Heavy Weight Training vs Endurance

randidiane

Cathlete
So the past 4 or 5 months I've done STS 2 AND STS 1..I got good strength gains. I thought I should break away from that and do more endurance/cardio workouts. IT IS TOUGH! All those high reps workouts light weight are killing me lol! I'm sore like all weak long lol. I did CTX leaner legs I almost died hahaha! I'm looking more now to lean down some ..noticed I'm getting bulky and not looking as "cut" anymore;/
Anyone feeling like this too?
 
So the past 4 or 5 months I've done STS 2 AND STS 1..I got good strength gains. I thought I should break away from that and do more endurance/cardio workouts. IT IS TOUGH! All those high reps workouts light weight are killing me lol! I'm sore like all weak long lol. I did CTX leaner legs I almost died hahaha! I'm looking more now to lean down some ..noticed I'm getting bulky and not looking as "cut" anymore;/
Anyone feeling like this too?
I think you’ve got a great plan and there’s never anything wrong with changing things up. Cathe herself always says change is good.

I’m doing another week or two of STS 2.0 total body and upper/lower splits and then I want to go back and do a week of programs like strong and sweaty, ICE, LITE, CTX, etc.
 
I know what you mean by "TOUGH"! Those endurance workouts are always so hard with all those reps! I guess its "choose your hard" when choosing between endurance and heavy weights training ...

As to the "bulky" concern - do you think you might be retaining some water? This can happen whenever the muscles are breaking down and building back up .... If so, increasing your water intake AND decreasing a few carbs from your diet for a few days may eliminate some of that water retention. You'll be able to tell by the frequency of your bathroom trips and color of your urine if your body is releasing the retained water. HTH.
 
I noticed the challenge just in swapping over to a Burn Sets XTrain video the other day (I posted about it in another forum). Faster pace, shorter rests - yikes! But I agree, i think change is good.

One other thing I might put out there as far as getting "bulky" goes - keep in mind the purpose of STS 2.0, at least, is hypertrophy as well as strength. The purpose of hypertrophy is to increase the size of your muscles.

Now, I'm not concerned any of us women will turn into hulking body builders, but yes, with hypertrophy your muscles get larger which then will add some "bulk" to our bodies.

As Deb mentioned, too, some of the other factors could just be water retention, diet, etc.

That said, I've definitely noticed my biceps getting bigger and my traps and shoulders are starting to get more defined. Can't really see my back, but I'm sure that's getting more muscular, too. All the while, I'm fitting into my pants a whole lot better now, which means I'm slimming down at my waist. And once again, all without tons of cardio - whodathunkit? (You'd think I'd NOT be surprised by this having known for years and years that more muscle = a higher metabolism, but I can't help it - I always get side-tracked by people saying cardio is the best for weight loss.)
 
With STS 2.0 I've had good strength gains and maintained my weight. I haven't been able to do proper cardio for a while due to a sore hip and was concerned about weight gain. But thankfully, that hasn't happened while doing STS 2.0. I am looking at changing to some faster paced lifting workouts soon though, probably in October.
 
Thank you for the advice.! And i definitely need to drink more water and cut back on carbs a bit!I know when I lift heavy for that many months I need to tone it down on the weight. Normally I have changed more to endurance maybe after the 3rd month. But I already am slimming down some I can tell how my clothes fit. I'm having g fun visiting Cathe older videos! IMHO they are just as hard as her newer ones. I will go to heavy in about 3 or 4 months again
 

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