sumire - thanks so much for your advice! I am glad you mentioned the eating 5 times a day because lately I've been having such an easy time eating mostly because I ate less often. It allows me to not have to think about when I can eat again and what to eat and it really changed the way I look at food. It's fuel. No more. I think I'll find my own way in it, though timing a pre and post workout foodie with lots of proteine might be good, given that I am eating at a deficit.


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So - did workout A1 of stage 1. I am doing it at home so I don't have all the equipment it asked for.

Squats: I just used dumbells. Used the heaviest I could pick up without killing my hands ( I have super weak fingers) and it was 35lbs total. Oh well. LOL

Pushups: OMG, I seriously can't even do a single normal one. I tried to figure out if the book gave any advice, like doing lady pushups, and it didn't. In the end I decided to do sort of lady-push ups. After trying the different angle ones the book gave and failing. I put my legs on a bench and managed to do 8 pushups that way. With the last one ending face on the floor not being able to get back up. I had to laugh so hard. LOL

The jacknives: Seriously, who can do these? I am so wobbly on my exercise ball. I think I need to pump in some more air and make it harder. I ended up looking for something that mimicked it and put my feet/shins on a bench and walked back and forth on my hands.


So, I have very weak wrists. It's because I had issues with my joints when I was 16 and it's cleared up everywhere mostly but my wrists have some scartissue in them. When I bend them 90 degrees and put pressure on them it really is uncomfortable and I can't sustain it very long. For pushups I put my hands on an edge so I can let my fingers fall down some and change the angle a bit. But for walking on my hands as the jacknive prescribes, I've not found a good alternative. Any tips on how to save my wrists some are welcome.

Oh, and I am gonna have to start going to the gym by the time I need a rack for the squat. I dread that. I don't wanna lift in the gym.

Anyhow, long story short - I am happy to finally have an easy to follow guide of what to do with weightlifting. As sumire might know, I've been trying to find a way to motivate myself to do it. And I work best when on a plan and have a goal.

Ok, I have completed stage 1, workout A1. I did the 5 exercises 2 times (2X15). I took me about 25 minutes. Am I doing this right? I was under the impression it should take longer... Am I skipping something? I have read when you have 3 sets instead of 2 it takes longer... I want to make sure I got this right. Thanks

Check out the link I posted above. You probably should be doing a goblet squat with one big dumbbell, as opposed to two smaller ones. (If I am reading you correctly.)

What is really funny about that, is that having your feet elevated is supposed to be HARDER than regular push ups. Do them at an angle--it's much easier. If you are super weak, you can start by doing them against a wall, otherwise, find something to push against and work your way down.

It sounds like you did a great job.

The workouts in stage 1 are short. Even with the three sets they come in pretty short (like 45 minutes). They get longer as you move through the program: most of the other stages took me around 60-70 minutes, not including the bonus HIIT cardio and the body weight matrix prescribed in some of the later stages. Enjoy the short ones while you can!

I find that making sure I take a good long step backwards and also keeping my front shin basically vertical does a great job of working the glutes. Lyle McDonald has a great article on the split squat-- scroll down to the "Variants" section to look at the "glute dominant SS" and see what I mean about the shin:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/tra...technique.html

Yep. I really recommend just doing what works for you. I mostly agree with the nutritional principles of the book in general, but I haven't followed any of their plans. I eat lots of calories, eat more on workout days, and eat 100-120+ grams of protein a day. Other than that, whatever. I know by now what works for me!

I gave up on jackknives after my first attempt: not because I couldn't do them, but because stability ball exercises often make me nauseated. I get boat-sick, bus-sick, etc... and apparently sometimes stability ball-sick.

My wrists used to hurt so badly after I did pushups. I don't have any issues like yours; I think mine were just small and weak. You may find that yours improve naturally over time. However, if you have hexagonal dumbbells (round dumbbells obviously won't work because they'll roll ), you can use them like the guy in this picture:
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llm2858WKD1qgqipn.jpg
It's easier on your wrists. There are also pushup stands that work for the same purpose, but that's an investment I've never needed to make.

Don't sweat it, gal! I bet that by the time you start needing the rack for squats, you'll have built up some confidence!

