I had such a better workout this morning! I am so glad that i forced myself to take yesterday off. I had been to the gym 5 consecutive days (3 lift, 2 cardio) and just felt that I probably needed a rest even though I didn't feel like my body was asking for it.

I felt so much stronger this morning :)

I am still very nervous about what my results will be like since I am doing a significant amount LESS cardio.....I'm trying my best to trust the program and add my cardio in on my off days as much as I can without over doing it.....

I thought the same thing being such an endurance junkie for most of my life. I am doing about 75% less cardio and I'm leaner than ever. Just keep following the program and I promise you, you'll look better and feel healthy too! I know you can do it. :)

Same here, the abs book should take me thru the late fall. They have a new book coming out this April, "The New Rules of Lifting for Life" which I plan to buy as well for use in 2013.

I also heard the authors are busy on a fifth book too.

Holy cow FITMOM!!!! You look amazing in your avatar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ohhh. Thanks! I was just confused on the way it was set up. You definitely cleared it up for me!

Ahh, you're too sweet, LindsB. Not bad for a 40 year-old, lol. :) That's what New Rules did for me (well, 5 stages worth thus far) and will do for you too. Definitely keep us posted with your progress and take photos!

Oh, I forgot to mention that for the intervals because I workout at home and sadly, don't have a treadmill, I've been doing 5 sets of 20 swings with a KB. Doesn't sound like much but they are killer! Sometimes I substitute the swings for Tabata as a time-saver too.

Hi!! I am joining in here!

I got the book about a year ago, after checking it out from the library (after reading about it in the Featherweights forum, I believe). I had some injuries and didn't think it was wise to start lifting then, but now I think I am OK to start. Very exciting.

I took some "before" photos yesterday. Absolutely horrifying. I am such a prime example of "skinny fat". Though I'm not *skinny*, I am not overweight - but definitely over-FAT. I have concluded that I have to get serious about getting in shape, so here I am.

I have cleaned up my diet (which honestly is always pretty good but with LOTS of cheats/binge-y type behaviors that I think are under control now). I do South Beach Diet, which lines up perfectly with the recommendations of the book. Except for the fact that my calorie count is usually less than 1400 on a "good" day! I have to figure out what I am going to do about this... Also, I don't eat meat (but do eat fish sometimes so that helps with the protein). For now, I am going to focus on upping the overall protein and let the calories fall where they will.

SO - I may be the one here who is starting at the lowest level of fitness? Perhaps? I seriously did the first two workouts as pre-workouts this week - with 5 or 8 lb dumbbells or - in the case of the deadlifts - JUST body weight! That's how out of shape I am!! :o I have really let myself go in the last year. The only thing I am OK with is the abs work since I do a lot of yoga & pilates and I do walk a bit - but clearly that is not enough.

The only good side I see about this situation is that hopefully I will see major improvements.

I will start "for real" in the gym next week. You guys are all great inspiration!

Congrats! Good for you! If you are a scale-watcher, you probably will see it go up as you start lifting: muscles hold onto water, and all that. You might want to consider eating at maintenance for a while (with all the protein) so that you give your body something with which to gain muscle.

re the light weights: The really important thing, at this point, is to focus on getting your form right. Deadlifts in particular are an exercise wherre you want to pay really close attention to what you do with your body and to which muscles are jumping in to help out. I find it helpful to focus on my butt and make sure it is doing the work so that my lower back doesn't get involved.

The only other thing is that you should try to push yourself with the rows--seated and one-point. If you use really light weights, only your arms and shoulders will do the pulling. If you pull something a bit heavier, you'll be able to engage your lats (the muscles in your back near your shoulder blades), and that's what you want to do. Think of rows as back exercises more than arm exercises (though of course they work both).

Happy lifting!!!

Fitmom, since you seem like you're well into the program, (I know everyone is different) but just to get an estimate, when you began stage one, how much weight were you using on squats? (including the bar) Did you add weight every other workout?

I don't even have a barbell, butI do have dumbbells, and I'm curious on what you started with and how much weight you use now, to see if I need a heavier dumbbell set or if I'll have to invest in a barbell/more weights.

So I'm mostly wondering how much weight you started with on stage one(just for squats, I'll just use those for the example) and how much you squat now.

Edit: I found a 100 lb barbell set that I think I will buy. Does that sound like a good start? (Obviously I wouldn't be starting off with 100 lbs :P)

Kait: I don't have access to a barbell as I workout at home so I did the squats in stage one with 10# db's. Also, I don't have the room to store a barbell either. I didn't add any weight to it until stage 2 as I was really weak to begin with.

I'm up to 25# db's on most exercises and I didn't see myself begin to really move forward with strength until stage 3 or 4. I squat now with 50# total. I have an adjustable DB set and two other dumbbells from Target that I bought because my set only goes so high.

Yeah, the 100 lb barbell set sounds like a good start, definitely. It should be good for awhile as it would be something to work toward in terms of squatting with more weight and such.

Hope that helps. Obviously, I'm not an expert and have only been lifting since September so this is what worked for me.

Congrats on starting your lifting journey! Yeah, I was 'skinny fat' too for most of my adult lift. I can so relate to that. I started off pretty low with the weights too. But seriously, don't compare yourself to anyone. We're all different so keep that in mind. Just lift weights that are challenging to you and you'll notice your strength increase as well as your body start to respond. Patience is key too as it might take several weeks before you notice a difference in how you look. I took photos at the beginning of every stage as it helped to keep me motivated. Good luck. :)

Thanks! And your post did help. I know we're all different as far as strength goes, but after reading your post, I think I may have started off too high.(I'm pretty weak starting, too) I did my first Workout A in Stage 1 last night, and I was using 20 lb dumbbells on each shoulder with squats to start, but I think it might be too much for me, especially to get the form right. Thanks for the help :)

Good info about going heavy with the rows, DietVet! I went to the gym last night to test out the two pieces of equipment I will start with (for rows & lat pull-downs). I did 50 lbs on the rows and *just* could complete the second set of 15 reps. I don't think I would have thought to try that high!

fitmom - that is really encouraging if you used to be "skinny fat"! And you've been lifting for less than 6 months? Wow - inspiration! You're right about comparing with others. For example, I am probably going to be starting my pushups at the 60° angle stage :o But I have only ever really done the "on the knees" style so I never developed that ability. All the more to improve upon!

I discovered some bad news last night at the gym - I CAN'T do the lat pulldown!! It used to be one of the places I was disproportionately strong - but due to scar tissue in my shoulders I can't do the motion for now, even without weight. I will keep trying to loosen them up though. Yoga is really helping. So for now, I am stuck either doing the pullovers (the substitution for those without gym access) or I think I might be able to do a pulldown if I keep my arms closer together - it is that wonderful outstretched "Y" or "W" shape with the arms that I can't do right now. I can reach overhead and pull straight down though. Any thoughts on whether that would be a good substitution?

About the scale - Honestly I would love to lose some weight as I have gained 10 lbs since last year and it is stuck like glue... But realistically, the scale doesn't tell me much, as my BMI is "normal" but my body composition is all out of whack. Hopefully I can start to change that. :D

Glad I could be of some assistance. :) Yeah, form has to be good otherwise what's the point? I've learned through trial and error that it's better to have good form with less weight than bad form with more weight. Just a thought.