Govtgirl
Cathlete
I finally have learned my lesson, and am going back to what worked for me in the past to lean out and lose weight. Full-body, circuit weight workouts 4 times a week, lots of legwork, but no more squats with 60 pounds, or even 40 pounds for that matter. I'm going to concentrate on the Cathe videos that fit that bill.
Years ago I got in shape with the FIRM, and the heaviest I went on leg presses was 10 pound dumbbells (20# total). I would even do this 2 or 3 days in a row, but it worked like a charm, I dropped weight and could see all sorts of different muscles, especially in my legs! Later I got out of the habit of working out (new job, moved, etc) , and went I went back I kept thinking, "I need to go heavy, muscle is muscle, train heavy like a guy."
Nope.
It just made my joints hurt, and my weight stayed where it was. I have a reunion that I'm going to in 6 weeks, and my goal is to lose 8-10 pounds by then doing Cathe circuits, some FIRM (!!), and uphill walking on the treadmill. The only heavy work I'll do is upper body at the gym. Most of my leg work will be 8# dumbbells (16 total) or using my own bodyweight. Probably 2 days in a row of circuit, then one cardio day. I know they say not to do weights 2 days in a row, but it worked great for me before, probably because I wasn't going to complete muscle failure. I figure it must be like people that have physical jobs, construction, dock worker, etc. They lift weights everyday (picking up heavy boxes, swinging hammers, etc) and they don't fall apart.
If anybody is interested I'll post my progress, but I'm really excited about this, and mad that it took me so long to realize it. For the record, I'm 5'4, 132-134, a vegetarian, and eat 1900-2000 cals a day to maintain that. I plan on eating about 1600-1900, just to give it some oomph, plus I'm on a deadline
I remember when I got in shape before, I didn't change my eating at all, just started the circuit work, and that did it all. Let's see!
Years ago I got in shape with the FIRM, and the heaviest I went on leg presses was 10 pound dumbbells (20# total). I would even do this 2 or 3 days in a row, but it worked like a charm, I dropped weight and could see all sorts of different muscles, especially in my legs! Later I got out of the habit of working out (new job, moved, etc) , and went I went back I kept thinking, "I need to go heavy, muscle is muscle, train heavy like a guy."
Nope.
It just made my joints hurt, and my weight stayed where it was. I have a reunion that I'm going to in 6 weeks, and my goal is to lose 8-10 pounds by then doing Cathe circuits, some FIRM (!!), and uphill walking on the treadmill. The only heavy work I'll do is upper body at the gym. Most of my leg work will be 8# dumbbells (16 total) or using my own bodyweight. Probably 2 days in a row of circuit, then one cardio day. I know they say not to do weights 2 days in a row, but it worked great for me before, probably because I wasn't going to complete muscle failure. I figure it must be like people that have physical jobs, construction, dock worker, etc. They lift weights everyday (picking up heavy boxes, swinging hammers, etc) and they don't fall apart.
If anybody is interested I'll post my progress, but I'm really excited about this, and mad that it took me so long to realize it. For the record, I'm 5'4, 132-134, a vegetarian, and eat 1900-2000 cals a day to maintain that. I plan on eating about 1600-1900, just to give it some oomph, plus I'm on a deadline
I remember when I got in shape before, I didn't change my eating at all, just started the circuit work, and that did it all. Let's see!
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