Bobbi - Have You Started Phase II?

S

Soosan

Cathlete
If so, what does your current rotation look like? What specific cardios are you doing and how do you feel? Have you changed your eating?

I'm on week two of an S&H rotation, after PS for eight weeks. I think S&H is outstanding and I'm quite sore the next day (in a good way). I'm still doing short cardios 2x/wk, but in addition, I do either BC or Body Max one time which I count as an extra weight/intense cardio. I guess I'll start Phase II the week after next.

These strength rotations had me sacrificing "full" yoga workouts (I always do add-ons, though), so I'm tempted to do a one-week yoga-only rotation before I go on to Phase II because I'm really craving it. I'm afraid that even one week will cause strength losses on this ecto, however, so I'm not sure. What do you think?
 
Hi, Susan!

I say do it. I love yoga. I've been doing at least two full yoga workouts and often three per week and I am pleased to find that it works right where I need it the most-shoulders and triceps. I did a work out where we focused on handstands and I was so sore the next day I thought I had done S/H. I did get a little gungho and had to take a break because I tweaked my wrist but the break turned out to be a good thing because it alleviated most of the pain I was feeling in my right arch. I ordered a yoga tape called Yoga Short Forms and you might look into it. It has 15, 30 and 45 minute practices that can be tacked onto cardio or strength workouts very nicely. It's by David Swenson. He's awesome!

I don't know how kicked up my cardio is going to get because I have to be careful of my feet. But I stayed with Phase I for 4 months and moderated cardio for the most part and I have gotten quite lean. I am at the low end of my healthy weight range so I am planning on doing three weeks of Phase II work and then going back to Slow/Heavy for one. I think doing so will enable me to keep my muscle and maybe burn a little belly fat but my belly looks pretty flat and I don't know if I can get a six pack without looking like Jack the Pumpkin King.LOL!

I am working with the Intensity Series because it came out the fall I was in the full bloom of PF and I've never given it the attention it deserves! I'll do SB and KPC because they too are unfamiliar territory and so much fun to boot!

3/5 Yoga-Studio
3/6 Imax 2
3/7 Rest

3/8 ME
3/9 KPC
3/10 BC
3/11 Yoga-Studio
3/12 SB
3/13 Yoga-Home
3/14 Rest

3/15 Yoga Studio
3/16 Gauntlet
3/17 KPC
3/18 PLB/Yoga-Home
3/19 PUB/Yoga-Home
3/20 Imax Xtreme

Let me know what you think!
Well, I off to Chuckee Cheese! http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/crying.gif
Bobbi
 
Susan....here you are, I think the ecto thread has to be a once in a while check in for a good chat eh??

My opinion on doing Yoga for a full week: go for it. I think it's really helpful to take a break from the S&H work or any rotation to do something different for a week and I don't think you will sacrifice any muscle in this amount of time. I hate taking breaks, but it seems that once I do, my muscles are all psyched out again when I start back up and I swear they are stretched even further and I feel the burn even moreso. Just a thought. (maybe not the most scientific in description)

Briee
 
It's a great description. Plus, I think it rounds a program out. If you can fit it all in, you get your heart pumping, muscles built and flexibility restored. I get so stiff from the heavier lifting, particularly my legs.
 
Hello Bobbi and Briee! Your rotation looks great, Bobbi. Does the cardio in Imax and BC bother your feet? If it starts to, you'll back off to avoid even more pain, right?

How's the baby, Briee? Are you getting smiles? Is he sleeping more regularly? How do his siblings feel about him? I think you're right about an occasional chat rather than a weekly check-in.

You guys convinced me to do a yoga week. I've got four new power yoga DVD's, two of which arrived yesterday. I already have Short Forms and love it, but don't use it as an add-on. I like to sub segments of yoga videos that have good hamstring stretches and spinal twists for the stretch segment of a Cathe workout. I'm usually too fried to do a lot of sun salutations, especially after an upper body workout!

I've been thinking about Phase II and I think I might do Cathe's June rotation which focuses on muscular strength and was "designed to promote the development of lean muscle mass as well as burn extra body fat." (Sounds good to me!) She's basically doing one body part per day using S&H, PS, and/or MIS followed by a short, intense cardio 6 days/wk. This way, I can continue to develop strength as well as focus on cardio. Here's the link: http://69.0.137.118/dc/dcboard.php?...&topic_id=386&mesg_id=386&listing_type=search. I might tweak it to include a circuit and a power yoga.

Talk to you soon! :)
 
Thank you, Susan! I'm going to use the Slow/Heavy work from Cathe's June rotation to fill in the rest of March and the first week of April. I really enjoy CTX cardio and I haven't given Timsaver and the BB workout blender their full due so I can play around with them when I get a chance.

These days I just listen to my feet! If they're happy, I'll kick it up and when they aren't I modify. I did Cardio and Weights yesterday and kept the impact minimal and it wasn't difficult and I got a great workout. Although I stink at compound strength work! LOL! There IS much to be said for giving strength equal or greater emphais to cardio! Particularly now that I have hit and passed the big 4-0! ;)
 
Thanks for asking Susan. Yes he's smiling and giggling now, sleeping more regularly sometimes!!! and brother's and sister's think he's darling. Now.....Hannah (dd, 23 months old now) is determined to make us think twice about having any more }( }( }( . She is so cute, but a royal terror in every sense of the word, especially since baby arrived.

I'm debating going to the one part per week - with maybe a total upper/lower body part endurance type workout attached. I'm always afraid this won't be enough to really build my upper body, but many swear by it. It would be really nice to work one part to the extreme on it's own day. Only think I worry about is making one part extremely sore and then having a tough time with the next part the following day. Is there any recommended order to avoid using similar (maybe called assistor) muscles on subsequent days? Did that make sense?

Briee
 
Was he born in the end of December, Briee? I love babies that age. Actually, I really enjoyed all the stages and even those terrible twos! The first year is so incredible though. I found all of Sam's firsts as wonderful and exciting as Ali and Sydney's. He did everything s-l-o-w-l-y. Still does! He was completely different from the girls who went by the book. He's six, has two teenage sisters and we'd better stop treating him like a baby or his wife's going to hate me someday! LOL!

Bobbi
 
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