New Rules of Lifting for Women group?

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  • duckpond11
    duckpond11 Posts: 197 Member
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    I am doing my second round of Week 3 - 1B today. Weighed in today for weekly weigh in - zero pounds lost again. I have to keep reminding myself that in reality it's only been 2 days of eating cleaner and 1 day of adding cardio circuits on T/Th and I need to give it a chance. On the bright side, I can really tell a difference in my shoulders, which is the first place I get defined muscle wise. If I poke them, there is very little squish, despite the obvious layer of fat encasing that muscle. I do my push ups on the bench right now (about a 30% incline?), and I'm up to about 7 good ones, and 8 half *kitten* ones. 2 weeks ago I could do about 5 good ones.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    Do I do all five exercises on workout a the first time?

    Also when I have alternating sets I do push up then break then seated row.

    Yes to these. You should do all the exercises in Workout A as one workout, resting after each set. So for Stage 1, Workout A, you would do a set of squats, rest, the second set of squats, rest, and as you progress through the program there will be a third set of squats and then rest. After all the squats are done, you move into your first pair of alternating sets; I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it's push-ups and rows? So you would do your first set of push-ups, rest, first set of rows, rest, second set of push-ups, rest, etc. Once all sets for those are done, move into your second pair of alternating sets.

    Yeah...it's pretty confusing...hope that helped! :smile:

    I thought in alternating sets that doing the other exercise was the rest, so in this example you would do a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, immediately into a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, etc becuase it's active rest and you're resting the muscles that you used during push-up while doing rows and visa versa?
  • neela31
    neela31 Posts: 180 Member
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    Do I do all five exercises on workout a the first time?

    Also when I have alternating sets I do push up then break then seated row.

    Yes to these. You should do all the exercises in Workout A as one workout, resting after each set. So for Stage 1, Workout A, you would do a set of squats, rest, the second set of squats, rest, and as you progress through the program there will be a third set of squats and then rest. After all the squats are done, you move into your first pair of alternating sets; I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it's push-ups and rows? So you would do your first set of push-ups, rest, first set of rows, rest, second set of push-ups, rest, etc. Once all sets for those are done, move into your second pair of alternating sets.

    Yeah...it's pretty confusing...hope that helped! :smile:

    I thought in alternating sets that doing the other exercise was the rest, so in this example you would do a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, immediately into a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, etc becuase it's active rest and you're resting the muscles that you used during push-up while doing rows and visa versa?

    I don't do an active rest. I rest after each exercise. I thought the rest time is just shorter for the alternating sets because you are working different muscles than it would be if you were doing 2 sets of the same exercise.
  • duckpond11
    duckpond11 Posts: 197 Member
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    Do I do all five exercises on workout a the first time?

    Also when I have alternating sets I do push up then break then seated row.

    Yes to these. You should do all the exercises in Workout A as one workout, resting after each set. So for Stage 1, Workout A, you would do a set of squats, rest, the second set of squats, rest, and as you progress through the program there will be a third set of squats and then rest. After all the squats are done, you move into your first pair of alternating sets; I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it's push-ups and rows? So you would do your first set of push-ups, rest, first set of rows, rest, second set of push-ups, rest, etc. Once all sets for those are done, move into your second pair of alternating sets.

    Yeah...it's pretty confusing...hope that helped! :smile:

    I thought in alternating sets that doing the other exercise was the rest, so in this example you would do a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, immediately into a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, etc becuase it's active rest and you're resting the muscles that you used during push-up while doing rows and visa versa?

    I have been doing it with rest in between. If you look at the book where they explain alternating sets using Stage 1 as an example, they tell you to add in rest even between the alternating sets (look at page 128).
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    Yes to these. You should do all the exercises in Workout A as one workout, resting after each set. So for Stage 1, Workout A, you would do a set of squats, rest, the second set of squats, rest, and as you progress through the program there will be a third set of squats and then rest. After all the squats are done, you move into your first pair of alternating sets; I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it's push-ups and rows? So you would do your first set of push-ups, rest, first set of rows, rest, second set of push-ups, rest, etc. Once all sets for those are done, move into your second pair of alternating sets.

