Body Beast

I need to stop reading this thread. I was so proud of the fact that I had avoided the temptation to buy Tempo. Now I feel like I'm missing out. Better go place my order for Tempo. There goes my willpower!

Lisa
 
Scenario: I have guests. Family. My birthday weekend. I have to wait until Monday to start BB......but I couldn't resist this morning.....got up before everyone else and tried Total Body!!! When hubby saw me and asked what on earth I was doing, I pointed out that it was MY birthday and I could squat if I want to!

Must say a HUGE thank you to Cathe...apart from shoulders, I went heavier than the guys on the dvd :p

Can't wait until Monday.

OH, and I may need a bigger screen to watch Sagi on. :eek:
 
Me too want to know what this Tempo is about:D:D:D

Will be adding Tempo to my collection Thanks to you all enablers....

Happy muscle tension to all!:):):)

For those who have done both Slow/heavy and Tempo, would you please compare them and post your thoughts on here;)
 
Just finished Tempo Chest and Tris. Drop sets with tempo changes. Ab exercises between each set. Loved this workout. My arms were shaking by the time I was finished. For me it was a great workout. Harder than Slow and Heavy. Highly recommend. Used lighter weights than with Slow and Heavy. Looking forward to other reviews.
 
nckfitheart2009 said:
Me too want to know what this Tempo is about:D:D:D

Will be adding Tempo to my collection Thanks to you all enablers....

Happy muscle tension to all!:):):)

For those who have done both Slow/heavy and Tempo, would you please compare them and post your thoughts on here;)
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I did Cathe's S&H about a month ago and just this past week did Temp Chest & Tris. Tho both workouts are based on the same concept (very slow tempo) they are otherwise different. Sagi's is much more challenging. He has shorter rests between sets and, unlike Cathe, who uses the same tempo for every set/exercise, Sagi changes the tempo for each set. You also do them just like the other workouts--pyramid sets. For example your first set is 15 reps--to the count of 6 up and 6 down (OUCH--go lighter than you normally would!). The next set is 12 reps--to the count of 3 up and 6 down (or 6 up and 3 down--depends on the exercise). The final set is 8 reps, 3 up and 3 down. You get your longest rest between sets 1 & 2--a much shorter rest between set 2 & 3. But due to the tempo count and # of reps in the 3rd set you can usually go significantly heavier in that set than the first two.

The structure is one exercise with 3 pyramid tempo sets, then you do core work (also to a slow tempo) then 3 sets of your next exercise, core work, and so on. This is how Chest is done. Triceps is done primarily the same way, but he supersets some exercises for Triceps, which he doesn't do for Chest.

It is very hard. My muscles were shaking by the end. Cathe's S&H is very challenging but nothing like this. Since I am following the rotation calendar, I don't do Tempo Back & Biceps till next week, so I can't comment on that one yet.
 
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Jen, could you give an example of how much lighter you went? Say for example on dumbbell chest press...what weight you used for 15 reps on the Build DVD and then what you used on 15 reps on the Tempo DVD? Thanks!
 
catwoman7631 said:
Jen, could you give an example of how much lighter you went? Say for example on dumbbell chest press...what weight you used for 15 reps on the Build DVD and then what you used on 15 reps on the Tempo DVD? Thanks!
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I've only done each workout once so I'm working with a lot of arrows here to tell me what to use the next workout. But here goes. When I did Build Chest & Tris, for chest press, I used 15# for 15 reps, 20# for 12 reps and 25# for 8 reps. These were too light and I have arrows to increase to my weights next time through to 17.5, 22.5 and 27.5. Now, when I did Tempo, I knew it would be harder than Build just due to the concept. So I had my workout card set up like I initially did with Build: 15, 20, 25. I dropped from 15# to 10# during my first set! However, I think I could have done 12# for the 15 rep first set and so I have an arrow next to the 10# I actually did (but the 15 is marked out!). For the 12 rep set I did 15 and the 8 rep 20. The latter two worked for Tempo.

Does that help? So Build Chest Press: 17.5, 22.5, 27.5 and Tempo Chest Press: 12, 15, 20.
 
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Jen - thanks for posting those weights, it gave me something to go on this morning when I began BB.

