Daily Chat Thread
Replies
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Doing a quick search of NROL4Abs--
"Planks
Your goal here is to coordinate your deepest stabilizing muscles so they can hold a single position against the forces of gravity. You'll develop endurance in those muscles as you increase the amount of time they have to hold the position." (p. 25)
It sounds to me like the focus is more on the stabilization that the core muscles do than building strength. And I think this would help with improvements in some of the strength building exercises you mentioned (like the deadlift or squat). This is totally my interpretation (and I am not claiming any expertise).
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Okay. So I thought about the whole plank thing.
And the building strength thing.
And the endurance thing.
And now my head hurts.
I'll stop thinking now
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Beeps, in NROL Supercharged, he addresses the topic of planks and building muscle/strength. The planks are progressive as well. Meaning, once you can hold one variation for more than 30-45 secs, you move on to a harder variation. Some variations I can't even do for 5 secs. So the plank should be treated just like any other weight exercise to really reap any benefits- progressively increase the resistance. Will these variations build core muscle? I have no idea.
I worked back today(who knew you could do three different variations of lat pull-downs in one workout?). I ate 140 grams of protein. I didn't go over on my cals. It's been a good day.
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Pudding1980 wrote: »Cala, any progress is great progress! Take it slow and steady
Cross posting a Supercharged question if I may: I'm done BT2 and starting level 3 tomorrow. I see the interval work from level 2 isn't included in level 3. I loved having that ten minutes or so at the end of BT2 to burn another 100 calories or so and really eek out my muscles. Has anyone included some intervals or HIIT at the end of BT3, on your own?
The complexes or the metabolic moves(I don't remember which he includes BT3) at the end of the workout replace the HIIT. If you do them correctly, you will end up with a good burn at the end. I found them to be harder than HIIT.
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Oh, and congrats, Jo! How awesome to be recognized for your hard work! You must be Superwoman to do all that with 3 kids to take care of.0
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Pmagnanifit wrote: »So I got of bed to get some protein. I lift in chucks. My trainer wants me to get weightlifting shoes to help my squat. She has great ideas but I need to focus.
Hmm. I suppose that there is a reason that the pro lifters use them. I'm really curious if there is much of a difference- keep us posted if you decide to buy them.
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Hi, it's been 2 days i havent worked out. TOM. Usually, I don't care about it, this time they are so bad that I feel weak all the time. Hopefully, day 3 shall be better.
Happy lifting, girls 0 -
BarbellCowgirl wrote: »Pudding1980 wrote: »Cala, any progress is great progress! Take it slow and steady
Cross posting a Supercharged question if I may: I'm done BT2 and starting level 3 tomorrow. I see the interval work from level 2 isn't included in level 3. I loved having that ten minutes or so at the end of BT2 to burn another 100 calories or so and really eek out my muscles. Has anyone included some intervals or HIIT at the end of BT3, on your own?
The complexes or the metabolic moves(I don't remember which he includes BT3) at the end of the workout replace the HIIT. If you do them correctly, you will end up with a good burn at the end. I found them to be harder than HIIT.
Yeah, no complexes or metabolic stuff st the end of BT3 at all. Just all the lifts. I will run through BT3A today and see how long it takes and how exhausted I am by the end
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Second 1A workout today. It went MUCH better than the B workout, though I'm still figuring out the right weights and I'm pretty sure I'm not doing the step-ups correctly. Is it weird that now I've figured out how to dismount from the Swiss Ball without rolling halfway round the room I kind of love the prone jackknife? I also figured out how to do pushups so I can get the full 15 reps out of the first set (but not the second yet). It's at a very unimpressive angle against a wall, but hopefully I'll get better.
I figured out if I do the long version of Stage 1 as described in the book (which I feel like I need to do because of starting from such a low level of fitness) I will be done just in time to take a break over Christmas and start Stage 2 first thing in the new year (ignoring the "special" workouts, which I think are a bit weird and probably won't do).
Meanwhile, the scale moved in a pleasing direction this morning (I record my weight on a Friday), I've found a protein bar that I'm willing to eat and there was a woman in the free weights area lifting SERIOUSLY heavy today at my gym, so it's a good day all round despite the pouring rain.0 -
I will ask my trainer. I think she gave me the reverse plank because she knew I wold love the DOMS. The point of the day's workout was to strengthen my lower back not to build my glutes. The reverse plank was an assistance move. I think it would be great in my ramp to get me to remember where those muscles are before starting the major lifts.
So I searched Bret contreras here http://bretcontreras.com/?s=growing+the+glutes
Basically he says to increase the size of your flutes and shrink your legs you need exercises for glutes only. You want your glutes only to activate no hamstrings, no quads no hip flexors etc.
This strikes me as extremely hard. I want strength not just glutes. It is hard to see my flutes because that is where my thickest fat is.
