New Rules of Lifting for Women group?
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Are you all on M/W/F schedules as far as your lifting days? I am. Sometimes I feel like it might be not quite enough time for muscles to recover. If my muscles are really crazy sore, like on the first day of the 5-sets-of-incline-reverse-crunches session, then I wait an extra day but really don't like to do lifting stuff on Saturday since the gym is extra packed.
Im doing MWF. By the weekend I really wore out. Before this program I worked out 6 days a week. Now I find that Im doing the 3 days and MAYBE one cardio day. But thats how I know Im getting a good workout though. Im really starting to see the definition in my arms.
That's the first place I say real change too but I got scared so I eased back a bit but in retrospect I should have just kept on going.0 -
I'm feeling a bit strange in regards to the program during this stage. I don't seem to have seem much improvement, in actual fact I feel kinda flabbier? mmmmmm???? strange.
I'm finishing stage 4 but I'm not really enjoying this stage, no matter how heavy I go I never seem to work up a sweat like i have on the previous stages? Also I've had to substitue the static lunge, rear foot elevated with with squats using the squat rack as I'm unable to hold heavy enough weights to challenge my leg muscles.
Any thoughts, ideas about what I may be doing wrong, just not seeing much progress since the end of stage 2 really? :huh:0 -
My first best guess would be calories, sunshine. I felt progressively stronger and more and more solid as the program went on, especially when I bumped up my calories a bit and put prioritized protein consumption above all else. I lifted heavier (and got sweatier!) the more I ate.0
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Hi, just bumping this for later. I'm still reading through the book, and just digesting it all. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that I should eat more calories. I just changed my target goal on MFP to lose only one pound per week and it has me at ~1500. I already work out 3x a week doing a Body Pump class (cardio weight lifting) and burn ~375 on those days, but I find eating nearly 1900 calories on workout days to be too scary and have yet to start religiously consuming my workout calories. Seems like if I was doing NROLFW I'd probably need even more calories? I didn't do that math yet. I have a ton of weight to lose (well, 85 pounds or so), so I am not even close to goal weight. However, I've been having a really hard time with losing and gaining the same 5 pounds since I started, despite my exercise program and pretty good adherence to the MFP calorie goal I used to have (~1200). This is my first week at 1500, and it does feel great to eat more, that is for sure
. I am still not sure if it will help though. I am recovering from an injury right now, but hope to start NROLFW in a month or so if all continues to recover. The other thing I'm not sure about from the book is that they say you need no extra cardio on top of your 3 weight training sessions unless you just like cardio. Well, I hate cardio, so I'd like to believe that very much, but it sounds like all of you that are having good success are also adding on cardio workouts. (currently while I'm recovering from my injury I do yoga 2 days a week, but no extra cardio). 0 -
Just wanted to say hi!
I'm currently reading the book, just started the workout section. I started reading this thread to see how long the workouts take because I workout at lunch and all the rest times had me thinking it'd be a 2 hour workout - glad to see that's not the case!
I've been doing Jackie Warner's program for 13 weeks - 20 minutes interval cardio 5x week, lifting (but not whole body) 3x week, and have made good progress but I can see from the posts that I'll be lifting a lot more once I start NRLW. And I'm excited to do it!
My office building has a gym in the basement (hence the lunchtime workouts) that has a good bit of equipment but not a lateral pulldown machine, so I'll be doing some modifications.
Hope to finish the book this weekend and get started on Monday! All you ladies are awesome, I've loved reading about your progress (and I share the struggle to eat more calories - I started at 1200 and eat most of my exercise calories back, but there are days where I'm ravenous and it's crazy not to eat when your body is telling you to!) and can't wait to participate in the convo!0 -
I think... I need to do some more recuperative strength work on my left leg before I do any additional squats or lunges. My right hip muscles and quads are starting to protest most mightily, showing I am overusing it and under using my left leg.
Therefore... when the workout schedule calls for squats, I shall do left leg extensions and curls using the attachement on our weight bench. When the schedule calls for lunges, I shall do dumbbell step ups. Both exercises will be substituted until I can match left to right in degree of difficulty.
