How long did it take you???

[nik13]

Cathe I read a post below by you. You were saying that everyone's different and that you have to play around with rotations and strength variations until you find what works for you.

How long did it take before you found what worked for you?
What different things did you play with before you found what works for you?

I ask because some people (not anyone on this board, please don't take offense) look at people who are fit and think that it comes easy to them and for some it probably does, but I bet they work very hard for it. I can tell you work hard for it and you are passionate about your life's work. You are a credit to fitness if not queen. I like that, Queen of Step & Strength, LOL. Like Aretha is Queen of Soul, LOL.

I hope you and your family are enjoying the summer,
Nikki

P.s. It has been 98 degrees here in Michigan. WHew, I sweat with out even moving. Is that considered a workout? LOL.

 

[1swimom2]

I have a funny story. This spring I had been doing the cross training weight workout as upper and lower body split. I would start the DVD at the back exercises and work through all the sections. On other days I would do leaner legs. My thin husband who has hit 40 and is feeling out of shape decided that he too would do the upper body split. After the 3rd attempt at doing the workout I do, he just stared at Cathe in amazement and said "She's not human. She has to be an alien". So she is Queen of step, but she's also has super human strength!!

Dorothy

 

[*MichiganMom*]

Nikki,
I'm not Cathe, but it's taken me almost a year to figure out a rotation which gives me results. Finally in the past month both the scale and tape measure have moved down!
I wanted to add a question to yours though...
Cathe, once you figured out what worked and achieved your desired results what do you have to do to maintain? Is it less than when you were trying to get cut,etc.? Please say yes!
I'm having to do a min. of 60 minutes of both cardio and weights each day to get that scale moving. I can't keep that up for more than the summer.

Back to the heat in MI, Nikki. Isn't it awful? I like hot, but to go from jeans and sweatshirts one week to heat indexes near 100 is a bit of a shock to the system!
Try and stay cool!

Becky

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Nik! Thanks so much for your kind words. I can't say I remember exactly how long it took me before I found what really worked for me since it has been a while now. But I know years and years ago, I just hit weights lightly and sporadically. I got toned from that and was fine with that but then as I nursed my achilles tendonitis back then(a six month therapy program)I had to find another way to stay in shape that didn't require a lot of repetitious achilles involvement. That was when I got more involved with weight training and found that I enjoyed focusing on one body part at a time vs all body parts in one workout. I noticed that I also seemed to respond well to this. For me it was a mental response as well as a physical response because I have a hard time giving my all to one particular body part if I know I still have so many other body parts ahead of me (but that is just me). So for me the one body part per day method is what I prefer.

Enjoy your summer too!

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Becky! Yes, once I found the perfect combination I cut back for maintenance. For example, weight training for about 30 minutes at one body part per day (roughly 4 to 5 exercises per body part) brings me very satisfying results. It usually takes me about 12 weeks to TOTALLY get all the cuts out. Once I have achieved this, I can cut back to training one body part per day, at three exercises per body,(taking about 15 to 20 minutes to complete).

After about three to four weeks on the maintenance program, I will go back to hitting it hard again in the same manner, but this time re-arrange my exercises or add some new exercises.

Take Care !