Stage 5 Questions
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I'm still here, but I was on a mini-break because I walked the Boston Marathon on Sunday. So I'm off my usual schedule of lifting 3x/week. I'm planning to get back into the weightroom tomorrow after 2 recovery days. I probably could have done a light cardio workout this morning, but I opted not to. Stage 5 has definitely been lonely though...0
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Still lonely over here. I did B2 on Wednesday and A3 today. I was surprised that I'm learning to like the 1-arm overhead squats. I went up on those today to 12.5/25 lb., and even more surprised that I'm kind of hating reverse woodchops more than anything else. In A2, I switched them for swiss-ball side crunches, which I love, love, love, but I went back to the woodchops today and had a hard time with them. I had done all 3 sets in A1 @ 35 lb., but today, I did my 3 sets at 25, 30, and 35 lb. each.
I was psyched I finally did a BWM under 4 minutes though. Just barely, but I'll still take it. And I was psyched to do some of my bench presses @ 70 lb. :happy:0 -
I will do A3 tomorrow morning. The A's are definitely my favorite on stage 5 (except for the BWM, which I hate). I was able to really increase my weights on the A's this last time. I have started reading NROL4abs and am really wishing I hadn't started reading it until after completing NROL4W. It makes me want to skip ahead, but I'm the kind of gal that wants to finish what I start....so it will have to wait. :ohwell:0
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Heather - what's the premise of NROLAbs? It can't be all abs all the time, right? But is it just all abs & compound lifts?0
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Karen- The title says it is a "myth-busting fitness plan for men & women who want a strong core and a pain-free back". I am all for that! I think Beeps2011 starting it a few weeks ago, so you might follow her on the daily chat thread to see how she likes it so far. I've peeked ahead in the book and see some familiar lifts and a few new ones that I am anxious to try. It says it includes "dynamic warm-ups, core training to build balanced stability, endurance, & strength in your abs, lower back, and hips, strength training, and metabolic work"
So far in the book I have noticed that he mentions refining his approach since he wrote the other NROL books based on better information. That is the part that tempts me the most to switch on over and start NROL4abs.....0 -
I will do A3 tomorrow morning. The A's are definitely my favorite on stage 5 (except for the BWM, which I hate). I was able to really increase my weights on the A's this last time. I have started reading NROL4abs and am really wishing I hadn't started reading it until after completing NROL4W. It makes me want to skip ahead, but I'm the kind of gal that wants to finish what I start....so it will have to wait. :ohwell:
Completely understand where you are coming from. My main problem area is my big fat belly... with all the talk about NROL4abs on the Daily Thread, I'm very tempted to jump ship.... but I'm so close to finishing this program.... I might skip Stage 6 since it's optional :bigsmile:0 -
Still lonely over here. I did B2 on Wednesday and A3 today. I was surprised that I'm learning to like the 1-arm overhead squats. I went up on those today to 12.5/25 lb., and even more surprised that I'm kind of hating reverse woodchops more than anything else. In A2, I switched them for swiss-ball side crunches, which I love, love, love, but I went back to the woodchops today and had a hard time with them. I had done all 3 sets in A1 @ 35 lb., but today, I did my 3 sets at 25, 30, and 35 lb. each.
I was psyched I finally did a BWM under 4 minutes though. Just barely, but I'll still take it. And I was psyched to do some of my bench presses @ 70 lb. :happy:
Great progress, Karen...0 -
Yay, finally finished Stage 5 this week! Off on holiday for the next two weeks, then away for work so going to take a bit of a break from NROL4W, will start Stage 6 early October.0
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Just a quick check-in... I've been sick since last Thursday... so zero workouts for me. Also my shoulder is still bothering me, so I may take a hiatus from heavy lifting for a month or two and turn into a cardio princess again. I have a Dr appt early Oct, so I'll ask him about my shoulder then.... hopefully it will loosen up soon.
What to do? What to do?0 -
Heather - sounds exciting. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I'm done with NROLFW. I might look into Rachel Cosgrove's book, or I might try Stronglifts 5x5. I think I might get bored doing only 5 lifts all the time, but I've developed a love for back squats, and I miss them terribly. I'll be so happy to get back to them when they return in stage 6 or 7.