I am not doing complexes etc because I am mostly just doing the main lifts.
Wall sits don't work because you use your quads more.
I really like Bret's blog/web site- I am sure you has seen it Beeps
I finally had a good night's sleep- today I will do some cycling.
The first version of this post was all about flutes not glutes
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Pmag-they're some flutes in this version too. autocorrect kills me too! I'd like to build my glutse and shrink my legs...but not sure how? I do add glute bridges now and love them! Gonna switch to hip thrusts soon.
Re planks: I hate them.
They're boring and my back hurts by the end. But, they're all the rage now and so many good trainers recommend them, so there must be some good to come from them? I'll add the 60sec ones back in and then find more difficult variations. I'd do the ball bench one sometimes to entertain the others in the gym .
Cal-I love the pjk!! My fave ab move in NR by far.
Bb-good job on the protein and back!
DNA-lol! I did too!
Snb-thanks! id heard they changed their view on crunches after NROLFW was out? Sigh.
Jo-congratulation on the recognition! Bodes well for your grade! Enjoy your time with the fam.
I'm doing well. Carb nite tonight-which will be fun. Losing inches-finally down 1" on my hips! It's taking forever and that is my widest part by far (I'm such a pear!) all good. Lifting today 5A3. Hope I have enough time for BWM...I may cut abs short to fit it in, I won't do it later at home. 
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Hello ladies,
I'm not a fan of the planks either but I do them. I know they're doing something for my core so I guess that's good.
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This is my new progression pic, not great, but noe bad. I see less dimples on my thighs so that makes me happy. I'm finally seeing a difference. It feels good to see the hard work is paying off & I am actually working my butt off. I do 5A2 tonight, I'm liking the lower reps in these stages and I'll do my killer buns & thighs instead of the BWM. all those excerises & more are in that.
Jo, Congrats that is fantastic that they want to publish you. You deserve the recognition, you've worked really hard and you should be celebrating.
Julie enjoy carb night, that sounds great I'm not sure how far from downtown you are but there is a local fall festival tomorrow from 10 -4. I want to go & check out the local produce. I'll post a link if you're interested. It sounds like they have a bit of stuff for the whole family.
http://localfirstaz.com/fall-festival/
Everyone seems to be so busy & progressing to well, I hope you have a great weekend (*) 0 -
Congratulations on the job Jo. That is fantastic news. I had an interview yesterday but they said I won't hear anything for ages so I have to try to put it out of my mind. I hate interviews!
Cala, I'm glad to hear that your third workout went better but don't beat yourself up about the ones that don't go well. It happens to all of us. I have also had days where half way through I have given up and left the gym. What matters is that we keep going back and pushing ourselves to do more.
All the talk about planks gave me a headache. My understanding of why they are good is that they help with form in the bigger lifts like the DL or squat. But other than that I don't know. I suppose they build strength if you keep changing it up and doing progressively harder versions.
Ali, you look amazing!!0 -
Ali_momof2 wrote: »Jo, Congrats that is fantastic that they want to publish you. You deserve the recognition, you've worked really hard and you should be celebrating.
Celebrate I did..... today is going to be a tough one, lol. Ugh.
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There are special shoes for weightlifting? I have truly never heard of this.
Julie--NROL4Abs does have a completely different view and doesn't include any crunches. Someone in this group (sorry I can't remember who) told me that on their facebook page they have been recommending people change out the crunches in NROL4W for plank work, but honestly I have been doing the crunches. I plan to do NROL4Abs next.
Rest day--or at least day so crazy at work that I needed to vent and b***h at lunch rather than work out. And I don't regret it at all. 0 -
Today we slept in as the girl's nose is all clogged up - no good to swim like that. Lots of rest required before her inter-school swimming meet on Tuesday. I know she's come down with something because I left her on the lounge this afternoon snoring away
And then I baked. And baked some more. And a little more. Biscuits (cookies), slice and cake.
We have tradies here digging a hole and building a fence. My front yard is slightly trashed, but oh well.
And then we had a bbq for lunch. And the IL's came. And then I left - dropped boy at a birthday party and disappeared to a coffee shop with another mum
LOL Came home 2.5 hours later after picking child up from the party
Re weightlifting shoes, make sure to pick pretty ones (and by pretty I mean something that's cool and stands out, polka dots would be awesome). And that's my totally deep & thoughtful advice for the day
Basic Training II to start on Monday. All sorted and planned. I just want to get moving on it.
I did a minor cut over the last 2 months - 1kg (2.2lb lol), which is actually a lot for me LOL Now to maintain roughly for a little bit and see how it goes. I just wanted to see what would happen, and I had fun experimenting. The experiment continues in the next phase - eat more, try new things, new foods, new cardio, just fun stuff. Made up a small bodyweight HIIT workout and for under 20 minutes it leaves me coated in sweat, so I think I did good lol
In all honesty, the ONLY thing I've been able to stick to long-term is my lifting... everything else gets shaken up every 2-3 months because I get bored.
