New Rules of Lifting (for Women) Group - Part 2

Had another question:

I take a power sculpt class that I just can't give up. I love the instructor and the ladies that take the class and it's pretty aerobic, but it's also pretty weight heavy. We don't lift heavy, but we lift a lot and also do a lot of pull-ups, push-ups, squats, you get the idea.

I know the book was pretty firm about us not lifting too much and really allowing a rest day and I've actually read that not following that plan could be a detriment.

This is my typical schedule:

Monday - Power Sculpt, 75 minutes
Tuesday - Spin, 60 minutes
Wednesday - NROLFW + 20 minutes cardio
Thursday - Power Sculpt, 75 minutes
Friday - NROLFW + 20 minutes cardio
Saturday - Cardio, 60 minutes (running, spinning, hiking with some HIIT)
Sunday - NROLFW + 20 minutes cardio

What are your thoughts? My body seems to be keeping up with it, although lately I've been feeling a little fatigued. I admit I do have a problem taking a rest day - mentally, I just can't seem to make it happen. I'm just worried that I'm sabotaging or something. I might try to post this on the main exercise board to see what others say. Thanks everyone -

WOW. I think you're lifting waaaay too much. 5x a week might be okay if you were doing body part splits, but the NR plan is total body and it sounds like your Power Sculpt class is too. And you have three lifting days in a row!! I would recommend only doing 3 days of week lifting total between the NR and the power sculpt class (so maybe 2 days a week with the NR schedule and one power sculpt class) and not consecutive days. And get yourself a rest day, even if it ends up being an "active rest" like walking or yoga.

I changed my MFP account settings for my cals and uped them to 1500/day with a 40-30-30 split. I'm eating back my exercise cals (I'm doing Hiit after weights). Is that still too low? I'm honestly scared of putting them up to the 1800/2000 cal recommendation (calculated from the book).

Are you wearing a HRM to accurately measure the calories burned and logged? MFP's default for strength training is WAY off (underestimated).

Omg, you guys are seriously terrifying me of stage 2! I just finished my stage 1 bonus workouts. Onto stage 2 next week. I was wondering how I am going to do the woodchop thingies since I don't have a cable. The instructions aren't that clear to me. Can someone explain how to do them correctly using a dumbbell?

I agree, the book doesn't explain it well. The woodchop is a twisting exercise designed to work your core, especially your abs and waist. I found a great at-home alternative using dumbbells. Copy/paste the link below in your browser's address bar to view the YouTube video. Angela is awesome! She has lots of great exercises.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCgGlW8I5MI&list=PL4CE51ED9E54AA7C3&index=3

Do you have resistant bands? You can use them instead of cable. Also, the book says that you should be laying on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor and move the dumbbell, med. ball from side to side of your body- I would say almost like the Russian twist but lay on the floor with feet on the floor and just move the db across your body. That's what I get from the book on the alternative with the DB. Or, they say, you can put your back on swiss ball as well and make it more challenging. Hope this makes sense.

I do actually have resistance bands, it's what my husband suggested I use. I figured the exercise would go pretty much as you explained here. I am going to try it. It really doesn't seem all that difficult. Just grab a weight and twist from low to high, no? I'm anxious to get stage 2 started. I'm waiting until Monday though.

When I asked the trainer to help me with this move, he acted as if it was really easy to hurt yourself!!!! Make sure you really twist and not move with your arms. Keep the arms streight in front of you. I tried it today with 50 pounds and I will let you know if it was enought tomorrow LOL

I had issues getting this exercise right because I don't have access to a cable machine either. I tried all the different variations (standing up, on the floor, on a swiss ball) and found the swiss ball to be the easiest. Here is the YouTube video that I found most helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGDQK4XA6x8

I changed my MFP account settings for my cals and uped them to 1500/day with a 40-30-30 split. I'm eating back my exercise cals (I'm doing Hiit after weights). Is that still too low? I'm honestly scared of putting them up to the 1800/2000 cal recommendation (calculated from the book).

Lou said that if you absolutely HAVE to have a calorie deficit, don't go lower than 300, if I remember correctly. My best advice is to listen to your body. If you can do the workouts on 1500+exercise cals, and you're not dragging the next day, then you're probably okay. I know that some (kensky) have had great results from upping their calories. Personally, I'm eating 1600 plus exercise cals and although the scale is a fickle *****, my clothes are getting looser every week. Seriously, I just bought two pair of dress pants a couple-three weeks ago and they're getting baggy!

I might up the calories for next week. I did find I'm a little hungry the day after I lift.

I changed my MFP account settings for my cals and uped them to 1500/day with a 40-30-30 split. I'm eating back my exercise cals (I'm doing Hiit after weights). Is that still too low? I'm honestly scared of putting them up to the 1800/2000 cal recommendation (calculated from the book).

Are you wearing a HRM to accurately measure the calories burned and logged? MFP's default for strength training is WAY off (underestimated).

No, I actually didn't add in my strength training calories, just the cardio calories. I'll wear my HRM tomorrow and add those in as well. Thank you!!

Supposedly HRM are NOT good for lifting.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/362964-so-explain-to-me-again-why-i-can-t-use-my-hrm

I went to a couple other websites that estimate calories burned from lifting and came up with about 200 for 30minutes, so that is what I am using at this point.

