NROL4W Stage 2

[daedala]

Stage 2 was difficult, and I worked hard throughout, but I only increased the weight on one exercise -- I was able to go from 15 lb dumbbells to 20 lb dumbbells on my front squat/push press. Not progressing was pretty disappointing! But this was kind of a lunge-heavy stage, and I have real trouble with lunges for mobility reasons (rather than strength). Also, my balance isn't as good as I would have thought, so I didn't increase the weight on the one-legged rows though my arms could have gone up quite a bit. (They call them one-point rows, but what that means is you have only one foot on the ground WTF are they crazy?) And my shoulders were of the opinion that if I wanted to do stupid stuff like internal rotations, I better not pick up a real weight.

Logistically, I found intervals after workout B pretty much impossible, so decided not to worry about it. I did intervals when I could; sometimes it was the same day, sometimes the day before or the day after the exercise. However, I love intervals. I made an interval mixtape that I use when biking or jogging very, very slowly.

I was always told I got out of breath exercising because I was out of shape. No, stupid doctors, I was out of shape because I had real breathing problems. If they'd ever tried a spirometer on me.... After I'd been lifting weights and swing dancing a few years and realized that I couldn't possibly be that out of shape, I insisted on getting tests and a diagnosis. I'm still working on the issue, but my exercise-triggered breathing problems don't have much of a chance to kick in with intervals, so I'm really hoping that the intervals will help me get something vaguely like cardiovascular conditioning.

Overall, though, I'm pretty happy that I got through all of Stage 2 in a month. Go me!

Now it's time for Stage 3 and... *hides* Have you seen the bodyweight matrix? You do it at the end of the workout.

Comments

[natmerc]

I remember doing that last year when I did the program. It was so anaerobic your legs burned at the end.

[daedala]

Well, I've done it now, or rather completely bombed that part.

I will blame a) inexperience with the workout and b) the absurdity of deciding to do it while dyeing my hair. The extra 3-5 lbs of unbalanced towel and henna paste and wet hair could not have helped.

[lyorn]

The extra 3-5 lbs of unbalanced towel and henna paste and wet hair could not have helped.

I can't help myself, that made me laugh. :-)

I found a buff helpful to keep my hair out of my eyes and away from moving parts when I work out.

[daedala]

"Buff"? Not a term I'm familiar with -- do you mean headband?

My hair is always braided, bunned, or both, because I have a lot of it.

[lyorn]

Sorry, broke the formatting, so I deleted and am re-posting.

Buff: This thing. I do not know a better English word for it.

I have very curly, shaggy hair, and it always worked lose from every bun or braid even when I wore it long. I saw my Capoeira teacher which one of those headbands over his corn rows, and it looked useful.

[daedala]

Oooh, that looks neat, though it wouldn't work for me.

My hair is stick-straight and doesn't work loose from braids and buns, but it's very long -- I tuck it into my pants if I'm not careful.

[chaostheory635]

Regarding breathing problems...I have horrible exercise-induced asthma and can't run at all (or really do any form of cardio!) without albuterol beforehand. fortunately, lifting heavy things doesn't trouble my lungs much :)

[daedala]

Fortunately (or not?) it's not asthma, so albuterol only helps if my lungs are stuffed up with a cold or something. We tried it for a while, just to make sure.

[thalia]

Have you seen the bodyweight matrix? You do it at the end of the workout.

Seriousy???? My legs got tired just watching that video.

[daedala]

I know!

And that's after:
dumbell snatch
single-leg Romanian deadlift
bent row
single-arm overhead dumbbell squat
incline bench press
plank
reverse wood chops

and then you do two sets of that thing, if you can.

[lyorn]

I started out with pretty much no weight to get the moves first, so there *will* be progress ;-)

I did Workout B or Stage 2 only once so far. Added a long stretching session between the workout and the intervals, so I was able to do the intervals, at least at starting intensity. I'll see how it will go at higher.

I was always told I got out of breath exercising because I was out of shape. No, stupid doctors, I was out of shape because I had real breathing problems.

This. I had exercise-induced asthma in school. No one ever noticed. They all seemed to think that coughing so much you were unable to sit in class for three days after a 2 km run was a normal effect of being a fattie.

To avoid that, I run only indoors, only when my respiratory system is as fine as it can be (no running for 4 weeks after a cold, or for one week after an asthma attack), and stop as soon as I feel my breathing becoming restricted. Fortunately, nothing less than running still triggers it.

[daedala]

Yeah, I was actually in very good shape as a kid, looking back, as long as I didn't do anything that triggered breathing problems. But I never believed I was, and became less and less active, so eventually I really was as out-of-shape as they told me. Grr.

It's like how I was always told I was overweight. I wasn't -- until eventually I believed it and became so.

[lyorn]

I was actually in very good shape as a kid, looking back, as long as I didn't do anything that triggered breathing problems. But I never believed I was, and became less and less active, so eventually I really was as out-of-shape as they told me. Grr.

Oh yes. I'm dealing with a lot of pent-up rage about that. "In shape" meant lean and good at games or at running. When I got the sermon from the family doctor about having to exercise more, I spent two hours every day bicycling *fast*, could lift my girl scout troop leader (OK, so she was 5'2" in boots, skinny and good at running...) overhead and swim a mile in open water without getting out of breath (and did all those things regulary), but noooo, "Have you tried jogging? Even if it's only ten minutes it's a start." Yeah, a start into getting suspended from school because not teacher can hold a class with me coughing my lungs out in the back row.