As before I am only showing some of the movements from Stage II so as not to give the program away.
Stage II was much shorter than stage one. 2 workouts, each done 4 times for a total of 8. Train 3 times a week and you are done Stage II in just 2 1/2 weeks!
| WO 1 | WO 2 | WO 3 | WO 4 | ||
| All 2 sets of 10 with 70 sec rest | |||||
| Bulgarian Split Squat (I used dumbbells) | |||||
| 2×12.5=25 | 25 | 30 | 40 | ||
| Dumbbell 1 Point (balanced on 1 leg) Row | |||||
| 2×20=40 | 45 | 45 | 50 | ||
| Dumbbell Prone Cuban Snatch | |||||
| 2×10=20 | 25 | 25 | 30 | ||
| Front Squat Push Press (aka Thrusters) | |||||
| 45 | 55 | 55 | 65 | ||
| Static Lunge (elevated rear foot) | |||||
| 2×20=40 | 45 | 45 | 50 | ||
| Underhand Grip Lat Pulldown | |||||
| 70 | 75 | 75 | 80 | ||
| Wide Grip Deadlift on Box | |||||
| 115 | 115 | 115 | 125 | ||
Widening the grip and increasing range of motion on the Deadlift of course meant having to reduce the weight. Could barely maintain my grip for the whole set the first time I did it. I refused to go down in weight anymore. Was already bummed that I was doing 20lbs less than with the conventional deadlift. Logically I knew it would be this way but my ego (I guess that’s what it is) didn’t like it!
The book discusses the fact that most women are quad dominant. This means that we will generally use the muscles in the front of our legs/thighs more than the back leg (hamstring) and butt (glutes) muscles. The movements in Alwyn’s program address this by focusing on and engaging the glutes and hammies more. This is very important otherwise we end up with even more muscle imbalance than when we started. Our bodies will naturally do whatever is easiest for it. It takes the path of least resistance so to speak. It will use the muscles that are already strongest. So weak muscles get weaker and strong muscles get stronger. This leads to muscle imbalance and injuries. But, like I said, this program addresses that. With each stage you feel it more and more in your glutes and hammies. In the first stage not once did I have any soreness or feel it in my glutes or hammies. This stage I started to feel it a little. It helps to be aware of the issue and really focus your attention on those muscles, trying to use them and feel them working. In Stage II you REALLY get to feel them! Hehehehe.
If you want to learn more about this google or go to t-nation and search for “quad dominance” and “posterior chain” (2 separate searches).
Tags: deadlift, dumbbells, posterior chain, quad dominance, stage II, the new rules of lifting for women, weights