Help!! Where to start???

[Carlene]

Okay, I read the book, understand the food portion but am totally confused on the how to do the work outs. On Stage1 work out 1, you do squats, then alternate push ups & seated rows, alternate step up & prone jackknife. 2 sets 15 reps. OKAY does it matter which squat or push up you do?
I did it as I thought it should be done but it only took about 20 minutes and just seemed wrong.
I know this must sound really stupid but I have put off for 2 weeks starting because I could not figure it out.

Thanks in advance for any help!!

[LisaS]

If it calls for squats, a normal back squat is intended.
If it calls for push-ups, a normal pushup is intended.

If you cannot do a floor pushup, then do one of the easier angled variations.

The stage 1 workouts do go pretty fast.
Make sure you are using sufficient weight and good form and you'll be fine.

ETA - you should probably ask a moderator to move this thread to the NROL4W sub-forum.

[bekkilyn]

I had a similar dilemma starting out. I'm working out at home without a spotter, and also do not have a spot rack, so I was somewhat baffled on what I needed to do about the squat as getting a barbell behind my neck didn't seem very safe with my setup.

So when I started last week, I just decided to use dumbbells and hold them like a barbell. For this week though, I'm actually thinking about just using body weight because I don't think my form was all that great and I also don't think I was getting down low enough.

Pushups have been a real pain for me because I'm not able to do them on the floor yet and all my surfaces seem to be too high and are thus too easy. I recently tested doing them on the balance ball and that seems to work pretty well for now for both building upper body strength and keeping the core engaged.

I think it must be normal to bumble through at first.

[CaraBeth]

I agree that the workout should be short, but that does sound really short. I think that workout takes me 35-40 minutes, also counting time for a short cardio warmup, a bit of stretching, maybe a warmup set on my squats... and maybe I'm just slow! So just to clarify - did you do 2 sets of each exercise? I think that part confuses some people when there are alternating exercises, so I just figured I'd throw that out there.

[karozel]

Originally Posted by bekkilyn

I had a similar dilemma starting out. I'm working out at home without a spotter, and also do not have a spot rack, so I was somewhat baffled on what I needed to do about the squat as getting a barbell behind my neck didn't seem very safe with my setup.

So when I started last week, I just decided to use dumbbells and hold them like a barbell. For this week though, I'm actually thinking about just using body weight because I don't think my form was all that great and I also don't think I was getting down low enough.

I also work out at home, and I think that once you start going heavy on squats, you really can't do back squats very easily at home. Especially without a spotter.

I stick to front squats and goblet squats.

[bekkilyn]

I may try the goblet squats this week as well. Seems less awkward than holding the dumbbells up on my shoulders.

[LancelotsLover]

Oh, for the days of 20 minute workouts! Don't worry, it is fast in the beginning of stage 1, but you'll be having long enough workouts pretty soon as you go up the stages. I was in the gym for almost two hours on my last stage 3 workout B, including the intervals.

You're probably doing it fine.