A QUESTION FOR CONNIE

O

Olivia

Cathlete
Hello Connie,

I'm sure you never have seen any of my posts as I hardly ever write. Though I have be following some of your progress and I'm interested in what you say. I read from a thread called 75% diet and 25% exercise one of your post's, it is as follows, just part of it:

Avoid working one body part twice. This is "massing up."

Could you tell me why one should not work a body part more than once per week? I'm trying to cut out my cardio and increase strength training, I have began to see some changes, though they are small I'm not sure why? My diet, not enough protein? I eat mostly clean with one treat evening once per week! Workout routine, not heavy enough? Or perhaps just slow to build muscle and burn fat? I do not have a lot of fat to loose I'm more interested in getting nice and firm. But I have been working my body parts twice or three times per week! Also are you on the Bodyrx? I also tried to view your pictures, but I could not find the link when I did a search, are you willing to post again?
You mentioned 'rest' I'm not sure I follow what you mean? A short rest in between sets? But you also mentioned 'rest' after Cardio? Do you mean a 'rest day'? I would be pleased to hear your response to my questions if possible?

Thank you in advance,
Olivia
 
all you have to do to see Connie's pic is click on the little head in all her posts, you know where the name is. You don't have one so I think that means you did not set up a user profile.

Janice
 
I'm sorry Olivia, I don't want to butt in here, but wanted to tell Connie I was interested in her "take" too. Connie, when you are reffering to "this is massing up", what do you mean?? It was kindof unlclear whether you thought working a body part once a week would mass you or twice? Has this been your own personal experience??

Janice
 
Hi Connie,

Gn9799 here to tell you that I checked out your pics and you look terrific. Sooooo "buff" . What do you do for those abs???/ Theyre wonderful. Is it true that if you have a layer of "fat" over your abs, you can work them until the cows come home, and will never see results until you lose the weight on top of them?

And your legs, I want those. Compared to yours, mine are skinny. You told me in previous post not to work them more than ONCE per week. Like Olivia, I've been doing 2 and striving for 3 times per week...........help us! Just curious, what weight are you using on your legs when doing say, PS or SH??/

thanks,
Your fan, GN
 
Holy cow! Connie, you look fantastic! Okay, actually perfect.
Please, please tell us your rotation regarding cardio vs weights vs yoga, etc.
THANKS!
 
Wow Connie!

Someone told me how to view your pictures so I just did and Wow! I want your body, you look fantastic, please tell us your story? You look just like what I'm trying to look like! You look like Cathe, all lean and cut! Did it take you a long time? And have you been very strict with your diet, exercise routine? Do you know your body type, do you think that made a difference? Sorry, but when I saw your body I thought, perhaps it's possible for me too!

Your fan,
Olivia
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-09-02 AT 02:46PM (Est)[/font][p]Wow, Hi guys!
First, take a lot of pictures and throw out the bad ones! Next, pick your parents! LOL! By the way I still have a layer of fat over my abs. The lighting accentuates the cut look as well as sucking in and straightening out the spine. My back curves so I sort of stick my stomach out unconsciously. I have to do a pelvic tilt for those pictures. It's hard not to grimace because I'm sucking it in!

Seriously, though, what I meant for mass building was this. Of course, Maribeth is right, slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers respond to different kinds of exercise. And since most of us don't know what we have, it's a matter of trial and error.

I'm not sure if my mass-building routine will work for everyone. But when I work an area, say lower body, really hard, then I give it plenty of rest in proportion to how hard I worked. I never work out an area while it's even a mite sore. That means after a hard Leg Day I'll rest. Then if I do upper body parts and it's time for legs again and they're still sore, I'll do cardio of varying intensities or rest until the soreness is gone.

To build mass, I work the area hard and take up to a week rest (or longer) before working it again. Usually that's how long it takes.

I also lift very heavy, so that 4 or 5 reps is the max for good form (the third set of 6 reps, got the idea from other writers *and* BodyRx) and rest for 2 to 3 whole minutes in between sets. So the answer to the rests question is *both.*

Then, after a week to three weeks (boredom prevents me from doing any one thing longer than that) I go for a lighter routine with for example 2-3 cardios and Power hour and maybe one more like Power hour in about a week.

