Bodybuilding/Sculpting check-in;-)

Hi ladies,

Today was rest day... I am feeling better but still have not had those tests. I am resuming with my routine
listening to my body. I have drafted my next rotation. I think it is time I revisit some total body program
before re-starting STS. Jen early winter is convenient for me too. October-November. I am more inclined
to start october.

Catwoman and Jen: would you mind posting the link for RIPT90, here on our check in?

I have had my pull up bar fixed on my bedroom door:p:p. Now I need to purchase the assisted band to start
building all the way up to non-assistance! I am kicking myself up mentally for not being able to do un-assisted
one:(:( I too do not want to do band pull up anymore. It is time to switch to more challenge!
I will be mixing the use of pull up bar, assisting band and squat rack. I want to do as many variation hoping
it will help in building up to non-assistance.

Catwoman: My biggest downfall is comfort eating. I need to manage stress better. I tend to crave certain bad food
when I am stressed out.:(:(. I feel it is high time I revisit a nutritionist.Haven't seen one in years.

I would like to share this with you ladies:

http://www.fitnessrxwomen.com/training/perfect-form-with-jessie-h/building-your-training-split/

I am checking in tomorrow.

Hope to get some news from Mary soon.

Kind Regards,
 
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Jodi, thanks for the FB message. It was just what I needed to get me back here. Sorry, I can't believe 2 weeks have passed ... I have enjoyed catching up on posts just now, though. :D

I took 3 days off and called it a recovery week with the following:
Fri - Tracie Long Reach Further
Sat - WHFN FitPrime Pump + 30 min Bide Ride (my first bike ride of the year, wonderful!!!!)
Sun - Ballet Physique Amped Up
Mon - Cathe Supersets - Upper Body only
Tues - Tracie Long Focus Kickback
Wed - rest
Thurs - Muscle Max - Upper Body Push/Pull <3 + Barre Amped Seat section
Fri & Sat (today) - rest (knee is aching like crazy!)

My workout mentality has been confused and frustrated. I feel like I can't follow through with any rotation plan and can't configure a proper one for my needs. I stopped Body Beast because this next phase has the single parts UB 4x/week and I thought I should vary it more with a little barre, functional (Tracie Long), low impact cardio. Physical therapy exercises are taking up to 35 min a day now, and so I've been trying to focus on 30 min workouts. My knee has been hurting for a week now (kind of depressing taking that backwards step in progress) and now I'm wondering if I should go back to BB (ya, I'm confused!) I soooooo miss the days were I could pick a rotation and just run with it.

On the happy side of things - I recently discovered that I can do a chin-up! So I've been randomly trying them out when I go near my bar, coz I don't want to lose that. Today I did 2 in a row! A moment of bliss. :D I don't think I can do a pull-up though. I'll have to work on that too.

SarBear, I hope your forearms are feeling better. Take it easy.

Jodi, Ballet Physique Amped Up is another good one! Challenging, interesting, and DOMS-inducing. Honestly, I feel like I should put these 2 away until I'm better conditioned. It reminded me of when I just started Cathe workouts and had a long ways to go to be able to conquer the workout. I seem to really like pulling out Suzanne's Barre Amped workouts. Funny though, there's nothing terribly outstanding I can ever recall about the workouts. Nice is the word that comes to mind but I love how I feel doing them. They seem to be getting harder the more I do them too (it's the muscle engagement!) I don't have the newest cardio one yet, but the other two would look better with the third one beside it. It's on my wishlist.

Ha, you mentioned chocolate last week. So I bought this package of dark chocolate almonds last week (my favorites) and I was consuming them like crazy driving home and all you ladies came to mind and I felt like I was cheating bad. Teehee. I've been indulging a little more than I should lately.
 
Nathalie--here is the link for RIPT90. I think that's a good idea with STS. I can work on pull ups with the assist all I want but I will not be able to do the number of reps required for STS so I will mix it up, too--some pull ups with assist, some using the squat rack/bench press and some with bands. Thanks for sharing the link--I need to consider things like that more. As in not doing HIIT for a doubles workout when I trained my legs that morning.

