New Rules of Lifting for Women is a 7-stage, full-body program from The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe, and Alwyn Cosgrove. You train 3 days a week and alternate two workouts, an “A” workout and a “B” workout. Each session pairs compound lifts with core and single-leg work, and the whole program runs about 6 months.
Progression isn’t based on percentages of your 1RM. You pick a weight you can just finish for the sets and reps a stage calls for, and once you can complete every set at the top of the rep range, you add a little weight and start again at the bottom. The book also walks through exercise form and a nutrition plan, so it’s a full package if you’re newer to lifting or coming back to it.
It’s a good fit for beginner and intermediate women who want a structured full-body program with a diet plan built in. If you’re after a glute-focused routine, Strong Curves is worth a look, and if you want the simplest possible barbell start, StrongLifts 5×5 is a gentler on-ramp. If you’re chasing a percentage-driven powerlifting peak, you’ll want a different program.
Table of Contents
New Rules of Lifting for Women Spreadsheet
The spreadsheet lays out all 7 stages, both the A and B workout for each, with every exercise, its sets and reps, tempo, rest, and the book page number so you can check the form cues. Gray cells are the prescription and green cells are where you log the weight and reps you actually hit. There’s also a Diet Calculator tab that works out your maintenance and fat-loss calories and macros from your age, weight, and height.
Program Overview
The program moves through 7 stages over roughly 6 months. Each stage has its own Workout A and Workout B, and you alternate them 3 days a week. The rep targets change as you move up the stages, starting with higher-rep break-in work and getting heavier and lower-rep through the middle stages before the strength and fat-loss blocks at the end.
You don’t work off percentages. Load each exercise with a weight you can just complete for the prescribed reps, log what you do, and add weight once you can hit the top of the range on every set. When a stage drops the rep target, you can usually go a bit heavier.
| Stage | Rep focus | Workouts |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 2 sets, easing from 15 reps down to 8 | 9 of each (a longer break-in) |
| Stage 2 | 2 sets of 10, plus intervals | 4 of each |
| Stage 3 | 3 sets of 6, plus a bodyweight matrix | 4 of each |
| Stage 4 | 2 to 3 sets of 8 | 4 of each |
| Stage 5 | 3 to 4 sets of 4 | 4 of each |
| Stage 6 (Strength) | Ramps from 10 reps down to 4, with chin-up work | A short strength block |
| Stage 7 (The Final Cut) | Heavy 6 to 8 reps paired with 15 to 20 rep circuits | 6 workouts, or 12 if you run it twice |
3 Day Workout Schedule
You’ll train 3 days per week. The A workout and the B workout alternate, with a rest day between each session.
- Monday: Workout A
- Tuesday: Rest
- Wednesday: Workout B
- Thursday: Rest
- Friday: Workout A
- Saturday: Rest
- Sunday: Rest
The next Monday you’d start with Workout B, and so on. If the movements are new to you, or you want the reasoning behind the nutrition plan, it’s worth reading the New Rules of Lifting for Women book, which covers the form cues and the diet in full.
New Rules of Lifting for Women FAQs
What is New Rules of Lifting for Women?
It’s a full-body strength program from the book by Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe, and Alwyn Cosgrove. You train 3 days a week and work through 7 stages over about 6 months, alternating two full-body workouts and adding a nutrition plan alongside the lifting.
Who should run it?
It’s aimed at women who are new to lifting or a few months in and want a structured full-body plan with a diet component. If you want a program built around glutes and lower body, Strong Curves is a better fit. If you already run a percentage-based powerlifting program and just want to add strength on the big three, this probably isn’t the right tool.
How does the 7-stage structure work?
Each stage has a Workout A and a Workout B that you alternate 3 days a week, running each workout about four times before moving on. Stage 1 is a longer break-in, the middle stages get heavier and lower-rep, Stage 6 is a short strength block, and Stage 7 (The Final Cut) is a fat-loss finisher you can run once or twice.
How do you progress if there’s no 1RM percentage?
You pick a weight you can just finish for the prescribed sets and reps. Once you can complete every set at the top of the rep range with good form, add a little weight next time and start again at the lower end of the range. The spreadsheet’s green log cells give you a record of what you lifted each workout, which is how you know when to move up.
What equipment do you need?
A barbell and plates, dumbbells, a bench, a cable stack or lat pulldown, and a Swiss ball cover most of it. A few later stages use a chin-up bar and a cardio machine for the intervals. It’s a standard commercial-gym setup, so you won’t need anything unusual.
Is there a Boostcamp app version?
Not that we’ve found. This one runs off the spreadsheet and the book. If you’d rather follow an app, StrongLifts 5×5 is a simple beginner option that does have an app version.
How does it compare to a general beginner program?
A program like StrongLifts 5×5 keeps you on a handful of barbell lifts and adds weight every session. New Rules of Lifting for Women rotates through more exercises, changes the rep schemes stage to stage, and folds in core work, intervals, and a diet plan. It’s more varied and takes longer, so pick it if you want structure and variety over the bare-bones approach.
