stages 2 & 4
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120 second planks were not doable for me
not yet :smokin:
You were right! Wheeee! The first time through the routine I only managed 90 seconds for each set. Second time I got 120 seconds for the first set, then 90 for the second. And finally this morning I managed the two minutes for both sets. A spin instructor I know walked in while I was in the midst of the first one and she cheered me on. I am so proud of myself
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120 second planks were not doable for me
not yet :smokin:
You were right! Wheeee! The first time through the routine I only managed 90 seconds for each set. Second time I got 120 seconds for the first set, then 90 for the second. And finally this morning I managed the two minutes for both sets. A spin instructor I know walked in while I was in the midst of the first one and she cheered me on. I am so proud of myself
That is awesome! congratulations! I find my planks are variable, some days I can hold it for ages (and by ages I mean the 90 seconds we were doing in stage 3) and other days I can barely do 10 seconds! I don't understand it!0 -
Took me a while to get through 2 but I did it! Did anyone do AMRAPs or take a week break after 2?0
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I haven't bothered with amraps since stage 1.0
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So how long do your workouts in stage 2 take? minus the hiit on B?
I think I am maybe going too fast? I am getting these workouts done in about 35 minutes. I remember seeing people say that the workouts start getting longer and stage 1 was the shortest.0 -
I can't remember how long stage 2 took but definitely longer than that. Yesterday i did 4A and it took me 80 minutes (although I did add in some extra stuff at the end). I probably take too long of breaks between sets but 35 minutes seems very quick. are you sure you are doing all of the reps/sets?0
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Stage 2/4 takes ^me 90 min including 10-11 min warm up run. I do 4 sets of the first 2 exercises, including one warm up set. Then
sets of the remaining exercises. I don't time the breaks between sets - when I can breath and it feels like my heart has calmed down, I do another set.
35 min does seem fast - how many sets/ reps are you doing?0 -
Stage 2/4 takes ^me 90 min including 10-11 min warm up run. I do 4 sets of the first 2 exercises, including one warm up set. Then sets of the remaining exercises. I don't time the breaks between sets - when I can breath and it feels like my heart has calmed down, I do another set.
35 min does seem fast - how many sets/ reps are you doing?
I am doing 10 reps x 2 sets. On the first exercises of each workout, FSPP and WGDL, I do one extra warmup set for a total of three on that one exercise. You are doing 3 & 4 sets of 10? I do know I am not taking a full 75 second rest between exercises, but I am doing all the exercises. I have a log with me.0 -
In sTage 4 you do 8 reps, but the weights start to get pretty heavy so I notice that the recovery time is longer. I do a 10 min warm up, too, and by the time I get outta the cardio section and into the free weights section, gloves on and machine appropriated, I bet it's another 5 min. So maybe 75 min of weights only. I'm gonna time it precisely tonight just to be sure - now I'm wondering if the breaks I'm taking are too long!0
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thought i'd post my stage 4 results here.here are my results:
A Workout - start/reps, finish/reps
FSPP - 60#/7 - 70#7
Step Up - 70#/8 (highest aerobic step) - 60#/8 (bench height)
Dumbbell one point row - 60#/8 - 60#/8
Static Lunge Rear foot elevated - 60#/8 - 70#/8
Push up - 11 flat - 15 flat
Plank - 90 sec - 120 sec
Horizontal Woodchop - 60#/8 - 80#/8
B Workout - start/reps, finish/reps
Regular Deadlift - 105#/8 - 125#/8
Bulgarian Split Squat - 50#/8 - 70#/9
Underhand Lat Pulldown - 100#/8 - (115#/3 -100#/5)
Reverse lunge from Box w/Forward Reach - 40#/8 - 60#/7
Prone Cuban Snatch - 12#/8 - 15#/8
Crunch - 100#/25 - 110#/25
Reverse Crunch - BW/20 - BW/25
Lateral Flexion - 50#/25 - BW/25 on back extension machine
Prone Cobra - 90 sec - 120 sec0 -
wow, great numbers! What way do you do your swiss ball crunches that you can use 100lbs weights?0
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commentary on this stage: a bit boring since i went through it once before in stage 2. but also a bit of a relief since stage 3 was really hard for me. i had hurt myself with deadlifting so i stuck with regular deadlifts and brought the weight down, working back up to my stage 2 high of 125. truth be told, i now think i should go way way down in weight and work on perfect form. my back is not cooperating with pulling exercises, as noted by one point row and lat pull down, really not sure what to do other than advance to higher weight but do less reps and see where that takes me. finally got a better handle on woodchops, so saw some good increases there. 2 min planks were really difficult in this stage but finally got there. bored out of my mind with the core exercises so switched up to some machine work and BW work and saw positive results in my pictures.