    Yeah...it's pretty confusing...hope that helped! :smile:

    I thought in alternating sets that doing the other exercise was the rest, so in this example you would do a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, immediately into a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, etc becuase it's active rest and you're resting the muscles that you used during push-up while doing rows and visa versa?

    I have been doing it with rest in between. If you look at the book where they explain alternating sets using Stage 1 as an example, they tell you to add in rest even between the alternating sets (look at page 128).
    I'm reading it on my kindle and it won't let me pick a page number.
  • duckpond11
    duckpond11 Posts: 197 Member
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    Yes to these. You should do all the exercises in Workout A as one workout, resting after each set. So for Stage 1, Workout A, you would do a set of squats, rest, the second set of squats, rest, and as you progress through the program there will be a third set of squats and then rest. After all the squats are done, you move into your first pair of alternating sets; I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it's push-ups and rows? So you would do your first set of push-ups, rest, first set of rows, rest, second set of push-ups, rest, etc. Once all sets for those are done, move into your second pair of alternating sets.

    Yeah...it's pretty confusing...hope that helped! :smile:

    I thought in alternating sets that doing the other exercise was the rest, so in this example you would do a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, immediately into a set of push-ups, immediately into a set of rows, etc becuase it's active rest and you're resting the muscles that you used during push-up while doing rows and visa versa?

    I have been doing it with rest in between. If you look at the book where they explain alternating sets using Stage 1 as an example, they tell you to add in rest even between the alternating sets (look at page 128).
    I'm reading it on my kindle and it won't let me pick a page number.

    Chapter 10 - the section header is "Alternating Sets"
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    [
    I have been doing it with rest in between. If you look at the book where they explain alternating sets using Stage 1 as an example, they tell you to add in rest even between the alternating sets (look at page 128).
    I'm reading it on my kindle and it won't let me pick a page number.
    [/quote]

    Chapter 10 - the section header is "Alternating Sets"
    [/quote]

    thanks, I found it. I think of myself as moderately gym savvy, but when I started getting into the explanation of the logs and how to read the logs and how to record in the logs my brain turned to gobbeldy-goop
  • elizabethblake
    elizabethblake Posts: 384 Member
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    Another day done! I've now done the level of 12 reps twice. Upped my weights today again - my arms are soooo weak! I can't wait until they're stronger. :bigsmile:


    Great job! I'm right behind you. I've done the 12 reps once now. I can't wait until I'm stronger too. I feel so weak! I'm looking forward to lowering my body fat percentage as well.

    And I'm right in the middle - just have one more workout of 12 reps, which I'll do Friday.

    I believe I said earlier that I was looking forward to doing prone jackknives today. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! For some reason, they were much harder than last week, and this workout requires THREE sets, not two! But, I did them, and the third set was actually easier than the first. I might have rolled off the ball at the end, but still...
  • neela31
    neela31 Posts: 180 Member
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    Anyone have success with the program doing it just twice a week? I'm just curious. I started off doing it 3 times a week but my muscles were still fatigue from the prior session.
  • BifDiehl
    BifDiehl Posts: 474
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    I am growing out of my pants - my lovely, lovely smaller pants. What is happening? I've completed 2 weeks of the program now, am still running 2-3 times/week and doing 1 day of yoga per week. The first week I was doing the program I upped my calories from 1200/day (+ exercise calories) to 1550/day (my "maintenance") and saw a scale gain for the week. I figured I upped my calories too quickly - so for week 2 I set calories to 1300/day. And now my pants that fit great 3 weeks ago are SNUG in the thighs and around the waist. I can definitely tell by looking in the mirror that my entire core is "thicker" than it was.

    Is this part of the process - that you get bigger before you get smaller? I want to ultimately be lean and strong (I want that layer of fat that's left to shrink!).

