Newbie Introduction, Question

[testblogedc]

I've decided to give NROL a try after 5 weeks on a well-known barbell program. (No, Schuler didn't interview me personally for Eternal Beginner, but that's me to a T.) My reason for switching is that the other program focuses on adding body mass. In the last 5 weeks, I've put on 7 or 8 pounds (some combination of fat muscle). I've battled with fat before (dropping 50 pounds 9 years ago) and didn't really want to add any more. I do think the old program is excellent, and I learned a lot about lifting technique from the program's books.

I tried to search for answers about starting weights at break-in but didn't see anything. My apologies if this has been discussed before. Everything in my old program was working sets of 5 reps. My squat, e.g., was 225X5 for 3 sets, but I was having real troubles breaking parallel. My deadlift was 265X5 for 1 set, with pretty good form. Anybody have ideas on how I might try to translate these into 2 sets of 15? I'm thinking about taking about 1/2 of each and seeing how it goes (maybe 115 on the squats and 135 on the deads).

[Lisa~]

There's really no tried and true method that's going to predict what your 15-rep weight will be. It depends on your strength-endurance and that will vary a whole lot between trainees. Your guess is better than ours. Begin with the weights you've listed and see how the first set goes. You can adjust from there, either for the second set or for the next time you're performing that lift. It might take a couple of workouts before you settle on the most appropriate loads.

[lilman]

From experience (completed BI, FL1, FL2, currently on HT1) err on the side of lighter weights, especially starting out. The program has a bunch of exercises that not many people are used to doing regularly and the set/rep/rest structure rips you apart. Start light and go up as you can. Good luck.

[testblogedc]

Thanks for your replies. I've started a training log in case anyone wants to check in on my day 1.

testblogedc on NROL