ALWYN AND I BEGAN THIS BOOK with the premise that each lifter is slightly different from every other lifter. I can’t remember the last time I went to the gym with a workout that I hadn’t modified in some way to accommodate my tragic inability to do every exercise in the canon, including the workouts in my own books.
That’s why Alwyn came up with what he describes as a “Chinese menu” system. Instead of giving you a series of workouts with all the exercises filled in, he’s putting the power to create a customized program in your hands. It’s the most important and unique feature of NROL for Life, and we’ve done everything we can to make it easy for you to choose.
But before we get to the exercises, it’s important to understand the system itself.
ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM
I’ll introduce them here in the order in which you’ll perform them during each workout. Each is explained in full detail in its own chapter.
1. RAMP (Chapter 15)
Each book in this series has emphasized the importance of getting your body warmed up and ready to lift. In fact, Alwyn’s concept of warming up has grown to the point that he doesn’t even use that term anymore. “Warming up” implies that there’s a moment when your body is fully prepared for training, and there’s nothing else you need to do. You’re there, and you can stay there as long as you want.
RAMP—an acronym for Range of motion, Activation of muscles, and Movement Preparation—suggests something slightly but meaningfully different: You’ve begun the process of training your body. Each challenge leads to the next. There’s nothing static or finite about the process. It ramps up your metabolism and your mood to ensure you’re ready for challenges that will ramp them up even more.
This part of the workout will usually take about 10 minutes.
2. Core Training (Chapter 6)
We define the core as including all the muscles that attach to and help stabilize the lower back and pelvis. Starting out, you’ll do two core exercises each workout, drawn from two categories: stabilization and dynamic stabilization. Each category has five levels of exercises.
3. Power Training (Chapter 7)
I’ve already noted that power—the ability to rapidly exert force—declines faster in middle age than strength or muscle mass. We also know from research that it’s possible to reverse declines in power. That process is relatively straightforward, and Alwyn has provided five levels of power exercises to get you there.
But there’s more to power development than doing a single, power-specific exercise per workout. Alwyn has incorporated exercises throughout the program that lend themselves to fast, powerful movements. You can’t and shouldn’t do everything fast, certainly, but throughout the following chapters I’ll note places where it’s appropriate for readers who’re ready to push themselves. Physiological benefits aside, I think you’ll find that it’s just more fun to work fast once you have the green light.
4. Strength Training
Readers of the original NROL will recall that we reduced all exercises to six basic categories: squat, deadlift, lunge, push, pull, twist. The concept is the same in NROL for Life, but Alwyn has changed some of the terms to better describe the way he designs programs. Each of these categories has five levels of exercises.
Every workout includes a pull, a push, and either a lunge or single-leg-stance exercise. You’ll do hinges and squats every other workout. Combination exercises first appear in Phase Two and then feature prominently in Phase Three. (I’ll explain the three phases of the program in the next section of this chapter.)
5. Metabolic Training (Chapter 16)
The exercises in these drills are pretty simple; you might do gym-class staples like push-ups and squats in one workout, or a newer but easy-to-learn exercise like kettlebell swings. You want them to be simple because your body is too exhausted to do anything requiring a high attention to form. But don’t confuse “easy to learn” with “easy.” The goal is to work hard and make your body even more exhausted in these 5 to 10 minutes.
I should stop here and note that the categories I’ve just described, for all their distinctive qualities, have just as much in common. From RAMP to metabolic training, they all work to increase your overall conditioning level along with strength, power, stability, coordination, mobility, athleticism, and efficacy. Each thing makes you better at lots of things.
Metabolic training has all the aforementioned crossover qualities. You could even argue that it’s redundant, since you might end up repeating exercises you’ve already done in that very workout.
The big difference: You’re doing the exercises in a deeper state of fatigue. Ten push-ups or squats in the 45th minute of a workout are exponentially harder than 10 push-ups or squats in the 25th minute. Your heart is pounding, it’s hard to catch your breath, and your metabolism is at its limit. It’s going to be elevated for many hours after you leave the gym, which is exactly what you want from one of Alwyn’s workouts. Of course you want to burn a lot of calories while you’re training, but you also want that accelerated metabolism while your body recovers.
6. Recovery (Chapter 18)
No workout is complete until you’ve started preparing your muscles for the next workout. As you’ll see, the recovery process includes stretches and foam rolling. This chapter also offers a look at post-workout nutrition, the most important aspect of recovery.
THE PHASES
Alwyn’s program has three phases, each of which should last four weeks on average for most readers.
