About the middle of July I read “The New Rules of Lifting” by Lou Schuler and decided to give it a try. I began with the breakin workout and now I'm on their Fat Loss II workout. I will be posting the workout logs here very soon. What I plan to do is post all four weeks of the breakin workout in one post and then begin posting my Fat Loss II workouts thereafter.
So far, since I started the Fat Loss II workouts 6 days ago, I've dropped 4 pounds. This particular workout (Fat Loss II) evokes some kind of metabolic response in my body because I feel completely without energy at the end of each workout. Workout A isn't as tough as Workout B, but my heart rates are consistently around 85 to 90% of my max every workout (and that's during the lifting part, not the cardio part).
What I struggle with right now is getting the 5 meals a day in. I try my best to get them in and for some reason they always manage to slip down to 4. I don't feel like my calories are high enough, but at the same time, I seem to be burning fat (down 2% in 5 weeks of the NROL workouts) and losing weight (down 8 pounds in 5 weeks of the NROL workouts), so I'm not obssessing over the issue. I realize that the calculators and things of that nature that help us figure out our alleged calorie needs are just guidelines. We need to look at our results (and, as Tom Venuto likes to say, we always produce results–good or bad) and determine if things are going where we want. Are we achieving the goals we set? Are we working with maximim intensity? Are we ABLE to work with maximum intensity (because if we can't, we are not feeding our body correctly)?
If you aren't already, I encourage you to track your weight, body fat percentage and measurements (arms, chest, abdominals, thighs and calves) weekly. I use a spreadsheet that I will post n another blog and it automatically calculates my lean body mass and any change in body fat percentage or overall weight. I then enter all my measurements and just watch for the results and what direction they are going. I've lost over 20 pounds so far with this technique. You just have to be persistent.
Stay tuned to this space for more on my progress. You never know when something new and exciting will appear here!
