splitting the workout into two sessions?

[VanceMac]

Would splitting the Fat Loss I workouts into a morning and lunchtime session completely destroy Alwyn's dynamic process in some way? I have dumbells and a swiss ball at home. All except for the cable seated rows I could do at home (assuming I am allowed to do dumbell squats in place of barbell), but I would prefer to do the squats/cable rows superset at the gym to do them right. I can't do the whole workout at the gym very easily because there isn't a good place to use swiss balls, and definitely nowhere near the dumbells.

I want to follow the program as closely as possible and I know Cosgrove designed the fat loss to have an overall effect greater than the sum of the parts, so I am just not sure if doing two supersets at home and one at the gym would be defeat this. Another alternative would be to do dumbell rows in place of the cable rows and then do the whole thing at home.

Any suggestions?

[newf]

Originally Posted by VanceMac

Would splitting the Fat Loss I workouts into a morning and lunchtime session completely destroy Alwyn's dynamic process in some way? I have dumbells and a swiss ball at home. All except for the cable seated rows I could do at home (assuming I am allowed to do dumbell squats in place of barbell), but I would prefer to do the squats/cable rows superset at the gym to do them right. I can't do the whole workout at the gym very easily because there isn't a good place to use swiss balls, and definitely nowhere near the dumbells.

I want to follow the program as closely as possible and I know Cosgrove designed the fat loss to have an overall effect greater than the sum of the parts, so I am just not sure if doing two supersets at home and one at the gym would be defeat this. Another alternative would be to do dumbell rows in place of the cable rows and then do the whole thing at home.

Any suggestions?

I would either do it at home and just do a 2 point row or a one arm DB row or replace the swiss ball crunch with a cable crunch varation at the gym.

There's many varations dude no need to run to 2 different locations IMO and from my memory there's not a whole lot of excercise varation in NROL, relatively speaking of course.

New to this forum, i hope i'm not stepping on any toes.

[Bill2380]

Not at all, good advice.

[VanceMac]

All right then, I will try to do the whole thing at home. I am going to the gym probably anyway, to do my HIIT and play basketball, so that would not be a concern, but I do want to try to keep the workout together as Alwyn intended.

[Lost Dog]

I think either way you decide to do it is fine. Alwyn once commented, at t-nation, that you can sometimes achieve better fat loss results by splitting your routine into morning and afternoon/evening sessions. I'm not sure he was talking specifically about NROL, but it was a similar question.

I'd imagine you'd rev up the metabolism in the AM, then give it another kickstart in the PM.

[VanceMac]

Yes, that is what I was thinking as well, and when I go this afternoon, I might do a couple of things just for that purpose. But I was afraid that he had designed a mix and a total volume that worked as cardio as well, and I didn't want to mess with his plan. But I am not thrilled with what I was able to do with the bent over rows (need to work on form), so I think I will do the cable seated rows that he has in the plan before I hop on the elliptical for some HIIT.

Another question about fat loss I is whether workout A is hitting the chest (since both A and B are meant as full body workouts). I assumed there would be secondary work on the chest, but I am not really feeling it.

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by VanceMac

Another question about fat loss I is whether workout A is hitting the chest (since both A and B are meant as full body workouts). I assumed there would be secondary work on the chest, but I am not really feeling it.

Alwyn defines full body early in the book as a workout that includes all the movement patterns: squat, bend (deadlift), lunge, push, pull, twist.

So each of his full body workout includes each of those elements. For FL-IA you have a horizontal pull (cable seated row) and a vertical push (dumbbell push press). For FL-IB you have a horizontal push (dumbbell incline bench press) and a vertical pull (mixed-grip lat pulldown).

That's a longwinded way of saying no, there's no "chest" work in FL-IA, but it doesn't matter. The whole body is worked in both workouts.

[VanceMac]

OK, so if I do the program three days a week (M -T - Sat), I will have either three or four days between that chest exercise. That seems like a lot, since Alwyn has said full recovery is done by 48 hours (as he discussed in a recent Fitcast episode). I will have to finish reading the book as I go to get the full concept of the method.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by VanceMac

OK, so if I do the program three days a week (M -T - Sat), I will have either three or four days between that chest exercise. That seems like a lot, since Alwyn has said full recovery is done by 48 hours (as he discussed in a recent Fitcast episode).

You're having some difficulty in making the change from muscle groups to movement patterns. I see this a lot on other forums.

Just keep it in mind that this workout is more functional than a body part split, hence, why the basic six are squat, deadlift, lunge, push, pull, twist.

The boldface are more abstract concepts, but the idea is the way the body is, it works in those movements.

[UConnJulie]

Also keep in mind that this is a FAT LOSS program ... not one designed to build your pecs.

[VanceMac]

Yes, but hearing Alwyn in his interviews, he talks about the actual muscle growth being a prime component to fat loss, then he goes on to say that the optimal time to work any muscle again is 48 hours later. This is what confused me, not the idea of body part training. A general description of a full body workout is one that hits every major muscle group in a single workout (and that is right in the book), yet here is a workout that does not hit one of the major muscle groups.

Which is fine with me, since I would trust Alwyn with my first born child, but I was just wondering if I had missed something and the chest was being hit and I didn't know it.

[Torm]

The chest isn't being totally avoided since it supports other movements in the routine. Anyways, I hear what you're saying and personally like doing a little more upper body work too so I just added a few sets of wide-grip pullups and dips in on cardio days during FL 1 & 2.