No more stage 1
laccy40
Posts: 136
I finished stage 1 last night. I've been really pleased with the results. I started as a complete novice where the biggest weight I'd used was a 5lb dumbbell. I had no visible muscle tone in my upper body at all. So, results
A
Squats - sw body weight, fw 20kg (44lb)
Push up - sw 60 deg, fw 30 deg
Bent over row (no cable machine) - sw 6kg (13lb), fw 20kg (44lb)
Step up - sw body weight, fw 12kg (26lb)
Prone jack knife sw 8 reps, fw 15 reps
B
Dead lift - sw 15kg (33lb), fw 30kg (66 lb)
Dumbbell shoulder press - sw 10 kg (22 lb), fw 14kg (30 lb)
Wide grip lat pull down - sw 28, fw 42 (can't remember if machine is lb or kilo. Went from 3 bars to 6 bars)
Lunge - sw body weight, fw 14 kg (30lb)
Swiss ball crunch - sw 8 reps, fw 15 reps with arms stretched.
I finished where many of the women here start, but I am really pleased with the progress I made. I had to give up on ever using the squat rack because we only have one and it is always busy. So I used the fixed weight bars for dead lifts which go up in 5kg (11lb) increments so it took time to progress. Squats are with dumbells which is not quite the same as with the bar.
Visual results - when I started, I was most concerned with my arms. Now I quite like them. There is still too much fat covering them, but it is now supported all over rather than hanging in 'bat wings' under my arms! I have triceps!!! Never had them before. My posture is much better and I feel healthier and, dare I say, stronger.
I was in 2 minds about stage 2 because some of the exercises are not practical for me to do at home or in my gym, but I have decided to go ahead with it, but making some substitutions. I will do the barbell Romanian dead lift bent over row in place of the front squat push press and standard dead lifts in place if the dead lift from box.
I wanted to post this because I think sometimes people (especially women) hesitate starting something if they are not sure they can do it or if they think they can't do it well enough. I felt physically sick the first time I went into the free weight area, but nothing horrid happened. If you can't do all the exercises in the book, substitute something you can do. You don't have to be perfect, you will still get better results than you thought you ever could.
I'm very happy I decided to give it a go :happy:
A
Squats - sw body weight, fw 20kg (44lb)
Push up - sw 60 deg, fw 30 deg
Bent over row (no cable machine) - sw 6kg (13lb), fw 20kg (44lb)
Step up - sw body weight, fw 12kg (26lb)
Prone jack knife sw 8 reps, fw 15 reps
B
Dead lift - sw 15kg (33lb), fw 30kg (66 lb)
Dumbbell shoulder press - sw 10 kg (22 lb), fw 14kg (30 lb)
Wide grip lat pull down - sw 28, fw 42 (can't remember if machine is lb or kilo. Went from 3 bars to 6 bars)
Lunge - sw body weight, fw 14 kg (30lb)
Swiss ball crunch - sw 8 reps, fw 15 reps with arms stretched.
I finished where many of the women here start, but I am really pleased with the progress I made. I had to give up on ever using the squat rack because we only have one and it is always busy. So I used the fixed weight bars for dead lifts which go up in 5kg (11lb) increments so it took time to progress. Squats are with dumbells which is not quite the same as with the bar.
Visual results - when I started, I was most concerned with my arms. Now I quite like them. There is still too much fat covering them, but it is now supported all over rather than hanging in 'bat wings' under my arms! I have triceps!!! Never had them before. My posture is much better and I feel healthier and, dare I say, stronger.
I was in 2 minds about stage 2 because some of the exercises are not practical for me to do at home or in my gym, but I have decided to go ahead with it, but making some substitutions. I will do the barbell Romanian dead lift bent over row in place of the front squat push press and standard dead lifts in place if the dead lift from box.
I wanted to post this because I think sometimes people (especially women) hesitate starting something if they are not sure they can do it or if they think they can't do it well enough. I felt physically sick the first time I went into the free weight area, but nothing horrid happened. If you can't do all the exercises in the book, substitute something you can do. You don't have to be perfect, you will still get better results than you thought you ever could.
I'm very happy I decided to give it a go :happy:
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Replies
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thank you for posting - I've got a 10km on June 8th and after that I'm going to give it a go.0
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I want to thank you for posting, too. I bought the kindle edition of the book (couldn't get a hardcopy!!! - I'm in the UK - so it's been confusing to work out exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, as I'm unfamiliar with the terminology and am a complete beginner.
I used a personal trainer a few years back, but he didn't explain the names of the exercises, just showed me what to do, and at the time, I wasn't enjoying it, but now I realise that I wasn't eating enough to be able to lift properly, because I was on a VLCD!!! Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Anyhow, now I know this is the only way to go... I have to just step off the treadmill, haha!0 -
I bought the kindle edition of the book (couldn't get a hardcopy!!! - I'm in the UK - so it's been confusing to work out exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, as I'm unfamiliar with the terminology and am a complete beginner.
amazon! it took them 3weeks to deliver my book from the states but it did arrive safe and sound!0 -
You are quite close to me and my stats. I'm done stage one this week and can't wait to move on to stage 20
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Congrats on finishing stage 1!0
