Carter - I agree on the lunges. I hate them so much!! My legs feel like jello at the end. I also hate the ab exercise the "jackknife" in Workout A stage 1.

Silverfire - If you still haven't crossed the threshold yet you should do a "mock" workout at home. Go through the motions of all of the exercises, then that way you might feel more confident going into the area with all the buff guys. What I found most intimidating was that I didn't know how or where to start, but after doing each workout once I feel like knew exactly what I was doing.

I am nearing the end of Stage 1. I have 4 workouts left to do but I have to travel next week. so I haven't figured out what I am going to do yet. I might try to workout at hotels. If that isn't possible I might take a break for a week, then finish Stage 1 and move right to Stage 2 without taking a break between the stages.

How do you translate what you read in the books or see on a video into the gym? In other words, I'm not going to walk amongst the weights with a book in my hand; but I get in there and I forget everything I've read.

Hi Mad--I am constantly referring to my book throughout my workouts. I would just bring the book and not worry about it.

OK -- I'll bite. I'm going to try to find the book today. I'm starting Week 8 of Couch25K (Hi Silverfire & Rated!)and need another challenge so New Rules sounds like something I'd like. I'm already doing 2 weekly strength training classes with free weights, so I'm interested to see where I'd start with this program. I love the results I've had with what I'm currently doing, and look forward to learning a new independent routine. Off to the bookstore....

Hi all can I join in? I bought the book and did my first workout yesterday. The only thing I didn't do quite to spec was the seated lat cable exercise there was a huge crowd of beefy dudes all over those machines alternating so I used another lat pull machine for the time being. Oh and I used dumbells for the squats, too I should just ask the guys to help me.

I had been doing the weight machines for several weeks and I am not sore at all so I can definitely up the weights next time. And I have been doing Pilates which is a huge help for push-ups with the plank work and those jackknifes on the ball boy those are great.

I am pleased though! I think I can work through this. Anybody doing it at home? I have spent the winter in Florida but will be going back north in a few weeks and there I have quite a few weights including the ones my sons used in high school with the bar and I'd like to just do them there.

Hello AwShucks!

I love having the program since I find I am less likely to skip if every thing is scheduled and laid out for me. I do my new rules workouts 3 times a week on alternate days of C25k.

I am doing the program at home. sometimes I have to do modified exercises but most of the time I can follow the program exactly

I am on stage 2 now (taking a weak off for spring break) and I have gone from being unable to even hold myself in pushup position to now being able to do proper push ups. Never before in my life have I been capable of a pushup so I love this book!

Hi everyone! I'm making another attempt to complete NROLW, 8 workouts in to stage 1 right now, after having to take a week off for exams/ life. It is a lot harder when I'm at school - we have this crappy gym that is always full of guys using the one lat pulldown machine and the now singular squat rack. But I'm determined to make it past stage 2 this time.

Joining this thread late. I'm just four workouts into Stage 1, having done 1A and 1B each twice.

So far it's making me conscious that these whole-body, compound exercises are a completely different animal from doing a split workout, which is what I've been trying for just over a year now. Inadvertently I've created some imbalances because I focused on upper body and ignored lower body, thinking cardio would take care of that. So lunges and step-ups are really difficult for me, while twice-weekly Pilates classes for the past three years made the prone jack-knife and the plank not so hard.

I'm also working to improve my squat form. One of my imbalances seems to be complete lack of flexibility in ankles and hips. I cannot get my butt down low into the hole. I keep practicing in the weirdest places, leaning onto stuff for balance.

Saef, if you need ideas for improving those areas, check out mobilitywod(dot)com, and search the site for "squat", "hips" and "ankles". It will give you some good stuff you can add to your warm-up and should help you get into a better squat position.

Good luck with the NROL program, ladies, it's a good one!

Cheryl, thanks for the link. I'm probably gonna end up watching every single one of these videos -- this is a really interesting subject for me.

I've got unusually sore forearm muscles this morning from workout 1B. I'm glad for the break till Tuesday!

Glad you liked it. If you didn't know, the Crossfit Journal is free now, you do have to register to create an account, but even if you're not into CF workouts, there is some good content in there regarding all sorts of lifting, gymnastics, running, mobility, etc, and you can access the archives all the way back to the beginning.

Second week of the NROLW program, still on 1A and 1B.

Here's an example of my imbalance from previous work with weights:

-Can squat 65 lbs. for 12 reps
-Can row 35 lb dumbbell for 12 reps
-Can do 10 prone jackknifes, no problem, thankyou thankyou again to two Pilates mat classes weekly since 2011.

BUT ...

Step-ups on plyo platform 18-inches high, while carrying a pair of 12.5 lb dumbbells: VERY Difficult to do for 12x each leg.

