STS Journey check-in as from November 2012

nckfitheart2009

nckfitheart2009

Cathlete
Hi Everyone,

As promised please find the check in thread where we can all post comments, feedback while being on STS journey. It does matter how many round you have completed so far. The purpose of the thread is to share tips, techniques, thoughts/feedback, concerns, exciting results, discussing goals etc...

Now some of you may get "personal", I won't be against that. I don't get very personal on the forum, I must admit. Who knows this forum might change me!:eek:
I will be checking in once per week. Should you want to check in more often, please do not hesitate.

Please feel free to join in and/or invite anyone.

Hope to hear feedback, fun entertaining stories of the journey from anyone.

Kind Regards,

Nathalie
 
I'm ready!!

Excited to be starting round #2 of STS!!! I'll be starting Sunday and work around my work schedule....gonna challenge myself even more now that I have an idea how the program rolls~
 
Nathalie, thanks so much for starting this!

I have done check-ins in the past and yes, they can have a tendency to get personal, and that's fine for those who like that. I find it makes me a little anxious....like I'm under pressure to "do personals", as in, respond individually to everyone. I don't think I want to do that...but definitely do enjoy following the stories and chiming in now and again.

I'm in Meso 2. On the second round of the first week. Legs today.

Cathe kindly answered my XTrain question so I will be reviewing my LIS series for functional core. And then I might even DO some functional core work, LOL. Ugh. I dread it.

Tomorrow is CCPP day. But I think I might push it to Sunday so that I can keep up with my STS workouts for the week.
 
Functional core

story1267 said:
Nathalie, thanks so much for starting this!

I have done check-ins in the past and yes, they can have a tendency to get personal, and that's fine for those who like that. I find it makes me a little anxious....like I'm under pressure to "do personals", as in, respond individually to everyone. I don't think I want to do that...but definitely do enjoy following the stories and chiming in now and again.

I'm in Meso 2. On the second round of the first week. Legs today.

Cathe kindly answered my XTrain question so I will be reviewing my LIS series for functional core. And then I might even DO some functional core work, LOL. Ugh. I dread it.

Tomorrow is CCPP day. But I think I might push it to Sunday so that I can keep up with my STS workouts for the week.
Click to expand...

Hi Story1267,

I need to do something to no longer have a dreadful feel while doing functional core:p You are not the only one. I reckon once I have gained more strength and gained more neural pathway in deepest core muscles, the dread element will possibly go! I have been neglecting abs, now will stick to my rotation and do them twice per week. My back is strong. It would be great to build up strong abs complimenting my lower back.

I do enjoy doing planks though...I do not enjoy doing crunches much!
I was thinking of buying Horizontal series...Have you tried it?

I have just had a crazy idea...Can you imagine if Cathe came up with a workout consisting of various planks called " Plank max" lol :D:D:D

As to not being personals, I thought I was the only one!:cool:
 
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nckfitheart2009 said:
I have just had a crazy idea...Can you imagine if Cathe came up with a workout consisting of various planks called " Plank max" lol :D:D:D
Click to expand...

:eek: LOL! You are making me pray she doesn't visit the check-in forum! I don't know if anyone can bring the pain the way she does....in a good way of course.

Haven't looked into Horizontal Conditioning but I have seen the threads. I'll at least look..........
 
Resources

For anyone who is brand-new to STS I thought I'd share a couple of things that I have found very helpful and enjoyable.

First...Cathe TV. She fillmed a number of segments to go along with STS offering pointers and tips and even answering questions from the forums.

Cathe TV - week #1,2,3 & 4 - YouTube

Second...The STS Master Check-in thread. Cathe actually did STS and did her own check in. I enjoy reading as I go along.

http://cathe.com/forum/f104/sts-check-master-file-261138/

Hope these help.
 
AB work

Saw a post this week on fb
abs: 20 seconds plank...20 seconds side plank..20 crunches, 20 bicycles
That should be a good core workout~
 
Plank

story1267 said:
:eek: LOL! You are making me pray she doesn't visit the check-in forum! I don't know if anyone can bring the pain the way she does....in a good way of course.

