The workouts for me in stages 2-5 have been averaging an hour and 20 minutes. I do the minimum number of sets and for intervals, I do Tabata to cut down on the time, if needed.

I workout exclusively at home and don't have a barbell, only dumbbells. You can make it work, there are alternatives for the home trainee. For example for lat pulldowns, do pullovers with dumbbells. I can do almost every exercise at home that one can do in the gym, the authors made sure to give lots of alternatives. Very doable program at home.

fitmom- thanks for the feedback! Looks like I am going to have to break some of the workouts out. There is just no way I can do over an hour at the gym in the morning and going back after work just isn't an option:( I don't want to alter the program, but it is sounding more and more like I'm going to have to. I wish the book would have been more upfront about the necessary time.

I guess I should clarify my statement by saying that I am not looking for a quick fix or quickie workout, I was just fasley under the impression that I could complete this in an hour or so.

LindsB: I know of some people that did the interval training separate from the regular workout or even the next day to cut down on time. I know all about time management as I have two school-age kids. I workout primarily in the morning before anyone's up. It's grueling to exercise at like 5 am but before 6:30, I'm done. I guess it's just a matter of figuring out what works for you as everyone's different.

fitmom- Thanks for the tips! sounds like you've got it down! I think I will probably do the intervals on my rest day. How long did it take for you to start to see physical results?

Because I was pretty lean to begin with, I saw visible results within six weeks but if someone had a lot of weight to lose, might take longer. Yet you sound lean yourself from your stats so I don't think it would take too long to see changes.

Don't forget to take before pics and progress pics along the way. I've been doing that and was astonished at how much my body really has changed in the five stages of New Rules.

Good luck. :) I plan to do the Abs book immediately following the women's program sometime in April when I finish up.

Hi Ladies, I'm just about to start this program. I'm wondering if and when you all did your cardio? I plan on doing the work outs Mon, Wed, Fri. and was wondering if I could do like 30 - 45 minutes on the elliptical or treadmill afterwards? I know the rest days in the middle are important.

I would do cardio on the off days. I'm way too exhausted after doing the weights to tack on any extra cardio right away. Light cardio won't get in the way of your recovery

(Many of the stages have the workouts end with some HIIT. I was usually too tapped out after the weights to do it, so I would do HIIT followed by cardio on the off days. It was all good.)

I agree with dietvet.

I've been doing cardio on my off days- if my body feels like it can take it.

I had a really crappy lift workout this morning. I'm not sure what the problem was! It was Phase 1, workout B2...i had to wait to do my deadlifts until after the first alt set because all the bars were in use....i'm not sure if that was the problem or if I needed something better to eat before I went. Maybe I'll try a boiled egg next time or something. It put me in a really bad mood!

I need to take my before pics! I haven't done that yet.

Oh, fitmom- I went ahead and bought the ab book :) I should be all set for 2012 in terms of workout plans

Linds, I find that some days are like that: if I had a little too much wine the day before, or I didn't have a protein-rich snack an hour or two before going to the gym, I can't do as much and it is FRUSTRATING!!!

I'm still not able to do anything at all (because of my knee surgery...can't even walk or drive my car) but I'm thinking about getting the Abs book to start once I'm cleared for real exercise (in about a million years. Grrr!!!)

DietVet - That sucks!! I have 3 surgery's on the same knee so I understand. I was on crutches for a year once! Take care

The horror! The horror!

I just cannot wait until I can get back to exercising. I'm turning into a veal calf and all the idleness and lack of independence makes me completely miserable!

Alright, so I got the book and I only have one question(even though it may sound stupid) :P Anyway..

When it says workouts 1 and 2, does that mean that I'm supposed to actually do 4 sets? (2 Sets for workout 1 and 2 for workout 2) Or is it saying that those 2 sets are workouts 1 and 2? Same for when it says workouts 5, 6 and says to do 3 sets. Am I actually doing 6 sets total or what? I hope this question isn't confusing.

Edit: Aw man, I can't post images yet. :( I had an image with the stuff I was talking about circled in red. I'll just say where it was then. On page 140 where it says:

Squats
Workout 1, 2 - 2 sets, 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
etc
etc
Workouts 5, 6 - 3 sets, 10 reps, 60 seconds rest

Basically I'm wondering if I do each workout 4 or 8 times? Because it says Workout 1,2 Workout 3,4 Workout 5,6 Workout 7,8 and it just confuses me.

If anyone would like the image to further explain, I could just pm the link to it.

Argh. I'm not at home at the moment, so I can't consult my book to know for sure. But if I remember correctly you alternate workout A and workout B and you do each 8 times (for stage 1). So on Monday you do A1, Weds B1, Fri A2, Mon B2, Weds A3, Fri B3, etc etc etc.

I made spreadsheets for each of the stages; I'll see if I can upload the stage 1 ones.