    If it's what I'm eating, let me know - my diary's open. Please note that yesterday was NOT a typical day. I was just sooo hungry all day (I ran 4 miles Tuesday night and lifted Wednesday and I'm thinking that's why I was so hungry).

    **help.....**
  • elizabethblake
    elizabethblake Posts: 384 Member
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    If it's what I'm eating, let me know - my diary's open. Please note that yesterday was NOT a typical day. I was just sooo hungry all day (I ran 4 miles Tuesday night and lifted Wednesday and I'm thinking that's why I was so hungry).

    **help.....**

    Isn't it weird how some days you're just hungrier than others?!?! I looked at a few days of your diary and a couple of things stood out for me. First - your sodium intake is either right at or a little over your daily goal. That means water retention and tight pants. :o( Second - and I say this because I have done the same thing up until this week - the processed foods might be what's hurting you. You eat a lot of really good food, but maybe try to grab a piece of fruit for dessert and have vegetables with every meal AND snack and see if you can give up the Weight Watchers desserts for a while.

    That's what duckpond11 and I are doing - eating SUPER CLEAN 90% of the time, cutting out virtually all processed foods, including bread (Ezekiel bread is okay), and time will tell how it works out. I will say that after three days, I feel much better and don't even crave the after-dinner desserts or spoonfuls of White Chocolate Peanut Butter. It finally hit home that it really IS mostly about diet - exercise is to be healthy and fit and strong, but diet is what will make me lose fat and sizes.
  • BifDiehl
    BifDiehl Posts: 474
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    You eat a lot of really good food, but maybe try to grab a piece of fruit for dessert and have vegetables with every meal AND snack and see if you can give up the Weight Watchers desserts for a while.

    Ohhh.... my weight watcher desserts. Sigh. They are what's gotten me through the last 8 months of losing 45 pounds. Knowing that at the end of the day I got to eat my yummy fudgy cookie dough ice cream.... Sigh again. I suppose I should learn to live without.

    The thing I don't understand is that my diet hasn't changed over the last 8 months as I've been losing. It's just now that I'm lifting that I seem to be getting bigger again..

    Processed foods: I think I need to educate myself. In a nutshell, is processed food anything I don't make myself from raw ingredients? You said bread is processed so cereal would be, too. So what about things like cheese and yogurt? How did you educate yourself about eating clean? Any good books you used?
  • alli_baba
    alli_baba Posts: 232 Member
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    I am growing out of my pants - my lovely, lovely smaller pants. What is happening? I've completed 2 weeks of the program now, am still running 2-3 times/week and doing 1 day of yoga per week.

    My weight has been falling off since I started this (about 3 weeks ago) but I am doing a slight variation on the program. I do the standard program of lifts but immediately following the weight lifting I do interval training (I think you are supposed to hold off on that until the 2nd stage). I just get on the treadmill, do a light jog for 3 minutes and then do a hard run for 1 minute followed by a 1 minute slow jog. I do about 8 intervals of this with a 5 minute cool down at the end and then I'm done. Outside of the 3 days of this regimen, I do about 30 minutes on the elliptical about 2 days a week. I eat about 1800 calories daily (not entirely clean, I am sad to say).

    But the weight is coming off (and I am not really looking to lose much at this point). My stomach is getting pretty toned but my arms are still just toothpicks with no definition. But it's early days I guess.

    Anyway, just a long-winded way to suggest interval training if you're not already doing this during your runs (and are up for it). Hope this helps!
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    I am growing out of my pants - my lovely, lovely smaller pants. What is happening? I've completed 2 weeks of the program now, am still running 2-3 times/week and doing 1 day of yoga per week. The first week I was doing the program I upped my calories from 1200/day (+ exercise calories) to 1550/day (my "maintenance") and saw a scale gain for the week. I figured I upped my calories too quickly - so for week 2 I set calories to 1300/day. And now my pants that fit great 3 weeks ago are SNUG in the thighs and around the waist. I can definitely tell by looking in the mirror that my entire core is "thicker" than it was.

