I just got back from the gym, where I did the first workout in the New Rules of Lifting for Women program. And it felt great! Thank you so much, Lydia, for recommending it. (Although I have to admit that I felt like a beached whale while I was doing the prone jackknife - the ball wanted to roll in every direction except the one my legs were trying to move in! But it eventually came together.)

Day 2 - Wednesday.

Hey Lovelosing, glad you liked the book. Don't worry too much about the prone jacknife causing you to look silly. We've all been there! Trust me, with practice that movement does become a little easier to control. But it does take practice. Remember this though, as you continue your fitness journey and continue to learn new things there is always a learning curve for your body before it can adapt enough to make the movement fluid. (This is just as much for my own benefit as well...I'm going through my own learning curve doing functional training. I feel like I'm clumsy and weak. Quite humbling. )

Oh and about those jacknifes, when those are mastered, add a bosu ball under your hands and do a pushup after you complete a roll in with the ball. First time I did that the ball flew out from under me and I had to chase it halfway across the gym. Yep, I looked real smooth that day!

Hey lovelosing...I am right there with you. I started on Monday also, the prone jackknife, not so smooth.

Congrats!!! It is WONDERFUL!! Be sure to give attention to the nutrition section too. It is a very supportive book and I find the pictures of exercises to be extremely helpful. Don't feel bad about the jacknifes, I don't think anyone has done those nicely the first or 10th time

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone.

Lydia, your bosu ball story is going to make me feel so much better when (not if) this happens. It's so hard to look like you meant to be chasing an enormous blue ball around the weight machines!

YWeight, it's nice to know I'm not alone!

Sacha, I actually found the nutrition chapter really interesting. I'm vegetarian, so the world in general (and my sister in particular) are convinced that I don't get enough protein. I went back and calculated it in my food journal, and found I've been averaging about 70 g/day on 1300-1400 calories. I bought some protein powder, and I think I'm going to enjoy my post-workout shakes, if only because it's chocolate!

Day 2 was supposed to happen yesterday, but it's been postponed until today. Partly because I had a tough day at work yesterday, and between going in early and getting away late it would have been a very rushed gym visit, and partly to give my thighs muscles another day to recover. They were fine Monday after the workout, a bit stiff on Tuesday, and wobbling like jelly yesterday. They feel good this morning, so it's time to go and torture them again.

I'm a former vegan myself so I understand the backlash against protein consumption! You can easily meet your needs through beans (I used to have several cups per day), powders, nuts, and tofu/tofu alternatives :-) All of the NROLW recipes can be substituted with those items! For example, you can have the healthy valley garden soup lunch and substitute tofu cubes and extra kidney beans to replace the chicken and salmon.

Good luck!!

HI, I just started NRWL this week on Monday. Workout#2 will be tomorrow. I am not feeling that sore so I might increase the weights and see how I do.

Regarding food - I am vegetarian too and try to get a lot of beans, garbanzos, milk/yogurt etc to ensure I have enough protein in my diet.

I have question about Stage1 workoutB. I workout at home and use dumbells for weights. I did the Romanian deadlift as it showed a pic with dumbells, is that ok? Or should I be doing the regular deadlift with dumbells? Thx

Dumbbells are fine! I have barbell now but I used dumbbells for 6-8 months. Just make sure to "stay even" because your strong arm might do a bit more work!

I use dumbbells mostly because the bars are not always available when I go to the gym.