My NROL Experience

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by stingo

I happened to get a David Bowie song - but for some reason I can't for the life of me remember which one lol.

Modern Love

[lance02]

I think Hypertrophy 1 will be a good choice for you. Keep it up Tom!

[SpacecityPaula]

Looks like you are rocking and rolling FL-3

interesting stuff in your journal Tom.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

Modern Love

Could've been - I'll ask my spinning instructor tonight.

[stingo]

60 seconds rest between giant sets, no rest between exercises

Deadlift 4x12@130
Explosive Pushup 4x12
Bulgarian Split Squat 4x12
Two Point Dumbbell Row 4x12@52.5

Deadlift off box 2x20@50
Dumbbell Bench Press 2x20@55
Walking Lunge w/Side Bend 2x20@50
Cable Seated Rows 2x20@170

Hanging Knee Raise 2x10

Notes:

Deadlift - The only thing I can say is that this was a product of wanting this badly enough to do it. The last rep of the third set was the most difficult physically, but once I got that it fueled the drive to get twelve on the last set. When I hit 11 on set 4 I thought, "Oh no, I've come too far not to at least try" - so I lowered the dumbbells til they touched the floor, then closed my eyes and lifted. When I opened my eyes, I was standing up straight, holding the dumbbells in front of me. I can't say that I really felt any specific muscle even - just the whole working together as a unit. A great way to close out the DL portion of FL3.

Explosive Pushup - Though I had to take a brief rest after the last set of deadlifts, it was mainly to let the lightheadedness dissipate. I was happy though to get 4x12 here too.

Bulgarian Split Squat - I can do these without holding on to anything on my right leg. The left still gives me problems but is coming along.

Two Point Dumbbell Row - No surprise here - left weaker than right. But was able to add a little regardless.

Deadlift Off Box - The 25s felt heavy but I was able to do both sets without feeling as lightheaded as I have in previous workouts.

Dumbbell Bench Press - Still coming along with these too.

Walking Lunge w/Side Bend - Need better form on this one, but am happy to have them done.

Cable Seated Row - was lifting the weight stack for this one. Left hand grip was iffy but I managed it.

Front Knee Raise - Couldn't manage the leg raise quite just yet, but the hanging from the bar and knee raise did get easier.

Overall - Wow - FL3A is in the books! I feel very good about this workout, particularly the deadlifts. I've come a long way since I started, especially in terms of resilience, which isn't reflected in the sets and reps. I think I like A better than B in this routine, but will post on B (and Fat Loss III in general) when I finish it on Friday.

[gregl515]

There's always Pritiken! Someone suggested that to me to get rid of diabetes. It would probably work, but who could stick to it?
It's a good thing your about done with FL III if you are hitting a wall.

[bigDman]

Strong workout to finsh FLIII

[Espi]

Originally Posted by stingo

Deadlift - The only thing I can say is that this was a product of wanting this badly enough to do it. The last rep of the third set was the most difficult physically, but once I got that it fueled the drive to get twelve on the last set. When I hit 11 on set 4 I thought, "Oh no, I've come too far not to at least try" - so I lowered the dumbbells til they touched the floor, then closed my eyes and lifted. When I opened my eyes, I was standing up straight, holding the dumbbells in front of me. I can't say that I really felt any specific muscle even - just the whole working together as a unit. A great way to close out the DL portion of FL3.

Are you telling me you do DL with dumbbells? Man! That's tough! Aren't you working out in a gym then? Why do such a hard thing when barbells are so much easier? I'm all in awe now!

Originally Posted by gregl515

There's always Pritiken! Someone suggested that to me to get rid of diabetes. It would probably work, but who could stick to it?

What???? That's like a zero-fat diet. Absolutely the WORST diet ever for someone with diabetes is a diet with tons of carbs and no fat. If anything a diet like Atkins , Protein Power or Adam's Diet would be suitable. I've got a copy of Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution and the key factor for all those diets is to lower carb intake and up fat intake to compensate for the caloric deficit. Pritiken's diet would actually be the fastest way to WORSEN diabetes. I can't understand what idiot gave that advice. Oh, wait.. the American Diabetes Association, isn't it?

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Espi

Are you telling me you do DL with dumbbells? Man! That's tough! Aren't you working out in a gym then? Why do such a hard thing when barbells are so much easier? I'm all in awe now!

I work out in a corporate gym that doesn't have room for barbells (and I doubt they'd get them because few would use them), or squat racks. Thankfully they do have a cable machine, a functional trainer (where I do my front squats), and dumbbells up to 80lbs. In the above deadlifts, I had two 60lb dumbbells with 5lbs of platemates on each one.

[Victoria]

Great job, Stingo! How is your grip with the heavier dbs, getting any stronger?

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Great job, Stingo! How is your grip with the heavier dbs, getting any stronger?

It is a bit, but my left is noticeably weaker than my right. In fact I "rested" a bit longer than specified so as to be sure I'd keep my grip on the knee raises.

[L'ilJ]

Wow. Only one more FL3 workout left? Time flies. I think Hypertropy I will be a great program for you. Looking forward to watching your progress!

[Espi]

Originally Posted by stingo

I work out in a corporate gym that doesn't have room for barbells (and I doubt they'd get them because few would use them), or squat racks. Thankfully they do have a cable machine, a functional trainer (where I do my front squats), and dumbbells up to 80lbs. In the above deadlifts, I had two 60lb dumbbells with 5lbs of platemates on each one.

Hats off to you then for doing all these exercises with dumbbells. I had no clue before. It's astonishingly more easy to balance a barbell than 2 dumbbells!

[RobLL]

Getting to balance on Bulgarian Split Squats, I found it helpful to put the platform against a wall, and in turn my foot against the wall. A few weeks of that, and I could do them free standing.

[UConnJulie]

Nice job Tom! I agree, great job doing those DLs all with DBs ... my grip would have been fried!!

[SpacecityPaula]

Way to go Tom!!!!