Hey Ectochicks!

S

Soosan

Cathlete
How's everyone doing? Are you all enjoying your summer? I know Briee has been doing P90X; how 'bout the rest of you -- what workouts have you been doing?

For most of the summer while on vacation, I alternated yoga and Pilates and walked a ton. I lost some weight:( , and gained definition and strength in my abs. At least I thought I gained strength there because I got much better at Pilates and my abs were more defined. Now that I've been home for a couple of weeks and have gotten back into Cathe workouts, I'm not sure how much core strength I've gained because I'm having a lot of trouble with stability ball pikes when I had previously gotten decent at them. Cathe's other ab work has been a bit harder for me as well, but I really think it's because doing Pilates so much has helped me focus more on form and has thus made them harder. I've lost a little lower body strength but have pretty much maintained my upper body strength, particularly in the triceps (thanks to power yoga!).

In order to fit more yoga and Pilates into my rotations, I've decided to expand my workout "week" to nine days and will be doing the following until I'm sick of it:

SUN: PUB + Yoga Stretch
MON: PLB + 10 min Pilates
TUE: Interval Cardio + Yoga Stretch
WED: Power Yoga
THU: Pilates + Short Cardio
FRI: Total Body Weights + Yoga Stretch
SAT: Rest
SUN: Cardio or Circuit + 10 min Pilates
MON: Power Yoga

I did ME today and really felt it! It's always particularly hard for me to do endurance workouts after a long hiatus. In my rotation, I'm going to include strength and endurance workouts in hopes of making gains in both areas. Time will tell!

Hope everyone is doing well.

:)
 
Oh, Ehhhck-toes, where ah-hhr you? (It's pretty hard to find an ecto. If it weren't for our big bellies:p , it would be even harder!)

Come out, come out, wherever you are!
 
Hi, Susan! I'm here! My kids started school today and I am so happy that I can get a schedule again. Vacation in Michigan and then Florida has thrown me off and I am down a few pounds and planning to focus on my legs also. I ran this morning and was going to take a yoga class tomorrow and Thursday but I've decided to wait until Saturday to start back in. I'm doing Super Sets tomorrow, running Thursday and maybe doing cardio and lower body on Friday. Legs & Glutes, I think. My legs feel less strong and the yoga hasn't cost me much muscle but does't seem to yield the definition I like. Upper bodie's great because of the yoga. I did fine the first week in Michigan but not so well the second and my week in Florida yielded 1 workout, cardio and strength. I love that I come back feeling energetic when I take a week off but I feel like a bum too! LOL! It's hot as blue blazes which is where my three pounds went. Off my chow. Oh, and my belly says hello! :D
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver
 
Hi, Susan! I'm here! My kids started school today and I am so happy that I can get a schedule again. Vacation in Michigan and then Florida has thrown me off and I am down a few pounds and planning to focus on my legs also. I ran this morning and was going to take a yoga class tomorrow and Thursday but I've decided to wait until Saturday to start back in. I'm doing Super Sets tomorrow, running Thursday and maybe doing cardio and lower body on Friday. Legs & Glutes, I think. My legs feel less strong and the yoga hasn't cost me much muscle but does't seem to yield the definition I like. Upper bodie's great because of the yoga. I did fine the first week in Michigan but not so well the second and my week in Florida yielded 1 workout, cardio and strength. I love that I come back feeling energetic when I take a week off but I feel like a bum too! LOL! It's hot as blue blazes which is where my three pounds went. Off my chow. Oh, and my belly says hello! :D
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver
 
Glad to see you, Bobbi! Wow, your kids start school early. Mine don't start until after Labor Day. I think it's easier when they're home - no tight schedules, no getting up early, no homework, etc., so I'm kind of dreading the start of school. My 4-yr-old daughter will be going to Pre-K five mornings a week, though, so I'll have an empty house every morning which will be nice for a change.

The first strength workout I did after my vacation was Push/Pull. That and Supersets are great for getting back into it. Can you believe I've never done Legs & Glutes? I feel as if my skinny legs need more strength-oriented workouts, so I always choose something else. Maybe I'll sub it for PLB this week just to check it out. I've heard nothing but great things about it; I'm just not sure how much strength it builds. What do you think?
 
