So, I thought I'd start a training log here. I'm not quite sure what to post, but I'll do it anyway.
I have an intro thread in the pictures forum, so I won't retype everything. You can read here if you'd like: Hi, new here!
So, basically I've lost ~64 lbs. Trying to keep my motivation up and get stronger. I'd ideally like to decrease my body fat % and just get more fit.
I've been going to the gym since December, mostly doing cardio and weight machines. I'd like to incorporate more free weights, but I'm intimidated by them. I know that's silly, but I am.
I keep meaning to. I've got the book, and I've read through it about 100 times.
The one issue I have with it, is that it just doesn't seem like enough. I know, in my brain, that's ridiculous because it's not the time so much as the efficiency that makes a difference.
Oh, and I have bought 4 personal training sessions (all I can afford). He has had me doing free weights, since I told him that's what I wanted to learn. I'm hoping to get over my intimidation.
Try it and then come back here and tell me it isn't enough. OR, look thru my log (and many others) and see my before and afters from January 2008 until July 2008 and beyond and see if it wasn't enough! You'll see it's enough!
Hi! Missed your intro post over on the pix board first time out, but I took a look--awesome progress!
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
NROL/NROL4W are great. I completed NROL4W last year and it worked my body like no machine ever could. Compound movements done with free weights really help with total body awareness, too.
That is one long workout - you may be surprised at how quickly NROLFW gets you in and out of the gym.
Yes, that workout was actually much longer than usual. I was having a hard day with the kids and enjoying being away from them (bad mommy, BAD!). I usually only do ~30 min cardio and ~25 mins of weights, mixing them up according to what I didn't do the previous time in the gym. I think that work out ended up being ~30 min cardio and ~1 hr of weights. Not typical. I do enjoy working out though. It's like 'me' time, and I think that's one of the things that is keeping me from starting NROL. I don't really want my work outs to be short, even if they are more efficient. I guess I could take that extra time and go sit in the hot tub though.
I was just looking through the book again, and realized the later workouts seemed much more intense and lengthy than the first few. I guess I was not remembering correctly.
Hi Leigh. I'm glad you decided to start a log! Yeah, free weights can be really intimidating at first. I totally remember the first time I dared use the squat rack and I totally adjusted it wrong and once I squatted I couldn't get the bar re-racked again and I had to ask some random dude for help. Everyone is a beginner at one time.
Good luck with whatever program you decide to do and congrats on your weightloss so far.
So... I'm planning on going to the gym today, once I can get all the kids up and fed and dressed. I was thinking of starting on the 1A workout, but wondering if I could add some other free weight stuff to it. Would that mess anything up? This is what I was considering:
If I were you, I'd do the program as outlined. Truly, it's deceiving. Pay attention to form. Give it your all, and you will be fine.
There's a reason that NROL4W progresses as it does. Don't add or subtract from it.
If this is your first venture working with free weights, you must be certain your form is correct in order to target the right muscle groups and to prevent injury.
Take your time with this. You can always add in some cardio at the end if you think you still have some energy left in the tank. As for me, if I'm not sweating and breathless at the end of each workout, then I'm not pushing myself hard enough. No matter it it's 30 minutes or 90 minutes. Put in max effort, and you'll get results.
Okay, here's today. I did extra sets of the squats, but I guess those would be considered the warm ups?
It took me a while to get the hang of the jack knife things because I'd never done those before, but once I got the hang of them they weren't too bad. My trainer snuck over to see what I was doing and he said my form was good for everything, so I guess that's gud.
Forgot, I was going to ask... what's the convention for recording weights done with a barbell? I recorded the total weight, but I don't know if people just record the weight of the plates or the total including the bar.
Forgot, I was going to ask... what's the convention for recording weights done with a barbell? I recorded the total weight, but I don't know if people just record the weight of the plates or the total including the bar.
Hey Leigh, thanks for stopping by my log today. Nice to see someone else starting on this program at the same time... though from your pics it looks like you might be a little better equipped than I.
I appreciated this question (and the answer, LisaS - thanks!) because I was wondering the same thing myself just the other day.
