NROL4W - Stage 1 - Monday - Workout A1

Today was my first NROL4W workout. It's a lot like the Break In workout from the original NROL. It's a fairly quick, designed to prepare the body for subsequent workouts. People who have been lifting for a while often ask if the break in period is really necessary, and I think most people will agree that it certainly doesn't hurt to go ahead and do it.

Stage 1 is fairly long. There are two workouts, A & B, and they are each done 8 times with certain reps & sets, then each is done one more time using your starting weights and max reps. Confused? Stick around for the next month and it will become clear.

squat 2x15x65 lbs

60 s rest

push up 2x15 - all on the toes

seated row (lying db row) 2x15x20 lbs

60 s rest 

step up 1x15x20 lbs, 1x15x15 lbs [per leg]

prone jackknife 1x15, 1x8

60 s rest

I am modifying some of the exercises in the book. I put my changes in parentheses. I don't have access to a cable system for seated rows, so I'm doing my dumbbell rows lying on my stomach on the weight bench. I could do bent over rows or one-arm dumbbell rows as an alternative, but I like chest supported rows. I didn't do them today, but sometimes I will do atomic push ups. I screwed up the prone jackknife and did 15 reps the first time through, when I was only supposed to do 8. For the step ups, holy crap, my arms were exhausted from holding the weight.

I have decided that I am not going to take activity points for the weight lifting workouts. It is impossible for me to determine how many points I'm really earning. I will, of course, wear my HRM for the intervals and my other cardio workouts, and take those activity points. This will help me limit the non-Filling Foods I eat, and hopefully keep me eating more cleanly. Since I can always eat off the Filling Foods list if I'm hungry, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to have the extras anyway. There's always something I can eat if I'm hungry! That is the good thing about the Simply Filling Technique. Of course, that can bite me in the ass, too, as it's very easy to overeat if I'm not paying attention.

Meals for today (Meatless Monday, by the way!):

cream of wheat pancakes w/ reduced-sugar jelly

quinoa bean salad w/ dijon mustard dressing
apple & yogurt, carrot sticks

salad w/ jicama, red peppers, avocado & vidalia onion dressing [1 pt for dressing]
grapes, a trigger food for me, so I measured out 2 ounces
vanilla berry protein shake [2 pts for protein powder]

I found the recipe for the shake in the Insanity nutrition guide: 1 c skim milk, 1 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla), 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 c fresh or frozen berries (I used 1/2 c strawberries), 1/2 banana, ice. Half of this is very filling. I did add about 1/8 teaspoon of xanthan gum to thicken it up, and I left out the ice. My son loved this, as well. 

100 ounces of water. 32 weekly points remaining. Reward percentage for today: 14 out of 17 - 82%

Tomorrow is a light to moderate cardio day. I'm not sure if I will Turbo or not. I do have to do something though! Tomorrow is not a rest day.