Mary--glad to heat from you but I am so sorry for your knee problems and how it is messing up planning things. But I do think that is awesome all the work you're doing with your upper body--and you're doing pull ups now! I really need to get to that point myself. And it's good you are making PT a priority since that is the most important thing for your knee right now anyway.

I just spent a few hours creating rotations! First, I will have everything (the majority of my new workouts + some of my older programs I haven't done in years) "sampled" and reviewed by the second week of July. Then starting the second half of July I will start gearing up for STS. I'm doing 2 weeks of Xtrain, 2 weeks of Gym Styles and 2 weeks of RwH. Then September 7 I will start STS Meso 1. After I finish Meso 2 I am doing 2 weeks of Body Beast and when I finish Meso 3 I will do a week of Body Beast Tempo. That literally ends 2015. So I have workouts mapped out through the end of December 2015! I used my plug and play rotation, so I've only mapped out the strength workouts--none of the other workouts or doubles. I'll do that as the time gets closer. That's my current plan--STS starting in September.
 
Jen: Thanks for posting RIPT90 link. Glad you find the link I shared useful. How are you feeling with your calories?
Are you measuring everything at the moment? I realised at some point that a specific calorie target does not
work in long term. At some point I was too restricted to 1400-1200 while I was demanding too much enery
for my workout routine. I hit the wall. Then I realised my metabolism got a bit sluggish. Went I was travelling
I did let myself eat as "sensibly" I could. I think this helped in reversing the cycle. when I got back to my routine
about three month ago all extras came off. Now I will still monitor but I won't restrict too much for a long time.
The confusion in calories does help in preventing metabolism from getting sluggish. Yes hormone do not help
as soon as we get to 40thies. STS september is fine by me.:):) I will insert Bodybeast at some point in
cathe's bodybuilding cycle. Also I want to add in one body part rotation. I still have one month rotation to create
before starting mapping out the tweaked cycle.

here is the link of one body part rotation

http://cathe.com/forum/threads/may-rotation-one-body-part-per-day.235981/


Mary: Sorry to hear your knee has not healed . Just stick around with us doing the best you can.
Hope you get healed before september or early winter the latest.

Today workout was Imax3 and 5x16 reps push up traditional military.

kind Regards,:)
 
Hi ladies! Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Yesterday I did LIHI Back, Biceps, and Shoulders--minus all the bicep exercises. Hated missing out on all those crazy 8's, but I know the more I let my forearms rest/heal the sooner I'll be able to get back to it. Friday and today were cardio days and both times I used my rebounder. I know I said I wasn't going to use my rebounder as my main form of cardio, but I've just been having too much fun with it. Next week I plan to get back to regular cardio though. As fun as my rebounder is, it's definitely not as hard of as a workout as other forms of cardio.

Successfully doing an unassisted pull up or chin up is definitely on my wish list as well. I really need to start working towards that goal more seriously.
 
Welcome back, Mary! Sorry to hear your knee is aching. Hopefully, the PT will help work that out. Don't stress about a rotation right now. Focus on the PT and do what feels good to you otherwise. Once your knee is healed, you can get back to a more fixed workout routine.

Today I did BarreAmped Cardio Fat Burn. (Mary, is the one you were thinking of getting?). First, let me say this is a good workout, and I did enjoy it, but this is not a barre workout. It is a cardio workout with a very slight barre influence, which is not what I was looking for. It has a Tabata section (nothing like Tabatacize intensity!), a section with some compound exercises, and a core section. If I do it again, I would use it on a cardio day when I didn't feel like working as hard as usual.

Nathalie, thanks for the links. Great info!

Jen, your rotation plan for the rest of the year sounds great!

