Answers to your questions through a NROL filter:
Let me try and answer these questions through a NROL filter:
Quote:
1) If I can't finish the required number of reps I've been changing down ASAP and finishing the number with a lower weight to go out on a high note. Is this a good idea?
According to NROL, the answer is no. Your goal is to increase SOMETHING during every workout (not everything). What this means, is that if on your last set you can't finish all of your reps, record it and try and beat that number next time. If you cant push out the required set of reps on EVERY or MOST sets, then you are using too much weight and should decrease the weight next time.
Quote:
2) I can usually finish the reps with the weights I've chosen (though of course, sometimes it's struggle), but then I find 75 secs too short to recover so I'm not so strict in keeping to the recovery period. Is this bad? Should I choose slightly lighter weights so I can stick to the timing, should I just fight through it even if it means not being able to complete the final set, or am I OK in extending the rest period by 10-20 secs?
If you are on NROL fat loss, the rest periods are designed to keep "the fire burning." Increasing your rest periods is going to decrease the fat-burning effect of your workout and increase the time you are spending in the gym. I would really try to adhere to them if possible.
Quote:
3) When should I do yoga (I'm pretty much a newb at that too)? I guess that elongating muscles to that extent is bad just before weights. What about a day before (training weights three times a week I only get alternate days rest)? What about immediately after (i.e. will that kind of stretching hamper my muscle recovery?)
I know very little about yoga. But generally stretching cools down your muscles rather than warming them up. I dont see a problem doing this after workouts or on recovery days.
Quote:
4) When should I do isometrics (and slow sloooow stance work)? As mentioned above the stance work I do is a hard workout in itself. It's a form of endurance. According to studies cited by Cosgrove and Schuler, aerobic endurance work interferes with weights for strength: if you do alternate days the gains are in endurance to the detriment of strength, so you should do it together with your weights, or after and before a full day's rest. So what about anaerobic endurance?
I dont see this being an issue. This is more geared towards the person who spends hours training to be an endurance athelete (such as a long distance runner, cross country skier, etc). You shouldn't see much of a decrease in strength gains.
I am not trying to move you away from this forum, but on the Men's Health Magazine forums, there a lot of people who do NROL on there and you can get a lot of advice from people with way more experience than me. It has been a great resource for me in my fat-loss/strength gaining journey.