Haven't looked into Horizontal Conditioning but I have seen the threads. I'll at least look..........
Click to expand...

Lol story1267, I am joining you in the prayer...Hoping she does not read this!:D:D:D
 
Thanks so much for starting this thread Nathalie!

I'm on STS Meso 3 week 2. I just realized yesterday I am down a pant size:)

My weight is the same haven't been good with eating... but I am so much more muscular especially my legs. (Apple Shape)

I am planning on doing another round. I would like to be more fit this summer. Abs I dread, but as the rest of me gets into shape than I can't ignore them any longer.

Looking forward to checking in every so often and seeing where everyone is at. This will be needed during the holiday's :)

Tiffany

P.S. Has anyone rotated STS with LIS? I saw a mention of LIS helping with core work? Any more info?.
 
Start!

Good Morning-

So today is the first day for me on my STS rotation. This morning I did M1D2 Bk/Tri. I did an STS rotation way back when it first came out, but nothing with STS since, well unless you count starting and stopping several times over the years. :p

I have decided to experiment with my rotation this time. I am going to try doing a modified undulating pyramid. It will be two weeks of each meso for six weeks, then a rest week, then the next two weeks of each meso. So it looks like this M1W1, M1W2, M2W1, M2W2, M3W1, M3W2, Recovery, M3W3, M3W4, M2W3, M2W4, M1W3, M1W4, Recovery.

There are a couple of reasons for trying this...first, I have a hard time with doing 4 weeks of one kind of weight training (Meso 3 will still be like this, but hopefully with a rest week in between it wont seem so long), second, I have a timeframe with some of my other activites that works better with 14 weeks instead of 15, and third, I am insane enough at this moment to try to this hard of a rotation to shock myself (I will be sore the whole time I think :confused:).

In addition to the STS fun, I am learning to run again so I will be doing a 14 week run/walk to run program that will lead to running a full 10k.

So my basic week will look something like this....

Sun...Run
Mon..STS Upper (whichever has the back work in it)
Tue..Run
Wed..STS Lower
Thu..STS Upper
Fri..Run/STS Abs
Sat..Pass out (or something a bit more ambitious like a bike ride or relaxing yoga)

Plus I tend to do some cathe cardio or play tennis a few times a week in the evening.

Everyone looks like they have a full plate of their own going on as well. I look forward to reading about your experiences and getting to know all of you better.

Have a good Monday.

MJ :cool:
 
Just watched a video clip of Horizontal Conditioning - Boot Camp. On another thread it was described as "the hardest workout I own" by Lorrie, who, if memory serves, is a Cathlete of long duration.

I can safely say that I am NOT ready for that!

I own Ab Circuits for STS and two others on loan to my brother - Cardio Core Circuits and B&B.

I'll do some abs....I suppose I should. I'll do what I can with good form and hope the more difficult moves become easier over time.

As for LIS....on Turbo Barre I see a 7:34 segment of abs. There must be other ab work but that's the only one that's called out in the description.

OK...Sandy just gave us a little taste of power outage so I better post this and shut down.

Stay safe!
 
Week One Done!

Good Friday Morning!

So I completed my goal for this week, my first 3 runs of the 10k training program and STS M1 W1...woohoo! I have been very out of sorts for a while workout wise, so actually sticking with and finishing the week's plan is a good step in the right direction. As a bonus DOMS are present but I am still able to walk lol. I also did 4DS LIS cardio and will probably do a bit more of cardio and some yoga over the weekend.

So where is everyone? How are your workouts going this week? I am hearing crickets in the thread...lol....;) so come on out of the reading mode...I know you are out there reading....and join right in, whether you are doing STS or not. :D

Have a good day!

