Any Cathe beginners?

Checking in with STS Disc 2 completed! So far so good and I'm really liking the workouts. Disc 3 is Thursday and it is the leg one...I have a feeling I will be very sore after that one and it will be hard since I find lower body stuff hard to begin with. LOL

I also added on Turbo Fire: Fire 30 and Stretch 10 afterwards and no problem energy-wise this time. I think last time it was more because I was eating junk and I should know by now that eating junk and doing these workouts is not good. :)

Elle:
Congratulations on losing 1.2 lbs!
 
Checking in with Turbo Fire: Fire 55 EZ and 1/2 of the Core 20 class. STS Disc 3 is tomorrow and then it is a rest day after that...I think I'm going to need it! LOL

I also pre-ordered the new workouts today and am so excited - can't wait for when they are finished and released! Anyone else pre-order?

I can't believe how fast this week is going by...especially since I will have to go back to work next Tuesday. :( But I'm going to try not to think about that until Tuesday morning. LOL
 
Sunday Check-In...

Too busy this morning to check in, so this post is a bit late. Here is my workout schedule for this week:
S: Cathe's PH
M: The Firm "Total Body Time Crunch"
T: Cathe's MIS
W: Anni's "Life Force"
T: T. Effinger's "Squeeze Stronger"
F: Anni's CardioForce"
S: Cathe's "High Step Challenge"

Kast week I scheduled 7 day's workouts, but I winped out yesterday, so only did 6 of 7 workouts:( . Three of the above are new: I have nver done as yet "Life Force", "Squeeze Stronger", or Cathe's HSC. Someone on this thread recommened HSC as being non-complext, and doable -- but the video stream and some post say that this video is a real beast.

Elle and Nancy: Last week I did "Total Body Time Crunch" for the second time -- and you both are right. With repeated attempts I am learning some of the moves. So I sceduled this DVD for a third time this week.

Nancy: Pace your self on the STS leg workouts. I can attest to the STS legs as being the toughest strength DVDs anywhere. I had to do some serious modifications. I think next week I am going to put in one or two STS discs, just as a challenge. Also, I think I will check out Turbo Fire 30 and perhaps order it.

Elle: Good work on ME. It's a good, enjoyable workout -- serious lifting here.

Bridget: one suggestion about getting back to exercizing. Post your next-week's exercize schedule, as I do, as a way of committing yourself to it. If I did not do this, there is no way I could do the week's work.

Jen: looks like you're making progress on your intense walking and biking. A good substitute for formal exervize DVDs -- especially out in the sun!
-- David
 
Checking in after being gone for several days. I see that Cathe has several new DVDs coming out, but I haven't had time to check them out. I've been walking, bike riding and swimming since the swimming season is rapidly coming to an end. I've been trying to work on my "core", but that hasn't been as easy as I would like it to be. . .

Nancy: Exactly what are Cathe's new DVDs that you pre-ordered. I need to check them out and see if I want to pre-order them. You go with STS - you are doing great!

Elle: Congratulations on losing another 1.2#. I weighed in on Saturday and only lost 0.8#, but at least I lost something this week.

Dave: I'd say 6 out of 7 workouts in one week is a great accomplishment! Keep up the good work!

I will try to check in later. Hope everyone else is doing well.
 
Starting week 2 of STS today and loving it so far. It's tough - there are some exercises I have to modify and work up to but I can definitely see how this program will make you stronger! I also decided to alternate cardio and strength training days instead of trying to add on extra cardio with STS. I think after this week, I will mix up my cardio more instead of just doing Turbo Fire.

Jennifer:
Here are the DVDs I pre-ordered: http://cathe.com/presale/2010/index.html

David:
Cathe's leg workouts are all killer...I was afraid of the STS ones with good reason! OMG... I was sore for two days! I definitely have to work up to the lunges...I'm terrible at lunges.

Glad to hear you are getting the hang of the moves in Total Body Time Crunch. I like most of the FIRMs. I think the only one I really didn't like was Burn & Shape because the moves just didn't flow and Emily isn't one of my favourite instructors to begin with. :)
 
I have fallen off the wagon, and bad. I just cannot seem to get back to my morning routine any more! I did do Push Pull on Friday morning- and I kept the weights lighter than I had. It was very do-able, yet I had a healthy burn in my buttocks that I like.

I don't want you all to think I abandoned you, I just cannot get myself motivated to get out of bed in the mornings to just do it!
Sigh, tomorrow is Monday, my goal is to roll my sorry tail out of bed and do 30 minutes of cardio, maybe low impact step, it is one of the easier step videos I have. I just need to do SOMETHING. I did Maximum Intensity Cardio a few weeks ago for goodness sakes, now I am all soft, sigh.

Will check back again later
 
Ok, no more whining, today was a better day.