Yeah, so I would have assumed it was the total weight, but when my trainer stopped by to check out what I was doing I had to ask him again what the weight of the olympic bar was (I thought it was 45, but not sure). He saw me jotting it down and started telling me some (what seemed like) complicated system of writing down OO (for the bar) + the plates on ONE side, then if I increased the weight he said I should just write +5 or whatever plate I added to one side. Now, he wasn't telling me that this is how it SHOULD be done, but saying it would make figuring out how much to add next time easier, and that's how he did it. I don't think my numbers will ever be so high that that the math will be a problem though. But anyway, I thought that I would ask if there was some standard way of noting it, and Lisa, you, went ahead and answered a question that I would have been asking next time about the dumbells
So... On my intro thread Deserve was suggesting to me that I should start tracking macros as the next step in my nutrition. I think that's a great idea, because while WW is a way healthier way to eat than what I was doing, I have absoloutely no idea what percentage of my diet is made up of carbs, fat, and protein. I've been sort of half assed (can I say that here?) tracking protein, but not the others. So I logged back on to Sparkpeople and started tracking there today. I probably won't do that every day, but maybe every now and then to see how my diet works out.
I'll post a summary of that in a little while after the kids go to bed. We are watching The Princess Bride at the moment. I gotta go see what Princess Buttercup is up to.
Nutrition for the day. This corresponds to 21.5 points using the WW system, and I get 21 a day, and then 35 extra points to spread out over the week. Breakfast was terrible, and I almost never have a shake instead of a real meal, but I was pressed for time. Lunch wasn't much better, but dinner seemed to balance things out.
Are the proportions of carbs, fats, and proteins that SP recommends reasonable? 55% carb, 15% protein, and 30% fat is what they have as recommended on that little pie chart.
Hey Leigh, thanks for stopping by my log today. Nice to see someone else starting on this program at the same time... though from your pics it looks like you might be a little better equipped than I.
Zee- I was going to say, but forgot... I was amazed at how quickly I seemed to build strength. I mean, it took 6 months of strength training to get to the point that I am/was in that picture, although I had already dropped ~45 lbs prior to that by mostly diet alone. Not that I'm saying I'm great or anything, but I was just surprised at the vast improvements I saw in such a relatively short time. And that was just doing machines. I wonder how much more quickly I would have seen changes doing the free weight program? LOL!
Are the proportions of carbs, fats, and proteins that SP recommends reasonable? 55% carb, 15% protein, and 30% fat is what they have as recommended on that little pie chart.
Mine were pretty similar to yours, but missjane asked me about it... Looking at the NROL4W book shows it should be more like 40/30/30. Something for both of us to work on!
Just wanted to make a quick comment about NROL workouts. When I first started doing them I wasn't use to getting in and out so quickly. I was use to working out much "harder". I would leave the gym and have trouble lifting my leg to crawl into my SUV because it was so worn out or my arms would be trembling so bad it was hard to drive home (LOL).
So when I first started it didn't feel like enough. But I really enjoyed the workouts so I kept with them. I might not be as exhausted from my workout, but I feel like I am gaining real strength compared to weight room strength. I did some compound movements before, so I am not really sure why this is improving my strength so much more.
Anyway --- just thought I toss in my $.02.
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Peaches
The journey to health and fitness
Should be taken
Because you love yourself,
Not because you hate your body
Conventions on logging weights vary, so it's house rules - I log mine as 2x8@155 for barbell bench press (bar + plates) or 2x15@50 for a dumbbell bench press, noting at the top that all DB and KB exercise weights are per hand. I can see the logic behind logging just the plates though as I often have to double check my math on the barbell exercises lol. (And yes, an olympic bar is (should be) 45lbs.)
Nutritionally you'd want a lot more protein - I think 1g per lb of bodyweight is a good estimate, then assign carbs and fats accordingly.
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Tom
No "happy hours" makes for a lot of miserable days. - Mahler
Are the proportions of carbs, fats, and proteins that SP recommends reasonable? 55% carb, 15% protein, and 30% fat is what they have as recommended on that little pie chart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stingo
Nutritionally you'd want a lot more protein - I think 1g per lb of bodyweight is a good estimate, then assign carbs and fats accordingly.
Agreed. Particularly in a caloric deficit, you'd want a much higher percentage of protein than 15%.
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
Fluffy?
I usually only do ~30 min cardio and ~25 mins of weights, mixing them up according to what I didn't do the previous time in the gym. I think that work out ended up being ~30 min cardio and ~1 hr of weights. Not typical. I do enjoy working out though. It's like 'me' time, and I think that's one of the things that is keeping me from starting NROL. I don't really want my work outs to be short, even if they are more efficient. I guess I could take that extra time and go sit in the hot tub though.
LOL!
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