4a done

Welcome and yay for starting.

When it comes to shoes a lot of it is personal preference and what you have available. I think the general consensus with lifting is not to use running shoes. Those tend to be more padded (except a few varieties) and are geared for running and can affect the balance and some form.

There are squat shoes, but those aren't necessary unless getting into competition, though some on youtube have found they really helped to improve their squat form. Others just suggest something flat, like chucks, etc. I see a lot of youtubers wear different varieties of Nike and such. And some go without shoes.

I use what I have available, which aren't always the best and one pair of sneakers look ready to fall apart in spots. Need to get a replacement since after Christmas is one of the few times I have extra funds available. I didn't go with just socks during NROLFW, but I did try them on deadlift and squats recently and kind of liked it. Only trouble was with the squats and the rack because without shoes I'm even shorter and that little bit did have an affect on getting the bar back on the rack.

There are also different "crosstrainers" as the program does mix things up a bit with the different lifts. Maybe someone else can recommend something specific. *waits*

Started today! Even though the book doesn't say you "need" as much cardio...I still do for myself. I am not easy to wake up in the mornings, and every time I've tried to do anything with weights first thing, I suffer. But, if I wake myself up for 30 minutes or so on the treadmill first, I'm ready to go! So, stage 1, day 1 complete! I've been doing a lot of the moves with my trainer already, but in a different sequence, so I had a pretty good idea what weights to start with.

Question: I get REALLY BAD vertigo. I am diagnosed with POTS, which can cause me to faint at any given time, for any reason. The swiss ball crunches? Yeah...I blacked out. I am totally fine doing crunches on the floor...but the ball really throws me off. Is there really a difference whether I do them on the ball or on the floor?

Thanks! ~Danielle

Hi nufertiri - I found a couple of things on facebook that might interest you:

CRUNCHES (Swiss Ball / Reverse) Jan. 7, 2014 I asked Alwyn if there were any other changes to the NROLFW other than doing planks instead of crunches. He said: "That's about the only change where I do not recommend the old program at all. That said, there's a lot of updates to the workouts overall, but it's only the spinal flexion stuff that I'd want people to avoid. There are lots of way more effective core exercises in NROL4A (Abs) - planks, side planks, val slide push aways etc." From a speed coaching session: "I'm not concerned about avoiding it (spinal flexion) as much as I am about not using that as the primary focus (ie crunches). The research is clear - the stability type exercises activate MORE muscle than crunches. Spinal flexion movements mean less activation therefore less effective for our goals." -Alwyn Cosgrove

PRONE JACKKNIFE The illustration in the book is incorrect! You should not be putting your butt way up
in the air. A similar but different exercise, done with the butt in the air, is called a pike. For a correct demonstration of the jackknife, see Lou`s video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPacmjg26Sg Alwyn no longer uses stability balls in his programs and for this move they now use the TRX. It looks like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8oA2bncROo

@lovtolaff great info updating NROL4W thanks. I have been using the swiss ball and will happily give it up.
It's wonderful to see so many people on her, hi to all. I am pretty much new to strength training. I got interested in it as a way to strengthen my back which has been giving me fits for the last couple of years. I feel like it is getting stronger, yea! and I am really enjoying the weights.

After a 4 week break over the holidays I am picking up where I left off on level I just reduced the weight a bit. Did 5b and 6a are in the last couple of days.

Finished #222 of 24 of stage 1 today - so only one execution of stage A and B left... and I must admit I'm starting to feel nervous again to move up to the next stage. But also looking forward to it!

I switched the ball to the TRX jack knife, and am glad I tried it. Its a bit weird, but its both more challenging (to keep the back flat) but also easier to perform the exercise (with no ball going strange ways)
Thanks again for this idea!

Glad to see peeps posting. I'm still here, still in Stage 1 as I keep having delays and I also decided to do it a second time. I will admit, I'm a little intimidated by Stage 2 - I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to do it! Guess I need to buck up and give it a whirl when the time comes.

nufertiri - you are right...before beginning stage 2, i was nervous about it also. heck i've been in it so long now, I'm an old pro! lol

And I too have been trying to curb any lazy habits and I'm slowly making progress. I keep telling myself I'm not in a race. I do feel stronger then I did before I started lifting - so that's something!

Nice work everyone.

For stage 2, I recommend giving the lifts a trial run before doing the stage since they don't last as long as the first one. They aren't too bad but a little different. I think the hardest for me was the front squat/push press because my wrists don't do well with the front squat position. I'm working on them now in my program but back when I did NROLFW, trying to hold the bar at the right angle to do the moves combined didn't work that well. And I still rather keep my front squat and overhead press as separate lifts, lol. It'll seem a little odd at first, then stage 3 will be different and stage 4 is back to stage 2 lifts but different rep scheme.

Also, check out the sticky posts on the different stages. It's kind of fun to read through what people in the past commented on over the different stages back when they were attempting them.

Last 1B exercise for me this morning. Will miss it, but I'm also looking forward to the next phase

As step ups will be there as well, I tried them the first time with barbel. Unfortunately the gym doesn't have any steps, but only benches. But it went surprisingly well. Also had more chance to concentrate on the form, as I didn't need to concentrate on not loosing my grip on the dumbbells... no need to rush through the step ups anymore

Hi mmebouchon,
seems like a good idea to add at least one additional A and B

As this was my first time working with weights, I followed the idea in the book to do each workout a total of 12 times. Helped me to master the basic exercises before now moving the next stage

So whatever feels best to you is the route you should follow - and hopefully enjoy

What has everyone got their cals at for Stage 1?

I believe my full maintenance allowance is 2,100
I would like to lose some weight / fat though which I understand you can only do in deficit so I've set my cals to 1600 gross, knowing from past logging I normally don't measure completely accurately so really I'll be more like 1700 - 1900 and not eating back my exercise cals.

I haven't had any scale movements yet - other than small spikes the days after I lift and I've been going for 3 weeks - will keep persevering till the end of stage one and then assess with photos and my measurements too.

What are other people doing/experiences?

Also, question: can you lose fat and build muscle at the same time or do you need to be in surplus to build muscle?

Thanks that is really helpful. I think really I am aiming for recomp so I will just be patient and keep persevering with around maintenance eating for longer.

Hi helpful people - more stage 1 questions for you! I am now a month or so in, I'm finding I am able to increase the weights of my big lifts a lot - my Squat and DL started at 30kg (hehe) and now are 45/50kg. But I am not able to increase the weights of my other lifts (step ups, rows etc) at the same kind of rate.

I'm worried that I'm going to end up imbalanced, should my strength be consistently increasing for all movements? Or is it ok / normal to get stronger at some things faster?

I also wonder if it is because the big lifts are first in my work out, so I'm fatigued by the time I get to step ups?

If you want to see I am logging my workouts here - Stage 1 month 1 is the last tab at the back now https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R0BMG7_ZX-gjJKAfSMLnsKKhk-cna4nRxujuv7AeqWY/edit#gid=682853788

x

New here and starting stage 1 tomorrow. A little nervous, but mostly excited! I have 4 babies - 3 were c-secs - and I'm at a 160lbs with 27.02% body fat. So not terrible, but it could be better. I've been doing HIIT and lifting with a personal trainer for just over a month now, but I'm looking for more direction so this is where NROL4W comes in. I'll check in!