skbarton and jazoo - You are absolutely welcome to join. We are all pretty new to heavy lifting ourselves, but for the wonderful twinmom here we have amongst us. She is a personal trainer and gets the best lifting stats and chimes in to help with our questions too!

I personally have liked the xl sheet I from the forum here. werkit logs are good too!

First rep of squats I had just the bar (I think it weighs 10 kg), but added 10 kg for my second rep. Probably should have done another rep with 10 + kg and considered the first one warmup. I did 25 kg for seated rows, and 10 kg dumbbells for step ups.

Regarding the step up, I am having difficulties connecting with the right muscle groups I think, It's not very difficult or heavy for my legs, but my hands and arms protest the 10 kg dumbbells after a while. Am I doing anything wrong? I read the instructions several times. Should I be using a higher step? I used a regular step up board on the highest setting, and I couldn't find anything higher.

Hello jazoo and skbarton, welcome! Glad to have more people on board

Thanks! I'm glad to be here! I have definitely been in need of some workout buddies - virtual or real!

Jazoo, if the bar you were using for the squats is this one (http://www.afproducts.com/site_images/uploads/Squat-Rack---show.jpg), with the thicker pins for the weight plates, then it is what they call the Olympic bar and it weights about 22kg. At least that's what the staff guy at my gym told me.

That's the one! I guess 20 kg wasn't so bad then, but looking forward to loading it with more weight in the future!!
BTW do you guys do a warm up session like he suggests in the book, with no weight or lesser weight? Only two sets felt odd to me, I'm used to doing at least three...

About the step up, yep, to make it harder you should probably go higher. Maybe you could try putting two steps one on top of the other? Or using the bench? Another thing that makes it harder is to not to rest the trailing leg on the step before coming back down, using only the leg on the step to power the movement.

Or else you could try to increase the weight using the barbell on your back instead of the dumbbells. In my gym there are a bunch of those smaller, lighter barbells that are used in the Body Pump classes. I used those last time to get to 16kg.

But if I may say, don't do like I did and add 3 steps on top of the other plus extra weights! I completely destroyed my knee this way =P I had to stop for 10 days and today, doing B4, I could not do the lunges at all The knee is still hurting...

Cheers to all!

Yeah, I should probably use a bench or double steps, to get up higher. Also a barbell would probably do the trick. I had 10+10 kg (10 kg in each hand) and I'm not sure my hands could take more weight than that but it was way too little for my legs to really feel it.

Thx for the warning, triple steps are not a great idea! Hope you feel better soon, knees are a bad thing to hurt...

BTW do you guys do a warm up session like he suggests in the book, with no weight or lesser weight? Only two sets felt odd to me, I'm used to doing at least three...

Yup! I usually start with 10min in the treadmill at 7.5km/h (because I love running, even in the treadmill, and that's all the running I've been doing since starting the program), and then for the first set (either squat or dead lift) I do some body weight squats, then stretch, then pick up lighter weights, do some 12 repetitions, while trying to remember the proper form and proper breathing. I still don't have the moves so stuck in my head that I can just do them, so I take my time to warm up both the body and the brain

Cheers!

Thanks! I do 10 mins on the treadmill too, it gets me really warm so it feels like a good thing. And bodyweight squats is def something I'll add for warmup next time!

Oh my gosh! I just checked back in on this and found all these posts! I abandoned the thread after a couple of days.

I restarted NROLFW if anyone wants to join me feel free to add me!

Seems like we totally hijacked your topic!

Welcome back!

Boo hoo, just finished my B8 which means just two more workouts left the AMRAP as possible ones.

Hope stage 2 is good.

Did you start yet??

So glad everyone is chugging right on and improving - getting stronger than we were before!

I was 1/2 way through my B6 workout yesterday afternoon and got a call from my daughter's school that she was ill. I had to drop everything, leave the gym and office work and get back and pick her up. Very glad it was a one off thing and she did ok later.
I guess I will consider moving that to monday and redoing it.

I am seeing some definition in my abs and biceps now. And I am thrilled!!

Twinmom - You are a beast!!! You are setting the bar very high for us all and letting us get inspired and push through! Thanks for that. Hope stage 2 will be more challenging for you with HIIT at the end.

Hey NROL4W peeps - missed signing in here. Halfway home as of today in the wonderful city of Columbus OH. vacation week was sort of like treading water - got 2 weight training sessions in and one interval run and ran maintenance for diet. Hard w dumb bells only!

Twinmom you are truly an inspiration Today did B6 a la the following:

Dead lifts 6 sets @ 30, 40, 60, 80, 90, 90
Shoulder press 4 sets @ 30, 40, 50-40, 50-40 (5-6 reps @50, 4-6 reps @40)
Dumb bell pullover 5 sets @ 20, 25, 30, 35, 30 (didn't know what to do for back and already did dumb bell rows 2 days ago)
Lunges 4 sets @ 40, 50, 60, 60
Swiss ball crunch w weight 4 sets @ 8 (30 reps), 15 (25 reps) 20 (20 reps) 20 (20 reps)

Looking at jefit app - catdevrandom said she's using it, I need something other than those sheets and I have my phone at the gym anyway. Anybody else try this yet?
Took an hour, will cardio after getting home today!

I did my B6 today. Enjoyed it. Since I felt like I could take on some more, I added a barbell complex kinda @ the end.

To the regular workouts, I added barbell lunges, squats , bench press and deadlift, done in circuit style -all ofcourse with less weight or just the bar.

