Alwyn, Cassandra and I are going to record a question and answer session Monday evening, with the goal of having a free, downloadable podcast for readers that'll be available sometime in the next couple of weeks.
What questions would you like us to answer on the podcast?
It's okay if you know the answer already; we're looking for material that would be interesting to a wide spectrum of readers.
Please put your questions on this thread, and please don't answer other readers' questions as they appear.
(If you're a reader who has a question you need answered right away, I'd really appreciate it if you'd put it on this thread, and also start a separate thread so your fellow forumites can help you find the answer.)
If a woman has fat loss (10-20 pounds) as a primary goal, and improving marathon racing as a secondary goal, is it better to focus first on weights and interval running, and then add long runs back when optimal body composition is reached or can both goals be achieved simultaneously?
once optimal body composition is reached, is it possible to maintain muscle mass, or does the marathon training always contradict efforts at maintaining muscle?
In the book, you use the Owen's calculation for RMR - but in the text, you allude to other formulas that may give a better result for heavier women. What other formula would you recommend, if any?
Some of us train in the evening, after dinner (say 8 or 9PM). Even with a PWO shake, it will be a long fast after working out until breakfast. Much different than working out in the after noon with dinner to follow later.
Would you advise any different nutrition pattern to enhance recovery in this situation - or just the same ... the overnight fast has little or no effects.
Would you have any different advice for a woman who is menopausal or post-menopausal and doesn't care about losing her periods?
__________________ The Evolution of a Dream:
Dream is implanted into brain.
Dreamer becomes thrilled.
Dreamer becomes terrified.
If no action is taken, terrifying thoughts grow into flesh-eating monsters. Dream is considered unrealistic.
If action is taken, terrifying thoughts are revealed to be paper tigers. Confidence soars, miracles unfold and dreamer begins to saunter.
Either way, nothing remains the same.
I'm curious to know the answer to the question Paula asked last week:
Quote:
I was looking ahead and doing some planning last night and got to stage 4 where I started seeing 2-3 for the set numbers??
How is this supposed to be handled (I didn't see it in the book)? Start out with 2 sets and work my way up to 3 full sets? That's what I was assuming but you know what happens when you assume about anything.
Chapter 9 is devoted to an excellent discussion of anatomy trains (I admire you for including this topic!) and quad dominance, clarifying the importance of core stability. We are convinced by the end of this chapter that crunches are not an ideal exercise choice for the typical woman. Yet in Stage 1 Workout B there is a Swiss ball crunch, and planks are not introduced until Stage 2. Why not begin with a plank, or plank variation, in Stage 1?
In Stage 1 - which seems like a break-in period - why was the prone jackknife chosen for workout A? This seems like a pretty advanced exercise so early in the program and something like a reverse crunch might have been a more conventional choice for stage 1.
Here is a nutrition question no one has ever been able to answer for me. In several books, including yours, I see recipes that call for skim milk and others that call for 1% milk. What's the difference?
I personally have been using skim milk for years, and my family goes through about 3 gallons a week. So I'm hesitant to buy 1% as well just to make a few recipes.
So is there a nutritional reason for sometimes using 1%, or is it just a matter or taste, texture, flavor, etc.?
This is something that's been bugging me since I read through stage 1, but why did you include the Special workouts at the end of Stage 1 where we do AMRAP for each workout? Shouldn't we be able to see our progression in our lifts?? I've never seen this kind of special workout in a guy's program so it kinds seems counter-intuitive to me.
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Wondering if Alwyn could comment on a template for an alternative to treadmill interval training. I hear him mention on the fitcast that bodyweight intervals are extremely effective. I've seen on his blog how he constructs them using timed intervals (a workout he puts the perform better summit attendees through). Would that be the optimal way?. My wife trains at home, we don't have a treadmill and its quite cold outside.
I've gone through a couple of the programs in the original New Rules of Lifting. Interval training is not formally incorporated into the workouts in this book. Are they essential to the workouts in New Rules of Lifting for Women?
1. In the book it says a blank workout log would be available for download on newrulesoflifting.com I have browsed all over that site and cannot find it for the life of me. Where can one be located for download?
2. Diet question...What are your feelings regarding "cheat" meals, snacks, or even days??
Would you comment on a woman's monthly hormone cycles and fluctuations and how strength training abiliities might fluctuate over the month?
I second this - how to keep the bloating, lightheadedness, fatigue and cramping of TTOM from interfering with workouts? And what about warnings, like the one I saw on a Men's Health DVD, that women should not do back bends or "vigorous standing poses" during their periods?
I'd like to know more about the essentials of PRE-workout nutrition. Is it detrimental in any way (physically or homonally) to workout on an empty stomach upon rising in the early morning? I don't mean that maybe I won't be as strong or have as much energy, but is it better for my body to eat something first? (and I understand the myth about cardio on an empty stomach ... that is not this question)
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After going through my first workout (Stage 1, Workout A) this morning, I thought of another question.
At the moment, I'm working out at home to avoid the first-of-the-year gym crush. I have dumbbells at home, no barbells. So when using dumbbells while performing squats, is there a specific way I should hold the weights: by my sides, on my shoulders, at my hips, etc.? Or is it just whatever's comfortable?
You mentioned in the book that some may already be able to do a pull-up or chin-up. If so, how should the stage 6 workouts be utilized to progress to doing more reps?
Also, if women's front of the body muscles are already generally more developed than back, why do these routines have more "ab" training than the NROL original?
Jane, now that the podcast is finished, I can try to answer some questions on this thread.
Short answer: It's your body, and your choice.
I couldn't recover sufficiently from that training schedule -- not if I'm doing workouts as demanding as Alwyn's -- but maybe you can.
I'll just note something Alwyn said in the podcast:
Your best strategy is to start out doing the workouts exactly as he designed them, which means a maximum of 3 workouts a week. That way, if the programs don't work as well as you'd like, you at least have an objective starting point from which you can make adjustments.
When you start out with a modified version of his programs, and you're not satisfied with the results, you can't know if the problem is in the original template or in your modifications of the template.
I'll also note that the clients who train at Alwyn's facility often work out just twice a week. Nobody trains more than three times a week.
That makes sense, Lou. Thanks much! As wiped out as I was during the NROL workouts, I am sure I will be the same with the NROL4W workouts. Will keep to 3 a week, as outlined. THanks!
I have a question, I know the podcast is over but today was my first workout and I didn't have time to finish the last part the lunges because with pyramids it takes way too long. Can't I do 3 set instead of 4 and get the same results? when do I increase the weights? and when do I move to the next phase?
If you are starting Stage 1 then you don't do lunges till your next workout. And I don't remember seeing pyramids anywhere.
Workout A is 5 exercises all bar the last are 2 sets of 15, the last is 2 sets of 8 for the first two times you do this workout. Workout B is the same setup.
Morkai,
In the book how to workout like a man, the schedule that is in my book takes you through a workout with 15, 12, 10, 8 reps - 2 sets of this. I did squats, deadlifts, lat pulldowns, step ups, that thing with the resistaball, dumbbell raises so I'm not sure which program you're referring to.
Questions for the authors?
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