DIEVET, thanks for the tips and advice I have printed a schedule to know what I am supposed to do (at least for stage 1) I admit it was a bit complicated to figure it out. Since I just have dumbbells, it's a matter of trial and error to see what I can do so far (I have 5lb, 8lb, and 12lb). I have been doing Jillian Michaels for a while, so even if pure weight training is new to me, at least I am a bit stronger than months ago, which helps a lot

Really? OMG. LOL. Well it felt easier. Because with the normal ones I lose my balance or my belly sinks to the floor and I can't get it back up with the rest. Maybe it's because my core is pretty weak as opposed to my arms being weak then?

philana: It's possible (I'd say probable) that your form on the decline pushups (the ones with your feet elevated on the bench) isn't quite right. It's easy for your butt/stomach to sag on those. And from an upper body standpoint, I find decline pushups really challenging unless I don't use a full range of motion-- if I don't bend my arms very far, they're not that hard.

I agree that wall pushups or incline pushups with your hands on the bench would be better. Just tighten up every muscle in your core like you're trying to make yourself unbendable.

Btw, I think you'll see good improvements in core strength from NROL4W. That was my weak spot when I started. My running (not that I do much, but I do run occasionally for fun) has really improved because of improved core & leg strength.

FWIW, Lou Schuler (author of the NROL books) says that women often can't do push ups because we lack core strength rather than just chest/shoulder/back strength. (This is why 'girl' push ups don't help: they don't enable you to develop the core strength to get more proficient at push ups).

Listen to Sumire and keep your core muscles engaged while you do your push ups.

sumire: again, thanks for all your help!


So, I'm on day 2 where I try and up my protein drastically, and I feel horrible. I ate so much yesterday, like.. 1900 calories. I barely ever eat 1900 calories of REAL food. I mean, with junk you reach 1900 easily. But not with good stuff. LOL.

Anyhow, I started to feel horrible when I took a protein-chocolate shake this morning as my breakfast because I was already close to lunch and my mom was making breadrolls. So first I felt queezy. And like 20mins later I had a major major drop in energy, was completely worn out while it was still morning and I hadn't done anything. It's after dinner now, I've had a lot of water, some carby foods and veggies and I still don't feel right. What's so weird is that I have made that protein shake before and this didn't happen.

It must be too big a change - eating way more calories and eating way more protein all in one day. And being sore from the lifting. And my period starting any day now.

Have any of you had this reaction to protein shakes?

philana: Yes, I've had that reaction to protein shakes. I tolerated them for a few weeks (actually, I did protein powder mixed into Greek yogurt--maybe you might try that?), but then it started making me nauseated. I got to where I couldn't stand it anymore, so I stopped doing protein powder. I get my protein elsewhere now (as you know, this is a bit tricky to do as a vegetarian, but I've managed).

I definitely wouldn't be able to convince myself to have a protein shake for breakfast. Blech!

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement, Sumire! It would have been great if someone had said, 'oh yeah, it lasts about 4 weeks tops' but what you wrote is probably exactly what I needed to hear.

Thanks for the suggestion, pnkrckpixikat! That sounds an excellent plan B. I'm going to try to power through as best I can with the incline push-ups for now and reassess after stage 1.

Thanks! And thanks for sharing about your push-up success. That's mad inspiring to me. I work out at home so no smith machine or squat rack (yet). I've been using stairs for my incline thus far. I'm all the way up on the 4th step and still can't push myself back up while keeping my arms tucked in the way they should be. It doesn't hurt, so I think I'll just keep trying.

I have a question about stage 3 workout B. On the hip flexion and lateral flexion, do we do all of the exercizes in those pages or just pick 1 of the 3?

Yup I believe you only do one of each

Loving stage 6!! Today I did workout 4A. 15 seconds of rest between the lat pull sets??? Holy crap! I had to lower my weight as I went along. A bit of an ego bruise, but oh well.

I haven't gotten my 2nd chin-up rep yet, BUT before stage 6 began I was only able to do 1 chin-up per few hours. Now I can do chin-up singles in sets with a minute or two of rest in-between. That's progress!

I'm not interested in stage 7, so I'm going to call it a wrap at the end of stage 6. Can't believe I only have 3 workouts left!

Hi everybody, I'd like to know if I am supposed to increase weights when the repetitions decrease (I'm on stage 1, week 2, about to start the 2x12 reps). If so, since I'm only using dumbbells so far, how many pounds up do I go? I am pretty lost with the weight, I know I am supposed to listen to my body and try until the last reps are hard, but I am not sure whether to increase now or wait until close to the end of stage 1... what did you guys do?
Thanks!