On my way...

[LisaC]

New member here-
I'm half way through Stage 1 of NROLW. What a great intro to lifting! A coworker was advised by her doctor to start lifting as a way to lose weight and manage her diabetes by changing RMR. This made sense to me, so I decided to give it a try as well, since gym-stuff like aerobics gets boring to me, and I've always known that machine routines are limiting...

So I read the book that she been recommended, then picked up NROL at the library, and puttered around the gym for several weeks, trying out some of the different exercises that sounded exotic and cool - "Romanian Deadlift" and "Bulgarian split squat". Admittedly, words like "hypertrophy" scared me off a bit.

Happily, I found that the new book has a much more understandable exercise plan and a reasonable 6 month time frame for a notorious non-joiner like me. My NROLW official start date was Feb 16.

So here are my goals:
#1: bodyweight? not a huge priority - I'd like to adjust my strength-weight ratio to help with goal #2. I assume that I'll drop some numbers, but I'm not overly concerned, more curious. (Currently 5'10" 167#)
#2: to do 1 minute of quality jump-spinning kicks for my taekwondo tests
#3: do full splits (Not strength-related, but lifting forces me to improve form and flexibility)
#4: be able to decide on a whim to do a full day of gardening/home improvement projects without being in pain afterwards.
#5: squat my BW, because that's just cool. Deadlifting my weight won't be too tough, I don't think. (my dog is a little tired of me showing off my deadlift form with her 60 lb body)
#6: 25 chest-to-floor push-ups
#7: 1 real, genuine, pull up from a dead hang.

Difficulties encountered:
-getting adequate protein. I'm tracking on fitday and am pretty surprised at how tough it is for me.
-uneven shoulder strength. I tweaked my left shoulder a year ago, and it's considerably weaker.
-good squat form. This is revealing hamstring/glute tightness that I really need to be improving for tkd
-prone jackknife - hah! cross this off!! this morning's workout hit the jackpot - 3x12 without falling off once!!
-evening workouts. Wow, it's really tough to make sure that I eat enough during the day to have the energy for a strong and effective workout.


okay, time to go eat some more... ttfn

[GinnyLou]

Welcome, LisaC! Your goals sound great.

[DirtyMartini]

Welcome, Lisa! Your goals sound great. There's at least one avid TKD'er around here as well, though her u/n escapes me at the moment. One of my goals is to squat my b/w too. Because it does sound cool.

[beach_plums]

Agreed, squatting bodyweight sounds cool. It's also a goal of mine, as well as pullups from a dead hang. I'd like to get at least one, but would love to be able to do sets. Funny you should mention both of those. I was talking to my sister about it earlier today and she just thinks I'm crazy.

[Libellula]

i can do pushups from the floor, I want to deadlift my bodyweight and do pullups from a dead hang. I remember gym class in first grade being torture because we were, at that age, expected to do pullups.

you mention having trouble getting enough protein and such during the day. I was having this problem until I started thinking about my snacks, with the help from a friend, of course. Just a few suggestions:

-String cheese and cottage cheese are good. I like to mix some whole fruit preserves into my cottage cheese, and eat my string cheese in pairs.
-pick dippable vegetables, like celery, broccoli, carrots, asparagus spears, etc, and dunk them in hummus, white bean dip (you can google recipes for this), or even peanut or almond butter for added protein and fat
-above suggestion for fruit, too, try eating apples and pears dipped in nut butters. Have a dish of cottage cheese with 1/4 cup of grapes. I suggest the fruits and veggies to add fiber. :-)
-One of my favorite dishes is to take albacore tuna and feta cheese or another crumbly cheese and put it over organic baby greens for lunch.
-If I think I am low on protein for the day, I eat something protein dense, or make a protein shake.
-i eat a lot of plain yogurt, too.

[ledove]

Wohoo, TKD!

I also have TKD-related goals with NROLFW. I dislocated my elbow sparring three years ago and slacked off big time after that. And I agree, squatting and deadlifting my own weight and doing full pull-ups would be awesome.

Welcome to NROLFW

[LisaC]

Thanks for the welcomes...

One month, and I can already feel a difference in my tkd stances .. sweet!