Hi All:

I've just finished reading the BFL book and have a few questions.

First, 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? Sounds to me like the latter. Any thoughts/advice? I've personally had conflicting advise about stretching. One PT told me never to stretch (I'm hypermobile) and another said to ALWAYS stretch before, between and after.

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? It seems like such a fine line to me. It would be frustrating to start out with such a big goal to be sidelined by injury within the first couple of weeks.

What about core strength training? Do people substitute some of the ab exercises or add core strength onto the list of exercises. I've had the importance of core strength pounded into me ad nauseum so I'm not sure what to do with these exercises. It just seems that when I do everything right, my routines get so incredibly long, which is why I like the efficiency of BFL. Not sure what to do with this.

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?

Any help appreciated,
Wanda

Hi, I'm a newbie too. I start officialy next Monday

Read the sticky at the top of the screen about combining BFL with LC.
I can't really answer about the nutricion because I am going to stick with Atkins for that, I do follow the 6 meals a day and the after workout one low fat and high protien from BFL. If you like Schwarzbein, why not see if you can combine the plans. Just be sure to have a high dose of protien and some carbs after workout, to eat 6 small meals through the day with some protien at each, and to get enough protien overall.

As for core exercises. I have a Pilates book. I plan to use Pilates moves for my ab exercises as they tone not only the abdominal region, but focus on the entire core.

I think stretching comes from the exercises. When he describes his own workout he goes strait to the bench and starts on chest work. I am a large fan of Yoga though and plan to continue to do my little 15 min wake up rutine each morning to stretch the kinks out. I may do an evening one if I have time as well to help with sore muscles.

The high intensity worries me a bit too, but if you look the intensity is set up by you. If at level 10 intensity you've found you have bitten off more then you can chew, he suggests backing off. I think the first week is primarily figuring out at what weights are your levels. 6 being moderate and 10 being you can just do the required amount of reps. Of course the stronger you get the more it goes up, so you may find yourself needing to push harder Lift smart to avoid injury too. Have a spotter if you can, keep your abs in and don't do anything that puts too much pressure on your back, and if a certain exercise puts to much pressure on a joint or causes pain, find another exercise.

Hi Wanda I'm not sure how much help this will be but here goes:

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.

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.

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.

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

Oh wow, you guys are quick! Thanks Ladybelle & Nat. I really appreciate your thoughts and thank you for welcoming me. I guess I'm committed now. Ladybelle, I'm planning to start Monday too.

Nat, that seems like a good compromise in the "stretching" department. I usually do 5 minutes of cardio, then stretch before workouts, then stretch in between and after. So doing a bit of cardio before the weight work and stretching in between and after isn't that far off what I already do yet cuts down a bit. Hope that wasn't too confusing!


I was more worried about injury from the weight training. My bad knee self-limits me in the cardio department (no jogging for this girl ). I injured my shoulder in the past from pushing myself too hard. Yes, I need to seriously take heed on his advice in the book about progress, not perfection. But your advise above still applies. Since it's been a couple of months since my last weight training session, I'll do a trial run at less intensity before actually starting BFL on Monday and then I'll start slow in the beginning. I guess getting older (and wiser) means learning to listen to your body's signals. Ladybelle, DH says he's going to do this with me, but that remains to be seen. We used to workout together a lot and it's nice to have a spotter.


Nat, I read that awhile ago when I was researching the info on leptin and re-feeds that you provided on this site. I was thinking about using fruit more as a condiment once/day (some berries in yogurt, a small dab of homemade applesauce in squash). Would that work OK? Nat, do you totally avoid fruit or just limit it?

Thanks! I will look at lisaf's journal and probably pick Piano's brain about the nutrition especially b/c of the "nothing processed" rules. I'm undecided about using the protein shakes still.

Wanda

--edit--
Red, I just noticed your post in the preview. You have come so far, it's so inspirational for me. Lookit you, now you're jogging. Back in your beginning days, you were asking me lots of questions about Atkins. Now I'm asking you all kinds of stuff about BFL. In the past, you thought you were always "taking" and never "giving", but you were wrong. You've been GIVING me inspiration all along.

Wanda, I thought you were referring more to the cadio than the weight lifting. The same general idea applies - you set your own person best, but instead of focussing on intensity at the outset I would say focus on good form. This is the best way to ensure you do not injure yourself - and watch out for the shoulder, it's a delicate joint and past injuries can come back to haunt you. If it's a rotator cuff injury I would avoid a few specific shoulder exercises, like lateral raises and upright rows done very close to the body.

As for limiting fruit - sometimes, othertimes not. I use low glycemic berries when I LC and that's about it - it's more of a personal choice / convenience than anything. When I eat a la BFL I use apples, grapefruit, berries, pears and when I'm feeling naughty, grapes. But it's never a large serving and it's always with protein. I just don't like really sweet fruits anymore. I think I read 50g of fructose on a carb up to replentish liver glycogen as a limit, after that it's 'excessive'. 50g is a lot of fruit, so I wouldn't obess.

Cheers,
-N

Hi Nat:


Good advise. Shoulders are my least fav workout. Not sure if it's b/c of past injury or b/c it's my weakest body part.


What, me obsess? ROFL!!! Seriously, that's really helpful to put into perspective.

As alway, Nat, you're a wealth of information. You ARE my idol! Thank you, thank you.

Wanda

Shoulders are often hated because they tend to be so weak, but they also tend to respond really well because they are so weak (and haven't been worked much). I hate my biceps for that very reason!

You're welcome

-N