This morning I really didn't want to get up, but I did and walked for 30 minutes outside. After work today, I did CoreMax- I feel less whiny now, more accomplished.

David- I'm not up to posting for the week just yet- maybe I'll be back by the end of the week. Your schedule, however, looks pretty intense!

Nancy- how long are the STS workouts on average? It seems complicated with the 1 rep max throughout and knowing what weight to use at each time. What is that like?

Elle- hooray on losing another 1.2lbs! I gained 0.6 last week, and I was just thankful that it wasn't more.

Jen- I thought about your last post as I walked this morning. The summer weather and long days won't last too much longer, and it made me enjoy my walk that much better.

To all of you, thank you for the words of encouragement & reassurance! No more pity parties, I'm back to work!
 
Bridget:
Glad to hear today was better. Sometimes it helps just to start doing something again and then you will get back into a routine.

The STS workouts are about 53-60ish minutes in length. I was adding on extra cardio but I think it is just too much for me and with going back to work tomorrow, it's too long to add in the cardio. I actually like the 1RM testing. I wish I had given myself more time to do them beforehand instead of rushing through. If you do the 1RM testing, you can enter them in the Workout Manager and it calculates the 1RMs for you for each workout. So then you just print out the workout card and it tells you which weights to use - I find that so much easier.
 
We're rooting for you

Bridget:
Just a quick note that we are all pulling for you! If you can afford it, why not try STS? It's a fairly demanding program, as Nancy is explaining to us. Next week I will be trying 2 STS disks, and I promise to describe what it is like. (I won''t do any legs STS -- too hard!).
-- David
 
I finally feel like I have returned. Tuesday I did Supersets- a little lighter than I would, but felt DOMSie the next day. I rested on Wed, just plain lazy on Thu- then at WW I lost 0.8lbs!!! The previous week I gained 0.6, so I lost that plus an additional 0.2! To celebrate this morning, I did Low Impact Step, and because I had the day off and was feeling strong afterward, I added the cardio add on from Low Impact Circuit. I finally feel good about my workouts!

Plan for tomorrow- High Step Circuit
Sunday- Core Max- plus a stretch workout

Monday is a new week, I will come up with a planned rotation between now & then. Thanks all for the support!

STS intrigues me- I look forward to Nancy & David's reports- If I get it, I would get it as a download-costs less, requires less storage...I don't want anything complicated, I cannot do complicated right now!
 
Week 2 of STS finished! I'm getting better at some moves but others are going to take awhile but that's ok. I'm really liking STS and wondering why I kept putting off trying it. I had to go back to work this week (yuck!) and I felt drained when I got home but I did all the STS workouts. I just skipped the cardio ones. :)

Today is normally my rest day but since I was feeling good (working at home helps!) and missed all the other workouts, I decided to do MMA: Boxing. Love it! I tried it once before and liked it but I couldn't even finish. No problem this time. Nice to see that I have made progress since the start of the year. Still tough in parts but there was never a question of being able to complete the workout. And DOMS is starting to set in from STS legs yesterday...though I was going to skip it this time since I wasn't sore in the morning...I guess it was just delayed a little more. :)

Bridget:
Woohoo! I'm happy to hear that your motivation has returned. Awesome job with Supersets, Low Impact Step and Low Impact Circuit cardio! Congratulations on the weight loss too!

I don't think STS is too complicated - a lot of the moves are ones from other Cathe workouts with some new ones thrown in there. I don't think they are complicated (at least not yet) - just tough! The only downside I see so far is that there is a lot of equipment changes - sometimes I have to pause it because they are faster than I am at getting everything set up. But I agree - it would probably be better to focus on getting back into your routine as STS does require commitment.
 
Hi all, just checking in before the weekend starts. Work has been hectic and very busy, although, I have been able to take my lunch walks with the exception of yesterday. Today felt like I was walking through the inferno fires of hades so I cut it short, but still got in about 20-25 minutes of intense walking--hope it was enough as I weigh in tomorrow!

Glad to see everyone is keeping up with their workouts and Bridgett, I am so glad you are back. We all hit that hump in the road and sometimes, we just need to put the brakes on for a short period of time before we rev our engines again. I am so glad you are starting to rev yours up again and I agree with you, I summer days are falling away fast and before you know it, we will be walking in snow! :(

Nancy and David: Keep us all posted on STS, I might jump on the band wagon and have to purchase it so I have something to look forward to and work on once the weather gets bad.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!:D
 
Sunday check-in

Hi gang. Just checking in with this week's program. Again, if I post my program here, I am "committed" to keeping to it, and generally this seems to work:
S: STS Meso 1 Day 1 "c,s,b"
M: day off with two students paint my "free store" room and bathroom
T: G. Miller "Simply Step"
W: STS Meso 1 Day 2 "b&t"
T: T: Anni's "Cardio Force"
F: A. Miller "Core & Strength Fusion"
S: K.J. Allen "Cardio Praise"