I use the bodyspace app (bodybuilding.com) and they have all the workouts of NROLFW already in there (at least stage 1, I didn't look further than that). I like the app, it has descriptions and even video of all the exercises and you can see your previous stats and so on. The only thing I miss is the ability to add personal notes to the workouts.

Oh nice! Thanks for letting me know!
How do I look up the NROLFW workouts in the app? I had it for a while but stopped using it when I switched to NROLFW. I liked the app too!

scale isn't budging for me either, but there's less fat on my legs. i'll take it - swimsuit season is coming up and i can wear a one piece. guess i'm the old lady of this group, shooting for looking good in clothes since looking good naked could be a stretch. haha

@sunshinelively You are doing great!!! Screw the scale and go for the NSV' s

Today I did AMRAP workout B:
Deadlift 95#- 25 reps, Shoulder press 20# dumbbells-26 reps, Lat pull down 70#- 25 reps, lunges 45# barbell-25 reps each leg. For core I did 3 sets of 15 decline medicine ball sit ups with 12#.
Added in one set of single arm dumbbell row 30#- 25 reps each arm, side lateral raises with 10# dumbbells-25 reps, then 3 sets of 15 high row pulldowns 100#/seated chestfly 60#, then 2 sets of 15 single arm med ball shoulder press 10#/low row pull 60#.

Plus I did an hour walk/play with the twins outside today

How are all of you who are just starting???

I did A2 yesterday.

Squats: bw/15 reps, 22 kg/15 reps, 32 kg/10 reps, 37 kg/10 reps, 37 kg/9 reps
Pushups (on a bench, so about thigh height): 10 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps
Seated row: 25 kg 10 reps, 9 reps, 8 reps
Step up (on a bench this time, which was better): 10 kg, 10 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps
Prone jackknife: 10, 8, 10

I did Jamie Easons livefit (from Bodybuilding.com) for about two months before I started with NROLFW but since I could never get to the gym more than twice per week, and that program is designed for going 4-5 times per week it would be a couple of weeks between working certain muscle groups (one workout would be chest/biceps, the next legs and so on). I really like NROLFW better since it works my entire body in one workout.

The only thing is that every workout just seems a bit short, I could add a few exercises, but should I? And what should I add, if anything? Or should I just stick with the program?

I am not seeing any progress either in weight or in measurements, despite working out consistently twice a month for over two months now, but I am trying to focus on the other benefits that I am definitely starting to see (you call it NSVs, right?):
* I have more energy
* I feel stronger
* I don't get out of breath when walking in stairs
* I had chronic pain in my shoulder - and it's GONE!!

So I'm just trying to be confident that I will se the kg drop and measurements shrink sooner or later.

Hi ladies, I have been watching your progress to kind of gage progression, not as a comparison of person vs person but as a whole, regardless of where we start and are progressively improving. I love the dedication and support on this site. I have been following the book and just completed workout 4B. I love the workouts and how I feel afterwards. My husband built me a squat rack to fit my height in time for workout 2A and it has helped me to slightly increase weight. I workout by myself in my home. My only concern so far is I have noticed my knees are noisy. There is no pain, no swelling, but when I squat and deadlift they make a lot of squishy grinding noise. I used a mirror to verify my legs are parallel as shown in the video for squats on the 5X5 site. I am curious to know if anyone else has noticed noisy knees.

Hey all!

I'm back from my short vacation in Portugal. It was great to see my family, and that country is just amazing! I love it!

The bad news is that I haven't lifted for a long time now, because of my knee problems and of the trip, except for just one day last week. This week I also haven't managed to go at all and tomorrow I'm off again for the weekend (holiday again here in Italy)! At least the diet part was mostly in check Oh, well, next week I'm back on track, hopefully! I'm planning on repeating A4/B4 and keep going from there.

But the good news is that even without lifting, I've achieved yet another victory: my second goal jeans now fits well! Woohoo! I'm ecstatic!

I must say, however, that I'm fed up with calorie counting and with eating at a deficit, even if it is a small one (TDEE around 1750, I think, and eating at 1600). I'm seriously considering upping my calories to maintenance (since I now fit in both my old jeans) and then keep tracking for some week or two, before finally stop tracking and see where that leads me. If I start gaining fat/inches, then I get back to it. I still haven't made up my mind though... Let's see!

Cheers to all! Keep rocking!

Did B2 yesterday (and hope to do A3 tomorrow).

Barbell deadlifts: 22 kg/17 reps (i got carried away and forgot to stop!), 32 kg/11 reps, 32 kg/10 reps
Standing dumbbell press: 7 kg/15 reps, 8 kg 15 reps
Lat pulldown: 25 kg/15 reps, two sets
Dumbbell lunges: 9 kg/13 reps, 9 kg 11 reps
Swiss ball crunches: 5 kg/15 reps, two sets

Lunges are my least favorite to do. Probably the one I need the most, though. My legs are weak! And I have realized that my right leg is weaker than my left, even though right is my dominant side. Funny.

Anyway, I really really didn't want to go to the gym yesterday, but I did it anyway and I am very proud of myself.

I have also decided to take a full month of super clean eating. No sugar, no bread (except for an occasional piece of cracker bread which is made from rye), no alcohol, no junk food etc. I even got my husband to promise he'll do it along with me. We'll see how that goes...

I'm so glad I found NROLFW, it's really what I needed to get my workout routine on track, and I'm really looking forward to adding some HIIT as well!