Where to begin, how to tweak w/circuits?

[sixpackinacooler]

Just finshed my first read through of the book,,,great info,,,very informative, and glad to know the results I have gotten fronm my last 6 months doing the abs diet was based on all of the current thinking. Since I hit a plateau with the Abs diet and decided to embark upn a new program - and have selected NROL- there are a few factors i would like to explore.

The Abs diet workouts are circuits, you go from one excercise to the next without rest- besides setup time, to complete a circuit, then onto next circuit etc until all sets completed. I really enjoy this approach and wonder if that maybe a tweak to the supersets expressed in break in phase, and all fat loss phases. Does anyone here think i could integrate the circuits into these workouts as opposed to supersets outlined, and not lose effectivness?

I know the book recommends starting with breakin- it will be nice to get a break form my routine,,,but since my goals are to lose my last 10lbs and continue to increase strength- and maybe add a little size, I was thinking of skipping Fat loss1, going to Fat Loss 2 then 3 , then Hypertrophy1, Strength 1, back to Fat Loss,etc.

And last , but not least, I also love to do spin cycle classes, and bike - and since rule # 20 states I have to have fun- I want to continue these - but rule # 19 says the body will choose endurance over muscle building so am I defating myself as the spin classesd in particular are pretty hard work, although I currently do them 3 x a week, on days I dont lift, I could cut down to 2 days a week, Any feedback is greatly appreciated and If either of the authors read my post, kudos for a great book with lots of food for thought.

[gobbla]

1. do it first however you're willing\able to do it. otherwise stick to it as written. if you make drastic changes to the rest periods (doing things in circuits when they weren't intented) you're making a HUGE change to the way the programs were intended to be done.

2. do the break in. it doesn't matter where you go after that.

3. if you enjoy it do it. it loks like you're putting hypertophy on the back burner anyway so it doesn't really matter if you're not getting bigger right?

as an fyi...CB recommends trying to get at 180lbs at 5'8 and then like 5lbs an inch afterwards BEFORE trying to lose weight. if you don't have muscles to begin with, you're not going to look that great even if you're lean as can be. so if you don't fit in this category you might think about bouncing in between the strength and hypertrophy routines for a while.

[Newbie]

First off, doing the Break-in is VERY important; no matter how long you've been working out. However, if you're really that advanced, you could just do it for 2 weeks instead of 4. But skipping it altogether is NOT recommended.

Next, the super sets are kind of like circuit. You just do two exercises instead of all of the exercises in a row. Alwyn has very strong feelings against messing with the layout of the programs. He has carefully structured these workouts down to the second. Any deviation from the plan could result in diminished results.

Third, I think you have too many immediate goals. You need to decide if you want to loose weight or increase size; not both. If your goals are strength and size increase, you will most likely gain weight as muscle replaces fat; muscle weights more than fat. Don't let the scales be your measure of success. Let the mirror and the fit of your clothes be your guide.

Finally,if you want to conintue spin cycling, see the section on Hight Intensity Interval Training. If you follow Lou's suggestions there, you'll maximized the metabolic boost while still enjoying your spin cycling.