Hi Wanda
I'm not sure how much help this will be but here goes:
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Originally Posted by wcollier
I didn't read anything about stretching. Does he assume everyone has their own stretching routine already? Or does he believe that the first set of exercises adequately stretch the muscle?
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One of the major critcisms of BFL is that it does not include much (any) info on stretching. It's my belief that those first two sets, done at a lower intensity are designed to stretch the muscle. Sets one and two should take minimal effort, and seeing as they are done for 12 and 10 reps, it is a good warmup. It's been suggested that stretching between sets would be advantageous, as this allows you to get good blood flow and circulation to the muscles you are actively working. I do this (when I remember!) and I always stretch afterward. Before hand I will do 10 minutes of cardio just to aid in the warm up.
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The high intensity concept seems so incredibly efficient, but I'm concerned about injury from overdoing the intensity, especially the way he describes it in the book. Is there a high injury rate for people starting out?
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The beauty of the 20 MAS is that the intensity if personal and that it changes with your fitness level. I can honestly say I don't know of anyone who's been injured by following this cardio plan - but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. The best advice is to take it slow and learn what your body can handle. Not hitting your 10s the first times out isn't going to equate with failure.
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What about core strength training? Do people substitute some of the ab exercises or add core strength onto the list of exercises.
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Core strength training, as I understand it, refers to strengthing in the abs, lower back and neck - all of which will happen with the weight lifting (deadlifts, squats, crunches and shrugs will target these ares). The ab work isn't pilates, however, and the focus is not on working the transvere abdominus so much as the obliques and the upper / lower ab muscles. Keep in mind that BFL was / is designed as an entry level plan, for beginners with little knowledge of lifting, high intensity cardio or nutrition. In this respect you're eons ahead of the pack. Adjusting Ab days to suit your individual needs seems quite fine, to me.
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For someone doing Schwarzbein, the food list for carbs seems pretty limited. Why just strawberries, oranges, melons (does that include watermelon????), and apples for fruit? I know you don't want to have too much fruit, but what about other berries? Is this list just a generalization for unrefined, good quality carbs?
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I'd go with "a generalization for unrefined, good quality carbs" for my answer. Bill asks us to eschew bread if possible and to focus on unprocessed carbs. I would also caution against using too much fruit, as the purpose of the carbs is to keep muscle glycogen stores filled - fructose is metabolised by the liver and has minimal impact on muscle stores.
Which carbs you use should be dictated more by the plan you're using for nutrition, IMHO. If you're going to follow Schwarbein nutrition then use her recommendations - frankly I think her numbers are high enough that you should not notice any bonking or fatigue. You might check out the gym log and journals of Lisaf - she did a BFL challenge using SPI in 2002.
HTH and welcome to the club !
-Nat