Advice on Adding Strength Training

Newwmn3

Newwmn3

Cathlete
Hi everyone! I'm reaching out to ask for help and advice from the many, many smart and fit people I see are here in this forum. I am an avid Cathe fan and have been busting my butt doing her workouts for a couple of years, primarily focusing on her Hiit, Metabolic, and Circuit Training workouts every single day, typically for at least an hour, up to 1 1/2 hours each workout. I have gotten into incredible shape as a result (thanks, Cathe!!!) I even had my VO2Max tested in a lab setting by an Exercise Physiologist and the results proved it. I have learned, however, by working with the Physiologist and a Nutritionist, that I have been significantly overdoing the high-intensity cardio and also not eating enough calories. I am now on a solid plan to make some changes to both my diet (increasing calories slowly to get up to 1800 minimum. I was only eating about 1200 - 1400 max) as well as to my exercise regimen. I am now supposed to only do Hiit / Metabolic Hiit a max of 3 times per week and am supposed to add weight-training ONLY (no cardio on those days) 2-3 times per week. I have to take one day off completely (yikes!) and the other 1-2 days, I am supposed to do steady-state cardio. I am open to any suggestions but am specifically wondering what may be some good Strength/Weight-training workouts of Cathe's? I'd prefer total body strength workouts so that, if I do them 2 times each week, I am able to hit every body part but I'm open to any kind really. I'm already very lean and would LOVE to build some pretty muscle! Is there perhaps a Rotation or two (or 3 or 4...) that would be good for me to try? Thank you very, very much for any advice!!!

Christin
 
I love "STS Total Body", and "Power Hour" is another good one that works the whole body. Both are about an hour which is perfect for me!
 
hi christin, and welcome. I was in the same place about 18 months ago - very lean (too lean, really) having done lots of metabolic workouts. I only realised it after looking at some holiday photos.....
I then found a thread on this forum about a body building rotation devised by cathe. It recommends doing sts, then gym styles etcetc. I'm on my phone at the moment, but when I get to my laptop I'll post the workout. I managed to build some serious muscle by following the plan.
Best of luck. X
 
Hi Christin,
Here is the link to the bodybuilding rotation that Justine referenced:
http://cathe.com/forum/threads/rotation-for-body-building.287493/
It is excellent -- I'm working through my own variation of it.
Also -- and I say this without any judgment -- you need to eat to fuel your workouts. It's hard to imagine that I, personally, could build muscle on 1800 calories a day. My body would be in starvation mode. I have no info on your diet, nor am I a nutrition expert, but my understanding is that you can really damage your metabolism eating 1200-1400/day while training hard as you to. (And yes, you really need a day off in there! ;) I know it's hard sometimes, but can you get a walk in if you feel you need to do something every day? Maybe some yoga/stretching?)
Have you been limiting fats? Adding healthful fats can really be a beautiful thing. Extra virgin coconut oil is great, tasty, and boosts the metabolism, too! Plus, your body can use it as fuel for workouts more readily than other fats.
Also, if going down to 3 cardio sessions/week freaks you out, remember that total body workouts have lower body, and also compound exercises, which will boost your heart rate.
My vote, workout-investment-wise, is that you try Cathe On Demand for at least a month. You can try any strength workouts you like, see what you prefer, and you'll get Cathe Live, which has a wealth of total body workouts. After that, you can purchase any DVDs you like, but you may just stick with On Demand!
STS Total Body is a favorite of mine, too. Muscle Max also rocks for a total body weights workout.
HTH,
Roz
 
Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I am going to try every one recommended! Justine and MomInVT, it is so nice to know that there are people out there who understand how I am feeling right now and have "been there, done that". I struggled with an eating disorder when I was younger and, apparently, old habits can creep back in without me even realizing it. I quit smoking about 3 years ago and started working out to keep weight gain at bay. One thing led to another which then eventually led to me working out heavily every single day and not eating enough. It finally caught up with me in the form of aches and pains that wouldn't go away, etc. I, thankfully, have always eaten a very healthy, "clean" diet with a good mix of carbs/fats/proteins so at least I have that going for me. The nutritionist encouraged me to add more protein and healthy fats (including the super-yummy coconut oil!) in order to increase my overall calories. At this point, I am at 1700 cal and am increasing 100 cal per week with an end goal of being around 2000-2200. It is extremely hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that by eating MORE and doing LESS cardio my weight should remain about the same but I will begin feeling better. Not being able to do Hiit / Metabolic every day is making me a bit nutty but I keep telling myself that I am trying to get strong and healthy and, to do that, I need to feed my muscles and work on building them. :) I'm pretty little right now (5'3 and 103 lbs) and I'd like to stay lean but a little muscle weight I could live with! ;) Did either of you experience a lot of weight fluctuation when you started changing up your routine? Any suggestions you'd care to share or any "I wish someone had told me....." thoughts? I am a subscriber to Cather's OnDemand and I LOVE IT!!!! I am going to view the videos you recommended and put together a game plan. Thank you again!!!!

