Hey, hey, hey!!!
So I mentioned to you all that I would be doing the New Rules of Lifting For Women plan. I ended up skipping over Stage 1, at first on accident and then I decided it would be best for me. So I started with Stage 2!
One thing I liked about the program is that it gives you sheets to fill out for each of your workouts. One thing I never did before was record what weights I was using with certain exercises. Because of that, I never went up in my weights. These sheets were a great way for me to keep track and to make note when I thought I should go up in weight.
Workout A:
Workout B:
Another thing I've enjoyed about NROLFW is that it gives me a structured weight lifting plan, and it introduces me to new types of exercises that I would not have done before.
In stage 1, I did 2 sets of 10 reps each. I enjoyed the 2 sets because it got me out of the gym a little bit faster! Although each day still took about 45-50 minutes, not including any cardio I did along with the plan.
I started Stage 3 of the plan yesterday morning. Before each stage, I write the exercises on my sheet along with the reps and sets, and if I don't think I'll remember what the exercise means, I draw some stick figure pictures at the top.
Stage 3 has 3 sets of 6 reps each (I'm guess this means upping the weight!) and then Workout A has a body weight matrix which includes squats, lunges, jumping lunges and jumping squats. Those kicked my butt!
So overall, here are my pros and cons:
Pros:
- I do feel a little stronger, granted I was doing very little strength over winter break
- Sheets to record weights
- New moves
Cons:
- I don't like all the moves and don't know if I'm doing them correctly
- Hard to work into my running schedule (ex: don't want to do leg weights the day before a long run)
- I don't get to be creative (I love making up my own routines!)
- Set schedule is a little boring and repetitive
Haha, can you tell there are more cons than pros?
Although I technically already started Stage 3 yesterday, I think I'm going to take a break from NROLFW. I don't know if this kind of plan is really for me. Mostly because I was dreading starting a new stage and doing this workout yesterday morning. I might mix in every once in a while, like do my own weights for a week or two and then do Stage 3.
I've also been wanting to do some of the lifting or kickboxing classes at my gym, but it's really hard to work those in with the plan. I just think I prefer to have a more lose and creative approach to my strength training, so for now NROLFW is on hold!
I guess I just don't fit into a book:
(source)
So here's my revised workout schedule for the week:
Sunday - Bikram, 3 mile run (missed it on Sat )
Monday - Stage 3, workout A + 10 min elliptical warm up
Tuesday - 3 mile run, strength training
Wednesday - 6 mile tempo run
Thursday - 3 mile run, strength training
Friday - Rest Day
Saturday - 12 mile run (will be another PDR after my 11 mile run!)
Do you follow workout plans, or make it up as you go?
Are you stubborn about finishing what you started?
