NROL Hypertrophy I

Started today.  Did workout B instead of A because B had fewer exericses and I was pressed for time. It was different for me in that it wasn't a total body workout.  All legs this time.  Workout A is upper body.  I liked it.  My legs felt like jello when I left the gym.  I should have gone heavier but I was intimidated by 10 reps.  I didn't think I could go that heavy and finish 4 sets of 10.  The next B workout calls for 5 sets of 5 so I am curious to see how heavy I can go.  I think it will be a fun stage.  However, you have to do each workout 12 times so I know I will be sick of it by the end.  I substituted hypertropy for strength at the last minute because I lost some muscle tone from dieting down during Fat Loss II.  I am hoping to build some muscle and create more definition.  Unfortunately, only my arms look skinny.  Thunder thighs are still thunderous.  Go figure.

Sounds good.  Keep us posted.

Ok - my first report on the B workout!  Sheesh!  I found it very challenging!  The first 2 sets were ok, then during the 3rd and 4th sets I sweat like crazy!  It seems like alot of "heavy" stuff all in one workout!  Squats, Deads, Split Squats and stepups all in one workout.  By the time I got to the ab work, I was pooped!  I wonder how I will feel tomorrow!  One good thing, it only took about 45 minutes.

I love that workout too!  I just did the leg workout yesterday - 4 sets of 10.  It took about 45 min for me too and I was also huffing and puffing and sweating.  I like it because it is fairly short, yet it really packs a punch.  I am not as sore today as I was the first time I did it.  I am trying very hard not to hop off my grounded foot during the step ups, but I am not always successful. 

I am glad you are not as sore today as the 1st time you did it!!  I am really sore today.  In fact, my legs are sorer than they have been after doing any of the workouts - EVER. 

I don't think I will be up to doing 4 workouts a week - hopefully 3.  I am not even sure I should try the c25k thing today.  I am really sore!  Maybe as the stage goes on, I will become more used to it and not get as sore and will be able to do more??

Yeah I think you will adjust and be fine.  I had that reaction to the first workout in Fatloss II.  I was not that sore after doing the rest of the workouts.  I don't know why it affected me that way, but I couldn't even sit down.  Maybe it was because I took a full week off before starting.  I didn't take a week off between Fatloss II and Hyp I - just a few days at most. 

Ok - lower body again today... but NO huffing or puffing!  The 5X5 is much more fun than the 4X10!  I am not looking forward to the 3X15 at all!

• I did 3 lifting workouts last week - MWF
• Tuesday - Yoga
• Run 5 k Sat & Sun - (since I missed Thursday from being so sore)

I think I am going to skip yoga this week and concentrate on the running.  I did 3.5 MPH walk & 5 MPH run each for 2.5 minutes on Saturday for the 5k . On Sunday, I did 4mph jog for most of the 5k except for a 1-2 min break every 15 minutes.  I wonder which is better? 

Original Post by yogagirl6853:

Ok - lower body again today... but NO huffing or puffing!  The 5X5 is much more fun than the 4X10!  I am not looking forward to the 3X15 at all!

• I did 3 lifting workouts last week - MWF
• Tuesday - Yoga
• Run 5 k Sat & Sun - (since I missed Thursday from being so sore)

I think I am going to skip yoga this week and concentrate on the running.  I did 3.5 MPH walk & 5 MPH run each for 2.5 minutes on Saturday for the 5k . On Sunday, I did 4mph jog for most of the 5k except for a 1-2 min break every 15 minutes.  I wonder which is better? 

so alwyn uses the 5x5, 4x10 & 3x15 on this program too? im taking a little break doing real fast fatloss and he uses the same formula. so i guess it really works, altho doing 15 sets of single leg exercises makes it hard for me to keep track of what number or leg i'm on.

Yeah 15 reps is not my favorite!   He only has 30 sec rests for those too. yuck!

On the one leg ones for alternating lunges... I double the amount and count to 20 for 10 reps each leg.  I get confused too if I try to count for each leg.

On the static ones, I just count the 10 reps and then another 10.

The 10 rep lower body workout I did on Wednesday for the second time still left my legs sore.  I am enjoying the upper body work much better, but this morning the 15 rep upper body workout left my arms feeling like they were going to fall off!  Did a little HIIT after A on Monday and a 5K today after lifting.  I tried to do some yesterday, but my knee was kind of sore so I didn't.  I think my new running shoes are not right for me.  It was kind of sore today too on the inside of my right knee, but lower.  I think the shoes do not have a high enough arch - don't know.  I will try my cross trainers next time and see if that helps.

I have to agree.  I have experienced more soreness with Hyp I than with most of the other stages I've done in NROLFW and NROL.  There doesn't seem to be a pattern to it.  Sometimes I am just really sore after a workout.   I think that means we're doing something right.  Today I did the lower body workout - 5 sets of 5.  I love that one.  I lifted heavier than I have in the past on almost everything.  I expect to be sore tomorrow.  I hope your knee is OK.

