Sweat it Out:
5 Minute Elliptical Warm-up
20 Minutes Weights
1 Hour Elliptical

The good news is that when weighing myself this morning, I weighed the same as last week.  I am back on track!  Some other good news is that I finished my last Phase 1 workout for “The New Rules of Lifting for Women”!  I am so stoked to start phase 2, and am happy to report that I have seen very good progress with Phase 1.

A little re-cap of Phase 1:  weightlifting 3 days a week alternating between workout A and workout B.  As the workouts progressed the weights/sets increased and the reps decreased.  Each workout was done 8 times for a total of 16 workouts (6 weeks).  The last 2 workouts are what they call “Special Workouts”.  You do 1 set of the exercise at your starting weight as many times as you can.  This is where you see how far you’ve come.  These workouts are optional, but I highly suggest that you give them a try (if you are doing the program) because they make you feel so accomplished.

Here is where I started, where I ended, and how I did on the “Special Workouts” in regards to poundage:

Workout A:

• Squat: Body weight / 80 lbs.  8 Reps / Body Weight 30 Reps
• Push-up: Could Barely do 1 set of 8 / 3 Sets of 15  / 25 reps MOST IMPROVED!
• Seated Row: 60 lbs. 2 sets of 15 / 80 lbs. 3 sets of 8 / 60 lbs. 30 Reps
• Step ups: 16 lbs. 2 sets of 15  3 lifts(on stepper) /  40 lbs. 3 sets of 8 4 lifts (on stepper) /  16 pounds 3 lifts 50 Reps
• Prone Jack knife : wouldn’t do it first day (intimidated) /  3 Sets of 15 (killed it!)/ 30 reps

Workout B:

• Deadlifts: 40 lbs. 2 Sets of 15 / 60 lbs. 3 Sets of 8 / 40 lbs. 30 Reps
• Lat Pull Down: 60 lbs.  2 Sets of 15 / 80 lbs. 3 Sets of 8 / 60 lbs. 30 Reps
• Shoulder Press: 10 lbs. 2 sets os 15  / 17.5 lbs. 3 Sets of 8 /  10 lbs. 30 Reps
• Lunges (hate): Body Weight 2 Sets of 15  /  22 lb bar 3 Sets of 15  / Body weight 30 reps
• Swiss Ball Crunch:  After doing these for the first 2 workouts we decided that the Prone Jack Knife was harder and we did that exercise with each workout.

I hope that all made sense originally I graphed it all out and it looked good and then I published it and it went all wack-a-doo.  I am feeling really good about my progress and I feel such a difference from the first workout to the last one.  If you want to get started with weightlifting, but don’t know how, this is a GREAT program. I am excited to move onto phase 2 even though I have heard that it is MUCH harder!

Stage 2:

This stage consists of 8 workouts so it is around 3 weeks long and half the time from phase 1.  Workout A has 7 exercises and Workout B has 9 exercises so they have upped the intensity from phase 1.  I’m looking forward to doing some new exercises and feeling really sore again.  Here is what I get to look forward to in phase 2:

Workout A:

• Front Squat Push Press
• Step up
• Dumbbell one point row
• Static Lunge, rear foot elevated
• Push-up
• Plank (a little scared of this one)
• Cable Horizontal Wood Chop

Workout B:

• Wide Grip Dead Lift From Box
• Bulgarian Split Squat
• Underhand Grip lat pulldown
• Reverse Lunge From Box with forward reach
• Dumbbell Prone Cuban Snatch
• Swiss-ball Crunch
• Reverse Crunch
• Lateral Flexion
• Prone Cobra

Ok, so I may be a little intimidated to start this next chapter, but I know that I will be so much stronger when I have at least gotten through a couple of the workouts.  Some of these moves may not make sense now, but I will post pictures on the first days that I do the new workouts.  Happy lifting everyone!

Any fun weekend plans?

Would you ever consider doing a program like “The New Rules of Lifting for Women”?