NROLFW vs Stronglifts vs Starting Strength vs Strong Curves

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  • DawnEmbers
    DawnEmbers Posts: 2,451 Member
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    I'd agree that it's not necessarily complicated in the how to learn the moves, just a lot more moving around as you have to go from squat or deadlift to cable and dumbbells or rail/ground (pending on your pushup abilities. From there it's find a stability ball, step and dumbbells. That's what is needed for stage 1. The deadlift and the squat do take the most work in form. Overall, not hard to learn plus there is a book that explains each move, just more moving around.

    With SL it was squat rack (which would sometimes also do overhead press in since I go at 11 pm so not busy time), bench and deadlift spot, though sometimes I did non-pendlay rows elsewhere.

    Stage 2 in NROLFW includes a step for deadlift (that should be interesting, different cable, dumbbells and varied set of crunches along with some floor space for things like the plank.


    I liked starting with stronglifts as I hadn't lifted in a long time and it helped me get comfortable with weightlifting again. NROLFW is taking me out of comfort zone but I'm kinda glad I didn't start there. Sounds like SS or SL will be good options. Plus that is a nice bonus of having that connection when enduring time apart like that. So, good luck and have fun.
  • janegalt37
    janegalt37 Posts: 270 Member
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    I'd recommend doing SL 5x5 (sooo fun. I loved it my first time around) and, like you mentioned earlier, supplement at home with some glute work from Strong Curves. Trust me, you'll need them. I'm doing the SC beginner program right now, to get back ROM and posterior chain strength before starting SL again. However, I may not switch for quite a while, I'm enjoying SC so much.
    But SL will be fun to do with your husband. Oh - your SL lifts will improve faster and with better form if you include the extra glute work, btw. Here's a fun story from Bret's SC book:

    Kellie’s Notes on Muscle Size vs. Muscular Strength—My Davis Versus Goliath Story
    I’m not intimidating by any means. Sure, I look athletic, but most people expect me to walk into the gym and head to yoga class. The other day, I was training with the Strong Curves Program and working on my barbell glute bridges. There just happened to be a band of male pro bodybuilders across the room doing a lot more talking than working. I guess my bridges caught their attention because one of them, a top ten Mr. Olympia contender who was only a few weeks out from a show, came over and asked if he could try the exercise. I warned him that it wasn’t as easy as it looked, and it took a long time to work up to the weight I was using, which was a meager three hundred fifty-five pounds. Surely, my tiny one hundred twenty-eight-pound frame was no match for this beast with forearms larger than my legs. He inched under the bar, barely able to get it over his massive quads, and lay there trapped. Sweat poured down his forehead, and grunts bellowed out from his throat, while the bar didn’t move a single centimeter. He couldn’t lift it off the floor with his hips because his glutes weren’t strong enough. He spent more time in the gym each week than I probably spent all month, but all that training didn’t translate to hip strength. In fact, many bodybuilders train their glutes inadequately, and it shows on stage. For a good twenty minutes after his humiliating defeat, he came up with several “tricks” that he was sure I had used to move the weight. But, rest assured, no trickery was involved. It’s just good work ethic, the right programming, and learning to activate the glutes properly so they grow in strength and size. Sadly for him, my glutes are just stronger than his in that range of motion.

    Contreras, Bret; Davis, Kellie (2013-03-31). Strong Curves: A Woman's Guide to Building a Better Butt and Body (Kindle Locations 738-739). Victory Belt Publishing. Kindle Edition.

  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,752 Member
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    Posting to keep track of this thread, interesting stuff here.
  • kikichewie
    kikichewie Posts: 276 Member
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    I've read NROLFW but it just seems too complicated. I have been doing something like StrongLifts for the past few weeks, but I realized my glutes aren't firing. So I just ordered Strong Curves and can't wait to start.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    For what it's worth, I am about half way through NROLFW and have not had any problems learning the lifts or finding the stuff I need to do them at the Y I go to. I will be looking for something after I have finished with it so I am keeping an eye on this thread and peoples' experiences :)