Phase One: Transform
Experienced lifters will look at the workout charts in Chapter 17 and ask themselves, “Is that it?” It looks easy on paper. But if it’s easy to perform, you’re doing it wrong. You’re either using the wrong exercises for your level, or too little weight, or both. Conversely, many of you will choose exercises and weights that are too challenging for this phase, and end up with more soreness than you’ve had since the last time you underestimated one of Alwyn’s workouts.
The goal of the phase is in the title: During the first four weeks of the program, you’re going to train your body to do things it has forgotten how to do, never learned to do, or can only kinda-sorta do. You’ll improve your fitness in almost every area. RAMP will boost your mobility. The core training will improve the strength, stability, and endurance of your mid-body muscles. The power exercises will teach your muscles to work fast, improving your rate of force development. The four resistance-training exercises in each workout will build strength and muscle size in those of you who’re new to this, and improve muscle endurance and tissue quality in veteran lifters. Metabolic training will give everyone a fat-burning stimulus. Recovery will be whatever you make it. For those who’ve never used a foam roller to smooth out the knots and adhesions in muscles, it can be a workout all by itself. All of it combines to improve your total-body conditioning and athleticism.
Phase Two: Develop
By now you’re familiar with the exercises and system, and it’s time to push yourself. If you’re relatively new to lifting, that’ll happen with heavier weights and more challenging exercises. Weight-room vets will advance with heavier weights and higher volume: up to four sets of 10 reps of each resistance exercise. Everyone will strive to increase some aspect of performance each workout.
Phase Three: Maximize
The big change in this final phase is that you’ll do five resistance exercises each workout, instead of four. The added move is a combination exercise, which requires a higher level of effort and will induce a deeper level of exhaustion. No matter how well you prepare for it, you’ll still notice a difference.
THE WORKOUTS
Each phase has two total-body workouts, labeled Workout A and Workout B. You’ll alternate between these workouts until you finish the phase. You will never, ever do both workouts on the same day, and if you’re even slightly tempted to do A and B on consecutive days, it means you aren’t working hard enough to get the results you want. You should need, and your body should demand, at least one day of recovery between workouts.
Three workouts each week is ideal for most readers, although it may be too much for you if you’re especially challenged—coming back from an injury or a long layoff, for example. Two workouts a week is still a decent volume of exercise if you’re starting from zero. One is too few to see results, no matter your present condition, and four of Alwyn’s workouts are too much for anyone. If you have that much time and energy, there are better ways to use it (see Chapter 22).
Here’s what a month of training will look like if you follow the classic Monday-Wednesday-Friday workout schedule:
Most readers should do workouts A and B six times each, which, as you can see in the chart, will take four weeks on a typical schedule. Some exceptions:
Now that you understand the program’s goals and parameters, it’s time for what might be the most important step: selecting exercises.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST EXERCISES FOR YOU
Here’s how Alwyn explained the Chinese-menu system to me: “You pick something from every column—a soup, a meat, two vegetables, a sauce, and rice or noodles.” The most important rule, Alwyn says, is to make sure you pick just one from each column. “You can’t mix beef and shrimp, or two sauces. You’ll come up with something nasty.”
The key to a tasty workout—or at least one that gives you all the benefits of a good training program without any of the sour aftertaste of one that exacerbates your weaknesses and limitations—is to select the best exercises for you in each phase of the program.
1. Stay true to the category.
As you know, the strength workouts include six categories of exercises: squat, hinge, lunge, single-leg stance, push, pull. There’s also a seventh category, “combination,” which blends two distinct movements into one exercise.
You have two categories for core training—stability and dynamic stability—and two more for power exercises—upper-body and lower-body.
Alwyn gives you five levels of exercises in each category, arranged according to the difficulty of the technique and the amount of training experience it requires. You’ll often have variations on those choices to modify the difficulty in either direction, or to accommodate different equipment preferences. The next few chapters will show all your options in each category.
You can also bypass the decision-making process altogether by following the done-for-you sample workouts in Chapter 17. If you choose to choose, make sure you select each exercise from the proper category.
But how do you know which exercise is best for you?
2. In Phase One, pick the easiest exercises you can do with full intensity but without discomfort.
Most categories give you simple self-tests to help you figure out the right level. But the tests aren’t definitive. You still need to make choices. Let’s use the squat category as an example. Here are the five levels:
Level 1: Body-weight squat
Level 2: Goblet squat (holding a weight against your chest with both hands)
Level 3: Front squat (supporting a barbell or dumbbells on your front shoulders)
Level 4: Back squat (supporting a barbell behind your shoulders)
Level 5: Overhead squat (holding a barbell at arm’s length overhead)
Chapter 8 begins with a self-test to see if you can skip past Level 1. If you’re a strong, experienced lifter with no injuries to hold you back, Level 2 might also be a nonstarter. You’d have to hold a pretty heavy weight in front of your chest to work your lower-body muscles to exhaustion; when you’re doing 15 reps, your arms and shoulders would give out before the bigger, stronger muscles in your hips and thighs. Levels 3, 4, and 5 present no such problem. Any lifter can build a serious workout with the front, back, or overhead squat.
