Fat Girls Doing "New Rules Of Lifting"...

iKapuniai

To start off, I'm 6'2", currently 311lbs (as of this morning, woot!), with 100+ pounds to lose. I recently bought "New Rules of Lifting for Women" because of all the hype. I read through the entire thing, and it sounded great, I was super excited to get started. Once I saw the workout chart, I was a bit confused but after reading it again I understood.

HOWEVER... I looked over the exercises they have listed for Stage 1 and I can do all but one... "Prone Jackknife on ball". Um.. this looks like a fairly advance move, especially for a true beginner such as myself, with so much weight to lose and NOT enough strength in my arms or core to even attempt to pull off that exercise. And there's not even an alternative to the exercises or a more simpler way to perform it.

Any advice on that?? Of course I could TRY, but with my lack of balance and strength in my arms/core, I doubt I'd be able to do one rep, much less a set or two of 15. lol

ALSO... the book mentions that for the first 4 weeks we should eat at maintenance... I'm very hesitant about doing so BECAUSE I have so much weight to lose, and I doubt the lift sessions would really burn enough calories to count towards a high enough deficit for me to lose weight.

I was told that fat girls could do this routine... but it sounds to me like you have to choose between losing weight first THEN doing it, or building muscle without losing much weight at all. I know that muscle burns more fat, and strength training/weights is better than cardio for fat loss and all that good stuff, but if I'm eating at maintenance, how the hell am I gonna lose weight? I want to lose 10lbs per month, not year.

Anyways... does anyone have any advice? References? Experiences? Anything?
Would love to hear it!!

Thank you all in advance.
Much Love and Alohas to you all,

-Ihilani Kapuniai

HMToomey

Just try doing the move to the best of your ability and modify it as needed?

Ge0rgiana

I can't do the prone jackknives either because I have a bad knee and, just, NO... Instead I did more Swiss ball crunches. Seemed to work out ok.

Just use their formula to calculate your cals. You'll be OK.

crazyellybean

It all starts with one rep, if you can do one rep than do one rep, and come back and do one more.. than you have something to start with the next time, shoot for two reps! ..

I never ever ever let anyone tell me I can't do something because I'm fat! .. You can't do it if you don't at least try, you might surprise yourself.

RainbootsToBikinis

I would try asking in the group for the NROL you'll find more people with experience with the specific program there

MommaKit79

Weight training is a good thing to do because more muscle will help you burn calories. But, I would try to do some cardio mixed in with it.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Rogiefreida

The prone jackknife is really hard for me, and I don't classify myself as a fat girl with about 15 pounds to lose. I think it's hard for everyone since it requires an incredible amount of balance. When I started stage one, for the first few weeks I did a different ab exercise and practiced at the prone jackknife until I could do a couple without falling off the ball. It's STILL hard at the end of stage one. Just keep on trying, or find a modifier that works for you, or a different ab exercise.

FWIW, there is a forum for the NROL website that addresses ALL sorts of questions that I have found extremely helpful.
http://www.jpfitness.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86

Good luck, keep it up! Building muscles rocks. :bigsmile:

ETA: I add in cardio on non-weight days. I know the book says you don't need to, but I need to, at least for myself.

bisky

Aloha,

I started lifting in June with a personal trainer. I was lucky because my husband is active duty and I am able to use the base fitness center and trainers are very resonable. I am glad I started with a trainer to prevent injuries and learn proper lifting techniques. I know personal trainers are not available to everyone and are expensive but in the long run it might really help.

Stay with it. It took 6 weeks for me not to feel like I had suffered a beating after workouts. Now after 3 and 1/2 months I can really tell a difference. I try to eat lots of vegetables and lean meats, You are so lucky to have all that fresh fish available.