diet was a little better through most of this stage set cals at 1600. feels like this is maintenance, so dropping them back to 1200 and eating back 300 per workout. this formula is based on cals burned during warm up (125) and internet calculation of weight training for one hour (225). so, 350, minus 50 (due to inflation) for a total of 300. for cardio days i round down to 300 cals and eat them back.
i have pictures in my profile from january of this year (pink bra) after stage 2 (black) and after stage 4 (look more tan). if we're friends you can see them. changes are slight but there. no weight gained, none lost.0 -
wow, great numbers! What way do you do your swiss ball crunches that you can use 100lbs weights?
thanks DouMc! I did machine crunches. i got bored with swiss ball since i could do them with a 25# dumbbell and i just couldn't take it anymore.0 -
Thats a good idea. I am also really bored with the core work in this stage. It goes on for far too long so I normally rush through it. When are you starting stage 5? I'm doing the first one tomorrow. Dreading doing the BWM again!0
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Thats a good idea. I am also really bored with the core work in this stage. It goes on for far too long so I normally rush through it. When are you starting stage 5? I'm doing the first one tomorrow. Dreading doing the BWM again!
right there with ya! :-) starting stage 5 tomorrow and def dreading BWM!! hoping to stick to cals better this stage, too.0 -
I just realized I never posted my final numbers for stage 4:
Wide grip DL: I dropped the box as it always felt awkward to me. 75---85lbs
BSS: 25---30LBS
Underhand grip lat pulldown: 90---105lbs
Reverse lunge with reach: 40----50lbs
DB prone Cuban snatch: 20---24lbs
Crunch: 12---15lbs
Reverse crunch: from on the floor with 12lbs --- on the bench
FSPP: Sucky. My form is still off. 20---40lbs
Step ups: I had been using barbell but moved back to dumbells to work on form. 40---60 lbs
DB one point row: 40---60lbs
Static lunge: 20---25lbs
Push ups: also sucky! 6 floor---8 floor but not consistently
Planks: got them to 120 seconds after the first week
Cable horizontal wood chop: stayed the same at 20lbs on the ball0 -
Those are some great increases! Awesome job. We are workin our *kitten* off ladies 0
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I'm starting stage 2 this morning! I think I'll like A better than B too! I may adjust the ab work in B too. What did you all do?
Gonna try 45lb (bar alone) for front squat push press...and hope I don't fall over on the bent over ones!! Lol!0 -
Ok, I've now done A and B. here is how is went...
Fspp- the pp part is hard!, I couldn't do all 10. I did 8, then 6, then 5 more. I'll work up to the full 10. But did 45#!!
That bent over one is hard to balance! But I will progress I'm sure.
The split squat was good!
Loved the chop!
Not a plank fan, and have open sores on my elbows from tubing in MN over the weekend, so they became 4 sets of 30 sec hand planks.
Push-ups making progress
And step ups are comforting in their familiarity.
B?
Just did regular DL, at 65#. My low back doesn't like them, and I'm prone to throwing it out, so I'm extra careful on DLs.
The bss...I can't get my foot flat on the bench so I wobble and it's awkward. I end up doing the toe and it is very much like the split squat from A. I'll work on the flat foot...
The front split squat were awkward at first, but I got it by the end. It'll be a work in progress too!
Lat pull down was good.
The Cuban snatch also will take practice, but I liked it more than I thought.
All that ab work...didn't feel like it amounted to much? The reverse crunches are good, but I don't like the crunches on the ball...may sub something here-prone JK? I like them!
Hip flexing really targets those hip flexors, but not super hard.
The prone cobras are just a bit awkward, and my low back (right side) is hurting now. Hope it heals quickly!!
B didn't take that long, but I don't rest the full 75 btw sets. The added cardio pushed it up to over an hour though, but felt good! It's a nice change and I'll stick it out. 8 workouts will go fast!0 -
Julie- Those push presses are so hard! I couldn't believe it, I know it's different but it was still very humbling to see my squat weight go down like that. I did 4x5 at 60lbs, I already had that on there and just figured I would get as much out of it doing more sets with lower reps. I'll try to work up to 10.
I feel like I am not quite getting all of these lunges; so many slight variations. Maybe as I get used to them I will notice what they should be working, or I will get the form down and not be so clumsy. A lot of my attention is spent trying not to fall over. In stage one I found the prone jack knife got a lot more difficult when I figured out how to do it without feeling like a fool, and could really focus on the movement.
I miss my back squats, I really felt comfortable with stage one so it is sort of a shock to the system to change now, probably good for the program to force me to change!0