Bridget: glad to seek you back. STS can be seen as "complicated": I would read some of the discussion and basic questions on the STS forum. I would recommend downloading Meso 1 only, to see if you like it. I am going to try one or two STS's a week, to see if I am up for it, withour committing to any rotation. It is very demanding -- and I am not up to anything serioous right now.
Nancy: Good work on STS. Keep us posted on your progress on this. I will also comment on my return to dabbling with it. I will be avoiding STS "legs". On these discs there is -- if you can believe it -- a one-legged lunge set, and I couldn't do even one of these, even with no weights. Awwgghh!!
Jen: looks like you are doing a lot exercizing out-of-doors. I am very interested in buying at least 3 of the 4 new DVDs from Cathe! I hope DVDs don't become obsolete -- I am too old-fashioned to learn downloading!
Elle: Hi! I hope you are doing well.
 
Quick check in for me. No workout yesterday - my car decided to break down, had to get it towed and spent all day trying to get it looked at and dealing with service consultants who wanted to either talk me into doing unnecessary things or telling me that they were looking at the car when they weren't. ARGH...supposedly will be fixed tomorrow but I'm bracing for another attempt to 'convince' me to do unnecessary and expensive things.

STS Disc 7 completed today and I'm feeling it...all those pushups are insane! And I'm doing the easy modified version too!
 
I don't know what got into me, but I went on a shopping spree this past weekend. I downloaded 4-Day Split- Lower Impact Step over the weekend, for something new- will try that tomorrow morning. I also ordered the new workouts as a download, the STS handbook, and some weight gloves. Still looking at STS, but will meditate over the handbook first.
Here is the week:
Tues- 4-day split Lower Impact Step- just the step workout
Wed- Pyramid Upper Body
Thur- Pyramid Lower Body
Fri- Low Max
Sat- Cardio & Weights
Sun- Core Max & a stretch workout.

Nancy- Sorry about the car, what a pain
David- It wouldn't be cost effective to download only Meso 1- they cost 9.97 a download, and the whole shebang is $199...but will worry about that later.
Jen- enjoy the nice weather- the leaves in New England are just starting to turn- apple cider season is coming soon!


Have a great week all!
 
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I picked up the car today and it was much better. They didn't try any more pressure tactics (don't think the same guy was working which might be why LOL) and it came in slightly less than the original quote (not a lot but I'll take it). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have any surprises over the next few days but so far so good.

Checking in with Low Impact Circuit - Cardio Blast Timesaver premix and Stretch Max #2 (stability ball) done! I forgotten how much I love that premix! Some parts were a lot easier than last time I did it but it still is a great workout and still challenging. Almost skipped Stretch Max but am really glad I did it...I think I needed that stretch. STS Disc 8 is tomorrow...

Bridget:
Woohoo on the download shopping spree! I love 4DS and Lower Intensity Step! It's so much fun. I'm going to have to add that in to my next rotation I think.

Love your plan for the week!
 
Hi Everyone! Sorry i haven't checked in for a while. I was busy finishing a payroll course and wrote my final exam today. I'm so happy to be finished!:D I'm off work this week. Now that my course is finished, i have a spa day planned for Friday and i'll be going to Niagara Falls and Buffalo for the weekend.

I'm still on track with Weight Watchers and continuing to see the scale moving downwards.

I'm going to go and catch up on all the posts i missed.
 
Good news/bad news from WW- I gained 0.8lbs, but I think it was from a salty meal I ate yesterday. I have been watching my points and exercising faithfully. I went to see my Dr this week for a routine visit, I told him I was bummed for losing only 3 lbs in the last 9 weeks. He said at the rate I was going, that would be about 15lbs by next summer, and that sounded much better to me! So, slow & steady, I will continue my pace.

Elle- good to hear from you- I grew up in Buffalo- I still have family there, (and I do get homesick from time to time) wave hello for me! (stay away from the wings, too many points!)
 
Checking in STS Disc 8 done Tuesday and MMA: Kickbox & Stretch Max #3 on Wednesday.

I just finished STS Disc 9 (legs)...ouch! I really thought I was going to have to crawl up the stairs after it. The leg workouts are so intense! Week 3 is now finished and I'm looking forward to the rest day tomorrow.

Elle:
Congratulations on finishing the payroll course! Enjoy the spa day tomorrow!!

Bridget:
I know it's hard not to get discouraged by the scale but it really doesn't reflect your hard work. According to mine, I haven't been losing anything (seem to be staying put or slight gains) but I know it's from STS and is just temporary. Sometimes the numbers can fluctate a little too much...and if it happens to be on weigh in day...well.. I think the more important thing is that you have been exercising and eating well and that's what it is really all about.
 
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