Broken knee caps and careless doctors suck!0 -
My first best guess would be calories, sunshine. I felt progressively stronger and more and more solid as the program went on, especially when I bumped up my calories a bit and put prioritized protein consumption above all else. I lifted heavier (and got sweatier!) the more I ate.
mmmm..... thanks kensky. I just don't know, I upped my calories and whilst I didn't lose I didn't gain either? I really don't know what to do? :sad: I'm still quite fat it you know what I mean?0 -
Well, let's not focus so much on the fat as much as upping the strength. I did a super-quick check of your food diary and if you aren't ready to up your calories by another 100 or so (which I can relate to, believe me) than how about making a real commitment to at least 100 gms of protein every stinkin' day...lifting or not. I believe that 100 should be the bare minimum protein limit and ideally the weighttraining pros say something like 1 gm per lb. of body weight. (I don't know how that converts to kilos though, arrgh.)
I think that when you give your body--your muscles--the fuel it needs to grow, this will up your metabolism and make your body the more solidly muscular machine we are all trying to build around here.0 -
Well, let's not focus so much on the fat as much as upping the strength. I did a super-quick check of your food diary and if you aren't ready to up your calories by another 100 or so (which I can relate to, believe me) than how about making a real commitment to at least 100 gms of protein every stinkin' day...lifting or not. I believe that 100 should be the bare minimum protein limit and ideally the weighttraining pros say something like 1 gm per lb. of body weight. (I don't know how that converts to kilos though, arrgh.)
I think that when you give your body--your muscles--the fuel it needs to grow, this will up your metabolism and make your body the more solidly muscular machine we are all trying to build around here.
I think you're absolutely right. Starting in the morning I will commit to at least of 100g of protein each day. Thanks for your advice - you always keep me focused and motivated :-)0 -
Just started stage 5 this week and I LOVE it! I love the lower reps with heavier weight - I pushed myself as much as I could and I fel super strong. I really hope this stage is where I see significant change in my physique.
Anyone else have any tips for maximising fat loss and strength?0 -
I've been reading the book and this thread from the beginning and have a question about finding the right calorie goal for myself. I see you all talking about using the "maintenance" calorie number. Are you talking about the MFP suggested maintenance number, or the calorie numbers in the book? Becase those numbers are very different for me. Here's my stats:
5'5"
40 yrs old
current weight: 127
current bmi: 21
calories for the past 6 months recommended by mfp: 1200/day
I do eat at least half of my exercise calories back, but on days I don't exercise I try to stay below the 1200
Lost 45 pounds since January 1st
Have been using 123 as a "goal weight" but at this point I don't care what I weigh - I know what I want to look like & what size i want to be. I do have a lot of fat left I want to get rid of. And I want to be strong!
MFP suggested maintenance calories: 1550/day
NRLW calories non work-out day: 1695
NRLW calories work-out day: 1937
So once I start the lifting program (still trying to find weights cheap!) how many calories am I supposed to eat?? My diary's open if anyone wants to look! I appreciate any input you might have.0 -
My best suggestion is to go ahead and bump yourself up to the MFP maintenance calorie limit and see how steady your strength gains are. If you reach a point where you are hitting a wall, progress-wise (the weights I have been lifting have gotten progressively heavier through this program), then you may want to gradually bump up the calories 100kcal at a time toward the NROLFW "lifting day" number.
I was initially very wary of the bumping of calories (and at this point I still eat below the NROLFW formula's number of 2000ish calories on lifting days) but it was surprisingly easy to fall in line with the "eat more, get stronger" mindset once I (quickly) saw it working!0 -
Well, I started today!
I've been sick for the past 4 days and today's the first day I felt somewhat human, so I probably didn't hit it as hard as I could have, but I'm happy to have started nonetheless.
Those prone jack knives! OMG!!! It was a challenge just to stay ON the ball, much less move! But the second set was a tiny bit easier and I did get in a few halfway decent jack knives. I can't wait to achieve a full range of motion like the guy in the video!
I think I'm going to like this, and I think I need to figure out how much the bar in our office gym weighs...0 -
Anyone on Stage 7 yet? I did the 3rd workout and it was a killer. I can't do as heavy as weights as I am accustomed to doing, but since it is such high reps and little rest I am not sweating it. They call it a fat burning stage anyhow. They are definitely good workouts. I pair it with 20 minutes of HIIT training and I've got a nice 45-minute workout.0
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Anyone on Stage 7 yet? I did the 3rd workout and it was a killer. I can't do as heavy as weights as I am accustomed to doing, but since it is such high reps and little rest I am not sweating it. They call it a fat burning stage anyhow. They are definitely good workouts. I pair it with 20 minutes of HIIT training and I've got a nice 45-minute workout.
