L'ilJ's NROL Log

[L'ilJ]

Hey all - I just started NROL last week. I'm in the midst of the Break-In program. So far, so good. A little about me...my name is Jill, I'm 41, 5'3" and about 124 pounds. I've only been lifting for a few months, but I've been a life-long athelete, so I'm taking to it quite well. I really like working w/free weights and love to swing some kettlebells around too. After reading NROL, I thought it was a great program to try, especially since up to this point I've just been flying blind when it comes to planning my workouts. My goals are to lose some body fat and gain some strength along the way. I've decided to follow the Lifter #1 protocol in the NROL book...so Break-in followed by Fat Loss I.

I just did my second Break-In workout today (Break-In B) which consisted of:

Warmups:

Walking lunges w/twist (10 each side), lateral lunge w/reach and touch (10), Ball bridge (30 seconds), Russian twists (10), Inchworm (10), T-pushups (10)

Workout:

Deadlift - warmup set w/45lb bar
Deadlift 2 sets of 15 - 85#, 85#

Step-ups - 2 sets of 15 w/20lb DBs
supersetted w/a full 60sec rest w/
One-arm dumbbell shoulder press - 2 sets of 15 w/17.5lb DBs

Close-grip pull down - 2 sets of 15 @ 60lbs
supersetted w/a full 60sec rest w/
Reverse crunches - 2 sets of 20

Metabolic Overdrive:

5 minute warmup, 3 rounds of 1:2 intervals, 5 minutes warmdown on the treadmill

Overall it was a good workout. I think Break-in A is a little harder for me (static lunges!) than this one. Plus, I just have never felt comfortable w/deadlifts. I always feel like I'm doing it wrong.

Question for anyone...on the one-arm db shoulder press...should I alternate or do all reps on one arm first and then the other? Does it matter? This time I alternated.

[duffeymt]

Very nice, welcome to NROL. Numbers are looking very good to start, you'll love this program...

[ParanoidAndroid]

Your doing the shoulder presses the right way. Alternate.

I'm with you about workout A being harder. The high rep squats kill me.

Anyway, keep up the good work!

[L'ilJ]

Thanks for stopping by guys. I love the encouragement.

Today I did Break In Workout A again (3rd workout in the series). It was still harder that workout B. The squats and lunges are killers. Also, those two-point dumbell rows were really hurting near the end ... my legs especially.

Warmup: Walking lunges w/twist (10 each side), lateral lunges w/reach and touch (10 per side), Ball bridge (1 held for 30 seconds), 10 Russian twists, 10 inchworms, 10 T-pushups

Squats - 6x45, 6x95, 15x115, 15x115

Static Lunge - 15x55, 15x55
supersetted w/full 60second rest with
Two-point dumbbell row w/elbow out - 2 sets of 15 per side w/20lb DB

Pushups - 2x15xBW
supersetted w/full 60 second rest w/
Swiss Ball Crunches - 2x20xBW

Afterburn: 5 minute warmup, 3 rounds of 1:2 HIIT on treadmill, 5 minute warmdown.

I found this workout to be very challenging. I've been very careful to get the proper depth in the lunges w/good form and all that fun stuff. I wondering if I am doing the swiss-ball crunches wrong because they just don't seem difficult (or maybe anything seems easy after the squats and lunges?). I guess I'll add some weight next time.

[duffeymt]

For the swiss ball crunches...Try taking a full 10 seconds to ascend and a full 10 seconds to descend, that should make it harder...

[sona]

Hi, Jill! And welcome to the board--and to journaldom, from one newcomer here to another~

You seem to have settled in with some good weight for the Break-In WOs--you weren't kidding about being a lifelong athlete, were you? We seem to have the same goals, so I'll be following along here with interest.

I did the Break-Ins, then Fat Loss II, and I'm now into Fat Loss III, which I think will break me! Alwyn/Schuler seem to delight in torturing masses of people. And I guess I'm one of them~

Have fun!

--Sona

[L'ilJ]

Hi Sona -

Thanks for stopping by and checking my journal. I've read through yours too...it's great to see other women doing the NROL program! Did you go straight to FL2 from break-in? Any reason why you skipped FL1? I'm still not sure which programs I'm going to pursue in which order.

