Moving on to Stage 2 of NROL4W

Technically speaking, I finished Stage 1 of the NROL4W on Wednesday.  There are some special exercises I could add on to the end of Stage 1 just to gauge my progress but these seem to be optional (at least many folks choose to skip them).  However, I'm not quite ready to move on to Stage 2.  

The fact of the matter is that I feel like I really have to sit down, read and do some research about how to properly perform the exercises in Stage 2.  However, I just feel like I have so much going on!  So, I'm hemming-and-hawing about doing the work and therefore about starting Stage 2. 

So what I've decided is to do workouts A and B once more (I did workout A this morning and I'll do workout B on Monday) and then I'll do Special Workout A on Wednesday and Special Workout B on Friday.  The following week, I'm going out of town so I will give myself a break from lifting and really exercise in general.  I definitely need the break and it'll also give me time to read about the exercises that I'll be doing in Stage 2.  I'll jump into Stage 2 on Monday, February 28.

I really wish I could recommend NROL4W flat out without reservations.  But I think if I were to tell anyone to this program, I would follow up with a recommendation that they also join JP Fitness Forums and read, read, read.  There's so much information on there that the beginner would just not know--not even from reading the book cover to cover.  I honestly feel like a lot was left out and you do have to do a lot of legwork to get the details.  I also don't think, and I'm speaking as a person with a degree in English, that it is a well-written book.  Every week or so, a newbie comes on the forums completely and utterly confused about the formats of the workouts.  The convoluted way in which the workouts are laid out is initially the reason why I hesitated to do the program.  I'm not new to lifting weights but I am new to the gym and so I felt doubly intimidated by the whole thing (no idea what I was doing in the gym and only a slight grasp on how to go about the workout).  I'm so grateful for the JP Fitness Forums but I kind of wish the book was more thorough and, basically, more plainly laid out.  It really should be very straightforward even if it adds a bit more thickness to the book.  

But I'm enjoying the program nonetheless.  Really liking it.  I feel like it's a great segue into serious weight lifting.    

I had a protein shake after today's lifting session.  [I will blog about what's in that in the near future (as well as my trepidation about protein shakes).]  I also took my iron supplement (Floradix Floravital Iron and Herbs) something that I often neglect to do.  I was feeling quite run down, sleepy and tired so I thought why not.  I'm always trying to remember to take it before a meal but I always forget.  So I just took it and it has made all the difference today.