Mary, I'm still looking to get more barre workouts so I may have to add Ballet Physique. Do you have any Barre3 workouts? I'm tempted by the package deal of about 5 workouts for $50, but I'm worried by some of the reviews saying they are not that intense. I'm thinking that money might be better spent on more P57 workouts. Of course, I could just save my money, but where's the fun in that? Hehe!
 
Yesterday was a rest day. This morning was P90X2 P.A.P Lower. Planned doubles is JMBS Zenith.

Nathalie--I always measure everything I eat and count calories. I have for years. It's just something I do. It's how I know I have been eating more over the past year or so. If calorie information is available on restaurant sites I even count that. But most of the time it isn't. I don't bother the even guestimate--I just assume the worst with resaurant food. For me, 1400 calories is my usual go-to to lose weight. It has always worked in the past and it worked last week. I lost 5 pounds. But I am sure I blew it (as usual) this weekend. I will get on the scale tomorrow to see the damage. However, I have never stayed at 1400 calories consistently--even now I obviously am not. I restrict during the week, then don't on the weekends. Tho I will say I do watch what I eat the rest of the day. It is those meals out that push me way over. And May is going to be really bad for me. I have multiple restaurant meals almost every weekend. Mother's day (two meals out that day), my husband's birthday, my parent's anniversary, along with several other things (a breakfast, a lunch and 2 more dinners out)--all crammed into May. And that's just what's planned. There is a 3 day weekend in May, too which I know my husband will fill. )o:
 
SarBear--how long did it take them to send you the replacement PLFO DVD? I sent them my address over a week ago and I still haven't received it.
 
Nathalie, nice article! I want to go back and read more at Fitness RX.

Whoa Jen! that is a lot of restaurant meals. It looks like fun but I don't think I'd feel so well, 'cause I like to eat and eat and eat. :D Counting calories is just the most dreadful thing for me. We eat pretty clean and I'm doing pretty well with that. Two of my kids are really committed to it (more than me!) and my other one is real good about it too. My husband is the one who always wants to go out to eat and sometimes I have to say no. We aren't near many good restaurants and I don't like to travel an hour just to get there.

Jen, nice rotation plan!

Jodi, thanks for your impression of Barre Amped Cardio. That is the one I don't have and it's now off my wishlist. I'll ramp up my cardio for now with biking. I don't have any Barre3 - I decided not to get them but now I am reconsidering (I keep having to tell myself gentle LB stuff is good for me). I mentioned before that I did the 2 on YouTube - one was easy and one was pretty good. I wonder with focus, muscle engagement, smaller movements they could be made more intense? I keep hearing the more you do barre the harder it gets, which I'm starting to discover for myself. I might go for it. I was going to order the set at Total Fitness yesterday, but didn't get to it. Still, they are at QVC.com for $40+$5 s/h. ;)

Yesterday, I biked for 45 min. While biking I have come across snakes, a skunk, herd of deer - yesterday a young eagle flew with me a short ways. Today I'm resting (and icing a swollen knee). I'm anxious to do some seriously heavy lifting this week!!!
 
bzbnmom said:
Nathalie, nice article! I want to go back and read more at Fitness RX.
Click to expand...

Good to hear from you Mary...what the plan to get yourself up and running promptly?
Has your PT got any plan?

As to FitnessRx...I like both the facebook page and the website. It is full of information.
I am reconsidering resubscribing to the paper magasine. I am torn between the digital and paper format.:)

Today I did kickboxing segment from 4DS and upperbody high reps...my arms are quivering as I am typing:)

11pm here:)
Kind Regards,
 
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Today I did the Back, Chest, and Core segments from Slo Mo. Love the chest work! I liked the back section, but I'm not a fan of the one arm pullovers. I had previewed those sections, but I winged it with the core work. Not a wise choice. The core work is very different, and I didn't have enough room to do one exercise using the step. So I had to move the step out of the way and then move it back for the next exercise. There was a lot of pausing and setting up. Also, I couldn't find the ending stretch! There is no separate chapter for it so I kept skipping through the premixes to try to find it. I finally got frustrated and gave up.
 