[Terryw5782]

Hi Li'l j.

Lou answered a similar post about starting out:

[quote=Lou Schuler]Why are you jumping into Hypertrophy I?

It looks to me like you're new to lifting, or at least new to lifting seriously on a program.

The best starting point is the Break-In Program, followed by Fat Loss I and II. I'm not saying that because you need to lose a lot of fat following a 110-lb. weight loss. It's because those three programs are set up as a basic, introductory periodization plan. That is, you steadily progress to heavier weights and lower reps.

Those three programs are indeed full-body plans.

I don't think that anybody needs to do, or will fully benefit from, a split routine until he or she has completed a few months of basic periodization.

Not exactly your situation, but the info is probably still relevant. Good luck. This is the way I started my program, and it worked great for me.

[L'ilJ]

Thanks Terry for referring to that post from Lou. Makes sense. So now I know the first three programs I'll be following. What comes after that is anyone's guess.

[sona]

Hi, Jill! Sounds like Terry was able to answer your query pretty well:

Did you go straight to FL2 from break-in? Any reason why you skipped FL1?

In my case, I didn't feel that I was all that new to lifting (although I was totally new to NROL). The Break-In WOs did not tax me, and in looking over the Fat Loss series, I made a conscious decision that I might make best use of my time starting with FL II. I think I was right, in my case. FL II felt really good--and FL III is kicking my booty!!

How's it all going for you? Or are you gearing up to knock yourself out after the New Year holiday (which would be totally understandable)?

Hope to see you around!

--Sona

[L'ilJ]

Hi Sona - I'm going to start FL1 on or around January 18th. I will extend the break-in workout by a week only because I have a business trip scheduled for the week of January 14th. So that will be my off week and I'll start up around the 18th depending on how I feel (it's a quick-turnaround international trip so I might be too tired to start FL1 that week...we'll see).

So today I did my second Break-In B workout.

Warmup: Walking lunges w/twist (10 each side), lateral lunges w/reach and touch (10 per side), Ball bridge (1 held for 30 seconds), 10 Russian twists w/6 lb core ball, 10 inchworms, 10 T-pushups.

Workout:
Deadlift - warmup set w/45lb bar
Deadlift - warmup set w/65#
Deadlift 2 sets of 15 - 85#, 85#

Step-ups - 2 sets of 15 w/25lb plates in each hand (+5lbs per hand)
supersetted w/a full 60sec rest w/
One-arm dumbbell shoulder press - 2 sets of 15 w/20lb DBs (+2.5lbs per hand)

Close-grip pull down - 2 sets of 15 @ 60lbs
supersetted w/a full 60sec rest w/
Reverse crunches - 2 sets of 20

Metabolic Overdrive:

5 minute warmup, 3 rounds of 1:2 intervals, 5 minutes warmdown on the treadmill

The deadlifts felt much better today. I might try moving up to 95# next week which will allow me to use the 25lb plates and thus move the bar a little higher off the ground. I'm not using a rack so pulling the bar from the floor w/only 10lb plates is a little challenging.

Also, for the step ups and shoulder presses, I moved up to higher weights this time. I did okay w/the step ups, but the second set of shoulder presses I had to switch to 17.5 pound DBs for the last 5 reps (per side) on the second set. I was actually not intending to move up weights this week, I just didn't read my workout log closely enough and pulled the wrong weights. I was wondering why it was so much harder this time!

[sona]

Yeah, it's harder when the weights are upped! Looks awfully good, too--you did a solid job--are you sore today at all? I would be, if I did what you did! How long did the weights part of the WO take you?

How often are you doing the WOs?

[L'ilJ]

Originally Posted by sona

Yeah, it's harder when the weights are upped! Looks awfully good, too--you did a solid job--are you sore today at all? I would be, if I did what you did! How long did the weights part of the WO take you?

How often are you doing the WOs?

Hi Sona...strangely enough, I'm not sore today. Not sure why. The weights part of the workout took me about 35 minutes (including the warmups). I'm doing the workouts about 3 times a week right now. How long do the Fat Loss workouts take you? Although these Break-In workouts are challenging, I'm looking forward to getting into the hard stuff!

