NROL - Fat Loss II

I started this program today and I love it.  Well, there are a couple of exercises that I hate in the "hurts so good" mode, where does Cosgrove come up with some of this stuff?  Only two of the exercises are really familiar - front squats and seated row, although the rows use a wide grip which definitely hits everything differently.

There are two ball exercises that are, as usual, way harder than they look.  There's a hip extension with leg curl that instantly hit the old hamstrings - I already know I'm going to be sore tomorrow.  And the upper body Russian twist - I almost fell off the ball a couple of times and then I started laughing and that just made it worse.  I'm sure everyone thought I was a basket case.  I was happy that I hadn't regressed on the front squats from the last time I'd done them and no wrist pain either, yay.

I kept the weights a little lower for this first workout because I wanted to get a good gauge of things, I'll ramp it up next time.

At least this one doesn't have those effin' step ups.

edit:spelling

The bar should definitely not be so close to your throat that it makes you nervous, mostly it should be resting on the muscles.  Yikes, that would make me nervous too.

Here's a link to a good instructional video on front squats: Link

Thanks, that was a good link. I think I will go a little lighter 'till I get the hang of it.

Now you guys got me jealous!  I wanna do FLII too!  I have 2 more stage 7s still!

What are your plans yogagirl?  Will you take any time off and do you plan on doing the break-in workouts?

Well - I thought I had it all figured out, but now I am not sure!

I was going to finish 2 more modified stage 7s by Saturday then start the break in stage and FLII...  But now, I am not so sure.

I am going to help paint a house (interior) starting tomorrow.  It should take about a week.  I also am going to waitress a couple days a week under the table just for tips starting Fri night.  (He wants me to work in the kitchen 2 nights to learn the food first)  So W TH & Fri paint all day - Fri & Sat night work at the restaurant I think 'til 2am.  I am not sure I will have any energy for workouts.  I am thinking now that this could be my week off until I am done painting... then start back into it.  I'm thinking skipping the break in stage too.  FLII starts with 12 reps and that should be more than enough!

Sounds like a good plan.  The week off did wonders for me.  I did not realize how draining stage 7 was until I took a break. 

Wow - T pushups rock.  As do bulgarian split squats with overhead press.  It feels so good to have my energy back!

uhhhh... Just finished the B workout and it seemed really hard to me.  I felt nauseous again just like when I started stage 7.   The BSS with OH press was hard!  The T pushups seemed easier than a normal push up as the side plank part seemed to give your arms a break!  I still can't do 12 pullups, so I did the 3 or 4 I could do and then negatives (seemed too easy)  for the first set.  Then moved on to underhand grip pull downs instead.

Maybe it is just me & I hadn't had anything to eat prior, but I had a much harder time with B than I did with A.  I think the BSS w/ oh press wiped me out! (I only used 8 wimpy little pound dumbbells too).

PS - I am feeling much weaker than I used to.

Those split squats are just terrible. 

Because at least in this one the number of reps decreases as you go along, at some point you should be able to increase weights on a lot of the exercises, so that should help with the feeling of being weaker.

I finished Fat Loss II last week and I've been taking this week off, starting on Strength I next week.  I went to the gym today to have one of the trainers take measurements for me and plug everything into their computer so I could figure out progress since starting NROL in January.

Weight:  4.25 pounds (ish) lost, of which only .84 pounds appears to be lean body weight lost.   
Total inches lost: 2.25.  Both my bicep and forearm actually gained in size.  (Yay!)  Lost an inch off my hips, inch off my waist, and unfortunately yet another 1/4 inch off my boobs.
Body fat %: went from 24.3 to 22.6

Calorie deficit during the phase averaged 222 cals/day and in looking back over my logs, I see there was one 3000+ calorie day in there (spent the day at Mom's)

I guess I could easily say I'm pretty happy with how this phase worked.  I  must say it's been good to get back to eating maintenance again.

Awesome meganr.  Fantastic results.  You should be proud of yourself.  I am running a deficit during this phase as well.  Hopefully I will enjoy similar results.  I was planning on following this phase with Strength I too, so I'm right on your heals.

Yoga, good job on the pullups.  Since I skipped stage 6, I didn't even try them.  I'm doing lat pulldowns instead.  I know that nauseous feeling is gross, but when you are done you really feel like you accomplished something.

Great job, Megan!  4.25 pounds is alot in such a short time frame! 

Just finished the B workout again and again I found it hard, although easier than the last time.  I lowered the weight on the BSS with OH press to 5 pounds - ha!  I feel like a wimp, but 24 of those moves per set is a bit much when you do 12 for each leg and then 3 sets.

