Gym and Video workouts...

[DEEDEE]

O.K., I've finally gotten brave enough to join a gym. I've wanted to do this for years, but about 2 years ago I was too intimidated because I weighted 282lbs. Now thanks to some tough love (from myself) and fitness videos (thank you Cathe) I'm down to 160lbs; the last 10 lbs took months to lose so I decided to shake things up a bit by joining a gym and having access to gym type equipment.

I've also hired a personal trainer to get me started on the resistance equipment (since I have never used anything other than free weights) and to help me lose a few more lbs. I have my first session with him tonight. I must admit when the guy who signed me up called the trainer over to introduce him to me my heart skipped a few beats. Imagine Andre the Giant with 4% body fat and head to toe muscles...

My question is how do you guys incorporate your gym workouts with you video workouts? While I do plan to do resistance training in the gym, I just don't think that I can give up Power Hour...that workout is addicting!:7 I also don't want to overtrain because the last thing I need is an injury.

I would appreciate any and all suggestions and hints. I don't mind input from the educated crowd. :+

 

[FitnessGoddess]

Hi DeeDee,

I don't have an answer for you because I've never belonged to a gym. I came in to tell you that unless this question is for Cathe, you might want to ask over on the open discussion forum.

 

[l23]

I don't have a gym/video rotation- I just do what I feel like. You could do one or 2 days of weights at the gym and a PowerHour or similar video at home.
Or you could focus on gym workouts for 6 weeks, then at-home workouts for 6 weeks.
Your gym might also have a weightlifting class which is most likely like PowerHour. You have some different choices so you won't get bored.
Since you're paying for sessions, I would focus on what he tells you to do and then tweak it to suit you.

good luck!

 

[Seabush]

Last year, I used Cathe's tapes along with gym equipment to do an eight week rotation I found in Muscle & Fitness Hers. I had excellent results mixing Cathe's tapes with gym equipment. Some days I would use Cathe's tapes. Some days I would use gym equipment. It all depended on my mood. What stayed consistent was the program;

Week 1 - Circuit Training (gym equipment). Train your entire body three times per week. Three days of cardio.
Week 2 - Heavy (S&H and/or gym equipment). Train each body part once per week. Four days of cardio.
Week 3 - High Reps (any of Cathe's muscle endurance tapes and/or gym equipment). Train each body part twice per week. Five days of cardio.
Week 4 - Supersets (Cathe's Pyramid DVD and/or gym equipment). Train each body part once per week, working two different muscle groups back to back with no rest in between. Five days of cardio.
Week 5 - Circuit Training (gym equipment). Train your entire body three times per week. Four days of cardio.
Week 6 - Heavy (S&H and/or gym equipment). Train each body part once per week. Five days of cardio.
Week 7 - High Reps (any of Cathe's muscle endurance tapes and/or gym equipment). Train each body part twice per week. Six days of cardio.
Week 8 - Supersets (Cathe's Pyramid DVD and/or gym equipment). Train each body part once per week, working two different muscle groups back to back with no rest in between. Six days of cardio.

This routine allows for tons of variety. You can use a variety of Cathe tapes, training methods, and gym equipment. I didn't get bored doing this like I tend to do with rotations that focus on doing specific tapes over a period of time. I like this routine so much that I plan on doing it again next month after my tank top rotation.

Crystal

 

[Amni]

Crystal, this program looks interesting to me and would love to try it. However, I have a question..I want to do this strictly using Cathe's tapes at home.I only have an hour in the mornings so I'm wondering how long the cardio sessions should be? If I have strength and cardio on the same day (which most of the weeks call for) I won't be able to fit it in.
Thanks.

 

[Seabush]

I think this routine is doable for those who just have one hour per day to exercise. You can do short but intense workouts on the days you strength training and longer sessions on off days. For example:

Week 1
Day 1 - Circuit Training
Day 2 - Cardio (60 minutes)
Day 3 - Circuit Training
Day 4 - Cardio (60 Minutes)
Day 5 - Circuit Training
Day 6 - Cardio (60 Minutes)
Day 7 - Rest

Week 2
Day 1 - S&H Legs + abs
Day 2 - S&H Back plus cardio (30 minutes)
Day 3 - S&H Chest + cardio (30 minutes) + abs
Day 4 - S&H Shoulders
Day 5 - S&H Triceps plus cardio (30 minutes) + abs
Day 6 - S&H Biceps plus cardio (30 minutes)
Day 7 - Rest

Week 3

Day 1 - Power Hour or ME
Day 2 - Cardio (60 minutes)
Day 3 - Cardio (60 minutes)
Day 4 - Power Hour or ME
Day 5 - Cardio
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Short Cardio or rest

Week 4

Day 1 - Pyramid DVD Legs + abs
Day 2 - Biceps/Triceps + cardio (30 minutes)
Day 3 - Shoulders/Chest + cardio (30 minutes)
Day 4 - Cardio + abs
Day 5 - Cardio
Day 6 - Cardio + abs
Day 7 - Rest

Week 5

Day 1 - Circuit Training + short but intense cardio session
Day 2 - Cardio (30 minutes)
Day 3 - Circuit Training
Day 4 - Cardio
Day 5 - Circuit Training
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Rest

Week 6
Day 1 - S&H Legs + abs
Day 2 - S&H Back plus cardio (30 minutes)
Day 3 - S&H Chest + cardio (30 minutes) + abs
Day 4 - S&H Shoulders + cardio (30 minutes)
Day 5 - S&H Triceps plus cardio (30 minutes) + abs
Day 6 - S&H Biceps plus cardio (30 minutes)
Day 7 - Rest

Week 7

Day 1 - Power Hour or ME plus cardio if time allows for it
Day 2 - Cardio (60 minutes)
Day 3 - Cardio (60 minutes)
Day 4 - Power Hour or ME plus cardio if time allows for it
Day 5 - Cardio
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Rest

Week 8

Day 1 - Back/Chest (ME or PH tape) plus short cardio session
Day 2 - Biceps/Triceps plus short cardio session
Day 3 - Legs plus short cardio session
Day 4 - Back/Chest (ME or PH tape) plus cardio session
Day 5 - Biceps/Triceps plus short cardio session
Day 6 - Legs plus cardio
Day 7 - Rest