New Rules of Lifting for Women - The Verdict

Yep, I finished yesterday, on schedule. Woo! Stage 7, Workout 12. It still hasn’t really sunk in yet, probably won’t until I don’t go to the gym on Monday (I’m taking a bit over a week off weights - the bod has earned it). I started the program on January 4 and have basically done it straight through, sometimes taking mini-breaks (3 - 4 days) between stages, and sometimes not, when I had mini-breaks (again, 3 - 4 days) handed to me to recover from oral surgery, of which I had my share this past spring. As some of you might recall, I decided to do this program because I felt as if I were starting over, in a sense, in working out. I was sick for quite a while last year and spent some time in hospital. I came out deconditioned, to put it mildly, and overweight, and wanted a comprehensive program that would go a long way toward reassembling both my strength and cardio fitness. I read NROL several years ago and basically agree with much of what is presented there, in terms of a general approach to weight training for someone like me - a recreational athlete who takes that recreation pretty seriously.

I used some of the workouts from that original book previously, but they really didn’t seem to apply to my situation. I had picked up the Women’s version of NROL somewhere along the line, and in it I saw a progressive, varied program based on the same principles - the perfect solution. I also liked the fact that the would not have to think about what I was going to do in the gym for the next six months, more or less (heh, almost exactly, as it turned out), which is a huge bonus for me. I like to think (OK, agonize), settle on a plan, put a schedule on the fridge, and follow it for as long as it’s working.

And, this worked. Did I follow the plan exactly? Yes and no. The workouts, I did almost to the letter. The notable exception was the abdominal exercises, which for some reason got easier as the workouts progressed (I strongly suspect this was an oversight/brain cramp on the part of the program designer), and around stage 3, I abandoned them pretty much in favor of whatever seriously challenging exercises I could find on my own. I also cheated on a few rest periods in Stage 5, which should very much be noted for its long-assed workouts, but not by much. Other than that, it all went according to Hoyle (or Alwyn, as the case may be).

Granted, I was starting from what was, for me, a below baseline state, but it was clear that I put on some serious strength. My squat and my deadlift both improved. My capacity for pushups went from (this is embarassing)2 sets of 15 with more than half done from the knees to 4 sets of 20 with good (full) form. I haven’t tested my dead hang pullup/chinup capacity lately, but it’s gone from nil to some, and I don’t plan to let up on it. My stomach has never been flatter. I have, as mentioned, an ass. My arms look good, my legs - well, they never look great, but they look at least as good as they ever have, perhaps better. My body fat percentage has dropped. I lost 18#, and am in what I refer to as my normal happy weight range. Overall, I’m very happy with the way I look and feel. (Do Iook like a goddess, as the subtitle of the book implies? I have no idea what a goddess is supposed to look like, so I have no idea.)

Did I follow the diet? Nope. I’ve never followed a diet from a weight lifting book, and frankly, there was nothing in the diet section of the book that even vaguely interested me. The recipes were uninspired. I don’t think the section is BAD so much as I’ve read plenty on sports nutrition outside this book, and really wasn’t looking for tips. And, my goal of getting back in to “happy range” was achieved entirely without it. Which is not to say it won’t work, just that IMO if you have something that works for you, stick with it.

Did I do more than he calls for? Yep. I started back in karate not too long after I started the program. I knew my cardio would suck at first, and it did, and I had hoped that the cardio in the program (all interval work) would be enough to get me through a full-out class, with sparring, drills, kata, the whole nine yards. It became apparent to me that it would not, so I started running again in, I believe, March. I started running about half an hour on my non-lifting days, and when the workouts got shorter and no longer included cardio (Stages 6 and 7), I ramped up the mileage to mid-high teens per week. I also started a glute activation program at some point. I took a very simple test described in an on-line article and failed miserably, which was a slap in face. (Me? No glute activation? But - but - but I do deadlifts and step ups and split squats and full squats and lunges and... and I failed the test.) So I started using the program described here:  Dispelling the Glute Myth.  I didn’t do this exactly according to plan, in that I’ve stayed in each Phase roughly twice as long as recommended, just moving on when it felt about right to do so. I’m beyond thrilled with the results I’ve seen and felt, as you’ve probably guessed if you’ve read any of my recent blog entries.

In the final analysis, I can’t say I can attribute ALL of my “results” strictly to NROL/W, but it played a big role in the collaborative effort. I kind of wish I could have run the pure experiment, but frankly, the pure experiment wasn’t going to suit my needs. My goal, when it comes to gym work, is that it contribute to my performance in other areas, namely in the dojo and on the road. I think the program did its job.

AAAAAAnd for my next trick, a half marathon!