stages 2 & 4
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Did the first B workout yesterday, and it's such a drag.
I really hate the core exercises (Swiss ball crunch, prone cobra, lateral flexion, reverse crunch...). They are uncomfortable and I never feel like I am doing them right and I don't feel it enough in my abs. This entire stage, to me really overlooks the abdominal area, which was what I set out to work on.
When I did this stage last year, I hated those exercises, too. I start Stage 2 next week and won't be doing them this time. I'll be Googling for alternatives.0 -
S2 - A4
Last night I happened to be on the same train home as my DH yay! so as we walked home I boasted on how it was gonna be the last A-workout in stage 2 and I was super excited.
We got home and I had my pre-workout snack of rye bread with natural peanut butter and a banana and some coffee.
But then, I had this energy drop. I lay on the couch and refused to move. I told him that I am not going and that I want him to help me justify why it's ok not to go.
So he was all like, no, you should go. You are so close to being done, and you will be so proud of yourself for gaining strength and going even though you really really don't feel like it. You are so strong and committed, and going will reinforce that. After an hour of me whining, I had to pee so I had to leave the couch and reluctantly, I dragged myself there and did the routine! I even added weights to each exercise!
Thanks DH for being such an amazing supporter!
A Stats (in lb):
Front Squat 35 -> 55
One point row 8 ->22.5
Step up 15 per hand -> 65 barbell *
* I never did this quite the same way, different weight types, different heights
Static Lunch 20 -> 35*
* when I got to 35 I could only finish 8 reps, but I think it's better to add weight and fail than to stagnate
Push up and plank no change
Wood Chop 10 -> 27
But now I feel like even though I am proud of myself for not missing the workout, I am getting some spasms in my lower back and I am afraid I may have hurt myself because I didn't have enough strength last night to perform correctly. Hopefully this will subside soon.0 -
Finished stage 2!
Feels great to keep finishing stages!
stats in lbs
Wide grip dead-lift from box: 65->100
Bulgarian split squat 10->25
Reverse lunge from box finished at 30 (forgot starting point)
Underhand grip lat pull down 40->77.5
Cuban snatch 5->100 -
Way to go, noacker! And two points for your DH :happy:0
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2A2 is in the books. I decided to throw a Tabata on the end of every work out because I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm going to be throwing a Tabata on the end of every workout for a while probably but I'm only going to do one cycle on A workouts and work my way up to 4 cycles on B days since that's supposed to be when I do intervals anyways. The front squat push press is a bit of a challenge. I can squat like no one's business but that press is really hard. I'm doing it with just the bar right now and when I tried to add just 5lbs (just 5!) my wrist started to hurt like crazy. I think the biggest lesson I've learned is not to sacrifice form and risk injury just to be able to write a higher weight on a paper. Two weeks left in stage two and then on to stage three0
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I'm moving into Stage 4 on Sunday and was just curious how to decide how many sets to do. The book doesn't give any guidance on why to do 2 vs 3 sets. I'm tempted to just do 2 because of time (and I don't think I can do three 120 second planks), but feel like I should do 3 to gain the most strength. How did others decide on the number of sets? With 3 sets, how long did the workouts last?0
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I am starting stage 2 on Monday and am trying to decide how to best arrange my workouts to give myself enough rest, but also get in some cardio. I have about 20 pounds to lose so I am not solely focusing on strength.
In stage 1 I was lifting M, W, F with about a half hour of cardio on Tues (elliptical or treadmill walk/jog) and usually an hour of spinning on Sat., leaving Thurs. and Sun. as off days.
I see that Stage 2 Workout B includes some interval training at the end. I have read here that workout B seems especially long and as I already like to try to fit in time to shower and get dressed at the gym, prior to grabbing my toddler from their daycare, I am worried doing the interval training right after workout B will be too much. I see the NROLFW book states that I can do the interval training the day after the lifting, if I prefer. So, I am wondering if a schedule such as the following looks okay;
Week1
M: stage 2 workout A
Tues: half hour cardio (which I usually try to do as intervals of some sort anyway, versus steady state, just cause I get bored otherwise!)
W: stage 2 workout B, minus the intervals at the end
Thurs: intervals from workout B
F: stage 2 workout A
Sat: 1 hour spinning
Sun: off
Week 2
M: stage 2 workout B minus intervals
Tues: intervals from workout B
W: stage 2 workout A
Thurs: half hour cardio
F: stage 2 workout B minus intervals
Sat: intervals from workout
Sun: off
What do you think?0 -
Looks great to ^me not that I know anything - except for the fact that 2b is pretty hard, tonight did not ave it in ^me to do the HIIT - planning on tomorrow., like you outlined.
That's a lot of workouts - go for it!
Edit - I have no idea why I get an up carrot every time I write the word ^me....weird.0 -
Pudding1980. How is your plan working out? I am starting 2 in a week or so, so aim reading ahead for hints.0
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Pudding1980. How is your plan working out? I am starting 2 in a week or so, so aim reading ahead for hints.