Jen- It took well over a week for my replacement DVD to arrive. They didn't send me tracking or anything so I pretty much had to just wait until it randomly showed up in my mailbox. Yours should arrive any day now.

Today I did STS M3 W4 Chest and Back. Soreness is already setting in. :)
 
This morning was P90X2 P.A.P. Upper--WOW! That was an INCREDIBLE workout! Tho this was just a sampling of P90X2, I must find a way to incorporate that workout into my rotations more often. It was so effing hard, but clearly so effective. And that also finishes out P90X2 for me. Planned doubles is JMBS Ignite. I will be finishing JM BodyShred this week, too--but I won't finish that out until Thursday afternoon. I did Zenith yesterday--holy cow that was hard! I was modifiying quite a few of the exercises! Very advanced! But I really liked it a lot. Even modified the exercises were challenging.

Next week is Amy Bento's Slo Mo and Drop Sets for me! How long is each Slo mo workout?

Thanks SarBear--I hope I get it soon because the week after next is PFLO/PFWL.

Mary--I actually eat clean and healthy too when I prepare my own food. It is the eating out that is my downfall. I plan to visit each restaurant's website this week and choose my meals in advance--healthier/lower calorie meals! And then try to stick with the plan when I get there.
 
This morning I did Body Beast Bulk Back (with Nickelback). It's a lot more fun with my own music. I went up in weights!

Nathalie, I have only 2 more weeks with the PT. He has given me tips and information that I think I can proceed with, but no long-term plan as of now. I'm a little worried about proceeding on my own, but I'm sure I'll be fine. He said it'll take a year to completely heal the knee ligament, similar to the Achilles tendon. So "my" thoughts are to work hard on calf strength now (it's been 11 months since that injury) and work on increasing barre, Tracie Long (low-impact functional-fitness-like and not as fast as Cathe), and outdoor biking this summer, maybe by fall heavier weights for LB and low impact cardio. Sometimes a slow lunge or squat or going up stairs feels ok, sometimes it's painful as if something in my knee is not properly aligned. The PT said pushing it a little is good, but I need to remind myself also to back off sometimes and take extra rest days. This week is supposed to be a LB rest week, so... I'm going to do Body Beast UB this week and then mix in some Cathe UB or whatever when I want to.

Jodi, yeah I think I remember having a problem with a missing stretch segment on a premix too! I believe I had to go to the original workout and fast-forward to the stretch. Kind of disappointing, there's no excuse for something that. I didn't do the core section, it didn't look doable for me at the time, must have been some standing twisty stuff?
 
Today I did To The Max. It's been a long time since I did the whole workout instead of a shorter premix. Still a great sweatfest!

Mary, yes, the core section in Slo Mo starts with standing work and it is some twisting stuff. The floor stuff with the planks around the step threw me off because I don't have that much room. I modified it with walking planks without the step but then needed to move the step back in for the next move. I probably won't be doing it again.

Jen, each Slo Mo section is about 15 minutes, give or take a couple of minutes. There are plenty of splits and premixes to choose from, but when I previewed the premix for back and chest, she says ok, we're moving on to pushups and then it cuts to the end. I didn't want to miss out on the pushups so I decided to just do each full chapter.

I'm looking forward to your Bodyshred review!
 
This morning was Body Beast Bulk Chest (with Keith Urban). I tried to go up in weights but I just couldn't. The 5 lb increment increases were too much and I didn't want to pause to set up all the dumbells with paceweights. Next time I think I'll set up the paceweights before the workout, just a pound or two. I was scheduled to do Shoulders today but my traps and upper back and probably shoulders too are sore from yesterday's Back workout so I moved on to Chest.

Have a great day ladies! :D
 
This morning was Lean Legs & Abs + Bonus Barre. That was harder than I remember. I am feeling it in my glutes--either that or it DOMS from JMBS Ignite which was yesterday's doubles workout--but that's an Insanity level cardio workout, not strength. Who knows? Planned doubles is JMBS Apex.