Meanwhile, sausages for dinner! Because they're leftover from lunch and because I can. Screw this restriction crap. Let's put on some muscle!
Disclaimer: I just read through that lol Calorie restriction is good and necessary at times, I'm just bored. Time for me to shake it up again.
Double disclaimer: If you're new, yes, I am slightly odd. And weird. That's how I roll
Seriously, I just edited that like, 4 times....
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DNA-
love your post! Congrats on the loss! Enjoy eating more in the next phase.
Snb-thanks! I thought I'd heard that. I do a variety on ab stuff at the end of each workout. I'm just so bored with planks, and refuse to go past 60 secs with them. I should mixup the variations on planks to follow the program I guess. But I do loathe them! And some days resting and venting is more valuable!
Dou-I hate those long breaks btw interviews. I mean really? How hard is it to decide to hire me?. Good luck in the waiting time!
Ali-you look amazing!! Tiny little thing!! Thanks for the info. We're "supposed" to go up to Payson today to hike, water wheel trail or Ellison creek cascades. Have you heard of it? It's new to me, but looks lovely. My family is still sleeping! So, we may not get there.
Had my carb nite last night. It certainly satisfies any cravings I have for carbs. I'm not interested in eating at all! Doing well though. Did stage 5A3 yesterday. As much as I don't like the BWM I recognize it is good for me. It wasn't as dreadful yesterday, and my times, although not really improving, are holding consistent around the 2.5 minute mark. I'm going deeper on my jump squats and lunges to get more work out of them now. Also added some weight to my single leg Rdl and upper hand squat move. So progress.
Have a great weekend ladies!!0 -
Going to combat this morning for the first time in a fortnight..... this is going to hurt. Thankfully the hangover has gone and today *might* be productive. Here's hoping!0
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Pudding1980 wrote: »BarbellCowgirl wrote: »Pudding1980 wrote: »Cala, any progress is great progress! Take it slow and steady
Cross posting a Supercharged question if I may: I'm done BT2 and starting level 3 tomorrow. I see the interval work from level 2 isn't included in level 3. I loved having that ten minutes or so at the end of BT2 to burn another 100 calories or so and really eek out my muscles. Has anyone included some intervals or HIIT at the end of BT3, on your own?
The complexes or the metabolic moves(I don't remember which he includes BT3) at the end of the workout replace the HIIT. If you do them correctly, you will end up with a good burn at the end. I found them to be harder than HIIT.
Yeah, no complexes or metabolic stuff st the end of BT3 at all. Just all the lifts. I will run through BT3A today and see how long it takes and how exhausted I am by the end
Hmmm. My book lists intervals at the end of each BTIII workout. 4-6 rounds of 30 secs work/ 30 secs rest. I would look at it again. I did the entire program- every stage includes some type of metabolic finisher.0 -
Julie, awesome progress! Carbs....mmmmm.
dna, I'm the same way- I have great "goals", but my diet, schedule, etc, seems to be in constant turmoil. I guess it's called "motherhood".
Enjoy combat, Jo!
Ali, you look awesome!
Pmag, I think the reverse plank would be a great "activator" for those glutes. I love Bret C's stuff too....BUT....there are ladies out there who've built amazing glutes from flat butts without using his methods. For me, his stuff seems to work, so Im keeping hip thrusts in my workouts.
Chest/Shoulders today. I love all the upper body stuff. I definitely need to build more upper to even out the lower. I added in some single leg DLs and lower body HIIT. I had my carb binge at a friend's baby shower. Now it's laundry time.0 -
I should do more plank progression....i pretty much skip abs most days right now. Which is dumb and lame and wrong. I should fix that!
I didn't lift yesterday or today. I should fix that!
I have been a Bret C fan for almost three years....he writes stuff that i find easy-to-understand.
Keep lifting ladies...it is all good! Whether strength ir mass or endurance or balance or flexibility. All good.
BOOM!0 -
Ali, great progress! Your tummy is really getting flat! I want that to be me!
Re: planks. I actually like them. Especially the progressions. Right now I'm doing the Push up hold ones with feet on a Swiss ball. Definitely a core challenge. First time I tried I kept falling off the ball, had to prop it up against the wall. Now I can hold them for 40s without propping up the ball.
Like jo suggested, I think my knees are battered from overtraining/overuse. I've been squatting several times a week for months now. Including the days when squats aren't a part of the program. I add them to the complexes, intervals, etc. that are at the end of the workout. Think I need to give them a break.
Ok, so this past week was BAD. I mean REALLY BAD. I won't go through the details but just to say I did everything wrong as it pertained to my goals. I have zero self control sometimes, and I don't even have TOM to blame. Definitely lack of planning was the cause. So I'm planning everything to a T this week, and having back up plans for my plans. I NEED to get it right.