MJ :cool:
 
STS check in week 1

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all safe and have not been affected by the east cost storm. New york has been pretty badly hit by Sandy. Living in Uk, I had to see the destruction of this storm on the news :(:(:(.Hope you are all ok.

Halloween has been around as well...I personally did not indulge myself as it is not a festivity I get excited about. Hope you have had a good one if you celebrated it. Spooky, it is so quite, coincidentally, on this thread!!!

I have completed my first week of STS today and as everyone i have quoted it is a great program. I am loving, loving and loving it.


[*]First point I would like to make is Push up Bootcamp is just too difficult for me right now. I need to built up some strength in my front core. My lower back is fine.:( I am pretty be too judgemental toward myself and can not stop, sometimes, to beat myself up::mad:

[*]Pull up I am doing it on a perfect Pull up bar which is a doorway attachment made by a navy seal. Please feel free to google it, should you need a pull up piece of equipment. I am happy I bought it. It enables to do pull up on supine and offer many variation including the Australian pull up. With this bar I can built up the back straight in order to perform the traditional pull up without any assistance. It works for me. I have managed to do 12 in supine. I am intending to built up more strength to do the traditional one without any assistance.

[*]I am doing 2x upper and 2x lower for 6 days workout. I have added one STS plyo into my rotation on meso1 cause I just want to push myself working my legs harder . I did also add a B & G premix to the plyo day but I had to skip that. I had to listen to my body :D:D:D.:D
I want to gain more cut and definition in my legs. Let me tell you that I can really feel the soreness on my legs bigtime.
I have enjoyed both disc 2 and disc 26 STS PLYO. Those bonuses at the boy's absence do really hit area we worry the most about. Boy!!! things us women do to feel comfortable in our own legs:D:D:D:D

The DOMS were just so bad in the full length of my adductors (inner thigh) for days:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: I have never experienced this. I had to double up the stretching session and have a light shake. No complain cause I know it is working;););) Plus I am not a faint heart type of person:eek::eek::eek:
  • There are quite few moves I liked and enjoyed the most. Dumbbell biceps curl with partial 21. I was very happy with this one as I felt accomplished with a heavier weight than I thought I could safely lift with good form. Side lying push up targeting triceps. I can recall having, in the past, problems keeping up with cathe on this. Now I can smoothly do it and feel a response from my triceps muscles within seconds. Amazing feeling. Resistance band pull down targeting the back at the end of Disc1. That provide such a amazing feeling too. You feel a "massaging burn" while working the back. It was a bonus burn while, I do not know if any of you can recall,Robert did say thank you to Cathe for the bonus burn. I reckon he was referring to the feeling of the band!

    Another favourite was wide grip Barbell biceps curl...again I manage to lift smoothly what I thought I was going to. Next time I will add weight :p

    Triceps extension on a ball was great as well. Biceps reverse curl did hit my forearm. I am going to stop listing my favourites cause i will end up writting a Book lol.Workouts do move very fast and I am happy I did my one rep max prior to embarking. There was a lot of note taking aswell. STS is not just about trying various moves..it is also about optimising the weight selection for an optimal muscle contraction.

    Hope I have mentioned everything. One more thing. I have kept my nutrition very clean. I went out Thursday for a meal my best friend at the London place which never sleep "leicester square". We had a girly chat and had a three course italian meal with white wine p:p Plus It was my way to celebrate starting STS. I am not going to fell too guilty about it as I do not go out every week and will stick to clean nutrition with no cheat for now on! I do not thing this will sabotage my program.

    That it for me for my first STS week, Hope to hear from you very soon.
    Hope you are doing very well and sailing smoothly through out the program.

