?4 Cathe

[Autumn68]

Cathe:
It's been a while since I've been on your forums and wow, what changes. I use to be a regular on the forums (formally faythe14). Anyway, I've since moved and took a long time to get settled, then almost 6 months ago I had a complete hysterectomy (& just turned 40) am just now starting to workout again. I am now about 30 # heavier & have a hard time with cardio, which was always my weakness. My endurance level is very poor. Any advise? How aggressive should I be starting out? I get upset if I can't finish a workout and don't want to give up. I've been doing 4 day split for the past few weeks but the cardio is very hard for me about mid way. I'd love to get a little workout advise on how to start out AGAIN.....
thanks so much.
Autumn68

 

[Stronger]

I am not Cathe, but hope I can help.

As I mentioned in another post it takes only 2 weeks to lose your endurance and strenght and a month if not 2 to regain where you left off, but if you have taken as much time off as you have you could be starting for square one again.

Don't let this distract nor disappoint you from improving. When you first started workingout you improved and I am sure you remember how rewarding and great every improvement felt and you'll experience this again.

Don't over do it, don't push yourself further than you can go, that only welcomes injury and will also burn you out and can cause you to lose interest in fitness and exercise (not the goal we are attempting to reach here). Take it slow, make the improvements as you go. They will not come over night, but you will fell better every day.

I would start with the beginner/imm. style workouts of here or cut the other ones you might have in half. Only do 30 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week. Start small and improve from there.

When I started workout out several years ago I made a monthly calendar and each new month I added just a little here and there. Stayed to my calendar which helped me reach my goals. This can be done, but you have to have a pocket full of patience to get there. Set goals and rewards and most importantly look forward to how great you will feel after each and every accomplished goal!

I wish you the best of luck, I know you can do this, your master insturctor, Cathe will never disappoint! Set your mind to your goals and you'll notice nothing can get in your way!

 

[gonnabea5]

I totally with agree...

I got back serious with my workouts a few months ago. I started with doing Firms 3-4 a week and doing Cathe 1-2 times a week. Those Firms were killing me and the Cathe's I did were short premixes. Well, after a month, I tried BM2 in its entirety. I was so amazed at my endurance. A few days later, I did LIC, and could really tell a difference in my endurance.

So, yes, start out with small things and gradually work yourself up to harder workouts. But clean up your eating, too.

The main thing with me was my eating. I've almost totally changed my eating. All the good food choices help me sleep better, build better muscles and thus help my endurance and flexibility. I'm down 13 pounds in 2 months.

Good luck to you.

 

[Autumn68]

thanks

Thank you both so much for your responses. I actually started doing Firm's this week, but they use to be easy, now-not so much. I was working on a rotation and they were exactly what you mentioned (firm's and 2 Cathe cardio's a week) I will do 30 min's of the Cathe cardio's until I can do more. I'm a bit discouraged today because I felt great about how I felt after a workout like I use to, and felt I was on a roll then I woke up this morning with a cold. I didn't work out tonight, but will as soon as I feel up to it. Thanks for the encouragement, I needed it.
Autumn68

 

[Amy Steppe]

I have taken off as much as 14 days and the rest helped refresh me.

I always bounce right back with improved strength and endurance.

I suppose it's a personal thing - some people recover; some lose some endurance.

 

[MarieCLS]

I took a break for a few months this year because both rotator cuffs were injured. I found I was able to quickly gain back strength and my range of motion for some exercises, like push-ups, is actually much better.

My cardio endurance has always been harder to build. Have you tried doing the same workouts with a lowered step height? I am still doing this and I feel more of an improvement in my capacity with this method instead of doing a workout on a higher step and constantly taking breaks throughout.

Good luck. Personally, it has been much better mentally to go with whatever strength is there on any given day instead of pushing too far. Hopefully you will find what works for you.

 

[Autumn68]

I've started back with doing some of my favorites like Imax 2 not doing all the interval's, and RS. I guess I can add more time on each few days to try to build my endurance back up. I started a rotation with Firms and mix in 2 Cathe cardio's in a week but as soon as I got into it, I got sick. I haven't been sick (besides my surgery) in so long, as soon as I get going again I get sick. I think this happened to me a long time ago when I got going with working out. What's the deal with that? I'll just try to do everything I can to recover and get going again. Thanks for all the feed back.

 

[MarieCLS]

I've gotten some colds also when getting back to weight training. Perhaps you need to go to the more intermediate level programs? Not sure exactly what to suggest.