Febgirl -- congrats on finishing Stage 5! Enjoy your vacation!
CPA -- I'm sorry your shoulder's still hurting you. I hope it feels better before your appt. in October. I pinched something in my left shoulder/deltoid (?) this morning on the reverse woodchops that stopped me in my tracks. I was able to massage it out and just skipped my 2nd set, then my plank, then reduced the weight and did the 3rd set with less weight. It was sore again after, so I'm glad to be done with those for now too.
For me, A4 is in the books. B4 on Saturday or Monday. Final BWM time was 3:41 on my 2nd set this morning, which I'm so proud of because at the beginning of stage 3, my first BWM took 9 minutes. I'd like to eventually be able to do it either under 3 minutes, and/or do it without stopping to catch my breath & give my legs a little break. It's nice to not feel like a useless blob of JELL-O afterwards though.
In Stage 5, I've also developed a little love affair with the 1-arm snatches. I made it up to 35 lb. on those, and they're kind of fun. Plus, I've never seen anyone else @ my gym do them.0 -
Karen--- great progress on your BWMs... I hope your shoulder is okay. I agree on you with the 1-arm snatch... it is very cool. I do get weird looks at the gym when I do it.
I went to the gym last night intending to do my "own thing"... but I went ahead and did B1 (most of it)... I lowered most of the weights though for the sake of my shoulder. I also treated it like a cardio session... no 2-min breaks... just enough to walk to the next station, towel off, sip water, then go again. There was a muscle mania class last night too - when I got to the abs part of B1, I noticed the class just started the abs section... so I quickly jumped in there to join the class. he he he... I really don't like the ab exercises in this program, so that was a welcome change AND my abs are SORE today... yay!
My gym are now distributors of Advocare... so a lot of us are in that 24-day challenge (Cleanse program)... I hope this will help my big gut! I start that on Monday... I'm excited to see my belly go down. This is in addition to the 90-day challenge body fat % loss program. Something shoud give soon, right?0 -
CPA - glad to hear you were able to do most of B1. I'm getting bored with these abs too, and excited for a change of pace in stage 6.
I was planning to do B4 today, but forgot I had a 7:45 am Dr. appt., so there was no way I could spend 90 minutes at the gym, even if I started right when they opened @ 5 am. Finishing @ 6:30 then driving home, rinsing HRM strap, mixing & drinking my protein recovery shake, then showering & leaving the house by 7:30 was just *too* tight, so I did some HIIT + steady state, and I'll go after B4 tomorrow, and then hustle to an 8 am dentist appt.0 -
Stage 5 is done! Just one more set of intervals tomorrow, but I lifted B4 today! :happy: I'll get back to lifting on Monday with Stage 6. Here are my weight results:
Workout A:
1-arm DB snatch: 27.5 lb. --> 35 lb.
1-leg DB RDL: 60 lb. --> 70 lb.
barbell bent-over row: 85 lb. --> 100 lb.
DB 1arm overhead squat: 7.5/15 lb. --> 12.5/25 lb.
DB incline bench press: 55 lb. --> 70 lb.
reverse woodchop: 35 lb. --> 35 lb.
plank: 120 sec. --> 120 sec. (improved form)
BWM: 5:37 --> 3:41
Workout B:
RDL/barbell row: 85 lb. --> 105 lb.
1-leg partial squat: 30 lb. --> 70 lb.
wide-grip lat pulldown: 105 --> 105 lb. (not sure why I couldn't increase on these)
back extension: 7.5 lb. overhead --> 12.5 lb. overhead
YTWL: 25 lb. --> 25 lb.
swiss-ball crunch: 15 lb. OH (no change), did one set with as many as 24 reps though.
prone jackknife: no change, but did most sets with increased reps
swiss-ball side crunch: no change, but did most sets with increased reps
Cobra: 120 sec. --> 120 sec. (tried to hold my shoulders up higher off the floor)
HIIT Intervals: B1 run speeds @ 6.4, 6.9, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 mph. B4 run speeds planned 6.7, 7.2, 7.6, 7.7, and 7.8 mph. :happy:
I'm not sure why I stalled out on reverse woodchops, lat pulldowns, and YTWL's, but I'm pretty pleased with my other gains, and thrilled that I've finished 5 of 7 stages. Since I started Stage 1 in April, here are my weight & waist stats:
Weight: 190 --> 182 lb. (8 lb. lost)
Waist: 40" --> 37" (3" lost!!! With only 8 lb. on the scale! THAT's why NROLFW rocks!!!)