Jodi--I have been thinking a lot about TTM and CF. They used to be my favorite cardio/MWT workouts and I used to do them all the time. But it has been a long time since I did one. I was thinking that once I get past all this new stuff and reviewing, I need to schedule them more often. They were fun to do and super intense. That's what I am doing the rest of this week actually. Since I finished P90X2, before I start something new next week, I am revisiting Cathe and KCM for my morning workouts.

Mary, sounds like a good plan for your lower body. Biking is really good exercise when you have injuries. I have a stationary bike I hardly ever use but I bought it after my accident and it got lots of use back then! That's why I am afraid to get rid of it--because who knows what the future holds? My husband hates working his lower body so he has actually been using the bike lately with high resistance to work his legs and get some cardio while doing it.
 
This morning was Flextrain and planned doubles is JMBS Opus--finishing off BodyShred. And I am a little afraid of Opus--it is the hardest workout in the series and yesterday's workout Apex was brutal. BRUTAL!

Thanks Jodi--I am going to preview Slo Mo this weekend so I can at least get an idea of what weight to start with. I found a review of it online and they didn't even mention the 15 minute segments--so thank you!
 
Hi Ladies- I'm late checking in this week. Tuesday I did STS, M3, W4 Legs with Squat Rack. I finally had a chance to weigh my long barbell and it's 15lbs. Even though this is my last week of STS, now that I finally have a squat rack I am going to make sure I include those workouts into my rotations more regularly. Yesterday was a well-deserved rest day. And then today I did my FINAL STS workout of this rotation--Shoulders, Biceps and Triceps. I am still trying to rest my forearms/wrists so during the first set of exercises I simply fast forwarded through the biceps sections. Then I realized that if I continued I would end up blowing through this workout pretty quickly. So in an attempt to get some more steps in (we have a gruelish fitbit competition going on at work this week), I decided to run, hop, jog, etc. in place during the remaining bicep sections. As I had hoped this was a great way to get in some extra steps while also getting my heart rate up and working up a bit of a sweat. Will probably still need to get on my rebounder later tonight to hit my 10K steps for the day though. That's the trouble with working a desk job all day!

So happy to have successfully made it through a full rotation of STS! I have to admit, I'm a little sad that it's over. However, I am also excited to switch things up and start something new. I'm thinking of starting up a round of Body Beast next, but I will probably take a week or so to just enjoy not having a strict rotation to follow. That way I can revisit some older workouts and maybe try out some of the Cathe Live workouts that I've missed lately.

My neighbor just told me about a workout place she goes to regularly that meets daily at a local park. The sessions are limited to about 16 people so that you can get personal attention and are about 60 minutes long. They do all sorts of activities from walking/running, jumping, climbing on trees, balancing, pulling each other on sleds (in the winter), etc. The pictures on their FB page show people carrying logs, various exercises on a monkey bar set, various types of exercises on hanging rings, climbing ropes, dead lifting with large rocks, etc. As crazy as it sounds, it actually looks like a lot of fun and one heck of a workout! My neighbors says she has been going for a couple of years now and that the workouts have completely changed her body (in a good way). As you ladies know I am a home workout kinda person but I have to admit she has definitely peaked my interest in this! I may have to go try it out one day--just to see. I don't think my work schedule would allow me to do this kind of workout every day, but if I like it perhaps I could do it one day a week just to switch things up. I dunno, we will see. As silly as it sounds a part of me would be really nervous to go out and do this kind of workout with a group of people I don't really know. That's one of the nice things about working out at home. You never have to worry about looking silly! It looks like they get a variety of people (all shapes and sizes) so hopefully I wouldn't be the only one there dangling trying to climb up a rope (which I'm almost certain I cannot do) or walk up the side of the tree (yes-that's actually one of the exercises they do). Hmmmm...I dunno. I'll have to think about it. See if I want to come out of my home workout comfort zone. LOL. I probably wouldn't be so nervous if this was just your standard gym workout (like step, zumba, body bump, etc.).
 
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