Stage 1
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Quick question: How important is the rest week between stage 1 and stage 2?0
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Quick question: How important is the rest week between stage 1 and stage 2?
Thanks for the reply. I'm going to take your advice0 -
Hi everyone. I haven't posted much around here but thought I'd pop in to say hi and to browse progress reports
I'm about halfway through Stage 1. I'm really enjoying it... I love squats, deadlifts, OH press, pushups. I HATE the prone jacknife. But, I do it. A lot of this stage for me has been doing everything with proper form but not being too aggressive adding weight.
My goal was to do three times per week but I think I've missed this every single week and have only averaged twice per week. I'd really like to change this and am working on being more consistent.0 -
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!0 -
Hi Ladies,
Lizpirate - great job with your lifting!
granitendirt - I hate pushups ('cause I CAN'T do them), but love the prone jackknife (easy breezy, though the pike is much harder). I think we all have our favorites :-)
I did my cardio tennis class this morning. I am actually starting to like tennis (now that I occasionally hit it). it is a fantastic workout too and burns tons of calories, which is good because I like to eat. However, I was very humbled playing doubles with one of the instructors on my team. I would often MISS and he would be right behind me hitting my miss. He was ALL over the court. I felt like a snail in comparison bumbling my way awkwardly around to hit the friggin ball. Meanwhile he was graceful as a ballerina twisting this way and that racing across the court. He was VERY encouraging though and well, we all start somewhere, right?
I got my lift in Monday, yesterday and will lift again tomorrow. Here is what I did yesterday. BTW - the prone jacknife to a full pike is MUCH harder than the regular prone jackknife. That is what I am doing moving forward, or as many as I can anyway. Don't want to fall over :-)
7.19 A5 Workout
Squats
5 warm-up 65
10 x 90 lbs
10 x 100 lbs
10 x 105 lbs
Seated Row
10 x 60 lbs
10 x 60 lbs
10 x 70 lbs
Pushups
10 x bar placed 3rd rung from the bottom on the Smith Rack
same for all 3 sets
Step-ups (using black box hits just below the knee)
10 x 25 lbs (in ea hand)
10 x 27.5 lbs (in ea hand)
10 x 27.5 lbs (in ea hand)
Prone Jacknife with exercise ball
10 x Pike
5 x Pike, then 5 jackknife
10 x jacknife
7 minutes HIIT on rower, then 15 minutes elliptical
Happy lifting ladies! I am more than half way to the end of stage one as I am doing lifting 3x per week.0 -
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.0 -
Did my last B workout today (I still have an A to go as the order got muddled cos of my shoulder)
Final figures for B are as follows
Started - Deadlift 15 x 25 kgs (55lb) - Finished 8 x 55kgs (121lb)
Started - Shoulder press - 15 x 10kgs (22lbs) - Finished 8 x 14kgs (30lbs) (did get up to 35lb but had to drop due to shoulder)
Started - Lat Pull down 15x 25kgs (66lbs) - Finished 8x 35kgs (77lbs)
Started - Lunges 30 x 16kgs (35lbs) - Finished 16 x 32kgs (70lb)
Started - Swiss Crunch -15 x 2 sets - Finished 3x30 sec planks
An overall increase of 120lb across all lifts.
I was unsure if I was going to do stage 2 as I am worried about time but I have decided to give it a go and see how I get on. BUT before I even get to that I have my final A workout and then the 2 AMRAP's to do.0 -
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.0 -
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.
Do the program as written. Start at a weight that you can do all the reps at with good form, that might be just the bar (or less) or it might be 100lbs.
Good luck0 -
Start at stage one with weights that feel challenging enough for you.0
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Siany congratulations on finishing! Good strength gains too!!0
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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!0 -
Hi Ladies! I finished Stage 1 yesterday! Here are my gains:
Workout A
Squat: 75 - 115 lbs
Pushup: All on the floor, but had to rest LOTS at the beginning
Seated Row: 55 - 85 lbs
Step Up: 15 lb DB in each hand - 30 lb DB in each hand
Prone Jackknife: Increased reps per program
Workout B:
Deadlifts: 95 - 145 lbs
Shoulder Press: 15 lb DB each hand - 30 lb DB each hand
Lat Pulldown: 60 - 90 lbs
Lunge: 15 lb DB each hand - 30 lb DB each hand
Swiss Ball Crunch: increased reps per program w/ 12 lb medicine ball overhead
I can't find my before measurements but I know I lost around 2 inches in my midsection, and I lost 5 lbs overall. Looking forward to Stage 2!0 -
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 insight0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
Thanks for getting back to me guys. That's how I expected it to go but for some reason it doesn't stay neat and tidy like that for me. Depends on my energy level I guess. My work schedule has been crazy lately and I've been having some trouble with insomnia. So some days I'm way stronger and other days my heart is in it but my limbs are all noodly. I decided to take a day off today and catch up on all my housework and errands to get back on top of life. Hopefully that will help.
Also, how about when you went from 2 sets to 3?0 -
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.0 -
I'm on workout # 3 of stage one and I am SO SORE!!! ANy suggestions besides the foam roller? I HATE THAT THING!0
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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.0