Archive for September, 2008

Two New (to me) Training Tools

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

WRIST WEIGHTS

One of my fave movements in the NROL4W program is the one arm dumbbell snatch.  After 30 lbs the dumbbells in my gym, like most gyms (duh!), go up in increments of 5 lbs.  It is not recommended to increase weight by more than 10% in a single week.  Plus, as I mentioned in a previous post, the thought of doing so by 5 lbs for a single weak girly arm like mine was scary when imagining a db snatch gone wrong and the db flying through the air.  Ditto for the incline db bench press I was doing with two 30’s  I could not get two 35’s even into position to start and if I did get them up my arms would likely have failed and the db’s would’ve been “caught” by my face.  So I bought wrist weights to bridge the gap!  The ones I bought are by ALL PRO. They were not cheap ($30) but I think they are worth it. I do think it is dumb that they are 2 lbs each. Common sense would have been to make them 2 1/2 lbs in my opinion. They are VERY comfortable.  Cushy soft in fact!  I had them on for a 45 minute session and there was no discomfort whatsoever. I’m happy with my purchase. : )

A DIFFERENT KIND OF GRIPPER
I love the GripPro Trainer! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more comfortable than any other gripper out there.  It looks like a doggy chew toy and is probably where they got the idea!

It comes in 30 lbs, 40 lbs and 50 lbs and only cost me $6.95  This is the 50 lb one.

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STAGE IV WRAP UP REPORT ~ New Rules of Lifting For Women

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

Stage IV is a repeat of Stage II with a different rest & rep scheme.  It is my least fave in the program so far.  Some of it is like f’ing torture.  A 2 minute plank 3 times is just plain cruel in my opinion.

STAGE IV WRAP UP


















WO 1 WO 2 WO 3 WO 4






All 3 sets of 8 with 90 sec rest

Bulgarian Split Squat (I used dumbbells)
2×20=40 45 50 50
Dumbbell 1 Point (balanced on 1 leg) Row
2×25=50 50 50 50
Dumbbell Prone Cuban Snatch
2×15=30 30 30 30
Front Squat Push Press (aka Thrusters)
60 60 60 60
Static Lunge (elevated rear foot)
2×25=50 50 50 50
Underhand Grip Lat Pulldown
80 80 85 85
Wide Grip Deadlift on Box
125 125 125 125
Reverse Lunge From Box with Forward Reach
2×20=40 40 40 40










Front Squat / Push Press
Transitioning hand position from the front squat to push press was murder for my wrists. Hated it, much pain, will work on wrist strength and flexibility before doing that again. The pain made it impossible for me to increase the weight at all

Wide Grip Deadlift on Box

No change in the weight but my grip improved greatly!  Last time (Stage II) I’d be praying to make it through all the reps without dropping the barbell.  Maybe my grip didn’t improve and it just seemed better ’cause it was only 8 reps rather than the 10 it was in Stage II.  BUT it was 3 sets so I dunno….

Did I mention how much holding a plank for 2 minutes sucks!  Not a big fan of the split squat, static lunge or reverse lunge from box either.   Partly my own fault ’cause I choose to do them with 40 to 50 lbs of extra weights.  Despite hating them I still did 3 sets of everything.  This stage gives you the option of doing 2 or 3 sets.

Now on to Stage V!  It’s odd having things change every 2 1/2 weeks.  Just when you get used to the moves and could maybe up the weight it’s over.  Oh well.

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Posted in TRAINING LOG (What I'm Doing) | No Comments »