But what if you can do the workouts as written with any of the exercises, including the overhead squat, one of the most challenging in any category? You might want to start with the front squat in Phase One, move up to the back squat in Phase Two, and save the overhead squat for Phase Three. If you’re that good a lifter, you can certainly trust your own judgment and instincts.
Conversely, if you’ve never done any of these exercises and feel like you’ve stumbled into a foreign movie without subtitles, don’t worry. The next few chapters will explain and illustrate all of them.
3. In Phase Two, pick the exercises that allow you to work with the heaviest weight for multiple sets.
It may not be the most difficult exercise in the menu. You might even go back a level in some categories. The goal is to use an exercise that’s easy to load without discomfort.
4. In Phase Three, pick the exercises that kick your ass.
I don’t think this needs explanation.
5. Don’t feel pressure to get through all the levels.
A pure beginner, or someone who’s never used free weights, will do well to get to Level 3 on everything by the end of Phase Three. You might not even get to Level 3 across the board. No problem. Simply repeat the program, using higher-level exercises.
If you’re more advanced, I’ll explain in Chapters 17 and 22 how to repeat the program, using the same exercises with higher intensities for strength and size development.
Chapters 8 through 16 show you all the exercise choices. Chapter 17 explains Alwyn’s system, with step-by-step guidance on how to create your own custom workouts. By the end you’ll have two full programs, one each for beginners and advanced lifters. (The latter is my own program, which I put together with Alwyn’s guidance.) If either looks like it fits your needs and abilities, you can simply take it to the weight room and get started.
Finally, Chapter 18 shows you a sample set of exercises for recovery. I put them last because they need so little explanation. You just do what’s on the page.
STUFF YOU NEED, AND STUFF YOU’LL PROBABLY WANT
With each book, a few readers will drop down from the cyberclouds and ask if it’s possible to do the workouts without any equipment. There’s always an excuse that makes sense to them: They can’t afford it, they don’t have room, they can’t find a barbell to match the drapes. So let this be our final word: You have two choices. Either buy equipment for your home, or join a gym that has everything you need. You can’t do a resistance-training program without some form of external resistance.
Some of the exercises require nothing more than your body weight (a formidable challenge on chin-ups and many of the core exercises), but you won’t find body-weight exercises in every category. And even when you do, those exercises may be too easy or too advanced. That’s why you need equipment.
And please don’t e-mail requests to revise the program because the gym you belong to doesn’t have standard gear like barbells or dumbbells heavier than a five-year-old. Alwyn has provided the most flexible strength-training program in the history of publishing, and I’ve done the best I can to explain how to modify it for your own needs, limitations, or equipment options. But if your gym doesn’t have basic training tools, you have to find another gym, or buy your own equipment for home workouts.
Let’s start with what you need:
1. Dumbbells
For home exercise you can buy a range of dumbbells, or a single set of adjustable weights. Either works just fine. If you’re buying individual dumbbells for the first time, shop for price. We’re just talking about hunks of inert iron; fancier stuff is nice but completely unnecessary. Keep in mind that as you get stronger you’ll need bigger dumbbells. Make sure you set up your workout space with room to add more. If you’re getting adjustable dumbbells, I’ve always liked the original PowerBlocks (powerblock.com). They’re pricey—over $400 for a set that goes up to 50 pounds per block, when you add shipping—but easy to use and convenient.
2. Barbell and weight plates
Weight plates, by themselves, can be a handy form of resistance for some of the exercises. Weight plates secured to a barbell are your only option for some, particularly the deadlifts. We recommend an Olympic barbell set, with a 45-pound bar. It’s certainly the best choice for male readers. You’ll never outgrow it, and you’ll never wear it out. You can pass it on to your grandchildren. A woman working out at home might want to consider a 35-pound Olympic bar, which is shorter as well as lighter. The only drawback is that you’ll probably have to buy the bar and weights separately, instead of getting a discounted set.
You can also consider a 10-pound standard barbell. It’s narrower, making it easier to grip for women with small hands. I don’t recommend it for most lifters; it’s less versatile than the Olympic bar. Then again, I started out with a standard barbell set when I was thirteen, so I can’t really knock it.
