Quick question: How important is the rest week between stage 1 and stage 2?

I think it's up to you and how you and your body are feeling. That being said recovery time is very important. I just finished 1 last week and was going to jump straight into 2 this week, but decided to have active recovery this week instead and practice form on the Stage 2 lifts , etc.....just read your body and don't over work it....

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to take your advice

Hi Ladies!

Great lifting session for me yesterday! I'm really starting to see a difference in both my form and how much I can lift.

Back Squats:

Warmup Set: 1x12 at 45 lbs - I used this set to really work on my form and get a deep squat in. I have long spindly legs, so deeper squats are tough on my knees at higher weights. I'm hoping that as my stabilizer muscles get stronger, I'll be able to do deeper squats with more weight.

Regular Set: 2x12 at 95 lbs

Push Ups:

2x12 regular - Now that I can do regular push ups, I'm focusing on going slower and deeper and improving my form. I've really noticed a difference!

Seated Row:

2x12 at 60 lbs - I switched machines and the one I'm using now seems WAY harder than the other one at lower weight. Weird.

Step Ups:

2x12 at 35 lbs - How high are you guys stepping up? I am using a bench press bench, which is a pretty good distance off the ground.

Prone Jackknife:

2x10 - I'm still going slow on these and getting some workout from them, but I'm thinking of switching to a pike instead.

All in all, I was really happy with the day. My deadlifts are lighter than my squats (70 lbs), but I noticed improved form when I did them on Monday as well. I was having some good DOMS going on today, too, so I'm glad I increased the weight. I can't believe how fast your body gets used to what you're doing!

lizpirate -

Great job, I am seeing some improvement too and it's so exciting and motivating!

lambentjewel -

That's funny you hate the pushups but love the prone jacknife. Just this morning I was doing my workout and felt stronger in every lift/move - EXCEPT for the jacknifes. I'm kinda ashamed to admit that I sorta muddled my way through them half-heartedly, then did some incline crunches to "make up" for it. Totally unlike me! I usually try and be pretty honest with my workouts.

Also, I can relate with you about feeling slow in comparison to others in team sports. I spent the weekend at a beach Ultimate Frisbee tournament. I wasn't technically on the team, just spectating, but I played some and found it extremely challenging. Being around so many fit, fast people inspired me to keep working on myself. I want to go back next year prepared to completely smoke the other teams


Today's workout:
7/22/13 - A5

Warmup - 3 min jog, 10 body weight squats, 10 bar weight squats, reverse lunges with twist (feeling tight through my hips and left hamstring)

Squats - 10 x 95, 10 x 105, 10 x 105

Bent over row - 10 x 50, 10 x 60, 10 x 50

Pushups - 3 sets of 12 on the floor

Step ups - 3 sets with 60 lbs added

Prone jacknife - 2 sets of 5, then maybe 40 crunches. I hate these.


What's feeling good:

Looking in the mirror, I am seeing progress! My thighs appear much firmer, both in front and in back. My arms are more toned. Overall, my body just looks tighter. My calf muscles are really starting to pop, too, as well as the sides of my quads.

The thorough warmup allowed me to squat deeply, and I felt very strong (last time, I struggled a bit and stayed at 95 lbs all three sets). I felt much stronger at pushups as well. Step ups felt stronger - usually I have to rest between switching legs, but didn't feel the need this time. I noticed that I push more with my outer leg than inner leg muscles, so I made a point to push firmly though the middle of my foot and step up straight and tall.


What's feeling not so good:

Prone jacknifes - I need to work on these. My upper core is weak.
Need to stay strong with my step-ups and lunges; I realized I may have been allowing my legs to fall slightly to one side or the other and not using my inner/outer leg muscles evenly. It's exciting to see these muscles grow more evenly. I have a history of blowing my knees out (though fortunately it's always been just some kind of weird dislocation and I haven't torn anything) so a major goal of mine has been to strengthen my knees.

Okay ladies, serious question about getting started. My husband and I are going to start lifting together and I thought this would be a great way for us to get started. The question is, neither of us are new to lifting. He's been doing it on and off for years and I've been doing group boot camp style classes for a couple of years. In any given workout, I already do a lot of these exercises but low weight (12-15 lbs) and high reps; should we still start off with Stage 1 or would it make sense to skip right to Stage 2?

This is our first time working out together (he's really bossy and I don't like to listen) so I'd hate to bore us to death with Stage 1 but I don't want to kill us on Stage 2 either.

Start at stage one with weights that feel challenging enough for you.

Granite - I hope you go back next year and smoke the ultimate frisbee teams!! Glad to hear you can already see a difference. Did you take before pics, so you can compare? Or measurements?

Here is my A6 workout that I did today:
7.27.13 A6 workout
DL
warm up 5 x 65 lbs
10 x 85 lbs
10 x 95 lbs
10 x 100 lbs

Shoulder Press
3 sets of 10 with 20 lbs in ea hand (go up in weight next time)

Wide lat pull down
3 sets of 10 at 60 lbs (try adding a little weight next time)

Alternating lunges
1 set of 10 at 27.5 BD in ea hand
2 sets of 10 with 25 DB in ea hand

Plank - 2 minutes
2 sets of swiss ball crunch w/arms overhead x 15 reps

5 warmup minutes on elliptical

I am pretty daaaang tired after my workout. Not sure why, but I am poooped. I guess that means I worked hard. It took all my willpower to get through the last few sets. Now I get to go play with my kids :-) Have a nice weekend all!

I'm hoping this is the right place to post this. If not, please let me know.

Just a question about selecting weights in stage one. Maybe it's just because I'm a little new but I'm having a hard time estimating what I'll be able to lift in a set. I do keep the log but when it jumps up or down in reps or goes from 2-3 sets I am kind of all over the map.

Any advice on when you'd typically go up or down in weights? I know it varies a lot but would appreciate some insight

Speaky, I just re-started the program a couple of weeks ago after getting to Stage 5 in 2011. What I did the first time, and what I'm doing now, is increasing the weights when the reps go down. You start out with 2 sets of 15 reps for two sessions, then it drops to 2 sets of 12 reps. That's when I increase the weight.

I did this, unless I drastically under estimated the weight then I would up it on the next set.

Hi Ladies,

I just did my last workout for stage 1, save my AMRAP that I will do in two days. I feel great and strong. I am very excited to go into stage 2.

Here are my strength gains:

Squats: 75 - 115
Dead lifts: 75-115
Seated Row: 50 - 70
Wide Lat pull down: 50 - 67.5
Should press: 15 - 25 (db in ea hand)
Step ups 15 - 30 (db in ea hand)

Annamerick - see you in Stage 2! Hope to see the rest of you ladies there :-) I haven't seen the scale move much, but my husband says he is seeing changes, so I take that as a good sign.

Stretching, including yoga stretches. I do intervals after every lifting session (in the way he lays out in the book) and I find that when I do that followed by 10 minutes or so of stretching, I am less sore the next day. I also find that going into the sauna and taking a cold shower afterward helps if your gym has them.