not following NROLFW

[coffeetime]

Is anyone else NOT following NROLFW? I just can't make myself get in and follow the program for a few reasons:
1. Too rigid. It's so prescriptive, it reminds me of high school gym class.
2. Too much mixing up of muscle groups. I have gotten a lot stronger this summer since I started lifting (nearly) every day but concentrating on one area (butt, chest, back, shoulders/arms) per day rather than trying to do them all every alternate day. I'm amazed at how much my hip and butt strength has increased since I switched my focus.
3. Assumes weight loss is a goal and weight gain indicates you eat too many calories. I eat a freaking ton of calories, but I don't count them, and I'm not gaining weight.
4. Menus carb-heavy and involving lots of dairy. I'm eating my own combo which is sort of paleo but with some legumes and the occasional whole-grain bread every couple of days, and I cannot tolerate dairy in any form.

I'm feeling like I don't want this book in my house anymore! Anyone else just not into it? If someone here wants it, I'll mail it to you, but otherwise I'm going to donate it to the Little Free Library.

I'd like to find another guide but I'm not sure there is one. Maybe I should write one, ha ha.

Comments

[yvi]

I read the book and didn't like the program. I am kind of following Starting Strength. Kind of because right now I am focusing on weight loss and running and therefore can't progress very fast on my weights. But I do the exercises with less frequent increases in weight and thus keep my strength.

[weirdquark]

I finished NRoLfW and switched to StrongLifts and have been doing mostly that or Starting Strength or various combinations of the major lifts, switching up what I'm doing when I get bored (sticking with something for 4-6 weeks minimum) or feel that I'm stuck.

I never followed the diet in NRoLfW though.

I did do a four day split routine six days a week (ABCDAB/CDABCD) that split things into specific muscle groups each day* for a while and liked it a lot, but it was pretty tiring so I'm taking a break for now. It also didn't have enough squatting given the level of my squats, so if I did it again I'd probably want to do something closer to an upper/lower split so I could squat three times a week.

*A: Back and biceps (I did deadlifts, rows, and chinups)
B: Chest and triceps (I did bench press and dips, two versions of each)
C: Thighs (I did squats and RDLs and cleans)
D: Shoulders, Calves, and Abs (I did OHP, calf raises (which were mostly useful for getting used to having lots of weight on my back) and TGUs)

[coffeetime]

How much are you squatting? I'm intrigued.

I'm currently only doing squats once a week, following the Pauline Nordin butt workout, which has a total of 8 sets, and I can't squat a lot since I'm still building back strength after hurting my knees a year ago. Right now my left hip (either glute med. or the tendon on top of it) is super sore after this workout, so I'm a little nervous about adding more weight. On the other "butt" day(s) I do one-legged Romanian deadlifts, half-squat/half-deadlift, back extensions, deadlifts with a T-bar, adductor machine and then lying on my stomach pressing a small medicine ball with my thighs while also pressing up, which is a tiny motion but sure does hurt. This routine doesn't make my hip sore.

[weirdquark]

As in times a week? Since switching from the ABCD cycle which was either once or twice a week, I've started doing a more full body thing every other day. So every Saturday I do squats for three sets of five, which is what I did this morning, but next Saturday I won't lift because I'll have lifted on Friday.

Let's see:
Saturday: squats 3x5 and RDLs 3x8
Monday: squats 3x10 and bench 3x5
Wednesday: front squats 3x5 and OHP 3x10
Friday: deadlifts 1x5 and chinups 3xfailure
Sunday: squats 3x5 and bench 3x10
Tuesday: rows 3x5 and pullups 3xfailure
Thursday: squats 3x5 and OHP 10x3

So two or three times a week, and actually, I do a different conditioning type thing after the two main lifts and on Row+Pullup day I do cleans and burpees, so I pretty much do front squats on Tuesdays too, just with lighter weight and less resting, so that's actually three times every week.

Right now I've dropped weight to work making sure my reps are more consecutive (going down right after getting back up instead of pausing at the top to catch my breath for a few seconds) so I'm being extra picky about keeping good form and not adding weight if I get all of my reps unless I feel really solid on them.

What are you doing for stretching after your squats? If your hips are sore, it could be a mobility thing more than a back thing. There's a website called MWOD (mobility workout of the day) that has a lot of good mobility stretches to make you have less pain. Eventually. :) Sometimes doing the mobility workouts are pretty painful. But if you search the website for whatever body part is hurting, it'll probably have an exercise or three that you could try to fix it.

[coffeetime]

Right now I do Ardha Matsyendra after every workout, regardless of what muscles I was working. And I'm foam rolling it once a day, and last night I put heat on it. In general I'm hypermobile, but one physical therapist thought I might be less mobile in the very front of my pelvis, so I'm also hanging alternate legs off the end of the bed for a few minutes (daily) to stretch that area, at her recommendation. I think the pain probably happens because my right knee and hip are weaker, so I'm unconsciously shifting weight onto the left. I'm not going straight up and down in any exercise and also it's bearing more weight. I do have a session booked with a trainer at my YMCA and I'm going to talk it over with him.

I'm using the Olympic barbell for squatting and currently loading only 20 lbs onto it. For barbell lunges I'm using 25 lbs on the bar.

[vass]

I'm on a break from lifting right now, but I haven't followed NROLFW because I read the book and didn't care for it. And the diet was surprisingly heavy on the processed food, for what they're aiming for.

[coffeetime]

And all the whey protein. I know it's au courant, but I cannot tolerate whey or any dairy...so their miracle protein shakes are not helpful for me either.

Yeah, OK, I'm going to donate the book. Maybe someone else can use it.

[faesdeynia]

I read the book, but I don't really care for the lifting plan. I'm doing 5/3/1 right now.

[mongrelheart]

I originally got into weights by doing NROL, then when NROLFW came out I bought a copy. I thumbed thru it, but I never actually did the program. Have been trying to find somebody to give it to as well.

[lyorn]

I use it, kind of -- not the nutrition part, as I am recovering (kind of) from disordered eating, and the last thing I need is some outside pattern forced on my eating habits. (I live on grain, milk, fruit and veggies, actually.) Though I let the book talk me into using protein supplements in weeks where I otherwise consistently fail to get my 0.8 grams per kilo.

But the same planwirtschaft that I cannot stand in eating helps me when it comes to working out, because I need something I can just follow with my mind switched off -- having to make decisions in the gym leads to doubt, for me, doubt leads to confusion, confusion leads to despair, despair leads to not going to the gym. I tried with the "less thinking, more doing" from stumptous, but I thought myself into a bretzel.

So I'll probably continue with the series, because, good enough. *G*