Christin
 
Newwmn3 said:
Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I am going to try every one recommended! Justine and MomInVT, it is so nice to know that there are people out there who understand how I am feeling right now and have "been there, done that". I struggled with an eating disorder when I was younger and, apparently, old habits can creep back in without me even realizing it. I quit smoking about 3 years ago and started working out to keep weight gain at bay. One thing led to another which then eventually led to me working out heavily every single day and not eating enough. It finally caught up with me in the form of aches and pains that wouldn't go away, etc. I, thankfully, have always eaten a very healthy, "clean" diet with a good mix of carbs/fats/proteins so at least I have that going for me. The nutritionist encouraged me to add more protein and healthy fats (including the super-yummy coconut oil!) in order to increase my overall calories. At this point, I am at 1700 cal and am increasing 100 cal per week with an end goal of being around 2000-2200. It is extremely hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that by eating MORE and doing LESS cardio my weight should remain about the same but I will begin feeling better. Not being able to do Hiit / Metabolic every day is making me a bit nutty but I keep telling myself that I am trying to get strong and healthy and, to do that, I need to feed my muscles and work on building them. :) I'm pretty little right now (5'3 and 103 lbs) and I'd like to stay lean but a little muscle weight I could live with! ;) Did either of you experience a lot of weight fluctuation when you started changing up your routine? Any suggestions you'd care to share or any "I wish someone had told me....." thoughts? I am a subscriber to Cather's OnDemand and I LOVE IT!!!! I am going to view the videos you recommended and put together a game plan. Thank you again!!!!

Christin
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Hi Christin,
I sounds like you've got a solid plan of action in place to increase your calories. You may even find that you need more than 2200 cals/day if you're trying to build muscle.
You mentioned your plan to do 2 total body weight workouts/week... have you considered doing a split instead, and working each muscle group only once/week but more thoroughly? You could try structuring a week that way and see how it feels. If you are new to lifting heavy (?), it would be good to be able to focus on form and firing up a muscle group. And if you're lifting heavy, you will get a cardio boost. The Gym Style workouts are great, as are Burn Sets, Pure Strength, the new Lift It Hit It workouts (Chest/Tris/Shoulders and Back/Bis/Shoulders), and lots more. Or, hey, if you want to stay busy for 3 mos, why not just do STS??

A week could look like this:
Mon: Metabolic
Tue: First half of upper body split (e.g., Chest + Tris)
Wed: HIIT
Thu: Legs
Fri: Second half of upper body split (e.g., Back, Bis, + Shoulders)
Sat: Steady state cardio

Some of Cathe's leg workouts (e.g., Cardio Leg Blast, Plyo Legs from STS Meso 3, and Lift It HiiT It Legs) really are HiiT training in addition to being a solid weighted leg workout. If you were doing one of those, maybe you would switch Wed and Sat so you don't have two HiiTs in a row.

If you've only explored Cathe's metabolic and HiiT offerings, be sure to find some steady state that you love doing. I think kickbox is so fun. Have you tried Rockout Knockout, Kick Punch & Crunch, and Kick Max?

You'll survive the transition you're so committed to -- just be loving with yourself! Yoga and/or meditation might also help with any anxiety that could come with increasing calories and decreasing cardio. Just a thought.
Best wishes,
Roz
 
Hi Christin - good on you for realising you need to increase your calories and decrease the cardio - it's the hardest thing to do. My new year's resolution for 2015 was to not weigh myself.....it's been hard. However, it has meant that I have been able to build significant muscle (and so what if I can't fit into the dress I bought in January???)
The body building rotation has been brilliant for me - I have gained some serious strength - I can deadlift 1.5x my own weight, and squat 1x my weight. 50 push ups? No problem! I can even do pull ups. THAT's what I have been focussing on. I did the Body Beast programme - ostensibly designed for men - which gave me a whole new perspective on working out. Maddiesmum (Claire) said on another thread that she only reads mens' fitness magazines, because they offer a healthier perspective (sorry if I've misquoted you, Claire). I agree.

Things to watch out for - you'll 'bulk' almost immediately. But it's water. It comes off. You'll need to add a yoga-type workout, and believe that it's not a waste of time! Yoga seems to allow me to shed the bulkiness. You'll need plenty of sleep , and the occasional 'deload' week. You want to be lifting so heavy that your entire body starts to shake. You'll feel spent. It'll feel great when you go back to metabolic workouts.

Best of luck - you're approaching this from an amazing position, needing to add muscle, and not having to worry about losing fat. You'll be rocking the tank tops come summer.

xxx
 
Oh my, you ladies are the BEST! :)

I am totally open to doing 3 days of weight training and I LOVE the way the week you suggested looks, Roz! Silly question but, if I do a Metabolic workout like Afterburn on Monday, do I need to worry about it affecting my training quality on Tuesday when I do just Strength? I've always heard that you shouldn't work the same muscle group(s) on back-to-back days but have never known if Metabolic training is intense enough weight-wise to fit into this category. And yes, Roz, I only recently discovered Kickboxing and I ADORE it. I have some balance challenges (pure clumsiness) and have trouble getting the combos down pat but, hey, if we don't challenge ourselves, we will never improve, right? ;) In addition to Cathe's kick box workouts, I adore Susan Chung and Ilaria Montignani. Those ladies will kick your butt!