Supposedly HRM are NOT good for lifting.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/362964-so-explain-to-me-again-why-i-can-t-use-my-hrm

I went to a couple other websites that estimate calories burned from lifting and came up with about 200 for 30minutes, so that is what I am using at this point.

i wear my HRM on every workout i do....i log what i get and dont worry about the accuracy of it....mine is pretty good at staying connected to me though

Yes, like Elizabeth says I have had good success upping my calories and still losing inches at a steady rate (I started the program in a size 12/10 jean and now my 6s are getting annoyingly baggy.)

The nutshell version of eating and weight training while aiming for body recomposition (losing fat while gaining or at least keeping muscle) is this: You eat enough so that you can lift as heavy as possible so that you can build as much muscle as possible which takes up less space than fat does and also is "hungrier" than fat. If you look at my diary (today! I had a good "typical" day today) you can see how much what kind of food I eat. I could stand to drink more water, I know.

Hi there, i stalk here occasionally as i am already on a personalised strength training program but with very similar principles and its great to see all your motivation and how well you are all doing.

I just thought i would comment on the sore lower back whilst deadlifting issue that someone had (sorry i cant remember who it was). When deadlifting make sure that your shoulders are pulled back and your lats are engaged, also make sure you are squeezing your bum on the way up, this should minimise the strain on your lower back. My trainer stressed this point with my to avoind using your back as a crane situation.

Over and out.

Thank you for the tip! I have a hard time with proper from while doing deadlifts sometimes. The heavier I lift the harder it is to maintain proper form.

Okay, so who's made the leap and starting eating OVER maintenance?

I know from past experience that my maintenance is probably about 2300 (I lost while accidentally eating up to 2000) but the book calculates 2000 for me. I've got my goal set to 2000 but I often go over goal so I figured keeping it at 2000 is probably okay.... But I'm wondering if I should just really commit and try eating a little more...

The book has me at 1547 on rest days so I reset my MFP goals to reflect that. On most days I don't even hit that number. I was afraid to go up during stage 1 but I am starting stage 2 tomorrow and I want to see if increasing cals makes a difference. I guess I am scared of gaining weight, but I understand his concept of needing more cals to life heavier. So we'll see what happens.

Ok, I just completed my first workout on stage 2. I had a hard time with the push/press. I did it with the regular olympic bar. While I could have done a whole bunch of squats I couldn't do more than 7 press ups. I did the horizontal woodchops laying down but I am not sure I did them right. I felt like I was flailing around on the floor. I saw a video on you tube of someone doing them on a swiss ball, I might try that next time since it seems you get a much greater range of motion than just laying on the floor. The one point rows were challenging but not hard. That could be because I started with 12.5 pounds in each hand. I was definitely more off kilter while standing on my left leg, since it's not my dominant one. But I like the exercise. I could feel it in my lats immediately. I kept the same weight with the step ups as I left off in stage 1, at 50 lbs. I think I am going to have a problem increasing my weight on those though. I have been using an ez curl bar with 15 lbs added. I can't use the squat rack because I don't have enough room to step away from the rack(it's a home gym and the bench with the squat rack is behind a window and there's not much room to move, I can do squats there but that's it). So I have to lift the ez curl bar from the floor. It's getting hard to do as I increase weight. So I am afraid to go beyond 50lbs. I'll take any ideas on that one. I liked the static lunges - I really felt them. I like them better than regular lunges, those are my least favorite of any exercise!

So overall, thumbs up to Stage 2, workout 1!

I'm worried that I didn't lift heavy enough. I felt like I was going backwards from stage 1. But like with the one point rows I was afraid of falling over if the dumbbells were too heavy. I will try 15 lbs next time and see how I do. The 12.5s were definitely not challenging enough.

I'm worried that I didn't lift heavy enough. I felt like I was going backwards from stage 1. But like with the one point rows I was afraid of falling over if the dumbbells were too heavy. I will try 15 lbs next time and see how I do. The 12.5s were definitely not challenging enough.

I was pretty conservative with the first workout of Stage 2 as well, to be honest. It's a matter of getting used to the new moves. When I'm unfamiliar with a new exercise and am not sure I'll get the form right, I tend to err on the side of going too light rather than too heavy and risking an injury. Now that you're more familiar with it, you can increase the weights to a more challenging level next time!

That's exactly how I feel. I guess I need a baseline and now I have a better idea of where to go from here.

Thanks to my first Phase 3, Workout A (and that evil, evil body weight matrix) I'm having a hard time sitting down and getting up today. I really liked the new exercises in Workout A. The Dumbbell Single Arm Overhead Squat was definitely more challenging than I thought it would be. I'm also loving the One Armed Dumbbell Snatch and the Incline Bench Press. Although I hated the Body Weight Matrix (all 4 minutes and 50 seconds it took me to complete) I'm excited to see how I improve over the next three weeks. Anyone else in Phase 3? Thoughts? Opinions? Tips?

I'll start Stage 3 next week! Today was my last workout of Stage 2 and I'm taking the rest of the week off of lifting - going on vacation and hope to hike 3 out of 4 days. I'm excited about Stage 3 and I'm going to stick to 3x/week religiously so that I'll be finished the week before Thanksgiving. Then Stage 4 in December!!!

How long did it take you to do the workout? I'm a little worried that with the increased rest time, it'll be hard for me to complete in an hour.

i plan on going back thru here and reading the thread but i need some input now as i'm starting stage 1 workout a tonight....how do you decide which of the formats to choose? for example, which squats to do?

Not sure I follow you, do you mean how much weight to use? The squats in stage 1 are pretty straight forward and the book gives you the page number of each exercise.