It's gone pretty well. Life with two kids and lots of socializing has sometimes gotten in the way, so I haven't made it to Saturday spinning in a while but will then do some treadmill or elliptical on that day instead. I haven't missed a workout yet, but have had to alter some. So sometimes I am too sore and tired to do HIIT cardio and just do a half hour of more steady state, easier cardio instead
I will post my final numbers/weight increases from Stage 2 later this week 0 -
Here are my final numbers from stage 2. Are we supposed to do AMRAPs for each stage?
Workout A:
FSPP: I still hate this one. It just feels all kinds of awkward to me. 10lbs of plates on barbell up to 20 pounds of plates on barbell at the end. I'm not sure how much the bar itself weighs and I am not sure if I am supposed to factor that in so I just go by how much the plates weigh. When I use the Olympic bar (not far this exercise!), I factor in the weight of the 45lb bar
Step-up: I move back and forth between five or six risers depending on how my balance is feeling that day, because I try to balance on my working leg and not touch the top of the step with the moving leg when I rise up. 45--->55lb
DB 1pt row: 10lb DBs--->20lb DBs
Static lunge with rear foot elevated: 15lb DBs--->20DBs. I am pouring sweat by the end of these!
Push-up: I have finally made progress although my elbows are still splayed out to the sides. I just cannot get my elbows back :P Anyway, from 10 push-ups at about 30 degrees to 8 on the floor.
Plank: full plank on forearms and toes, 60 sec. the whole way through. It has gotten slightly easier each time. I tried a few extra planks with forearms on a Swiss ball and toes on a bench and only made it 30 seconds.
Cable horizontal wood chop: my gym doesn't have a machine for this so I've had to use the alternates. I started with an eight pound weight, doing them on the floor, but that was way too easy so I moved to the ball and finished doing them there with a 20lb DB.
Workout B:
Dead lift: I stopped doing these from the box after the first workout; like the FSPP, it just felt wrong to me. So I started with regular DLs at 65lb and finished today with 80lb
BSS: so many issues with getting my foot flat and comfy on this one, but today it finally seemed right. I had been having trouble not doing them on my back toes, basically the same as the lunge in Workout A. A padded bench has definitely helped. I used a 25lb plate the entire time and felt I could have gone higher but the next plate is 45lb which is too high. Maybe I should have tried a dumbell...totally never thought of it before, duh.
Underhand lat pull down: started at 75lb and have moved onto 90lb but haven't done more than 8 in a set yet.
Reverse lunge with forward reach: I find I really need to focus on not rounding my back to bend down, and keep my chest up. 10lb DBs--->20lb DBs
DB prone Cuban snatch: 5lb DBs--->10lb DBs
Swiss ball crunch: regular long arm--->long arm holding 4lb ball
Reverse crunch: incline--->incline with 4lb ball between the knees
Lateral flexion: on stability ball the whole time. Wish I could think of a way to add weight to this but I already hold my arms behind my head so not sure how this could work.
Prone cobra: I am a moron. I was doing them for 90sec. without much trouble and then realized I was raising my feet also, AND I had my palms up to the ceiling, not pointing away from my sides. Both those things seemed to somehow make it easier :P Once I started doing them right I found it hard to hang on for the full minute, but I did.
Pretty proud of my progress on this stage 0 -
ok friends stage 2 in the books for me too. here's how handled this stage: did usually 4 sets of DL and FSPP including 1 warm up set. did 3 sets of other exercises each. started off doing the HIIT but strained hamstring and and quad on right leg (doing interval runs) about halfway through, so stopped cardio except for walking. had one light week where i only got one workout of A and B each, so made up for it by doing an extra week. all in all, did 5 A workouts and 5 B workouts. reverted to regular deadlifts halfway through since i felt like my back was curling. here are my results:
A Workout:
FSPP: 40#/12 - 60#/10
Step Ups: 30#/10 medium step - 60#/15 high step
Dumbbell one point row: 20#/10 - 50#/10
Static lunge, foot elevated: 30#/10 - 50#/12
Push Up: 6 on floor/6 on 30% bench - 13 flat on floor
Plank: 1 min flat - 1:15 one foot off floor
Wood Chop: 40#/10 - 60#/9
Prone Cobra: 1 min - 1:30
B Workout:
DL: 95#/10 - 125#/10
BSS: 25#/10 - 50#/10
Underhand Lat: 85#/10 - 100#/9
Reverse Lunge w/forward reach: 30#10 - 40#/12 (did some 50# but didn't get range of motion)
Prone Cuban Snatch: 10#/10 - 15#/8 (10#/5)
Swissball crunch: 20#/10 - 25#/25
Reverse Crunch: 30%/20 - 30%/25
Lateral Flexion: 10, 13
all in all very pleased but i had a lot of trouble with my diet and the fact that the cardio failed was a problem for changing weight/inches. :-)0 -
^ Nice progress on those numbers!!!0
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Thanks jade! Worked my *kitten* off in stage 2 -) 0
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Pudding, you can do AMRAPs at the end of each stage.