Good luck. D

UsedToBeHusky

You have to decide what is right for you. I'm 6' tall and started out at 309 lbs. I did VLCD for about 6 months and lost 75 lbs before I started lifting, but I wasn't getting enough calories in my diet to support the added activity. I felt kind of sick and I really felt like I wasn't getting the most of the workouts. Then, I read NROLFW. I didn't do the 4 weeks at maintenance as recommended. I just presumed that the TDEE that I calculated from the book's formula was accurate and began eating at a 300 calorie deficit. I don't follow the workouts precisely either, but use the exercises on my own time. I started lifting in January. I read NROLFW in June, adjusted my diet first, and then started lifting in August. Since January, I have only lost 5 lbs, but I have lost 3 dress sizes (size 20 to size 14).

You might not get the results you are hoping for with NROLFW, but you will be happy with the results. It's just up to you how you want to work your program.

*Before anyone fusses at me for not following NROLFW to the letter, let me just say that I am not a structured person by nature and usually abandon any plan that doesn't have flexibility. I do it how it works best for me and I'm still getting results.

morningmud

I do jackknives with the ball in my hands rather than sitting on the ball. There's a video in this clip that demos in on the floor but with no ball.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/jackknife-sit-up

TheArmadillo

I do it though I don't follow the diet - I use this site and set my own goals.

If you can't do the full reps of an exercise do as many as you can, even if that is 1. Do the correct number of sets so if that is 3 sets of 1 rep. Next time try to do maybe 2 reps for the first set then 1 rep for the rest of the sets. Keep increasing as often as you can. Keep repeating the first few workouts (so level one workouts 1&2) until you can complete them, then move on to workouts 3&4 etc. Do barbell exercises with an empty bar and 5lb dumbbells if necessary.

I was around 200lb when I started this but had been doing stronglifts 5x5 beforehand. But with anything I've started some stuff I've only been able to do the warmup (and nearly threw up at the end of that), or with cycling I managed about 1.5miles with a rest in the middle at just above falling off speed. However with practice you quickly improve.

kkauz42

Hey! I may not be much help but I'll give you my opinion. I just starting the routines again (as of today actually!) I didn't do it all the way through the first time and I'm not sure why. I think let myself get off track. ANYWAY I'm about 6'0"-6'1" and about 240. I am going to do the routines and eat at the 500 calorie deficit. If I get hungry I suppose I'll eat more!

With ME I know that if I think to much about how much i should eat and burn and the quantity of protein vs. carbs I just get all messed up and stressed and don't enjoy my time at the gym and I stress about what I should eat. When I was in college I lifted weights and had basketball practice after and I NEVER worried about what I ate or counted etc. I ate when I was hungry and honestly I'm sure most of the food I ate wasn't that great haha but I was really lean!

As for the prone jackknife, maybe pick another ab exercise that will still challenge you. Like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrv2Y-D5fCQ

or

the bicycle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKXFarXbys

yo_andi

Just do more Swiss Ball Crunches instead, until you feel like you're ready to attempt the jackknife!

myofibril

Ok, I'm probably going to get shouted at for this but....

Ditch NROLFW for now. In the context of you as an individual it isn't suitable.

Instead focus on cardio followed by a basic weights routine using machines (*gasp*).

If you want to know the reasons why see this article:http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/training-the-obese-beginner-part-6.html

UsedToBeHusky

Ok, I'm probably going to get shouted at for this but....

Ditch NROLFW for now. In the context of you as an individual it isn't suitable.

Instead focus on cardio followed by a basic weights routine using machines (*gasp*).

If you want to know the reasons why see this article:http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/training-the-obese-beginner-part-6.html

This guy knows what he is talking about.

yoovie

baby its ok just skip the one you cant do until you can do it- but continually check back to see if you can do it. its really ok. the point is progress, not efficiency ♥

Daisy80

I am doing the program too. Come an join the group on here...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/102-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w

holleysings

To start off, I'm 6'2", currently 311lbs (as of this morning, woot!), with 100+ pounds to lose. I recently bought "New Rules of Lifting for Women" because of all the hype. I read through the entire thing, and it sounded great, I was super excited to get started. Once I saw the workout chart, I was a bit confused but after reading it again I understood.

