Ah- motivation

J

JeanBe

Cathlete
Good evening all-

I have to say that I am continually impressed with everyone's dedication and motivation to becaom and remain a fit person. Here's my question- how do you (or did you) keep your motivation strong in the beginning? I feel like I'm in Ok shape- can complete a class at the gym with no problem but feel like such a failure with the Cathe tapes. I think they are sooo hard and I get discouraged because I can only finish half of one or three quarters. It makes me reluctant to exercise (which I know is not the answer- I'll improve over time) but I'm just wondering how you all made it through the beginning when it was a struggle to complete the workouts?

Thanks- Jean
 
Hi Jean - I never made it through a Cathe workout in the beginning. I would do as much as I could and stop. I thought I'd never get through the whole workout, but with persistence and not getting discouraged, I gradually built up the endurance. There are some workouts that I still modify because they can be very high impact, but I keep moving during those sections and still keep my heart rate up.

Don't get discouraged. It's something to work toward. You will feel so accomplished when you eventually get through it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Mar:)
 
Oh Jean!!! No, no, no!! Don't feel like a failure! Failing would be not trying at all, or giving up after one try! Cathe's workouts are killer compared to most anything out there! Making it even partway through is cause for celebration. But that's the beauty. You don't want workouts that are easy to do. Where's the challenge in that? It's like mountain climbing. You finally make it to the top and then you look around and say "okay, now where is something HIGHER that I can climb". You'll get to the point where you make it all the way through. And then you'll order more. Because it's an addiction;)

And believe me, this is the right place to come if you need motivation or support or a kick in the rear. These ladies got it goin' on and they're always there to cheer you on.

So I say HURRAY for you for trying when giving up is so much easier.:)
 
Thank you so much for the encouragement and support! I LOVE Cathe and her workouts but I just would like to make it all the way through one feeling great and not exhausted or without having to modify it! I do really enjoy the fact that I can see Cathe and the crew sweating and groaning as well so I know it must be a tough workout!!

Thanks again- I really needed some support tonight!!

Jean
 
Jean - don't be discouraged! You'll get there. Just do the best you can and you'll continually improve. Instead of worrying about finishing the workout, focus on doing the best you can with what you can do. Eventually you'll be able to do more! If you could do everything right off the bat, it wouldn't be challenging! :) :)

What matters is that you're doing it!! Don't give up!
Jo
 
I didn't finish the workouts in the beginning either. Don't worry about it, take your time and just go with the flow. You will get there. I have to tell myself this everytime when there are some parts of a workout that I have a hard time with like push ups, etc. Sometimes I have to stop, rewind the tape...select a choice word and then move on. I kinda crave challenges too so I know I will have to come back to that and try again. So I always feel motivated just to prove that I can do it.
Everything I do is in steps. First step is to meet the challenge. Then once I am there, I will have to challenge myself with more weights (very gradually), etc. Just keep moving up from there.
Don't ever get discouraged or give up...pause maybe, but just keep going.

Charlotte~~
 
Jean ~

I second everything everyone else has posted! I have worked out for over 20 years, was a personal trainer and competive bodybuilder. I had taken to working out at home with videos (primarily The FIRM) but my strength, endurance and physique were not improving. And at 42, it was getting more difficult to "maintain" using The FIRM.

And then it happened! The clouds parted, the sun beams broke thru and there was Cathe! The woman who was going to yank me out of my fitness rut! I was hooked immediately. I, too, was more than a little discouraged (and humbled, I might add) when I couldn't keep up with Cathe and "the crew".

And then I logged on to this forum and I really felt I was "in over my head". People were referring to the workouts with acronyms...everyone seemed like an "expert"...they were banging out exhausting routines and running and spinning and doing yoga or pilates to boot! I felt like a total fitness failure!

But then I left the pity party and I focused the energy I was wasting on feeling discourged and disillusioned toward a commitment to master these workouts. (That's why I chose the Cathe quote below for my signature line).

Keep pressing on thru the workouts. Don't obsess over what you can't do. Progress will follow your consistency. Come back to the forums regularly for encouragment and support. We're all in "this fight" together.

~ Kim

"Welcome the challenge...Embrace it...Don't fear it." -Cathe Friedrich
 
Hi, I like to think without a challenge there is no glory!
I talk to myself, I can do this, I can keep up with Cathe and guess what I can!

If you think you can or that you can't either way, you are right!

There are not successful people that had not fail, failure is a part of success! The most successful people are people that I had fail over and over and kept trying.

