my weight with them next go around. I had been stiff all day in my lower body so I was worried about lunges and they sucked. I had terrible form with my first go around with weights so I did the second go around weightless and they were still tough- due to stiffness- but my form was much better. I also only did 1 set of the pulldowns as I think I pulled a muscle in my chest on the left side, it hurt way too much to do another. I only had a dumbbell in my right arm for the second set of shoulder presses due to the pain :(. I'm hoping it'll be recovered by Monday, B2 day. I also did planks again instead of the swiss ball crunch as the balls at my gym were too deflated and didn't hold my weight well!

And here are my stats, they're pretty terrible due to leftover muscle pain/stiffness.

Deadlift 2x15 @25kg
Dumbbell shoulder press 1x15 @10kg, 1x15 @5kg (Right arm only)
Lat pull downs 1x15 @20kg
Lunge 1x15 @10kg, 1x15 @BW
Plank, 2x60 seconds

The only workout that sucked is the one you didn't do. so congrats to finishing day 2. My day 2 is tonight around 6. My arms are SO SORE right now. I keep stretchin them but don't know if I should just leave them alone or what.

I thought for sure my legs would be screaming at me. But it's my arms and shoulders. I think the protein definitely helps with the pain though. Hope you can get some sort of protein soon! Good luck and feel better!

A2 is done. I felt like this workout was so much easier than the first go around- minus the pushups. I didn't think I was sweating as much and it took about 5 minutes less and that includes me waiting around for about 3 minutes to use a machine.

Squats: 2x15 @35kg/ 2x15 @40kg
Pushups: 15 @45 degrees
Seated Row: 15x20kg
Pushups: 15 @45 degrees
Seated Row: 15x20kg
Step Ups: 15 using BW
Plank: 60 seconds
Step Ups: 4kg
Plank: 60 seconds.

Okay, B2 is done. There was a guy training someone and doing deadlifts in between which meant I had to wait and do the deadlifts at the end. There seemed to be more people than usual doing weights today which also meant I had to wait for the pulldowns both times I needed it. It took me 30 minutes to do the entire workout but I think it should have taken about 25 max.

Deadlifts: 2x15 @30kgs
Dumbbells: 15x10kgs
Pulldowns: 15x15kgs
Dumbbells: 15x10kgs** this set hurt a lot more than the first.
Pulldowns: 15x20kgs
Lunge: 15x4kgs
Plank: 60 seconds, on my forearms for the full 60 seconds!
Lunge: 15x6kgs
Plank: 60 seconds on forearms.

I'm looking forward to the next days for both 'days' as the reps are lowering so I'm planning on upping the weight for everything. Can't wait to see what I can do.

Congrats on your progress! I won't hijack your thread but I've made some substantial weight increases too. Definitely feel 'stronger' already. Keep it up! you're my motivation and I visit this thread every time there's a post. :)

Rock it out ladies!!! You will LOVE the results!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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