Cathe are total body workouts not effective?

L

lora-kate1

Cathlete
Hi Cathe!

I do one body part per day for about 20-30 minutes (legs longer) along with cardio. I was wondering if I should include one or two total body or circuit workout during the week in place of cardio. If so how many total body and/or circuit classes would you do per week? If not, ideally when should you do total body workouts?.

There is such differences in opinions on this. I recently read in "Muscle & Fitness Hers" Nov/Dec 2004 that Mike Davies (I quote "one of the world's top trainers who trains some of the best physiques in professional fitness") says that if you're going for a goal, you're not going to reach it with a whole-body workout because your muscles aren't getting nearly enough work. He recommends (just like you train) to do one bodypart a day (and 30-40 minutes of cardio per day for the general public). What do you think?

Also I find that when I do one body part per day I tend to be sore a day or two later. What do you do then with the total body or circuit workouts?

I totally trust your opinion since you have got the results that I want. Any thoughts?
 
Excellent question! I have a feeling each person is different and will respond better to one type of workout than the other. However, I have always wanted to do one body part per day and once a week do a Total Body workout as well.......I will see what Cathe says to this one!!
 
I'm thinking, too, that it depends on the person. If there's one thing I've learned by coming to this website is what works for one does not necessarily work for another and there's no shortcut to finding out what's going to be effective for you. It's trial and error.

If total body workouts were not effective, I don't think Cathe would be producing them, JMHO :)
 
I found (for me) that I started doing total bodies becasue I did not want any more muscle size. I wanted to keep and even trim down what I had but remain lean and tight. This was the best for me. I think these workouts are great once you've achieved you desired size and you want to keep working out with weights without the fear of growing.:7
 
I am a true beliver of mixing things up. Sometimes I do total body for a week or two every other day, then just one body part, or mixing two or three body parts for another week.... If I'd stick to one body part a day (or two as a matter of fact) then when could I do BC or the Terminator etc.,? And I just love ME and MM way too much! Mari
 
I'm not Cathe, but I seen this topic slowly climbing down the list to where it was hard to find. One of the things I was taught when I was learning how to coach weight training was it is hard to work every muscle to exhaustion in one workout. This is because all the muscles are connected, and to use one, another one has to be a stablizer to keep the correct form, so you don't get hurt and you get the benifit of working a certain muscle. When doing the total body you can hit all the big major muscles pretty effectively but the smaller one are harder to hit, with out having to already work one muscle and now you make it a stablizer. This the muscle was worked to exhaustion and then you try to make it hold everything in place while working a connected muscle. The exhausted muscle usually won't hold up as long as the muscle your trying to exhaust. It's one of the reasons why you almost always find videos that work your stomache or core last. It is the major stablizer for you to do whatever you want with your arms and legs.

For my clients who just want to be slim and strong they love total body workouts and it hits all the major muscles. For my clients who are also Cathe fans, they just won't do. They love that every muscle fiber of a group of muscles is completely exhausted and crying uncle by the end of the workout.

Anyway, I hope that helps some.

Kit
 
I get the best results when doing three total body endurance workouts each week for my weight training. I am not looking for a whole lot of muscle though, just want to firm and tone.
 
For me, I agree with Kit. I am interested in building muscle, getting stronger and working each muscle group to the best of my potential. For me, this means focusing on one muscle group/day, sometimes two if its the weekend and I can do one muscle group at one time and the second later in the day. If I know there will be a week where I will be time limited for my workouts, I will do a total body workout but this is purely for very short term maintenace. I guess if you have alot of time for working out, these would be good to have as additional workouts but I surely wouldn't let these workouts interfere with working out one muscle group/day. Also, these workouts are probably ideal for those who aren't interested in adding lean muscle mass but still want to get some mescle work in.
 
Hi

I justed wanted to let you know what I do for myself. Since receieving the hardcore series. I do the gym style each on separate days. Then later in the week I do the High step Challenge. On the weekend I do muscle max along with some form of cardio each day such as kickmax imax 3 or lomax. I have done this pattern for the last 3 weeks and have seen a noticeable different in my muscle tone and strength as well as lost 3 inches and 5 pounds.

dlburner
 
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