I love summer too. Life is easier but we visited my mom and the in-laws and the last part's been chaotic and my workouts hit or miss. I have yet to get my new workout plan worked out. It is too early to go back to school and they've been shaving off days of summer for several years now. We used to get out end of May and go back end of August. I liked the post Labor Day school year we had in Michigan. But they don't do it like that out West. And it is so hot. They have three recesses in the 100 plus heat and Sam was sweaty and flushed when I picked him up.

To top it off, I was a little choked up dropping him off and I thought I'd be whaaa haaa haaa haaaing all the way home. Which I did, but only after I walked into the house and realized it was mine for 6 hours. I accomplished nothing today but that's ok. My husband will be disappointed but I'll tell him I am pacing myself. I have nothing but time now. And a to do list that has no end. :D

I have done Legs and Glutes exactly once but I loved it. I vaguely remember liking Super Sets and have no memory of Push Pull. I never have given Body Blast my full attention except for the cardio. I like your 9 day week. I am winging it right now. We have only been home since Saturday and Sunday was a major cleaning and laundry day and yesterday was last minute back to school things I refused to do before our trip. I did have thoughts about going back to sleep this morning and blowing off my run. Just one more day and all that, but my coffeemaker started itself at 4:50 and that was motivation enough to get me up and once up, there was no reason to not put my running clothes on and get out there. It only takes getting that first workout done to realize how much I've missed it.

It's good to talk to you, Susan!
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver
 
Hi Bobbi and Susan!! SOOOOOO sorry. What haven't I been doing this summer...besides gardening. I was supposed to garden....but it is overgrown with weeds. Just been plain busy and have not checked the forum too much lately.

Yes I've been doing the P90X. I'm in my 12 week and debating what I want to do after that. I want to stick in some HIIT workouts to prepare me for a 5K that I just entered which is scheduled September 11th. No I'm not going to run in preparation...I hate running. I'm just going to enter, show up, run, and then it's back to the P90X and hopefully hardcore shortly after!!! And all you runners...I don't want to hear it from you...I know this is incredibly stupid. I don't care....I'm doing it anyway. It's only a few miles...can't be much worse than IMAX right???

The P90X has been a blast, exactly what I needed. I can see some shortcomings, but all in all I've gained some muscle primarily in my back which was REALLY needed. I can now do 5 pullups within my workouts, and if I do them apart from workouts, I may be able to push out a few more....maybe. :) :) I do miss my barbell and am debating what to incorporate into the upcoming rotation. I want more heavy leg weight work and like I said HIIT stuff. I thought I might lose some cardio on this rotation, but I did BC cardio intervals, SJP hi/lo add on and SB combo II AND Imax the other day and they didn't seem too bad so I don't think too much cardio has been lost. For some reason, my shoulders appear smaller, I'm a little ticked at this, but I will add some heavy shoulder sets to get this back hopefully!!

Susan...how's Rocky doin???? Where are the other ecto's? I REALLY miss Julie and Robin(amadeus). I know Angela is around!! It's fun to check in every so often just to make sure you are all still ectos!!! (is Rocky an Ecto??) Have a great week guys!!

Briee
 
Bobbi, 6 hours with the house to yourself sounds pretty darn good! I hear ya on the endless "to do" list, though. I have to keep reminding myself that it can't all get done and that that's okay, life will go on.

I dunno, Briee, I don't think any self-respecting ecto should be able to crank out 5+ pull-ups! I can't even come close to doing ONE. Didn't we almost kick Bobbi out because she could do one? If you guys start spontaneously doing decline push-ups off of bumpers in parking lots, I might have to find me some REAL ectos! I've definitely been intrigued by all of the gushing P90X posts but have yet to cave. I'll see what the Hardcore Series has to offer first. How many pull-ups could you do before you got P90X?

Briee, your cardio sounds impressive, too. I've been backing off a bit from intense cardio because my body had started complaining about all of the pounding. I'd been feeling a little achy and twingy before I went to Germany in June and felt much better and more energetic there doing lighter forms of exercise and endless walking. My nine day week is just the ticket now. The cardio I've done since I've been back has been Christi Taylor, Cardio Kicks, Step Blast and Step works. I have yet to do BC - I'm not sure I'm up for it yet -I'll probably do HSTA first.