    Is this part of the process - that you get bigger before you get smaller? I want to ultimately be lean and strong (I want that layer of fat that's left to shrink!).

    If it's what I'm eating, let me know - my diary's open. Please note that yesterday was NOT a typical day. I was just sooo hungry all day (I ran 4 miles Tuesday night and lifted Wednesday and I'm thinking that's why I was so hungry).

    **help.....**

    I read something recently that said there are stages in muscle build, you cut, you gain, you cut, you gain. I don't really know the details, but it's worth looking into. Lou S. has a chat board on his website (or maybe on the new rules website) where you can pose questions like this looking for ideas.
  • elizabethblake
    elizabethblake Posts: 384 Member
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    Ohhh.... my weight watcher desserts. Sigh. They are what's gotten me through the last 8 months of losing 45 pounds. Knowing that at the end of the day I got to eat my yummy fudgy cookie dough ice cream.... Sigh again. I suppose I should learn to live without.

    Girl, me too! If you look at my diary (and I sent you a friend request so that you could), you'll see that pretty much every night I was eating a WW frozen bar, or a Vitamuffin top, or something that fit into my daily calories, but had sugar and processed carbs. Actually, they'll be listed probably under "lunch" now that I've changed up my categories, but they're there.
    The thing I don't understand is that my diet hasn't changed over the last 8 months as I've been losing. It's just now that I'm lifting that I seem to be getting bigger again..

    Don't give them up forever, and if you think you'll binge or eat something worse, don't give them up at all. Just save it for a treat. I used to eat junk on a daily basis. I changed that junk (full fat ice cream, etc.) to "diet junk" and I lost weight, but I was still eating a daily treat. I really think it's what you get used to. I'm trying to change my mindset to having a treat during my 10%, or 4 times a week and that treat can be a frozen concoction, or crusty baguette, or whatever I want at the time.
    Processed foods: I think I need to educate myself. In a nutshell, is processed food anything I don't make myself from raw ingredients? You said bread is processed so cereal would be, too. So what about things like cheese and yogurt? How did you educate yourself about eating clean? Any good books you used?

    duckpond11 was kind enough to tell me the guidelines she's following (from Rachel Cosgrove's book) and I hope she wouldn't care if I post them here:

    "1. Eat breakfast within 15 minutes of waking up.

    2. eat protein at every meal. Vary the protein source.

    3. eat a fruit or vegetable with every meal, including snacks

    4. Eliminate all processed carbs.

    5. eat freely of healthy fats and oils

    6. no beverages with calories (including diet soda) and drink half your body weight in water.

    7. eat whole foods whenever possible, EXCEPT immediately after a workout.

    8. supplement with multivitamin and Omega 3 (fish oil) daily

    9. Always drink a workout shake either while you workout or within 10 minutes of working out.

    10. Keep a journal and plan to meet above goals 90% of the time. So, if you eat 5 meals a day, 7 days a week, that means you need to be spot on for at least 31 meals. For the journal, she recommends putting a check box when you meet all the rules for that mean, and an X when you don't. At the end of the week, you should have 90% checks.

    Additionally, she has you eat every 3 hours or so, so about 5-6 meals a day, with the goal of reving up your metabolism. She wants you to eat whole foods, and eliminate foods containing sugar or additives. Basically, clean up your eating."

    The recommended starches are:
    cream of rice, ezekial bread, grits, lentils, oats, potatoes, quinoa, rice (brown or wild), unflavored rice cakes, sweet potatoes, tortillas (corn, rice, spelt), wheat bran, wheat free breads made from millet, rice, rye or spelt).