I miss doing curls because I always felt so tough while doing them. I had worked v e r y s l o w l y up to the 22.5 lb dumbbells for curls. NROLW doesn't have curls (yet, and probably at all, since it's a compound movement program) and I am curious about whether I will still be able to handle that weight. Or maybe do something heavier? We'll see. I am simply going to trust in the program.

More NROLW reports of imbalance:

- 100 lbs deadlift for 2x12 reps, and am sure I can go up 5 lbs next time
- 80 lbs lat pulldown, and will figure out how to add to this one with those loose plates, as I'm not sure I can jump to 87.5
- For the dumbbell shoulder press, I'm on 22.5 lbs each, would love to make it to 25 lbs.

But weighted lunges at 12.5 lb dumbbells make my wrists tired. This now explains the forearm soreness. It was from holding onto these. If I were not strictly following this program, I'd do some farmers' walks to try to get a stronger grip.

Planks at 2 mins are no problem. Again, this is from my Pilates work. So I am now doing the single lifted leg, which makes this MUCH tougher.

Saef, nice work on your deadlifts.

I was thinking, if your gym has kettlebells, you might try the lunges with those. They're less of a pain to try and grip and would probably let you up the weight on your lunges without grip being such a limiting factor. A little chalk would help, too, if you are allowed to use that in the gym. Some gyms will allow a chalk bag if you don't make a mess with it, even if they don't allow loose chalk. You don't need much, just a thin layer does the trick.

For the wrist pain, you might try wrist wraps or a couple passes with athletic tape. I wouldn't use them for everything, but if it comes down to being able to do the work you need to do, or not, then it's like a weight belt...put it on so you can get the work done.

Grip is slow to improve, but it will catch up if you just keep working. Maybe when you're done testing out this program, you can throw in the grip work after your regular lifting session a couple times a week, and help things along.

You don't say how many reps or sets you're doing with the lat pulldown. If you can't figure how to bridge the gap with loose plates, another approach would be to add an extra set or two with the 80 lbs, or jump up to the 87.5 and do fewer reps per set (then build up the reps from there), do a set or two to failure with the 80 lbs after your regular sets...any of those would get you stronger and pretty soon you'll be able to do the next setting on the machine in the rep range that the program calls for.

Cheryl thanks for these tips on grip. This is great stuff; you clearly know your s4!t. Sorry, I just read them this morning. I hadn't been back to this thread, since it looks like I'm the only one doing NROLW -- or if the others are, they are probably posting to the NROLW Facebook group, which has lots of tips & encouragement. The NROL series authors Alwyn Cosgrove, Lou Schuler and Rachel Forsythe even check in from time to time, answering questions or offering advice.

No chalk available at my gym. They don't prohibit it, probably because no one there in living memory has ever used it. It's little NY area boutique gym on a really expensive piece of real estate, so the equipment is really crammed together on the limited floor space. It targets an audience that wants its spin classes and other classes it holds within its mirrored studio. It's just a block & a half from my house, and that's why I settled in there -- because until now, the best gym for me was the easiest gym to get to & fit into my daily routine.

The free weight section is a small afterthought, though I'm lucky in that there is an Olympic bar (just one, though). Yes. there are kettlebells -- so I'm going to check on those for step-ups and weighted lunges. Also it has two separate, really decent sets of dumbbells, one of which includes those precious fractional weights, like 12.5, 17.5, 22.5 and 27.5, which have really helped me progress along.

Still, in many ways, it is not a good place for lifting. I've faced the fact that if I really want to commit to lifting & NROLW, I'm going to have to join another area gym to access more power racks and other machines. There's one called Powerhouse Gym within a mile of me, though I'm not crazy about the neighborhood -- but look, if I get strong enough, I won't have to worry about the neighborhood.

I have made some progress since I last posted:

Deadlift 120 lbs 3 x 10
Dumbbell shoulder press 25 lbs. 3 x 10 (alternating with lat pulldowns, below)
Wanted to try 27.5 lbs but I'm not ready yet

Wide grip lat pulldown 3 x 10* (alternating with the shoulder press)
Finally made it up to 87.5 lbs. *Last set was supposed to be 10, but I made it to 7, needed to drop, then did the last 3.

Lunges, 3x10 (alternating with 2-minute planks), tried 17.5 lbs, only got in one set, had to drop to 15 lbs. for the other two sets.

I am going to try those wrist wraps, too. I think this grip issue isn't helped by years of repetitive stress from keyboarding all day -- just as I think my tight hips probably come from sitting at desks all day. All the more reason to get up and walk around more on the job. What the heck are we doing to our bodies with all the time we spent on devices and laptops and tablets?