Don't even mention that starry-eyed, weenie of a squirrel, Rocky! He's off somewhere with that hussy, Fiona, and the last time I saw them, they were wearing matching ponchos that he had knitted. And, yeah, he's an ecto. I think all squirrels are...:)
 
I know, the six hours of Sam-less-ness is going to be great. Ali and Sydney both roll in later than he gets out. I suspect if I looked around I could find a To Undo List each kid has. I think having them out of the house could give me the advantage despite the fact that I am outnumbered three to one. At the very least I can workout with no interruptions and I'll settle for that too.

Briee, I love running but hated the speedwork for shorter distances. IMAX was one of my favorite ways of getting out of it. I suspect you'll do fine. I haven't done IMAX in a month of Sundays. It's still my favorite. I'm intrigued by P90X but I like to do total body or upper and lower body splits. I want to work S&H in but don't know why I am mentioning it. That's definitely getting ahead of myself. I can't go heavy until I get going. I'm excited about Hardcore and look forward to more details.

Squirrels in ponchos, eh? Who'd have thunk it. I am impressed he can knit. I can't knit and I have an opposable thumb. I know he's maddening, Susan but Rocky IS a remarkable squirrel.
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver
 
NO SELF RESPECTING SQUIRREL WEARS PONCHOS...or any other species for that matter...hand knit or otherwise. Rocky better get his act together. ( Although I too am impressed that he can knit :eek: :eek: :eek: Tell him to stick to caps/mittens instead!!)

Bobbi...six hours in alone in a house sounds nothing short of heaven to me. I'd probably do a 5 hour workout just for fun with NO interuptions. I'd then spend the last hour in the tub....oh wow...I can think of all kinds of things I'd do with six hours. I haven't had six hours alone in 15 years. Have a wonderful time!!!

A major benefit that has come from the P90X is flexibility and no more back problems. You two already know this because you are yoga/pilates buffs. But me.....I was yoga resistant until the P90X. Now I realize how important this is. I still don't like doing it, but I know my back and "whole system" thanks me for it. I can't believe the flexibility gained from yoga as well as overall strength. Why didn't you guys tell me??? }( }( }(

I could do 1 and almost 3/4 of a pullup prior to the p90x. I was doing Cathe workouts specific for building my shoulders and upper body in general and I was kind of at a plateau when the P90X entered into my life. It has balanced out my whole body. I was neglecting my back (out of sight out of mind right) and I was continually hurting some muscle in my back about every 4 weeks or so on my Cathe rotation. I'm hoping that she puts some good stretches into her heavy weight work in hardcore. The ballistic stretching in P90X has particularly been helpful. And again...I think the yoga once a week has helped the back situation as well as everything else. Cave guys...it's worth the money.... And if Julie ever gets on and tells you otherwise....she's wrong...don't listen to her :p :p :p . (but Julie please check in...I miss you, you wrong ectochick :7 :7 :7 ) Besides the P90X will prepare you for Hardcore if nothing else (okay, nothing will probably prepare us for that little adventure into pain, but it's worth a try right??).

Briee
 
Briee, from what I've read about P90X, the upper body workouts have a lot of pull-ups and push-ups. That's all well and good but I don't understand how it can improve your strength when you can't even come CLOSE to doing a pull-up. It's like telling a couch potato to start doing all-out sprints (instead of starting with walking) because it will improve her cardio capacity. Or a beginning ballet dancer to go en pointe at her first lesson because doing so will strengthen her feet. (Notice the appropriate French ballet term? I read a lot of ballet books to my daughter, so I'm up on the lingo. ;-) ) Don't you have to work up to these things? Does the ATTEMPT strengthen the appropriate muscles that much? Do you have one of those pull-up door thingies? How has P90X balanced your body? As you've duly noted :) , I already do lots of yoga so I feel the flexibility part of the equation is there. For that matter, yoga works your back real well, too. Should I go to the playground next door and try some pull-ups a few times a week? (I mean that seriously.) How often did you do pull-ups each week to get to your current level of five?

I think I will cave eventually. It's just not in the budget at the moment. How about you, Bobbi? Are you considering buying this series?
 
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