Daedala (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
daedala) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lifting_heavy_things2011-05-26 08:17 am
daedala) wrote in lifting_heavy_things2011-05-26 08:17 am
NROL4W Stage 3
I just finished Stage 3. Hooray!
The biggest problem with this stage, for me, is that the workouts are so. damn. long. As written, they will take about 90 minutes, if not more. The prescribed rest periods alone will take 37 min (A) or 48 min (B). I found I could handle them more easily by splitting them up: for workout A, I started doing the bodyweight matrix separately, and for workout B, I would do the ab work and the intervals separately. Not ideal, but better than stopping.
Apart from the time issue, I liked the workouts a lot. Someone who sees me irregularly (and usually under stress), and last saw me when I was at the beginning of Stage 2, says my breathing has suddenly, and very strikingly, changed: it's much more relaxed, not so anxious, etc. My breathing isn't always that bad, but it really is under stress; I'm just so used to it that I can't notice it. I think it's the intervals that have helped.
I really, really liked workout A. It's tough and uses some weird-ass exercises, like the one where you hold a light dumbbell over your head, and a heavier dumbbell low, and squat (and then do it again with the other arm over your head). I used 5 and 10 lb dumbbells for that, because of my flexibility problems. I progressed a lot in A, too, which helps; the snatch started at 15 lbs, which was maybe a little low but not a lot, and finished at 25 lbs.
The floor work on B got very tedious, especially since it had the same rest period as the weighted exercises; I have no idea how to make, say, the lateral flexion challenging enough for that. Doing it separately from the first part of the workout helped a lot with the tedium, because part of that was contrast to the heavier work before; so did skipping a lot of the rest. I can see why Cosgrove changed his opinions regarding core work!
All weights are in pounds; s means single dumbbell, d means double dumbbells
A (3 sets, 6 reps, 1:45 recovery)
One-armed dumbbell snatch: 25s
Dumbbell single-leg Romanian deadlift: 25d
Dumbbell bent-over row: 25d
Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat: 10s/5s
Dumbbell incline bench press: 25d (set 1), 20d (sets 2 and 3)
Plank 90s: on bench (if that; I am not that horrible with planks, but after that workout, I couldn't hold them very well)
Reverse wood chop: blue theraband
B
Dumbbell Romanian deadlift/bent-over row: 27.5d (set 1), 25d (sets 2 and 3)
Partial single-leg squat: bodyweight
Assisted pullup: medium band
Back extension: swiss ball, bodyweight
YTWL: bodyweight
Swiss ball crunch: varied
Prone jackknife: still falling over
Lateral flexion: different variation for each set
Prone cobra 90s
Next, I have a week off for Wiscon (yay Wiscon!) and then I go to stage 4, which is just like Stage 2 with fewer reps. (The book suggests 2 or 3 sets. I'm sticking with 2, thanks.) The end of stage 3 is the halfway point, because stage 1 is so long. The end is in sight!
The biggest problem with this stage, for me, is that the workouts are so. damn. long. As written, they will take about 90 minutes, if not more. The prescribed rest periods alone will take 37 min (A) or 48 min (B). I found I could handle them more easily by splitting them up: for workout A, I started doing the bodyweight matrix separately, and for workout B, I would do the ab work and the intervals separately. Not ideal, but better than stopping.
Apart from the time issue, I liked the workouts a lot. Someone who sees me irregularly (and usually under stress), and last saw me when I was at the beginning of Stage 2, says my breathing has suddenly, and very strikingly, changed: it's much more relaxed, not so anxious, etc. My breathing isn't always that bad, but it really is under stress; I'm just so used to it that I can't notice it. I think it's the intervals that have helped.
I really, really liked workout A. It's tough and uses some weird-ass exercises, like the one where you hold a light dumbbell over your head, and a heavier dumbbell low, and squat (and then do it again with the other arm over your head). I used 5 and 10 lb dumbbells for that, because of my flexibility problems. I progressed a lot in A, too, which helps; the snatch started at 15 lbs, which was maybe a little low but not a lot, and finished at 25 lbs.
The floor work on B got very tedious, especially since it had the same rest period as the weighted exercises; I have no idea how to make, say, the lateral flexion challenging enough for that. Doing it separately from the first part of the workout helped a lot with the tedium, because part of that was contrast to the heavier work before; so did skipping a lot of the rest. I can see why Cosgrove changed his opinions regarding core work!
All weights are in pounds; s means single dumbbell, d means double dumbbells
A (3 sets, 6 reps, 1:45 recovery)
One-armed dumbbell snatch: 25s
Dumbbell single-leg Romanian deadlift: 25d
Dumbbell bent-over row: 25d
Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat: 10s/5s
Dumbbell incline bench press: 25d (set 1), 20d (sets 2 and 3)
Plank 90s: on bench (if that; I am not that horrible with planks, but after that workout, I couldn't hold them very well)
Reverse wood chop: blue theraband
B
Dumbbell Romanian deadlift/bent-over row: 27.5d (set 1), 25d (sets 2 and 3)
Partial single-leg squat: bodyweight
Assisted pullup: medium band
Back extension: swiss ball, bodyweight
YTWL: bodyweight
Swiss ball crunch: varied
Prone jackknife: still falling over
Lateral flexion: different variation for each set
Prone cobra 90s
Next, I have a week off for Wiscon (yay Wiscon!) and then I go to stage 4, which is just like Stage 2 with fewer reps. (The book suggests 2 or 3 sets. I'm sticking with 2, thanks.) The end of stage 3 is the halfway point, because stage 1 is so long. The end is in sight!
no subject
no subject
no subject
I'm looking forward to the hotel gym at Balticon. I'm not planning on starting Stage two there, but I'll do something.
no subject