I loved it! So much so that I immediately ordered tempo :eek: whoops And an EZ curl bar (double whoops).

I'm not sure I have my weights quite right - what sort of increase should I be aiming for between the 15 rep set and the 8 rep set? I think I was too light for 15 reps - I managed easily. But is that the point? Is it just to pre-exhaust, or should I be heading towards failure for the 15? I was just about right for the 8 reps (ie on one or two exercises I failed at 7 reps, others I may have been able to just squeeze out 9). When he does the drop set, how much lighter should I be going?

Sorry for all the questions - I'm so used to Cathe working it all out for me (makes me appreciate STS).

I felt fine having finished the workout - in fact I may do some cardio later (short HIIT). I'll await the DOMS tomorrow (and maybe into Wednesday?)

Are most of you doing the LEAN rotation? I think I will. I won't be following the nutrition plan though, so I hope I don't mess it all up by eating the wrong thing!

Thanks to everyone who has recommended BB. Money well invested, I feel.;)
 
I have nearly finished week 3 of body beast when I completely lost my appetite and just felt tired and beat up. I had this happen one other time after a deep tissue massage and I lost 25 pounds that I never got back. I have polymyositis which is a muscle wasting disease of autoimmune origin and my rheumatologist said he does NOT recommend deep tissue massages for polymyositis patients. To make a long story short I think 6 on 1 off is simply beating my body up. I think I will modify Beast to do 1 body part a day with 2 days rest per week:. I have never had a problem with 5 on 2 off. I made GREAT gains with STS but there was more rest I just had problems with 90 min nearly 40 set workouts!My Doc has considered me a poster child (at age 65:() for polymyositis with my ability to gain muscle but it seems that I made need more rest. I am amazed at many of the Catheletes out there that do multiple workouts but I am TRASHED after mine and sometimes struggle to get back up my basement stairs!!! I always feel I need to go to at least NEAR failure and maybe 65 is too old for that:( GO HEAVY OR GO HOME;)
 
Justine--I'm not sure exactly how much you should increase your weights between the sets. Last week was my first week and I am not really "counting" it since I feel like I was discovering the weights I need to use. This week I feel officially starts the rotation for me so I will add an extra week to the first phase.

With that said, here is the conundrum I noticed with these workouts--for me at least. Sagi heavies up a lot (his crew not so much--but then Sagi rarely does every rep and never does every set) and I can't do the kind of big jumps in weight between sets that he does (but look at him--DUH). The first set is more an endurance set so I use moderate weights. My jumps right now are 5-10 pounds between sets depending on the exercise (sometimes even less for things like shoulders, biceps and triceps). I do feel like for that final 8 rep set I should be able to do a bigger jump than what I do--but here is the issue--the tempo of his reps is brisk. Too brisk for super heavy weights (for me at least). Now, due to the fact he almost always gives you some sort of break between sets, you'd think you could go a little slower than he does and therefore be able to go heavier, right? You still have that rest period between sets to finish up before moving onto the next exercise. Wrong. Many of the pyramids end with a drop set. So you pound out 8 heavy reps fast, drop them and grab a lighter weight (with like 6 seconds between the heavy set and the drop set--just enough time to set down dumbbells and grab another set) and do the fast paced 8 rep drop set. So basically, I felt rushed with these and as if I needed to chose my weight so I could get the full 8 reps out and also do the drop set.

I'm still working on how I want to handle this btw. His workouts are shorter than what I am accustomed to, so using the pause button could be in order (though I have some weird aversion to using the pause button during workouts). Last week was my first week. This week I'll be using heavier/more appropriate weights and I can also get a better idea on how I want to handle those final sets in the pyramids.

Today was my second time doing Legs and since I heavied up this time I feel like I got an even better workout (though I won't lie--I got DOMS last week from Legs). But like you, Justine, these workouts (except Tempo) haven't been wearing me out. I do feel like they give me a good workout, but I feel like I could do more when I'm done. Maybe not more strength in the muscle group worked, but I could easily add on cardio. Today I did X10 Cardio Blast after I finish Legs, then topped it off with the stretch from Cardio Leg Blast. It was overall a great workout.
 
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