I start Stage 4 tomorrow and will do three sets of each exercise.0 -
I start stage 4 on Wednesday and the stage 3 workouts have been so long that I really don't want to do three sets of all the exercises in stage 4. I am hoping I can get by with two sets. It's summer and I will have my older son home from school after this week; I don't want to spend so much time in the gym!0
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Half way through stage 2 today. Went back to regular DLs and went back a few pounds to work on my form and confidence. 2b is so long! But I like it. I can't imagine how long it will be in stage 4. My body is well and duly fatigued today after 2b0
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Stage 2 gets taxing for sure. Those Bulgarian lunges and lunge w forward press made ^me gasp and sweat! I did enjoy stage 2 though 0
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120 second planks were not doable for me
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120 second planks were not doable for me
not yet :smokin:0 -
120 second planks were not doable for me
not yet :smokin:
You were right! Wheeee! The first time through the routine I only managed 90 seconds for each set. Second time I got 120 seconds for the first set, then 90 for the second. And finally this morning I managed the two minutes for both sets. A spin instructor I know walked in while I was in the midst of the first one and she cheered me on. I am so proud of myself 0 -
120 second planks were not doable for me
not yet :smokin:
You were right! Wheeee! The first time through the routine I only managed 90 seconds for each set. Second time I got 120 seconds for the first set, then 90 for the second. And finally this morning I managed the two minutes for both sets. A spin instructor I know walked in while I was in the midst of the first one and she cheered me on. I am so proud of myself
That is awesome! congratulations! I find my planks are variable, some days I can hold it for ages (and by ages I mean the 90 seconds we were doing in stage 3) and other days I can barely do 10 seconds! I don't understand it!0 -
Took me a while to get through 2 but I did it! Did anyone do AMRAPs or take a week break after 2?0
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I haven't bothered with amraps since stage 1.0
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So how long do your workouts in stage 2 take? minus the hiit on B?
I think I am maybe going too fast? I am getting these workouts done in about 35 minutes. I remember seeing people say that the workouts start getting longer and stage 1 was the shortest.0 -
I can't remember how long stage 2 took but definitely longer than that. Yesterday i did 4A and it took me 80 minutes (although I did add in some extra stuff at the end). I probably take too long of breaks between sets but 35 minutes seems very quick. are you sure you are doing all of the reps/sets?0
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Stage 2/4 takes ^me 90 min including 10-11 min warm up run. I do 4 sets of the first 2 exercises, including one warm up set. Then
sets of the remaining exercises. I don't time the breaks between sets - when I can breath and it feels like my heart has calmed down, I do another set.
35 min does seem fast - how many sets/ reps are you doing?0 -
Stage 2/4 takes ^me 90 min including 10-11 min warm up run. I do 4 sets of the first 2 exercises, including one warm up set. Then sets of the remaining exercises. I don't time the breaks between sets - when I can breath and it feels like my heart has calmed down, I do another set.
35 min does seem fast - how many sets/ reps are you doing?
I am doing 10 reps x 2 sets. On the first exercises of each workout, FSPP and WGDL, I do one extra warmup set for a total of three on that one exercise. You are doing 3 & 4 sets of 10? I do know I am not taking a full 75 second rest between exercises, but I am doing all the exercises. I have a log with me.0 -
In sTage 4 you do 8 reps, but the weights start to get pretty heavy so I notice that the recovery time is longer. I do a 10 min warm up, too, and by the time I get outta the cardio section and into the free weights section, gloves on and machine appropriated, I bet it's another 5 min. So maybe 75 min of weights only. I'm gonna time it precisely tonight just to be sure - now I'm wondering if the breaks I'm taking are too long!0
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thought i'd post my stage 4 results here.here are my results:
A Workout - start/reps, finish/reps
FSPP - 60#/7 - 70#7
Step Up - 70#/8 (highest aerobic step) - 60#/8 (bench height)
Dumbbell one point row - 60#/8 - 60#/8
Static Lunge Rear foot elevated - 60#/8 - 70#/8
Push up - 11 flat - 15 flat
Plank - 90 sec - 120 sec
Horizontal Woodchop - 60#/8 - 80#/8
B Workout - start/reps, finish/reps
Regular Deadlift - 105#/8 - 125#/8
Bulgarian Split Squat - 50#/8 - 70#/9
Underhand Lat Pulldown - 100#/8 - (115#/3 -100#/5)
Reverse lunge from Box w/Forward Reach - 40#/8 - 60#/7
Prone Cuban Snatch - 12#/8 - 15#/8
Crunch - 100#/25 - 110#/25
Reverse Crunch - BW/20 - BW/25
Lateral Flexion - 50#/25 - BW/25 on back extension machine
Prone Cobra - 90 sec - 120 sec0
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