This week was the last of Stage 1 for the Female Body Breakthrough. I thought I would share the progression of this stage and where I ended up.
The goal of this stage was to do 2 to 3 sets of each exercise and do a maximum of 12 reps for each set. Progress each workout with increasing a couple exercises in either weight or reps. Pretty standard stuff.
This is the comparison of Workout A from week 1 to week 4, which I completed 6 times.
| Exercise | Set/rep/weight Week 1 | Set/rep/weight Week 4 |
| Bird Dog | 3 sets of 10 each side with body weight | 3 sets of 10 each side with 8# DB |
| Forward Ball Roll | 3 sets of 10 | 3 sets of 12 |
| Step Ups | 3 sets of 10 with 15# DBs | 3 sets of 10 with 20# DBs on a higher step |
| Dumbbell 3-point row | 3 sets of 10 with 15# DB | 3 sets of 10 with 20# DB |
| Partial Co-contraction Lunge | 3 sets of 10 each leg | 3 sets of 12 each leg |
| Pushups | 3 sets of 8 at incline | 3 sets of 10 regular style |
| Hip-thigh Extension (single-leg bridge) | 3 sets of 10 each leg | 3 sets of 12 each leg |
| Reverse Dumbbell Fly | 3 sets of 10 with 8# DBs | 3 sets of 10 with 13# DBs |
The way I worked this was to increase the reps to 12 with the weight, then the next time I would increase the weights and drop back down to 10 reps.
My thoughts? I made sure to really challenge myself for each workout and not phone it in. My goal is strength. I haven’t been in a formal gym in some time. Sometimes I looked in the mirror and was not totally happy with what I saw, but I tried to let that go. Some days are better than others, as you all know.
I was super, super happy to get back to doing military style pushups instead of inclines. It’s been a couple years since I have worked at them after I sprained my shoulder, partly from the injury and partly from laziness (being honest here). I do have to admit that they are much harder now than they used to be for me, but I was doing them. I probably don’t go as low as I should, but just to be doing them normally is a big plus for me.
Friday I will wrap up Workout B of Stage 1.
“super super happy” and “military style pushups”–do those phrases really belong in the same sentence? LOL. I have been doing incline pushups for a while too (exact same reasons as you) and then I took this class where he spent almost an hour making us do different styles of pushups. Ouch. But in a good way.
I related to so much of this post. The part about the mirror. Exactly.
There are so many ways to do a pushup. It’s really a good exercise. Challenging, but good.
Great progress Lori!
I had to laugh at Debby about happy and pushups in the same sentence. I wouldn’t use those words together either 🙂 I suck at any kind of pushups but my strength is horrible too. Need to work on that.
I get you at the mirror look. Same feelings here.
I am not happy when doing pushups, just when done LOL!
partial co contraction lunge?!
I NEED TO GOOGLE THAT ONE.
and yes.
indeed.
AMEN.
some days are so much better than others.
TODAY I FEEL TWENTY 🙂
other days not so much…
Co contraction lunge is a leg burner for sure!
Yes for strength & working it Lori!! Yes, to what Carla said too – some days are better than others for me – I feel amazing & then some days are a struggle but it is all good! 🙂
I guess it is like that for all of us 🙂 No day is the same.
I can’t believe how much you’ve increased your weights in such a short time. Strong, indeed!
I hate pushups. Never have been able to master the military style for some reason. I can a do a few – very poorly – but have not been able to get past 10 or so. Girly pushups I can do a hundred of. I’ve always wondered if it was bad form or my bad lower back that hinders me.
One thing I have always been good at was building strength. Strength and endurance I am good at, not speed. LOL I don’t mess around when going for it. However, I will say my beginning weights were probably lighter than they needed to be, but I was testing the waters then since it had been so long.
Ha, you would laugh at my weights so I will not reveal them to you. I don’t do any kinds of push ups because I get migraines if I try. 🙁
I would never laugh – we are all different 🙂
I’ve been inspired by your posts lately, Lori, so I ordered the book and began some of the exercises last night. Wow, hard. I thought, I’m glad this is phase one–I am on the page for phase one exercises, right? Then I realized I was doing the warm ups. LOL I hope it gets easier soon. Thanks for blogging about your exercise program. I need to move my bum!
Yeah, that warm up is hard LOL! It gets sort of easier because you get used to the workouts, but it is definitely challenging – or should be if you push yourself. Let me know if you have any questions! 😀
I appreciate your workout summary, Lori. I’ve had The New Rules of Lifting for Women for 2 years now and have yet to take the plunge. No good reason other than fear of the unknown! Reading about your success with lifting (and how matter-of-fact you are about just going and doing it!) is inspiring to me. Now I need to just do it myself…
I love NROLW! That was my first heavy lifting program and I was able to do about 3 chinups by the time I finished 😀
Chin-ups!! OMG – *that* is a daunting thought! Good for you, Lori 🙂
Wow – so awesome that you have increased weights and/or reps in every single exercise!!! Great job! Fun to see what other people do for their workouts.
I think doing push-ups is a real boost!
These are good workouts. I forgot how much I liked this program.
I am making an exercise schedule for next week and sticking to it – strength training being my #1 priority! Have a great weekend, I hope our warm temps will make it your way!
Super workout. It’s tough for me to go as hard as I would like in the gym. By the time I’m done running, I look at a 5lb weight and groan.
Now it’s back to John’s Colcanon recipe. Delish!
Awesome work outs! Strength training gets put on the back burner for me all too often. I love how it makes me look I just don’t love doing it!
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