I am soooo missing good lower body workouts.  Hopefully I'll know next week when I can get back to it.  When I do, I'm going to try this product that I read about in a knee pain forum/web site somewhere.  Knee Sleeves, especially designed for weightlifting.  yogagirl, you might consider something like that.  Also, if you are at all interested in doing any specific knee exercises that *might* help, let me know.

edit: fixed typo

Let us know how the knee sleeve works!  Interesting. 

I just finished my lower 5X5!  I do love that one and I don't seem to get quite as sore as the 4X10. 

I think my knee is ok... just maybe a little over-doing it.  I went from 3X week weights to 3X week weights - plus 5ks and biking!  I think the nearer summer is coming the more obsessed I become - lol. 

I just finished my 15th out of 24 HYP I workouts; the 8th A workout.  I am not sure if it is just me or the change in reps so much, but I have not really made any progress at all in the number of pounds I am able to lift.  I added a couple pounds in a couple exercises, but not much, and not across the board. 

The 15 reps are a killer and with the oly bar at 45 pounds, I can barely get thru the reps for the bench presses & high pulls.

In looking ahead at HYP II, it looks like some of the workouts are 2 sets of 25 reps!  Come on!  I will NEVER get thru bench presses of just the oly bar for 25 reps!  I am lifting 70 pounds for benches for the 5 rep workouts, but I am not very good at the higher reps.  I can feel the burn once I get past 12 reps of any exercise. 

Not sure what I will do next, but I will either need to improvise the workouts and do as many reps as I can or get a new program. 

These workouts are weird to me...  After the 25 reps, he goes to do some workouts of 6 sets of 3!

Edited to add: I think I will also post this in the fitness forum to hopefully get Melkor's attention on this.

I just finished the last of the 15 rep lower body workouts today!!!  Only 2 workouts to go for HYP I.  I would like to take a week off when I am done, but I will be going on vacation from June 23-30 so that will be my week off.  I may just do a few more workouts from HYP I to keep me going until I leave.  I think I will just do the 5 to 10 rep workouts though!!!   I wish I could say I made some serious progress over the past 2 months, but my nutrition was too spotty.

Laura - great going on only 2 workouts left...  wasn't the last workout for lower body the 15 reps - 4X10 then 5X5 THEN 3X15??

Yeah - I am finding that my nutrition is not great either.  I am taking a week off this week.  I was going to wait until I was done with HYPI, but my lower back got a bit tweaked last week and I thought it would be better to take the week now instead.  HYPI sure is LONG with 24 workouts!

I went out of order with the workouts.  Some days I just couldn't face 15 reps, so I did 10.  Then I went back and tried to do 15. It got to the point where I wasn't sure how many reps I was supposed to be doing.  Not sure if that was ideal, but I just prefer the challenge of going as heavy as I can.  I can't do that with 15 reps. Also, just hate 15 reps.  It is so tedious and it psychs me out before I start. 

Did you hear from Melchor about the 25 reps in HYP II?  I want to do HYP II, but 25 reps!??!  Sounds crazy.

I hope your back feels better.

I just finished up doing the 15 reps stuff in Fat Loss I, so I know how you feel. 

I get to start the 3x12s with 60 sec. rests today!  Can't even imagine doing 25 reps.  I would probably only be able to do 25 shoulder presses with pink dumbbells. 

Original Post by karozel:

 I would probably only be able to do 25 shoulder presses with pink dumbbells. 

 Me too.  I have the toughest time with shoulder presses. In Hyp I,  I went up on all my weights for every exercise EXCEPT shoulder presses. 

Regarding the rest, one of the things that fail on me first is my grip.  When I have to do 15 deadlifts, toward the end of each set I have to put the bar down and regrip each time.  There would be no way in Hell I could do 25 of them.  Same thing for step ups and split squats.  My legs could tolerate more weight, but I just can't hang onto the dumbbells for more than 15 reps on each side.

I think it is awesome that you upped your weights on most things in HYP I.  I had a real hard time with that.  I barely added much weight to alot of the exercises... barbell bench press, high pulls, step ups, split squats only by a little though.  

I too have to get psyched to do the 15 rep workouts - I HATE those!  Once I start I am ok, but I procrastinate ALOT!

On the 25 reps, Melkor said to use the curl bar as to not change the workout too much.  The 45 pound oly bar would be way too much weight to do 25 reps!  I am not looking forward to that..... But look at it this way - HYP II has only 1 lower body workout to 2 upper body & I think that is AWESOME!  The other good thing is there are 4 rep ranges - 3, 6, 12 & 25.  The rest are ok.

Karozel - I am going to have to break out the pink dumbbells for those too!

Original Post by laura42:

Regarding the rest, one of the things that fail on me first is my grip.  When I have to do 15 deadlifts, toward the end of each set I have to put the bar down and regrip each time.  There would be no way in Hell I could do 25 of them.  Same thing for step ups and split squats.  My legs could tolerate more weight, but I just can't hang onto the dumbbells for more than 15 reps on each side.

 I recently discovered that you are supposed to put the bar *down* during deadlifts -- that's what makes them deadlifts.   It's not really clear in the NROLFW (or at least I didn't get it). 

I've also started using phone books to rest the bar on, because without the "big boy" plates, it actually was tough to lower it all the way to the ground. 

Step ups and split squats I can imagine just doing bodyweight.