    Here is a link of one of the move I loved from my first week. Quarter stop curl ;-)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtnVPJEtVDE

    To Ms perkey    , thanks again for the core routine...I did it and my abs responded. So more planks to come;)

    kind Regards everyone,

    Nathalie
 
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Greetings,

Thanks to Nathalie for setting up this new check in thread for STS. Ditto on the personal posts for me, so I am a little relieved to hear that is your stance as well. Not because I'm unfriendly, but because I just find it hard to keep up with everyone's personal developments on an ongoing basis, and I guess in my mind the Cathe site is something I visit to discuss fitness, not so much other topics. However, I am a friendly person and I have certainly come to feel fond of quite a few ladies on the forums, several of whom are here, so don't worry if you feel compelled to share more about your life than how many pushups you did in Meso 1. :D I'm sure I will too!

So, back to STS - I am currently on M2W4 and I have my leg and bicep/back workouts remaining for this week. Next week is my "active recovery" week and then I'm on to the final stretch.

My observations about the program so far are below:

- I have not lost any weight, but I have not gained any weight
- My eating has been about the same, but maybe a little more. Like others, I have been quite hungry the last several weeks. I have been eating well, so I'm not worried about it, just an observation
- I have not gotten any smaller, but I am definitely seeing some tone.
- I am mostly toning up in my arms and legs. I have more definition in my shoulders and biceps, triceps and in my thighs, which is exactly what I wanted
- I am getting stronger and I am seeing this in my other workouts

And, my NSV (non-scale victory) is that I can do a PUSH UP JACK now. I was never able to really do those before, but I can now do 8-10-12, depending on the day, and this is a HUGE accomplishment for me.

I'm already looking forward to another round of STS so that I can keep improving on my goals, but I need to get through this round first. I can definitely see why people do this program over and over. I have seen definite changes in progress in the last 8 weeks.

For cardio, I have tried to follow Cathe's suggested STS rotation, but not that closely. I try to do at least 1 day of HIIT, one day of low impact and one day of step, but I don't stick to this. I mostly do whatever cardio strikes me, based on my mood, or how many calories I think I need to burn. I workout 6 days a week.

I look forward to checking in on this thread and reporting my progress.

Eva
 
Check in

To Eva,

Glad to hear from you :).

With regard to getting personal. I am a friendly person too. I am not ruling out supporting cathlete friends who need a shoulder to cry on when needed. The option is opened. I just want anyone to feel at ease to post whatever need discussing about.

I will mainly stick to the purpose of the forum, which is fitness.

Now back to this awesome program STS. Eva...I hear you on push up :D:D:D.
To be honest, I can not even think of disliking them cause I have had such defining result on my upper body.

Eva what is Push up Jack
Did you do Core push up bootcamp style on meso 1 without modification.
I tried to modify at the first attempt and could not. So the second time, I was adamant to do and ended up getting right in the end. I am so happy of this accomplishment now that i have managed to do it. I felt muscles I never felt before! This is a call for more plank:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

* I am on Meso 1 and it is too early to see any result. I have had many results with other cathe's program. I am not too worry about result right now.

*I am doing Hiit as well premixes 30-45 minutes, with one IMAX full program per week. I have changed my cardio rotation cause I want to shock my body. Also I just love IMAX 2 and 3. I will be doing INTENSITY, to the max, cross fire and Imaxes as cardio. I will be slotting in some LIS here and there as I need a healthy balance on joints. I do not have any joint issue though.

Have a good week Eva,

I am looking forward to hearing from you and everyone else later on the week end.;)

Nathalie
 
To Tiffany

GAmom said:
Thanks so much for starting this thread Nathalie!

I'm on STS Meso 3 week 2. I just realized yesterday I am down a pant size:)

My weight is the same haven't been good with eating... but I am so much more muscular especially my legs. (Apple Shape)

I am planning on doing another round. I would like to be more fit this summer. Abs I dread, but as the rest of me gets into shape than I can't ignore them any longer.

Looking forward to checking in every so often and seeing where everyone is at. This will be needed during the holiday's :)

Tiffany


P.S. Has anyone rotated STS with LIS? I saw a mention of LIS helping with core work? Any more info?.
Click to expand...

Hi Tiffany,

Sorry just realised you have asked a question and no one has answered.
I am not rotating with LIS. I made my own rotation consisting of 3 1/2 cathe's one plus Hiit, Imax, To the max, Cross fire and one Low impact cardio slotted in once per week.

