OK..so I completed my Break-in and made it through recovery week without giving in. I stayed away from the gym for a full seven days and it wasn't easy!!! I was psyched to get back in there this morning and kick off ST-I. So, I started w/ the A (lower body) wo and it kicked my A$$! My god..after 6 sets of squats...following that up with BSS supersetted w/ step ups!!! I thought my legs would buckle under me! By the time I made it to the abs/back...it was a gift!!! I made it through - worked extremely hard - when i left the gym I was walking funny and feeling a bit nauseous
I remember S1. It was the first time I really worked my legs to the point where I wasn't sure if I'd be able to walk. I had been doing squats and DLs for awhile, but never quite the volume on a single day that S1 called for. The good news is that my legs grew and my squat numbers went way up
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"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
I'm now into Strength I. My plan was to do it 4x/wk. I made it through the first week, but by the second week, I quickly realized I am going to need more recovery. I feel pretty beat up! So now I am going to try it at 3x/wk. I really hope I don't have to cut it back to 2x/wk! I'm going to need lot's of food and sleep on this stage. I am already making big gains on it, and I really hope I can pull through without injury. That is the challenge.
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"If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny." — Steven Wright
Oh man, workout A IS brutal! I used to play basketball on my off days, but I've had to cancel on the days after workout A. I tried, but all I could do is waddle around the court and grimace.
Having now completed the break-in, H1 and S1, I feel I can atest that NROL works. I did a tri last sept weighing 160 lbs. I started some wt training in Oct, and then started NROL in Nov. Here I am in mid Feb having gained over 20 lbs. I bumped into a couple guys at the gym last night that I did some of my tri training with. One said, "dude, you're all yoked out!" and the other wanted to know where I was getting the steriods from. And I still have H2 and S2 to go. NROL works. S1 just about destroyed me - but it does what it claims to do.
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"If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny." — Steven Wright
I started Strength 1 on Monday. My legs were toast. After the squats, supersetting bulgarians and step ups was a huge challenge. I started with dumbbells, but ended up doing bodyweight and still couldn't finish all three sets. Hence the need for strength. I am looking forward to today's workout.
Aoife, love the werkit logs.
Last edited by bamazav : 02-25-2009 at 06:43 AM.
Reason: ammended response
I gotta agree here......Strength I workout A is brutal. I didn't even make it through the 3 supersets of the SU's/BSS's....even after dropping to bodyweight. Man, it was tough. I haven't lifted high rep stuff in a long time, either. Hope to do much better when I hit workout A the next time.
I would just like to add that S1a kicked my ass yesterday lol. I couldn't even finish it.
I just would like someone to confirm I'm doing it right. You do 6 reps, then add weight and do a rep of 1, then take off some weight and do 6 reps, add weights and do a rep of 1, and then do a rep of 10, rest like for a few seconds, then do another rep of 10. There is no break besides changing the weight within the set.
After the set, then rest for 3 minutes and repeat for 5 more sets.
No, sorry, the back extensions and the swiss ball crunches are not supersets. workout A and C only have the one superset in them. workouts B and D have 2 supersets with rest and one stand-alone set.
Well I'm just going by my book, maybe we have different editions or something. In my book (pg. 241) It says to alternate the back extensions and the Swiss-ball crunches.
Look, you probably have a different edition, I'm not stupid, right above the two cells labeled Back extension (p. 117) and Swiss-ball crunch (p. 169) There is a cell shaded in gray labeled Alternating sets. I did not interpret the workout in my book incorrectly. I bought my book about 4 months ago, so I'm assuming it is the most up-to-date edition. Don't want to argue, but I also don't want to be told I'm incorrect when I'm not.
That is so strange. In my book, there is only one gray box for Workout A and it's above the BSS and the step-ups (Superset with no rest between exercises). And, in my book, Alwyn never uses the terminology "alternating sets" in the strength workouts. Is it used elsewhere in the strength workouts, too?
Anyone else have a book that says "alternating sets"?? Maybe I need to take my book to borders and compare it with a newer book to see what else is different.
Yeah, he uses "alternating sets" in most workouts. Since reading through these forums, I have read about changes made to the book in newer editions, etc.
Yeah, they must have made changes. I didn't see the term "alternating sets" until NROL4W. I think they were supersets but with rests. And since supersets don't normally include rests, the alternating sets terminology as described in NROL4W is more accurate. So maybe for consistency they have decided to use that term in both books. I noticed the books are also out in trade paperback form, too. Nice since the hardbacks never seem to hold up as well.
Anyone else have a book that says "alternating sets"?? Maybe I need to take my book to borders and compare it with a newer book to see what else is different.
Yes, the newer editions say "alternating sets".
The first time I read the book, it was a library book, hardback edition. The one I currently have now is the paperback edition, and it has "alternating sets".
There's a few other things that have changed also...
Having now completed the break-in, H1 and S1, I feel I can atest that NROL works. I did a tri last sept weighing 160 lbs. I started some wt training in Oct, and then started NROL in Nov. Here I am in mid Feb having gained over 20 lbs. I bumped into a couple guys at the gym last night that I did some of my tri training with. One said, "dude, you're all yoked out!" and the other wanted to know where I was getting the steriods from. And I still have H2 and S2 to go. NROL works. S1 just about destroyed me - but it does what it claims to do.
I'm nearing the end of HI. You've given me hope! I am loving it, but of course my goal is gain weight and muscle. I'm 5'9" and 154lbs now, age 47. (I've actually gained about 15lbs over the last 3-4 years) I intend to move into H2 next. Any specific reason why you moved into S1? Thanks.
Any specific reason why you moved into S1? Thanks.
Mostly because I wasn't sure if I would have enough time to complete the whole program. I was planning in doing an early May tri which would require cutting the lifting and gorging short. And secondly because low rep training was uncharted territory for me, and just couldn't wait. As it turned out, I really dig the whole lifting thing so much that I canceled all my spring triathlons and then continued on with HII and SII. Key for me on these programs was eating just a ton of food. I basically spend a lot of my Sundays food prepping for the week. I bring a grocery bag full of food to work everyday.
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"If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny." — Steven Wright
Then move on to your back extensions -- 2 sets w/ 90 secs rest between the sets
Then, your crunches -- 2 sets w/ 90 secs rest between the sets
so on the BSS and step ups superset - - does that mean we're doing both legs with no rest between the legs for each exercise? that's essentially four straight sets with no rest. does that seem crazy to anyone?!
so on the BSS and step ups superset - - does that mean we're doing both legs with no rest between the legs for each exercise? that's essentially four straight sets with no rest. does that seem crazy to anyone?!
It's Alwyn's special kind of crazy that you hate while you're doing it, but love when you finish it.
It's Alwyn's special kind of crazy that you hate while you're doing it, but love when you finish it.
"It's Alwyn's speciak kind of crazy"
Made giggle...
That guy's got way too much of that "special kind of crazy" coursing through his veins... So far, every time I finish a program I think to myself "glad that's over with, the next one doesn't look too bad." Then, even though I'm done with Bulgarian Split Squats, w overhead presses (hurl), he throws in a superset of BSS paired with step-ups, and a 30 second rest period in Hyp I (hurl again.) I haven't done Strength I yet, but the BSS / step-up superset with NO REST sounds like all kinds of fun (crazy.)
Hopefully the craziness never ends. It keeps things interesting, gets results, and as outofcontrol said - you love it when you finish...
Strength I - Holy S#*&!
Linear Mode