I also lowered the weight to 55 pounds for the rom deads with bent over row.   I will really be happy to do some lower reps and less cardiac-heavy moves!!!  I am now only 1/3 of the way thru FLII - need to do the 10 reps and then the 8. 

It is much more fun increasing weight rather than lowering because your heart is going to jump out of your rib cage!

Good job on finishing the 12 rep sets.  10 is much better, although I have to say, lowering the reps did not really enable me to up the weight much. I just did workout B yesterday.  I worked out at home and since I don't have a cable pull at home, I did chin ups.  (Installed the chin up bar myself - 13 bucks at Walmart!!))  I was able to do 3 sets of 4.  Today my upper back is sore (in a good way) so I know I fired some muscles I haven't been using for the pulldowns. I also made a few changes to workout. Instead of doing a snatch grip deadlift, I am doing a wide stance deadlift.  I wanted to really fire the glutes instead of concentrating on the traps with the wide grip.  Also, I felt like the lower body Russian twists might be building muscle in the waist area, so I switched to swiss ball jack knives.  Overall, I enjoyed the workout, but I struggled to finish due to the low cals I am eating right now. 

Good going on the chin ups!  I tried that the first time I did the B workout and ended up doing negatives for the rest of the reps, but negatives without the extra weight like in stage 7 didn't seem enough.

What is a snatch grip deadlift?  Is that kind with the wide grip?  Does a wider stance fire up the glutes more? 

Summer is coming and I have been wearing turtle necks with long sleeves all winter.  I feel as though everyone is waiting to see what I look like now that I have been lifting weight.  (not everyone, just my sisters).  I have a pool, so there is plenty of swimsuit opportunity here. 

I feel kinda scared as if I am going to do some sort of a big reveal.  Although I have built alot of muscle, I am no where near where I would like to be.  I think that will take more time.  I was reading that it takes a year just to build a base good enough to actually have nice sculpted looking muscles.  Anyone else feel scared of the "summer reveal"?

Yogagirl, YOU? You feeling scared of the "summer reveal"? Are you kidding? You look great!

Of course some of us feel there's always room for improvement, when a major goal is reached, we come up with smaller and finer ones. It seems that the quest for an ideal body is never-ending. :)

Yogagirl, you look awesome.  There are many 16 yr olds who would give their eye teeth for your bod.  Keep up the good work though.  I think the lifting lifestyle is very healthy.

Thanks Maha.  Yeah me!  I feel that after 6 months of lifting I should look like I have alot more muscles... like my arms and legs.  I think some of my fear is a matter of knowing my sisters.  They will be like - oh - after all that work - that's it?  My one sister especially is the authority on everything.  She does look pretty good doing only light dumbbell workouts.  She brags about her body constantly.  I wanted more of a muscular look.  I just feel that she is waiting to see what I look like & that makes me feel self-conscious. 

Original Post by yogagirl6853:

What is a snatch grip deadlift?  Is that kind with the wide grip?  Does a wider stance fire up the glutes more? 

Yeah, the snatch grip is the wide grip.  After doing that for a while, it looked like my traps were getting bigger.  I don't really like that look.  So I switched to wider stance.  One of Leigh Peele's podcasts said the wide grip deadlift fires the glutes more and creates more of the Jessica Alba look.

Original Post by yogagirl6853:

Thanks Maha.  Yeah me!  I feel that after 6 months of lifting I should look like I have alot more muscles... like my arms and legs.  I think some of my fear is a matter of knowing my sisters.  They will be like - oh - after all that work - that's it?  My one sister especially is the authority on everything.  She does look pretty good doing only light dumbbell workouts.  She brags about her body constantly.  I wanted more of a muscular look.  I just feel that she is waiting to see what I look like & that makes me feel self-conscious. 

 

 Don't let anyone rain on your parade.  You have been doing NROLFW since Sept right?  That is a fantastic accomplishment.  Not only did you build muscle and burn fat, you created strength.  You should be very proud of yourself. 

By the way, sister rivalry is a funny thing.  I have always looked up to my older sister and I think she is very together and wonderful.  The other day I was telling her that I have really been procrastinating about something and I just can't make myself do it.  She said, "You?  Procastinating?  So you're human after all?"  I was shocked.  I have been walking around thinking she's miss perfect, and walks around thinking the same thing about me. Maybe your authoritative sister is really a little intimidated by you and therefore finds it necessary to put you down a little bit.  Don't let her.