[RobLL]

Congrats on your start - I think you can call break-in the 'real stuff'. Looking forward to your log as you move on

[sona]

Originally Posted by L'ilJ

Hi Sona...strangely enough, I'm not sore today. Not sure why. The weights part of the workout took me about 35 minutes (including the warmups). I'm doing the workouts about 3 times a week right now. How long do the Fat Loss workouts take you? Although these Break-In workouts are challenging, I'm looking forward to getting into the hard stuff!

Sounds pretty right--for some odd reason, while the WOs themselves made me huff and puff and sweat all over the place, I was rarely sore the next day (the way I am with heavier-weight, lower-rep WOs). And the Break-In WOs took me about 35 minutes, too (including warmups).

I have (all along) been doing one WO every other day, including weekends. On my "off" days I either do intervals, steady state cardio, or couch potato stuff.

I was rarin' to get into the FL WOs, too! They take longer than the Break-Ins, but you're ready for them by that time.

Happy New Year!!

[L'ilJ]

Hello and Happy Almost-New-Year. Today I did Break In Workout A. It's my 3rd time doing this workout. I didn't try to increase weight at all since I'm still pushing myself to the limit in almost all the exercises. I did find it was a little bit easier today...which I guess means I'm getting stronger.

Warmup: Walking lunges w/twist (10 each side), lateral lunges w/reach and touch (10 per side), Ball bridge (1 held for 30 seconds), 10 Russian twists, 10 inchworms, 10 T-pushups

Squats - 6x45, 6x95, 15x115, 15x115

Static Lunge - 15 per legx55, 15 per legx55
supersetted w/full 60second rest with
Two-point dumbbell row w/elbow out - 2 sets of 15 per side w/20lb DB

Pushups - 2x15xBW
supersetted w/full 60 second rest w/
Swiss Ball Crunches - 2x20xBW

Afterburn: 5 minute warmup, 3 rounds of 1:2 HIIT on treadmill, 5 minute warmdown.

Nothing much to report other than I'm still enjoying these workouts. I'm very much looking forward to FL1 in a couple weeks. I'm planning on doing a workout tomorrow, but I'm wondering how crowded the gym will be due to the New Years Resolutioner factor. I'm sure the squat rack won't be busy at any rate

[sona]

planning on doing a workout tomorrow, but I'm wondering how crowded the gym will be due to the New Years Resolutioner factor.

Oh dear! I totally forgot about this~

[L'ilJ]

Break-In Workout B3

Warmup: Walking lunges w/twist (10 each side), lateral lunges w/reach and touch (10 per side), Ball bridge (1 held for 30 seconds), 10 Russian twists w/6 lb core ball, 10 inchworms, 10 T-pushups.

Workout:
Deadlift - warmup set w/45lb bar
Deadlift - warmup set w/65#
Deadlift 2 sets of 15 - 95#, 95# (+10lbs)

Step-ups - 2 sets of 15 w/20lb DBs in each hand
supersetted w/a full 60sec rest w/
One-arm dumbbell shoulder press - 2 sets of 15 w/17.5lb DBs

Close-grip pull down - 2 sets of 15 @ 70lbs (+10lbs)
supersetted w/a full 60sec rest w/
Reverse crunches - 2 sets of 20

Metabolic Overdrive:

5 minute warmup, 3 rounds of 1:2 intervals, 5 minutes warmdown on the treadmill

Today was a good workout. I raised the weight for the DLs and boy, it was hard...but I made the 2 sets of 15. Phew. After reading some posts on shoes on this board, I wore some flat soled sneakers and it actually felt much better...much more stable. No more running shoes while I'm squatting or deadlifting!

I dropped the weight on the step ups and shoulder presses this time (since last workout I unintentionally upped the weights) to concentrate on form. The shoulder presses seemed a little too easy so maybe I'll go up to 20lbs next time for the first set and drop to 17.5 for the second. Step-ups will stay at 20lbs per hand.

Happy New Year everyone! The gym was PACKED by the way.