    For me, the easiest thing has been to sub in Ezekiel bread for regular wheat bread. I already had some in the freezer! So, it's not really a low carb diet, but it is a low gluten diet. I'll let you know how it works! I haven't been hungry, btw, and my sugar cravings are gone.
  • duckpond11
    duckpond11 Posts: 197 Member
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    How tall are you? I wonder if your maintainance calories are calculated for you correctly? Also, are you very close to your goal? I think you really have to dial the nutrition in as you get closer to the finish line.

    Obviously I agree with Elizabeth about cleaning up your eating. I also agree with the suggestion about changing up your running some to do intervals. One other thing I notice is that your protein is pretty low. If you follow the guideline of eating some protein at every meal and snack, that will probably improve. You might try adding sugar grams to the stuff on your diary that you see - I bet you would be surprised how much you are consuming. Also, products like stevia and other artificial sweeteners can still trick your body into craving sugar, so I'd have those only as a treat during the 10% of the time you are not eating clean. Eating clean only 90% of the time is really keeping me sane. Doing anything 100% of the time is a recipe for failure.
  • BifDiehl
    BifDiehl Posts: 474
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    How tall are you? I wonder if your maintainance calories are calculated for you correctly? Also, are you very close to your goal? I think you really have to dial the nutrition in as you get closer to the finish line.

    I am 5'5" and I am pretty much at "goal" weight-wise I would think... 127lbs. I don't have a definite number in mind for weight, but I know I have more fat to lose. I'm still able to grab handfulls of fat around my stomach and inner thighs. And I still have a layer of fat all over. I wasn't really concerned that the scale was moving up these past two weeks (about a pound a week) but I got VERY concerned when I pulled on my pants and they're pretty snug!

    I'll definitely be looking into cleaning up my eating (it's been on my list of things to do :bigsmile: ). I have eizekial bread on my shopping list. I know my protein is too low and I've ordered "protein crap" as I call it. I do try to use protein snacks... almonds, cheese, etc. I used to eat A LOT of greek yogurt but stopped b/c I found myself absolutely wanting to stuff my face full of food shortly after I finished eating it. I even had stopped using splenda - had switched to Agave nectar but it didn't seem to make a difference. I was using plain greek yogurt, frozen plain fruit and agave nectar but it didn't seem to get me very far until I was hungry again.

    I'm interested in the book you're talking about... I'll look for it on amazon. Thanks for all of your ideas and help!
  • AnaNotBanana
    AnaNotBanana Posts: 963 Member
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    Hi everyone! My name is Ana and I recently started the NROLFW program. So far I love it!! I'm just finishing up Week 3 and looking forward to Week 4. One of the things that I've been doing is increasing the weight that I use each work out. I started out with 5 lbs. or body weight for the first workout to make sure that I had correct form. Since then I've gradually increased with each workout. During the first week I was so sore!! I was struggling to make it up and down the stairs at work. Now I'm hardly sore at all after the workout. Should I increase my weight to work harder? Or is my body just getting use to the exercise where it wasn't use to them before? Thanks for the input and good luck to everyone!!
  • elizabethblake
    elizabethblake Posts: 384 Member
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    I was using plain greek yogurt, frozen plain fruit and agave nectar but it didn't seem to get me very far until I was hungry again.

    Try it again with the protein powder and without the agave syrup. I have a frozen strawberry smoothie with a whopping spoonful of greek yogurt and a scoop of protein powder (26 grams) every morning and it keeps me full for at least a couple of hours. No added sugars - but I have been putting in a handful of spinach this week and like it fine!
  • AggieCass09
    AggieCass09 Posts: 1,867 Member
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    i just did phase 1 work out b number 1 yesterday and really had trouble with the dead lifts---not due to the grip or the weight but my lower back REALLY hurt (like, tearing on either side of my spine just above my hips). I wasn't able to go very low with out spreading my feet out a bit and turning out my toes (my ankles come off the ground otherwise).

    Does anyone have any pointers?

    Also, I increased my calories since i've been hungry lately...did anyone else need to do this after staring the program? Success with it?

    Lastly...i'd LOVE to see some progress pics from you ladies who are further along!

    Thanks

    Cass