As to LIS helping with core, I do not know. One of Cathletes recently posted a question on Ask Cathe box and cathe's reply was more functional core exercises. Planks, clean diet and Hiit are the best. Me and you are on the same boat for Abs. I decided it was high time I take action about it. Two weeks I have been doing a short 15 minutes circuit just for my abs.

Few cathletes have recommended Horizontal conditioning, which is a functional core program. I am inclined to add it to my collection as I am keen on planks...There tons of them in Horizontal conditioning.

Sorry for not being much of help on this!:)

Hope to hear from you soon,

All the best,

Nathalie
 
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Hello All,
Hope Everyone is doing well and accomplishing their fitness goals!!!

Nathalie - thanks for answering my question. Please keep me updated as to how your ab work out is going and if your seeing the results you want. I will have to check out the Horizontal conditioning.

I'm similar in that I want to focus on my abs more too. I just started a glycemic load diet (no starch or soda, sugar's to a minimum). It will be interesting what comes of it. It's supposed to be a good diet for apple shape body type. Hoping I see the results I want and I stick with it, especially through the holiday's.

I just started week 3 of STS Meso 3. Can't believe I'm almost done. I haven't noticed a lot of weight loss on the scale but parts of me are more firm than ever:) I also am a size down in jeans :)

Looking forward to round 2, cleaning up my eating and adding more cardio. Maybe this round I'll be able to do a pull-up;) I'm definitely on the right track with STS and am thankful I have the program.

-Tiffany
 
Happy Week end Everyone,

Hope you are doing well and sticking to your plans.;)

Today w/o was Disc 5 plus Low impact challenge for cardio.

I am starting to feel the pump now. Next week I will be on 65% one rep max. More weight to lift and I think it is getting serious now .70 % week 4.:D Of course in a good way. Although I prepared my one rep prior to starting the program, I felt the need to amend my one rep as I wanted an accurate weight listing. It takes few trial to get the most accurate weight load.

My weekly rotation was as follows:

* Mon...45 premix INTENSITY step+ Hiit and D4
* Tues..Triple tabata premix from Cross fire D6
* Wed ..45 premix INTENSITY step+ L Hiit and D5
* Thur...IMAX3 and D4 morning and Evening
* Fri.....D26 plyo plus self set up core circuit
* Sat....Low impact challenge and D5

I will need a pair of weighted glove and would like to have your feedback. Has any of you purchased cathe's one. Are palm open or closed. Are the open palm weighted gloves comfortable or not?

To Tiffany

I will report here on my progress on my midsection...I can feel the difference already. I am more confident doing some challenging variations of push up. I just need to be consistent.

I am beginning to feel the pump in my muscles now. Now I wonder what next week is going to be like:):):). I do not if it is too early but I am feeling stronger.
My goal is to gain cut and more definition. I would love to loose fat/weight along the process. I have been loosing inches for years but I want to be in very happy terms with my scale :eek::eek:. I broke the plateau just a week prior to starting STS so let's hope I progress more :):):).

I have heard everyone mentioning about the numerous push up in Meso1. This week I felt more comfortable. I think push up is very good as it is a compound move and to be honest I feel the benefit on my core. I personally do not complain. It has got to be done:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Pull up, pull and chin ups oh my that is a serious pump.

Core push up bootcamp style...I would like to know your views on it. The first time I attempted it, I tried to modify on my knee and had to stop as instantly cause I was interfering with my joints:cool::cool::cool:.
I then came to term to just attempt again giving my all!

Second time I managed to do it slowly though...In my opinion there is not really a modification for it. I am glad I managed to do it. I need to do more of it cause it is excellent for core.

At this point of the program, I am feeling great and full of energy. I am looking forward to week 3. 65 % one rep max ;);), Wish me luck girls.

I shall report on here soon,

Kind Regards,

Nathalie
 
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