HOWEVER... I looked over the exercises they have listed for Stage 1 and I can do all but one... "Prone Jackknife on ball". Um.. this looks like a fairly advance move, especially for a true beginner such as myself, with so much weight to lose and NOT enough strength in my arms or core to even attempt to pull off that exercise. And there's not even an alternative to the exercises or a more simpler way to perform it.

Any advice on that?? Of course I could TRY, but with my lack of balance and strength in my arms/core, I doubt I'd be able to do one rep, much less a set or two of 15. lol

ALSO... the book mentions that for the first 4 weeks we should eat at maintenance... I'm very hesitant about doing so BECAUSE I have so much weight to lose, and I doubt the lift sessions would really burn enough calories to count towards a high enough deficit for me to lose weight.

I was told that fat girls could do this routine... but it sounds to me like you have to choose between losing weight first THEN doing it, or building muscle without losing much weight at all. I know that muscle burns more fat, and strength training/weights is better than cardio for fat loss and all that good stuff, but if I'm eating at maintenance, how the hell am I gonna lose weight? I want to lose 10lbs per month, not year.

Anyways... does anyone have any advice? References? Experiences? Anything?
Would love to hear it!!

Thank you all in advance.
Much Love and Alohas to you all,

-Ihilani Kapuniai

I just finished Stage 1. Anyone can do this program. #1 piece of advice I can give you is to stop berating yourself for your weight and do not think of yourself as a fat girl. I certainly don't consider myself to be a fat girl even though I'm 5'5" and 198lbs. You can do anything you want to do regardless of how much you weigh. It may take you longer to do one prone jackknife than it takes some women to do all 8, but heck at least you'll be able to do one! So get on the ball and try. I did and managed to crank out all eight. Because there is a sexy, muscular six pack underneath my tummy fat. You might have one too, so just try it! Even if you fall off, either get back on or do swiss ball crunches instead.

Daisy80

I personally would also say that you don't need to eat at maintenance. I don't as I have weight to lose so I didn't really see a reason to eat at maintenance.

iKapuniai

Thank you all so much for your replies! You've all made great points and gave great advice.

I think I'll do the routine as best as I can with some personal modifications, hopefully it'll be just as effective.

I definitely am not going to eat at maintenance because as much as I'd love to gain muscle, my main focus right now is losing weight while still maintaining the muscle I have rather than gaining more muscle.

I'm also gonna continue doing cardio on my off days to assist in my fat loss, and hope the 3 days/week of weights will be enough to hold on to my lady muscles lol

Thank you all very much!! <3

Love and Alohas,
Ihilani Kapuniai

hesn92

Do something else... It sounds like an ab exericse, so you could just do a crunches on the ground, or bicycle crunches or planks. etc. Since you are trying to lose weight I would eat at a deficit, not at maintenance. I'm not big on following programs, as you can tell! LOL I do what I want!!

awilmeri

Ok, I'm probably going to get shouted at for this but....

Ditch NROLFW for now. In the context of you as an individual it isn't suitable.

Instead focus on cardio followed by a basic weights routine using machines (*gasp*).

If you want to know the reasons why see this article:http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/training-the-obese-beginner-part-6.html

Thanks for posting this article. I've always been one of those annoying women who only does cardio and I KNOW I need to add some strength training. I just get confused about whether it's worth it to add when I still have so much to lose....30ish pounds... Anyways I thought I could just add machines at the gym as a start but then so many on here act like that's awful. I need to get off the forums they confuse me. The article was way above my level but it's a start. I need some more reading material.:noway:

drummer_lady

I just started NROLFW today and I am 5'11'' with close to 100 pounds to lose. The prone jackknife is definitely hard, but I was surprised that I actually did it (with difficulty) and only fell off the ball once. Give it a try before you give up on it - I definitely didn't think I was going to be able to do it before I tried. I found one thing that helped is the way you get on the ball. Its super awkward but if you start by bending over the ball then rolling yourself forward till you're in position, it makes things easier. Also, rather than having the ball positioned under your shins, try having it closer to your knees instead. It will make it a little easier.