Gonna get started on my weekly meal plan...0 -
I will say that i did a fitness test at my gym after going for about a month and I had about a 15 second improvement on my plank without specifically working on that move. I just used crunches that were part of the original NROL4W. I didn't know about the recommendation to change out the crunches for planks until after I started and figured I would do stage 1 in the way I started and then wait until stage 2 to implement changes.
Don't feel bad jamaicanlady. I just got home from having dinner that included dessert and then ate kettle corn because it was there. So you are not alone in being bad. I will definitely be at the gym tomorrow. 0 -
I'm sitting here munching through a bowl of cherries trying to write my menu plan for the week. My brain is off in fairyland I think it's harder this week because DH will be home so it's all a little messed up routine wise.
I need more cherries.0 -
Hello I tweaked my shoulder raking leaves. I am going to lift legs tomorrow and try to rest my shoulder. My protein has been low as well.
I bought some wrestling shoes. I have looked in three stores without finding the innovates . They seem available on line but not in stores and not in my size. So I am giving the wrestling shoes a go.
We had a soccer team party tonight and watched bend it like beckham I really enjoyed it.
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Wow, you girls have been so busy.
I've been out and about all weekend. My introverted self is going to need some serious recovery tie from all the people and activity. All day Saturday in NYC with my father's ENTIRE family. We saw the Rockettes and had dinner off Time Square. LOTS of walking involved. THen today we had a family luncheon with the ENTIRE family. I made a veggie lasagna. Now I am tired and sitting here doing as much nothing as possible. Happy lifting ladies.0 -
Pmag-sorry abut the shoulder, hope it feels better soon!
DNA-good for you planning. I need go do that!!
Snb-good to know the crunches are as effective as planks!
Jl-start fresh tomorrow. We've all been there!!
Beeps-I tend to cut the ab work short when I run out of time too . I try to do it all, but some times you just gotta choose!
Bb-a nice carb refeed and back to normal tomorrow. All good! I've enjoyed the upper body training in NR and think it is helping balance me out. I need to add more HIIT this week...I've been skipping some of it the past 2 weeks because of time.
Jo-hope you kicked some tushie at combat-I love the roundhouses. I haven't done it in ages either and miss it.
Relaxing this weekend. Long bike ride yesterday was my cardio and tomorrow I lift. Stage 5 B3. I'll wrap up stage 5 this week, hopefully. Need to look ahead to 6.
Who did stage 6? How was it? Do you recommend doing it? I'm planning on starting it a week from Monday . 0 -
BarbellCowgirl wrote: »Pudding1980 wrote: »BarbellCowgirl wrote: »Pudding1980 wrote: »Cala, any progress is great progress! Take it slow and steady
Cross posting a Supercharged question if I may: I'm done BT2 and starting level 3 tomorrow. I see the interval work from level 2 isn't included in level 3. I loved having that ten minutes or so at the end of BT2 to burn another 100 calories or so and really eek out my muscles. Has anyone included some intervals or HIIT at the end of BT3, on your own?
The complexes or the metabolic moves(I don't remember which he includes BT3) at the end of the workout replace the HIIT. If you do them correctly, you will end up with a good burn at the end. I found them to be harder than HIIT.
Yeah, no complexes or metabolic stuff st the end of BT3 at all. Just all the lifts. I will run through BT3A today and see how long it takes and how exhausted I am by the end
Hmmm. My book lists intervals at the end of each BTIII workout. 4-6 rounds of 30 secs work/ 30 secs rest. I would look at it again. I did the entire program- every stage includes some type of metabolic finisher.
You are right....I somehow totally missed that. So six minutes max. I can add that on no problem. I had been doing the spin bike for thoe intervals in BT2 because running for them in BT1 was giving me quite a bit of knee pain. It hasn't gotten better, probably due to all the lunges and squats in BT2, but it also isn't worse. I guess I will stick with the spin bike for the BT3 intervals. It works up a great sweat, plus I've been missing spinning since I started doing so much lifting and no more classes.
You've all been busy and working so hard. Love it!
Are holiday decorations already appearing for those of you in the US? I'm near Toronto so we have already had our Thanksgiving, but as soon as Halloween was over last weekend, Christmas stuff started appearing everywhere. I love Christmas but I went to the mall yesterday and it was already so packed. I am so happy that I am a SAHM and can get my shopping done on quieter weekdays!
Off to check out BT3B tomorrow. I am trying to decide what I can replace explosive pushups with. I guess just some tricep ones? Regular ones are already included in the sane workout as part of the pushup with row move.
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Hello all no complexes here.
I lifted legs and not that heavy today.
Pudding - I am not ready for Xmas. The decorations are too early.
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Julie I loved stage 6 -pull-ups are amazing. I really did chin-ups.0
