New Rules of Lifting for Women - Stage 1

I recently purchased the New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROLW) after reading a ton of positive reviews on other blogs.  After my half marathon, I decided that I was going to stop using personal training services at my gym and focus on lifting through the information in this book.  (I love personal training, but it is very expensive and I can think of a lot of things I would rather spend my money on... like cute, new running clothes, pedicures, etc.)

I started reading the book and enjoyed the information.  While I will not be following the nutritional guide (I prefer Weight Watchers), I will try to incorporate as many of the ideas as possible.  The book explained everything very well - detailed yet concise. 

Yesterday was the day... I downloaded a set of tracking charts and set out to do the workout yesterday afternoon.  Since I had the time, I figured I would do Stage 1, workouts A and B.  I don't know if I will continue to do both workouts on the same day, but it wasn't terrible yesterday. 

The exercise that scared me the most was the prone jackknife.  When I read about it in the book, I had visions of myself looking like a complete idiot and falling.  Thank God my gym has a women's fitness area.  I got a ball, got near a wall to help stabilize myself and got to working.  It really wasn't all that bad, but boy do I feel it today!  While is isn't the most graceful position, it is pretty damn effective.

Overall, the workout went well.  I liked that it was simple to follow, relatively quick, and I could tell I got a good workout. 

Here's what the first two sessions entailed. Squats and lunges were supposed to be body weight only, but that seemed too easy so I modified it.

Stage 1 workout A

• Squats -- 2 x 15 w/ 30 lb bar
• Pushups -- 2 x 15 (I am gonna conquer the pushups sooner or later.  I hate that I have to do them modified)
• Seated row -- 2 x 15 @ 60 pounds
• Stepups -- 2 x 15 on step bench (5 risers) w/ 15 lb weights
• Jackknives on ball -- 2 x 15 (I was supposed to do 8, but didn't realize until after I had done 2 x 15)

Stage 1 workout B

• Suitcase squats -- 2 x 15 @ 40 (This was supposed to be a deadlift, but my trainer saw me and suggested suitcase squats instead.)
• Wide-grip Lat pulldowns -- 2 x 15 @ 60
• Shoulder presses -- 2 x 15 w/ 10 lb weights
• Lunges 2 x 15 w/ 15 lb weights
• Ball crunches 2 x 15 (Again, supposed to be 8, but I didn't realize until after I had done 2 x 15)