Opinions on New Rules of Lifting for Women?

[Jane P.]

Susan Kleiner and Nancy Clark write good nutrition books for exercisers. Kleiner's books are geared more towards weight lifters and Clark's books are geared more towards endurance athletes.

[KathAL79]

Just figured I'd throw this out there in case anyone is wondering:

If you have either NROL or NROL4W, it's worth reading the other, too.
The original spends more time on Lou's 6 movements, so it provides some good background on why he's come up with this type of training. The original also offers three three-stage rotations to mix and match plus a slightly different starting stage (I think Alwyn has just swapped a few of the A and B exercises in the NROL4W variation).
NROL4W has more on why women should lift weights, specifically heavy weights. Some of it's the same ol' same ol', some of it was new to me at the time.

I bought both the Women's Health and the Men's Health Big Book of Exercises and decided to keep just one after looking through both side by side. There is a lot of overlap between the two, so you don't need both unless you and your male SO want her and his copies. The women's has a tiny handful of things geared toward women (the suggested rotations at the back include one for getting into a bikini, there's a wedding workout, and there's a prenatal rotation), plus all exercises are modeled by women, but otherwise it's pretty much the same material as the men's.

[DawnP]

Originally Posted by KathAL79

...I bought both the Women's Health and the Men's Health Big Book of Exercises and decided to keep just one after looking through both side by side.

Enquiring minds want to know, which one did you keep? I've got these books on my wishlist, although I'm not too thrilled by the proportion of the book that demonstrates individual isolation exercises. I'd like to whittle my wishlist down some, LOL.

[KathAL79]

Dawn, I would have kept the men's if dh had expressed any interest in the book (it's certainly not bad at all to look at, if you catch my drift; the woman behind the counter when I returned it was momentarily distracted by the, um, excellent demos of the exercises), but since it looked like I was the only one who'd read it I decided why not keep the women's one. Perhaps the only thing I would have missed if I had kept the men's is the pre-natal rotation (I and many of my friends are still of child-bearing age, so I could refer to it at some point); the women's still has the Spartacus, best body weight, and train like an athlete workout plans, which apart from Rachel's Skinny Jeans were the ones that most piqued my interest. I'd love to hear why Kyra chose the men's version.
Yeah, I'm not too thrilled about the division into body parts / isolation moves, especially since the corework has more crunches and other flexion exercises in comparison to the extension, twisting, and stabilization moves, but if you pick through it there are some interesting moves. I got it for $14.99 at Costco, and to me it's worth it to have on the shelves for that price or even less.

[Kyra]

Originally Posted by KathAL79

I'd love to hear why Kyra chose the men's version.

Ah, just to clear something up - I actually don't have the Men's Health equivalent of the WHBBE (the MHBBE) - I have the Men's Health Home Workout Bible. When I made my earlier post, I didn't realize there was a MHBBE. I bought MHHWB a number of years ago, before either BBE was published. Sorry for any confusion!

[KathAL79]

Oops, no, I'm sorry for the confusion, Kyra! I've looked at that one, too, but may give it another look side by side with the MH/WHBBE, although I don't really need another book of exercises...

[Sue B]

Originally Posted by videofit

Would the book be worth reading if I never plan to set foot in a gym -- tips that can be used with my workout DVDs where I could modify some moves to make them more effective? Any diet specific tips for enhancing overall results?

If you're interested in this type of exercising but without all the gym equipment, another series worth looking at is the Core Performance series by Mark Verstegen. I just got Core Performance Women out of the library and it has a very flexible, real-world nutrition plan, even some fast-food suggestions for emergencies. Core Performance Essentials is another good one in the series.

[Vintage VFer]

So, I started the program. I tend to modify things to suit my needs and current health issues. This is a radical departure from what I have been doing for years. I've also made nutritional changes. (Not from the book, I didn't even glance at the recipes. I hate to cook!) More with the timing of meals and snacks for optimal muscle growth and recovery.

Taking so many recovery days is really a challenge. On the non-strength days, I'll do a Leslie and some stretching. Or do Wii balance games.

I don't like his core exercises so far. I'm subbing planks and hanging leg raises.

I know this is a good program for me. But, it is boring as hell. I hope I can stick with it.

[GeekyGirl]

Originally Posted by Sue B

If you're interested in this type of exercising but without all the gym equipment, another series worth looking at is the Core Performance series by Mark Verstegen. I just got Core Performance Women out of the library and it has a very flexible, real-world nutrition plan, even some fast-food suggestions for emergencies. Core Performance Essentials is another good one in the series.

Thank you for this recommendation - I'm going to order Core Performance Essentials from Amazon. It looks like something that will suit me very well!

[KathAL79]

Alta, I say modify away to make this work for you. Hope you can find some way to relieve the boredom.
Yeah, it was hard not to work out hard every day with this; I tried and definitely overdid it. I think your recovery day activities are good ones.
I agree that the corework is disappointing. You're either doing 8 stability ball crunches or 2 min. planks; does he not know of anything in between, or does he really think they're equally challenging?