With this words my friend, I am a woman who is going to be 44 yrs. old in May, and I have gain weight, beeng through a nasty divorced, beeng fired from a job, and now, I own my own business, I am in great shape, I can keep up with Cathe and love her workouts. I am not special so, If I can, so can you!

"Embrace the Challenge...Don't fear it." Cathe Friedrich
 
Oh, Jean! It's a process and you, by completing what you can now, are more fit than a multitude of folk. And jumping into Cathe is challenging for really nutty koo koo exercisers. I know. I used to be one. I came to Cathe off of running and I was ready but you should have seen me learning to run! I did everything wrong. Wrong shoes, too much mileage too soon... But I knew in my heart that it was going to matter to me and I wanted to get good at it and I persisted and I learned. When I met Cathe, I knew I wanted that same thing with her workouts. I had the endurance but the choreography was difficult, the step daunting for a gangly clutz. Until it wasn't. That will happen to you. Do it in small increments, add minutes over weeks and, in due time, it will add up to completing a workout and ultimately, conquering them. That's what you do with Cathe's workout, conquer, they are that tough. You must be kind and patient with yourself as you would with someone else and tell us when you have added even a minute because we understand how that feels and it's an accomplishment. Motivation is the gift that keeps on giving but only if you have realistic expectations. Reality now is a portion of a workout but you're expanding and you are in training for the event; In this case, it's doing a whole Cathe Kick Butt Workout. Don't look at what you can't do. Focus on what you can do and think about how to increase that bit by bit. My favorite saying is, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." You are half way there. Good job! Keep on coming. Your journey is incomplete!

We'll all celebrate the day you post you did it! And we will celebrate the small triumphs leading up to that goal. One minute more becomes one more blast before you know it. Trust me!
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver
 
Jean, when I started with Cathe's workouts, I couldn't do push-ups. I couldn't do planks. I could hardly lift a barbell over my head to put on my back for squats. Deadlifts were a challenge. So were tuck jumps, air jacks and pikes on the ball.

Fast forward to when Hardcore finally came out. I did those GS push-ups, all of them, my first try. My son had to run into my room to see why his mother was laughing like a hyena. I was actually half-crying and laughing at the same time. I couldn't believe it.

Do I think I'm fit? Kind of. But I still can't do chin-ups. I still can't do one-armed push-ups. I feel the movement more in my joints than in my muscles. I have to modify. My husband thinks I'm crazy. Just recently we had an argument. He didn't want to hear me talk about body fat percentage anymore. He said I'm fitter than a lot of women around. What more do I want? Well, I'm a stay-at-home mom for starters, and even though this was my choice, this wouldn't be my choice in an ideal world. This was my choice under the circumstances in which my son and by extension, we his parents, find ourselves. I NEED a challenge.

And that's the key word right there. You just have to keep your eye on the prize. If you can finish one half or three quarters of Cathe's workouts right now, aim for one more set per exercise even with low weights, if you're weight training. If you're doing cardio, try to go 5 more minutes, even if you have to lower the step or take it out. Pretty soon you'll be doing the whole workout, and then you'll be increasing your weights. This was how I did it since the beginning, and this is how I do it whenever Cathe comes up with something new. Right now I'm still struggling with IMAX3 even with the modifications I do. I'm giving it another couple of months. I'll get there eventually. And so will you.

Pinky
 
I can't begin to tell all of you how much I appreciate your words and great stories of success!! I think in my heart I knew all this but I needed to hear it from people who had pushed through and come out the other side!!

Kim- I think you read my mind exactly!! I started coming to the website and thought WOw- I don;t belong here with all these fitness people whne I'm just a Mom with two small kids trying to be more fit. But I realize that everyone here had their own lives and make the committment to exercise and be fit. I CAN DO This and I promise to celebrate evey small victory along the way. I need to get it out of my head that if I don't COMPLETE the workout, it doesn't count.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Jean:D
 
amen - when I started Cathe workouts I couldn't finish them either.

I would just set a goal of 30 minutes or to get to a certain spot in the tape and then feel good about getting there. There are some workouts I still can't finish some days after 3 years. There are some I can finish and finish well and I feel good about both.

Hang in there.
Melissa
 
Hello Lady, where are you? Any luck conquering Cathe's sweat-x? Don't give up, I'm using your post as motivation. I did Kick Max for the first time yesterday, and this morning I found that were some parts of my "buttocks" that learned some new moves. Relished in the soreness all day. I was so excited I loaned it to a co-worker. Now I'm going to retry PUB. Wish me luck, or better yet, join me, please!
 
I always feels strangely leaner after doing Kickmax. I'm in love with all the Hardcores that I own. I must get more.

Jean, how goes the battle?
 
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