I had my 6-mo. dental cleaning this morning, and the first thing the receptionist said to me was "Wow! You've gotten smaller!" I was beaming, because the scale movement is so slow, that I'm not getting a lot of that reaction from people who see me every day (which is fine by me!), but it was nice to hear that my efforts are noticeably paying off.
On Friday, I'm going to a family wedding in N. Carolina & I'll see people I haven't seen since March, and I wonder if they'll have the same reaction?0 -
Woo hoo... great work, Karen! Awesome NSV too. I'm so jealous that you are moving on to S6.... I'm three weeks behind schedule... oh well
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Wow—some very impressive stats being posted here! Congrats ladies! Nice work Karen!
I’m halfway through Stage 5 now and, like some of the previous stages, I’m making modifications given that I work out in my basement that has low ceilings. OK, fine, I’ll come clean—in all of the stages I have kept the same structure as Stage 1 for the first sets: Workout A is always squats and Workout B is always deadlifts. What can I say? I love squats and deadlifts and they are making my body look amazing! And I hate following rules, always have!
So now that I have confessed, I’ll also complain just a teensy tiny bit! OMG the Stage 5 workouts take soooo long! The author clearly does not work a 10-hour day + commute, then workout, and then make dinner!! Thank goodness for my home gym and my crockpot or I might have given up on this craziness! (Of course, if I were less competitive I could always do 3 sets instead of 4, but that’s apparently not an option for me!).
OK, now for the positive stuff! I’ve hit my goal weight (yay!), bought some great new jeans, was really happy with how I looked in the photos from my wedding reception last month (I haven’t looked like this since my teens), and I consistently lift more than my own bodyweight in every workout! I feel fantastic and I love getting stronger, leaner and healthier. One of these days, I’ll update my profile and maybe even post some before and after/in-progress pictures!0 -
A2 done... only 3 sets of each... only 60 sec for planks and I could only manage 1 set of BWM (2:01.1)...rushing... it was already 8p and I had to pick up my girls from the daycare... grrrr.... It was a good workout though (1hr 20 min). On a good note, my shoulder did not bother me at all last night or this morning. So it looks like the rest/break helped. I also managed to bench press 2x25... it was still a struggle, but at least I didn't drop them this time :blushing:
Hi Whiskey.... congratulations on meeting your goal weight. And I know exactly what you mean by long S5 workouts. I hear S6 and S7 are shorter.0 -
I just started today. I really tried to increase my weights since you only do 4 reps, but I was a little scared. I pulled my hamstring during this phase earlier in the book. I made sure that I did a really good warm up and cool down.
I couldn't imagine resting for 120 seconds. It felt like forever so I rested for 60-90 seconds. I still hate the body weight matrix.
Does anyone else speed up the resting in between sets?0 -
Does anyone else speed up the resting in between sets?
Yes... I feel silly just standing there when I'm clearly fully "recovered" and ready for the next set. Last night I only rested 60-75 sec.0 -
B2 check! (Friday)
A3 check! (Last night) Personal best on BWM... 1:53.8 (2nd set!)..... promptly collapsed on my mat after it.
...looks like I'm sticking with this stage after all! :laugh:0 -
Awesome job Michelle!!! :happy:
I never shortened the rests b/c I asked Alwyn Cosgrove on his FB page once why the rests were so long, and his answer was basically "if you don't need the rest set in the schedule, then you could probably do the lifts with heavier weight" so I tried it, and he was pretty much right. I could definitely push myself to lift heavier when I took the full rest.0