Stage 7 - wow! It's funny because I never ever look ahead at future stages (I'm currently on 5) but today I looked at stgae 7 and was thinking what an achievement it will be to reach there - I cannot wait. Well done for your consistency in reaching this far. What will you go onto when you complete the program?0 -
I started today. I was surprised at how short the workout was - I think it took me about 20 minutes including a 5 minute warmup. I was lazy and didn't do warm up sets though. Also, it wasn't all that challenging for me except for the push ups - probably because I've been doing body pump and yoga for a few weeks now. We've been working on those prone jack knifes in yoga class! But I tried to push myself with as heavy a weight as I could do. I just felt like maybe I wasn't working hard enough because I'm used to 60 minute workouts. It did kindof make me wonder if I should skip stage 1, but on the other hand, this way I'll get better at push ups.0
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I started the program over again after completing stages 1 and 2
...but here's to starting over 0 -
Anyone on Stage 7 yet? I did the 3rd workout and it was a killer. I can't do as heavy as weights as I am accustomed to doing, but since it is such high reps and little rest I am not sweating it. They call it a fat burning stage anyhow. They are definitely good workouts. I pair it with 20 minutes of HIIT training and I've got a nice 45-minute workout.
Stage 7 - wow! It's funny because I never ever look ahead at future stages (I'm currently on 5) but today I looked at stgae 7 and was thinking what an achievement it will be to reach there - I cannot wait. Well done for your consistency in reaching this far. What will you go onto when you complete the program?
I think I am going to do a mini bulk and a more weight intensive program like Stronglifts 5x5 or something like that. I want to gain more muscle and strength, though I did gain a fair amount of muscle, more like a recomp (replaced fat with muscle and didn't gain/lose any weight) with this program. I haven't done the entire program week by week, I took a couple weeks off of it here and there. I also do Crossfit which sometimes involves heavy lifting so I would have to miss a day or two of NROLFW if it followed a heavy Crossfit day. I have been doing NROLFW for 6 months.0 -
I started today. I was surprised at how short the workout was - I think it took me about 20 minutes including a 5 minute warmup. I was lazy and didn't do warm up sets though. Also, it wasn't all that challenging for me except for the push ups - probably because I've been doing body pump and yoga for a few weeks now. We've been working on those prone jack knifes in yoga class! But I tried to push myself with as heavy a weight as I could do. I just felt like maybe I wasn't working hard enough because I'm used to 60 minute workouts. It did kindof make me wonder if I should skip stage 1, but on the other hand, this way I'll get better at push ups.
So, are you sore today? I am! I didn't think I would be, because I've been working out 5x week, including 3 days of strength training, but I guess the change in exercises shocked my body, which is good! My thighs are sore from the step ups and my abs are screaming from the prone jackknives! Yay!0 -
I started today. I was surprised at how short the workout was - I think it took me about 20 minutes including a 5 minute warmup. I was lazy and didn't do warm up sets though. Also, it wasn't all that challenging for me except for the push ups - probably because I've been doing body pump and yoga for a few weeks now. We've been working on those prone jack knifes in yoga class! But I tried to push myself with as heavy a weight as I could do. I just felt like maybe I wasn't working hard enough because I'm used to 60 minute workouts. It did kindof make me wonder if I should skip stage 1, but on the other hand, this way I'll get better at push ups.
So, are you sore today? I am! I didn't think I would be, because I've been working out 5x week, including 3 days of strength training, but I guess the change in exercises shocked my body, which is good! My thighs are sore from the step ups and my abs are screaming from the prone jackknives! Yay!
My back & chest are a little sore, as well as my shoulders. but other than that, not really. I am going to put more weight on the squats and hold more weight for the step ups next time I do workout A. I thought I was working hard... but obviously I need to do more.0 -
You know, I'm tempted to do that (add more weight next time) but I'm not going to. The weights increase pretty steadily (every third workout) so I'm going to stick with the plan. I *did* weigh the barbell in the gym today (we have a small gym in my office building and there is one barbell), so I'll start using that as soon as I get past the 15 lb. dumbbells.
