NROLFW questions

[emjacobs]

Penny can you share where you found the spreadsheet? I'm a spreadsheet whore, otherwise I can't even get on the wagon before I fall off

[SallyJ]

I loosely follow NROLFW. Basically I steal a lot of the exercises, lift heavy, eat a lot of calories, and target a higher protein level. I don't do the workout exactly because I would get too bored.

What I can tell you is that 222 g of protein is outrageously high, even for a male. You are only supposed to eat ~1g of protein per LEAN body mass. So for example I weigh 175 lb and my body fat is 27%. That means I target ~130 g of protein (175 * 0.73).

Many people target a 40-20-20 for protein-carbs-fat for their macros. I tend to do target 50-25-25 because I know I can sustain it in the long run.

NROLFW is more of a lifestyle change. I started lifting about 8 weeks ago and have seen tremendous change in my body. I'm not following a program in terms of looking forward to an end of that program. If I remember correctly the actual program start to finish is 6 months, but I don't think it's intended to be a 'ok I'm to the end I can stop now' kind of program.

I lift for 30-45 min which I think is about the length of the workouts. I don't follow them exactly so I'm not positive. You should never throw your weights down. You should lift with control when picking up and putting down. I think you'll be okay on that part.

Hope that helps!

ETA: I don't know how to add...lol. That should have been 40-30-30!

[raynes]

222g of protein sounds a bit high. I have no idea where my book is (probably down in the scary basement) but I believe the book has you shoot for 40-30-30 carbs-fat-protein ratios.

I did find that the calorie recommendations in the book were a bit high for me, but when I decreased by the recommended amount I didn't gain anymore. I didn't lose a ton of weight (2 lbs?) but I dropped a lot of inches and a good amount of body fat. Here's my before and after post: raynesgetsripped.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/nrol4w-before-and-after/

The whole program takes about 6 months as written. I think I did it in 8? Each workout takes between 45 mins and 1.5-2 hours. Most are in the 1 hour range.

There is no dropping of weights. It's stressed that you should be using a weight that you can control through the entire range of movement.

[Deleted]

I never followed the diet advice from the book. If you have something that's working for you, you can just take the workouts and leave the rest. It is difficult to cut fat and gain muscle at the same time - the NROL diet is protein-heavy and higher calorie to allow muscle gain. The good news is that as a beginner, you'll gain some muscle and lose some fat pretty much no matter what you do. I really wouldn't stress about body fat % unless you want another metric to look at success - if weight is working for you now, good enough. You could add measurements if you're not tracking those.

Workouts range 30-90 minutes. You can shorten the super long ones if you don't quite follow the "rest" that they recommend, or if you break up interval cardio to a separate day from lifting.

No one ever needs to drop weights. This is something super macho men do to prove how super macho they are.

[ericakaspar]

Thanks for asking these questions and the progress photos. Really inspirational. I'm really confused about the diet section of it but I figured first I was going to keep my diet as it is. (I have a bodybugg so I know my calories in / calories out) and go from there once I'm comfortable in Stage 1. Is this a bad idea? Should I work harder in figuring out the diet section?

[2doxies]

I agree with Token, I skimmed through the diet section of the book and mostly focus on the lifting routine. I've noticed that it has increased my appetite, so I try to make sensible decisions about how to satisfy my hunger.

[SallyJ]

I purchased a body fat caliper thing-a-majig. I am not really focused on losing pounds, but decreasing body fat and losing inches, so I wanted another way to monitor progress. I think we bought it on Amazon.

If you have a diet that is working for you stick with it. I do recommend increasing your protein because you'll feel better with satisfying hunger and feeding your muscles. Also make sure you getting sufficient calories...don't eat more than 10-20% below your total calories out (also called TDEE).

[ericakaspar]

May 17, 2012 10:48:39 GMT -5 SallyJ said:

I purchased a body fat caliper thing-a-majig. I am not really focused on losing pounds, but decreasing body fat and losing inches, so I wanted another way to monitor progress. I think we bought it on Amazon.

If you have a diet that is working for you stick with it. I do recommend increasing your protein because you'll feel better with satisfying hunger and feeding your muscles. Also make sure you getting sufficient calories...don't eat more than 10-20% below your total calories out (also called TDEE).

Thank you! This is exactly what my friend who did it told me to do. I'm also drinking protein shakes after each workout. Which really help satisfy hunger!