Sometimes I'll do a "week" in about ten days. As long as I do the rotation. I count Power hour as good as a cardio for fat burning, but I check it off in my log as strength training! So I wave back and forth between light and heavy cycles.

Then I just practice patience because the benefits come slowly. The pictures, like measurements, are encouraging markers for me. Thank y'all for asking!
 
Thanks Connie for your reply, I'll have to work out a rotation and see what happens. As for diet do you follow the Bodyrx and do you follow a diet plan strictly to also add to your results.

Thanks once again,
Olivia
 
Hi-
Well I try to eat right. I try to plan ahead and often fall short but I find that planning not to get hungry really works. So, even though I have a very busy job, I still try to eat something at ten in the morning and mid afternoon. Instead of 6 times a day I eat more like 7- 8 times, on the days I work out early.

I learned a lot from BodyRx but I don't follow a diet plan strictly. I do set quotas for myself for intake, BodyRx and before that Body For Life taught me that. It's an effective approach for me.

My greatest downfall is cake, cake batter and peanut butter. I just avoid baking for other people (wow, that would be a disaster) and incorporate peanut butter into my planned menu. When I do have a birthday person near me, I'll eat the required 2-3 pieces of cake, but first I have a balanced lunch, otherwise it could turn into a disaster, LOL. I might be exaggerating a bit but maybe someone out there can relate.

Adding an apple and a few carrot sticks daily has been my latest endeavor. Also, rediscovering Fiber One cereal. I eat lots of things like Fiber One every *other* day, for variety.

Tomorrow I plan to do All-Step, in its entirety! Cardio, shoulders and abs!

Connie
 
Hi Connie,

I'm glad to hear that you do not follow bodyrx strictly or any certain diet, just clean sensible eating for the most part, this gives me hope for myself because I find it hard to follow eating plans strictly. I think what I need to do is work on my strength training. I try to eat my quota with fruit & veg and fiber, I may be a little low on protein but I have improved. I know I need to drink more water, I'm still working on this. So perhaps like you said, it takes time and it is slow going to really get the results you want.

I often workout with S&H and still pick up the weights a day later even when I'm sore, I have wondered if this is correct? As I know that rest is important to building muscle! I'm going to have to sit down and figure out how to set a routine for myself with some of your ideas and see how my body responds. Bordem also kicks in for me after 2 or 3 weeks on a set routine. But I like the idea of lifting very heavy for a small amount of reps. I have been lifting weights for a few years and I still lift very light, I have not progressed higher than 18 to 20 1bs for certain exercises, for chest and shoulders I'm still only between 10 to 12 1bs. I'm not sure exactly why perhaps because I have not pushed myself enough? Anyway, I'd better quit going on, thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions!

Olivia
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-10-02 AT 11:06PM (Est)[/font][p]Hi, Olivia!
I think your instinct is correct, to try a week with your highest weight, few reps per set (try sets of 5 or 6, if you like Cathe's company use Slow and Heavy and just stop early) and go heavier on the next set if you think you can.

Then rest for the whole minute or up to 3 minutes between sets. This minimizes lactic acid buildup (soreness) which you don't want- you will feel enough already.

The last set, go heavy enough so that you can't do more than 5 reps with good form.

With this style try to confine it to only 2 body parts per session and rest each part a week.

Then go back to regular (same) old workouts and you will see strength gains. Also you will have more muscle. It's a great feeling - I did it once right around the time when I started to work out with Cathe's tapes and this is the second time. I really needed a push to get out of my comfort zone which is mostly Cathe tapes and stepping. I let the BodyRx reading be that push.

For example, for chest, do Bench presses, incline presses, and flyes. Then for biceps do hammer curls with a twist at the top and alternating bar-style (palms stay toward you) curls. Or substitute concentration curls or if you have a preacher bench, use it and do preacher curls. Just 2 exercises though, 3 sets. Then quit. It will add up to a half hour per body part, an hour workout.

It feels weird not to do cardio (did it once a week on this 2-3 week rotation) but it was worth it for this mass-building time. A full week of reat is ultra important, as well as good daily intake of proteins and other good foods.

More is not aleays better.

I'm back to a lighter rotation now.
Now I need a push toward more cardio cross training (biking, running, kickbox) because I love step so much I'd do it exclusively.

Did All-Step today and I feel so good!
HTH,
-Connie
 
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