As with dumbbells, you can shop for price. Iron is iron, whether it’s new or used. Start with yard sales and Craigslist. If you buy online, check out performbetter.com or fitnessfactory.com. Get on their mailing lists and, if possible, wait for a sale that includes free shipping.
3. Squat rack with chin-up bar
The chin-up is a somewhat advanced exercise for middle-aged men and for women of any age, and not even an option for those who’re overweight or recovering from shoulder or back injuries. But the bar is crucial. By design it’s strong enough to support several times your weight, which makes it the perfect attachment point for elastic bands or a suspension system like the TRX, both of which are described below.
A good squat rack also has adjustable supports for the Olympic bar. They obviously allow you to perform barbell squats. Less obviously, you can set the supports closer to the floor for the deadlift variations shown in Chapter 9. And even less obviously, you can set the bar in an optimal position for push-up variations.
4. Cable machine, elastic bands, or resistance tubing
If you have access to a cable machine, you don’t need bands or tubing. (Bands and tubing are the same thing, functionally, but tubing comes with handles, which make it easier to use and more comparable to cable exercises.) But you have to have one or the other. It’s nearly impossible to do the program without this type of resistance.
5. Bench, box, and/or steps
You don’t need a traditional weight-lifting bench, but it helps. Aside from the obvious bench presses, a good bench gives you a platform for elevating your hands or feet on a variety of exercises. (If you’re going to get a bench, you may as well make it adjustable so you can do incline presses and chest-supported rows.) A perfect workout room gives you a variety of boxes and steps, from 6 to 24 inches high. Most of the boxes you see in our photos are industrial-quality, designed for big athletes to perform jumping and landing exercises. They’re also expensive. (If you’re curious, you can find them at performbetter.com.) A home lifter can get just about the same benefits from a set of adjustable aerobics steps. I’ve used the ones at my gym for years and never worried about my safety.
6. Mats or a padded floor
You don’t want to try some of Alwyn’s core and power exercises on a concrete or wood floor. If you don’t have a carpeted or padded surface, find something that will protect your elbows on core exercises and your hands on explosive push-ups. You’ll also want to find a forgiving landing spot for the jumping exercises in Chapter 7.
7. A clock or timer
The core-stabilization exercises in Chapter 6 call for timed sets, as do the metabolic-training drills in Chapter 17. That means you’ll need either a timer or a workout space that allows you to see the second hand on a wall clock. I used to use a timer called the Gymboss (gymboss.com). When it gave out a couple years ago, I switched to the free Gymboss app for my iPhone. Another great app is the iWorkout Muse Pro (workoutmuse.com).
Here’s some stuff you might want:
8. Swiss ball
You can find one at any sporting-goods store or big-box retailer, and it comes in handy for core exercises and push-up variations.
These are straps with handles that hang from a doorway, chin-up bar, or ceiling attachment and allow you to do body-weight exercises with your hands or feet suspended above the floor. You don’t need one for this program, but it’s good to have. Alwyn uses the TRX, the best-known system. It’s also the one you see in our photos. The TRX is expensive, at $190 for a package that includes a DVD and instruction booklet. You can do all the same things with a Jungle Gym XT at half the price. There are other options with their own advantages and drawbacks, and by the time you read this there may be new choices that are even better.
10. Kettlebells
I was surprised to see kettlebells in Walmart in early 2011. I knew they were increasingly popular, but I didn’t know they were ubiquitous. Maybe next they’ll be in the checkout line of my grocery store, next to the Tic Tacs and gossip mags. Serious kettlebell enthusiasts will tell you that there are big differences from one type to another; some have smooth handles that make them tough to grip, while others are so rough they’ll tear your skin off. I’ll take their word for it, and advise you to do some research before you purchase one or more for your home gym.
More important, though, is that you get the weight right. My friends tell me that women should start with a 15-pound kettlebell for swings (a terrific exercise for power and metabolic training), and go up from there. For men, the minimum starting weight is 25 to 30 pounds. There are certainly great exercises you can do with lighter weights, but they aren’t in this program, and dumbbells are just fine for some of them.
11. Sliding discs
I like the $30 Valslides, which have slick plastic on the bottom and a rubber grip on top. I use them for a variety of exercises, and find they work equally well with my hands or feet controlling them. Many readers have told me that cheap furniture sliders, available online or at Home Depot and Lowe’s, work just as well at a fraction of the price. I can’t confirm or refute. I’m a lot more comfortable using equipment that’s designed for training. Alwyn says that some gyms don’t allow you to use homemade or off-label gear. And here’s something I didn’t know until Alwyn told me: If you’re a trainer, and you use something like furniture sliders with a client, and that client gets hurt, you could be looking at a lawsuit, one you have little chance of winning.