The barbell is a curvy one - anyone think it'll be a problem to use that instead of the Olympic straight barbell?0 -
Hi Elizabeth! I think the curvy barbell (my guess is an e-z curl bar that people typically use for bicep curls) is not ideal but if it's what you have then I think it will be fine.
kdiamond--I am technically done with the workouts in stage 6 but I think I might linger (hopefully just a little) longer in the hopes that I will be able to do one actual pull-up. If this doesn't happen for me in a month, then I'll move onto stage 7. I'm happy to hear it's been great for you, especially since I have been mentally preparing for "fat-burning" mode.
I think I am going to do Ripptoe's Starting Strength (apparently what the Stronglifts guy based his plan on) after I'm done with NROLFW. After that, I might just do it again!0 -
Yay! I picked up my Craigslist bench and weights yesterday! I'm going to start tomorrow.
Two quick questions for you: since I'm doing this at home and I dont' have a squat rack, what should I do instead? And same thing for the lat pulldown - I didnt' see substitutions listed in the book for these two exercises.0 -
Wow this looks interesting..I want to start NROLFW0
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Yay! I picked up my Craigslist bench and weights yesterday! I'm going to start tomorrow.
Two quick questions for you: since I'm doing this at home and I dont' have a squat rack, what should I do instead? And same thing for the lat pulldown - I didnt' see substitutions listed in the book for these two exercises.
I don't have a squat rack either, I'm planning to substitute regular squats and maybe get one of the guys to spot me if needed, once I'm up into the high weights.
The book lists the Pullover (page 201) as the alternative for a lateral pulldown. I don't have access to a cable apparatus either!0 -
Yay! I picked up my Craigslist bench and weights yesterday! I'm going to start tomorrow.
Two quick questions for you: since I'm doing this at home and I dont' have a squat rack, what should I do instead? And same thing for the lat pulldown - I didnt' see substitutions listed in the book for these two exercises.
For the lat pulldown, the book recommend "Pullovers" I think. I've found that Pendlay Rows work my lats better than the pullovers (Google will find you lots of links and videos). If you can do pullups, those are even better.
Right now, I'm doing some rehabilitation on my left knee and do leg extensions and curls (my home bench has the add-on for it) on just that leg, but working both legs would be a "reasonable" substitute, though they don't work the core, so not as good as doing squats with a spotter.0 -
Ahh... I didn't read far enough. I see the Pullover section now. Thank you Elizabeth & Baisleac!
As for the squats... "I don't have a squat rack either, I'm planning to substitute regular squats and maybe get one of the guys to spot me if needed, once I'm up into the high weights. " Forgive me - I know nothing about this stuff. When you say you're going to do regular squats, what do you do with the bar? How do you hold it? Or do you use dumbells?0 -
Ahh... I didn't read far enough. I see the Pullover section now. Thank you Elizabeth & Baisleac!
As for the squats... "I don't have a squat rack either, I'm planning to substitute regular squats and maybe get one of the guys to spot me if needed, once I'm up into the high weights. " Forgive me - I know nothing about this stuff. When you say you're going to do regular squats, what do you do with the bar? How do you hold it? Or do you use dumbells?
You can try front squats if you don't have a rack. You'll have to learn how to clean the bar. I personally don't like squatting with dumbbells, it feels unbalanced to me and I prefer a bb.
Here is a video that shows how to do the clean and front squat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdNq09EnNvA 0 -
Hi Elizabeth! I think the curvy barbell (my guess is an e-z curl bar that people typically use for bicep curls) is not ideal but if it's what you have then I think it will be fine.
kdiamond--I am technically done with the workouts in stage 6 but I think I might linger (hopefully just a little) longer in the hopes that I will be able to do one actual pull-up. If this doesn't happen for me in a month, then I'll move onto stage 7. I'm happy to hear it's been great for you, especially since I have been mentally preparing for "fat-burning" mode.
I think I am going to do Ripptoe's Starting Strength (apparently what the Stronglifts guy based his plan on) after I'm done with NROLFW. After that, I might just do it again!
I've been trying to do true pullups for a year! We do them in Crossfit weekly. They are super hard (one of the hardest things a woman can do). You may want to try using a band for your knee for a little help, or try jumping pullups.0 -
If I was doing this at home, I'd do goblet squats for the squats...at least as my weights got heavier. They are more of a "front squat" than a back squat though.
Goblet squatter extraordinaire
>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKmrXTx6jZs 0
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