Justine, I couldn't agree with your friend more. The messages received when I read the women's fitness mags are anything but healthy. SO much focus on weight loss and appearance and so little on actual training tips or focusing on strength or feeling good in your own skin. 50 pushups AND you can do pull-ups? That is AWESOME! I have a feeling I am in for a bit of a roller coaster ride with this plan but I am committed. The whole weight gain thing scares the living heck out of me. I just have to keep reminding myself that "ED" (my old eating disordered thoughts that keep rearing their ugly heads) is an idiot and that it's not about numbers on a scale. It's about getting strong and being kind to my body. Yoga definitely helps as does having a great support system. I thank each of you for helping me to not feel alone and for giving me such incredible suggestions!!!

Christin
 
Hi ladies! Quick update.... I am off to a decent start but am feeling the pull to do cardio BIG TIME. I have to fight myself to NOT do the daggone cardio. So far I have been doing STS Total Body 2x per week, Hiit/Metabolic Hiit 3x per week, and Kickboxing 1x per week. I am ready to increase my strength training to 3x per week and it looks like STS is the PERFECT program to do this with. I plan to insert cardio only on the days with no STS weight training and take 1 day off (or just yoga). Does this sound like a good plan? Also, do you think it's smart for me to start with STS Meso 1 and go straight through for the full 90 days? Or is there some benefit to skipping Meso 1 and going straight to Meso 2? I read somewhere that some people who are already very fit and have a lot of muscle endurance developed as a result of Cathe's Metabolic and Hiit workouts go straight to Meso 2. Not sure what I should do. I want to get very strong and lean without getting too big or bulky since I am so tiny now. I subscribe to Cathe OnDemand so I have access to all of her workouts so the options are endless. I welcome any advice or help you have to offer and thank you again! :)
 
Hi Everyone,

I know there are many users just lurking forum and looking for information on how to add strength and gain muscle.

This topic has been covered by many fitness professionals (including cathe).
Many have, God knows how many time, they have encouraged women to reduce cardio
and lift heavy. I can't no longer count how many vblog answering questions on this.
Everytime the answer is the same cardio yes, but not excessively and focus lifting HEAVY.

Our body was not made to successfully achieve two opposite goals catabolism (muscle breakdown)
and anabolism (building/gaining muscle). This apply to anyone regardless of bodytype!

Now I would like to share a Q&A from a fitness professional.
Yes she is a bodybuilder with a gymnastic background.
Yes genetics plays but she works hard. We can have different opinion and think this could be gained
by consuming enhancing harmful supplement, each of their own opinion. Opinion I am not personally sharing!

Bottom line is we can all gain muscle but there is some work to do and more importantly
there is a smart rotation/plan including reasonable and realistic ratio between cardio and weight.
Circuits only won't add muscles. They do condition a body though.

http://www.fitnessrxwomen.com/training/the-fit-life-with-nicole-wilkins/ask-nicole-january-9/

Last but more importantly NUTRITION.

Happy Reading everyone,
 
Hi Michele and Christine,

How are you both doing in your quest adding strength/muscle mass? ;-)

Please keep us all posted on your journey.
Best ever wishes.
You will do great:)
 
nckfitheart2009 said:
Hi Michele and Christine,

How are you both doing in your quest adding strength/muscle mass? ;-)

Please keep us all posted on your journey.
Best ever wishes.
You will do great:)
Click to expand...

I am happy to say that I am LOVING STS!!!! I am on Disc 6 of the STS program (I'm going in order on a 3 1/2 month rotation as recommended) and have been doing strength training only on M-W-F, doing Hiit Cardio only on Tues & Thurs, and Kickboxing or Kettlebell workouts on Saturdays. I take a fabulous yoga class on Sunday and the rest of that day is pure rest and recovery. I have a long ways to go and have been truly humbled by how uneven my body is. My left side is VERY weak compared to my right. I also find pushups maddening because I have a bad left shoulder and I feel like I should be able to do more without dropping to my knees. I am very glad that I started with Disc 1 and am going on from there because I really did need to build up my endurance. It just goes to show you that you can be in incredible shape cardiovascular-wise yet be lacking in the strength department. My upper body may be rather wimpy but my legs are so much stronger than I thought they were!!! That said, I think I am gonna need to get a weighted vest for all of the heavy squats, lunges, etc. that I know are coming. My little hands and little bod simply can't hold on to the weights!!! Any suggestions on a good one to get or any other ideas that may help me are very welcomed!

I am going to post this message on the other thread and hope that Michele updates us all there. I've been crossing my fingers that she's enjoying it, too!
 
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