NROL Basic I

So I did it. First phase New Rules of Lifting: Supercharged Complete!

I did four weeks, of Basic I. This is the minimum amount of time to really get a feel for the exercises and to know if they are challenging enough.

While some of the exercises were not challenging enough, others were still challenging after the four weeks. This means that I can go through the basic rounds again and still find room for improvement. I may find I am not ready to move on to the more difficult parts of the book, so being able to repeat the basic programs may prove to be useful. There are definitely enough workouts in this book to keep me occupied for a long time.

So here is a breakdown of my Basic I routine.

Each workout starts with a 10-15 minute warm-up and ends with a 5 minute stretch. For the most part I used the prescribed RAMP for the warm-up, but I did substitute a Derby Fresh meat challenge a few times. I used a 5 min full body stretch from the SWORKIT app to finish off.

The idea for Basic I is to have two different workouts and alternated them three times a week.  So my weeks looked like.

1. ABA
2. BAB
3. ABA
4. BAB

Workout A: Planks, Side Planks rows, box jumps, goblet squats, two-point rows, step-ups, and push-ups.

Workout B: Side planks, Plank pull downs, reverse lunge w/ shoulder press, hip lifts on exercise ball, jack-knife push-ups, split squat, and kneeling lateral pull downs.

It was only 2 sets for each exercise and ranged from 10 reps for the ab work to 15 reps for the rest.

Most of the exercises were things I had done before, or done a variation of before except the plank pull downs. Described in the book as "Best for everyone. Enjoyed by: no one" there was definitely truth to these words. THESE WERE TOUGH!

Don't be fooled by the picture, he makes it looks so easy. 4 weeks and I could barely get through 2 sets of 10 (for each arm). But I am glad to say I did make it through those 10 sets.



I tried to consistently add weight each time a performed a workout; however, the limitations of my home set-up meant that some days it just wasn't possible. This will only continue to be a problem as I progress through the workouts, so I will need to make sure I consistently workout at work.

The biggest struggle I found in the last four weeks was getting my food intake right. I had been maintaining my weight pretty well since November but, because of my increased activity, I started losing again. While not terrible, I really want to build muscle with NORL so I need to keep my calories up and not eat at a deficit.

I changed my daily calorie intake to my TDEE for very active, so that is around 2500 calories. While it sounds wonderful to eat more, I have had a hard time getting those calories in, especially on days I am active in the evenings (I probably rely on my evening snacks too much to make up calories).

I had such a great balance between exercise and food while losing that it has been hard to adjust.

This last week I started bringing protein powder to work, and have been adding a little bit more to the foods I normally eat. Hopefully, I can eat consistently at 2500 and then adjust (+/-) if needed.