I had stopped strength training for awhile and found that my back was hurting on long runs, so I picked up the book The New Rules of Lifting for Abs.
I just completed phase 1 of the 6-month program, and man, it's brutal, but so effective. I've moved up substantially on all of the exercises, and I feel stronger.
Each of the workouts was completed 8 times over about six weeks.
Here's where I started and where I ended on each:
WORKOUT A:
Planks (In this program, you never held a plank for more than 90 seconds. Once you hit 90 seconds, you move on to a harder plank.)
Beginning: 90 seconds on ground
End: 90 seconds, feet on stability ball
Side planks (Same deal with side planks, only 45 seconds)
Beginning: 45 seconds on ground
End: 45 seconds, one leg on BOSU
Split squat with step-up:
Beginning: Used 10 lb weights
End: Used 20 lb weights
Inverted Row:
Beginning: Was able to do 5 reps
End: Was able to do 15 reps (in fairness, I realized if I raised the bar higher it was easier)
Romanian Deadlift:
Beginning: Brown bar only
End: Brown bar + 12.5 lbs on each end
Decline pushup off bench
Beginning: 6 reps
End: 17 reps
WORKOUT B
Anti-rotation static hold
Beginning: Level 1 on cross cable
End: Level 4 on cross cable
10 second plank holds (repeated 10 times)
Beginning: 1 leg on ground
End: Feet on stability ball, arms on BOSU
10 second side plank holds (repeated 5 times each side)
Beginning: Feet on bench
End: Feet on BOSU, arms on balance board
Dumbbell single leg Romanian deadlifts
Beginning: Used 10 lb weight, fell all over the place
End: Used 20 lb weight, perfect balance
Dumbbell alternating shoulder presses
Beginning: 10 lb weights
End: 15 lb weights
Overhead squat
Beginning: Wavy bar only
End: Wavy bar + 7.5 lbs on each end
Cable kneeling pulldown
Beginning: Cross cable level 4 in main room, level 8 in women's center
End: Cross cable level 8 in main room, level 11 in women's center
Just peeked ahead to phase 2, it looks brutal. Burpees, ick!
My goal for 2014 is to improve my swimming and biking, and complete the Double Mussel and REV3 Poconos 70.3 races. I'm in the process of moving from Rochester to Albany, and am looking forward to making some new friends!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
New Rules of Lifting for Abs: Phase 1 complete
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Wow, don't you love to see progress??? Congrats...
ReplyDeleteAwesome progress! Keep up the great work!
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