Bodybuilding/Sculpting check-in;-)

This morning was Slo-Mo Chest, Bi's & Tri's. OMG. My muscles were trembling violently during this workout! WOW! Amazing. And yes, unique exercises. Planned doubles is Moxi 1.

Jodi--I love Susan Chung's 1st Rapid Fire workout. I don't recall camara angle problems. But it's been a while since I've done it. That is always a Saturday workout for me due to the length.

I've been thinking a lot about how to use workouts like Slo-Mo, Slow & Heavy and Body Beasts Tempo. I was thinking it might be interesting to alternate slow strength training weeks with high rep/endurance strength training weeks. Seems like that would give you some serious muscle confusion!
 
This morning was Slo-Mo Legs. OMG. I think that may be the most brutal lower body workout I have ever done. I am in some of the absolute worst muscle pain after I work out I have ever experienced. It hasn't been long enough for this to be DOMS but I am in pain. Continuous, non-stop pain. BTW--this is clearly not injury pain, I do know the difference. This is that afterburn from working a muscle very hard--except I have never experienced anything of this intensity. BTW--my chest is super-sore from yesterday's Slo-Mo workout! Personally, these Slo-Mo workouts are outstanding. I rate them as Cathe level (advanced) with the unique and highly effective twist KCM puts on her strength moves in some of her strength workouts. A winning combination.

I was unable to do doubles yesterday. I live in tornado alley and yesterday when I got home from work we were under hours of tornado warnings with something like 6 touching down, in addition to monsoon-like storms that are supposed to continue for the next few days. So I decided no doubles in case I had to quickly vacate to my parents storm shelter (they live down the street). Luckily no tornados touched down in the town I live in but my daughter goes to OU in Norman and several touched down. In fact, she was at work and one touched down on the street where she works! I was hysterical! My husband called her boss and he closed the store and let all the employees get to safety.

Planned doubles today is Moxi 1--if I can walk after work. I have my doubts after this morning's workout.

Doing Slo-Mo this week and Cathe last week (and this week, too) is making me re-evaluate my current plan of attack--still 2+ more months of doing new workouts so I can review them. I am feeling resistant. I feel like I want to go back to my comfort zone--Cathe, KCM and now Amy's Slo-Mo (and possibly her Drop Set). I get tired of the constant blogging even tho I want all of my workouts documented and assessable to me. Sometimes I get tired of the effort it takes to do it (tho I am never sorry once it is done!). I know for a fact that the 3 trainers I just listed are going to give me superior workouts. Part of me just feels like taking a break from the new stuff and creating a hardcore rotation with just the 3 of them. But then I remember I have PFLO/PFWL and RIPT90--all of which look pretty awesome and intense and I am excited about. I don't know what to do right now. I will obviously finish out this week's rotation and try to make a decision. Next week I am supposed to start PFLO/PFWL but I am discouraged I STILL have not rcvd my replacement DVD.
 
OMGosh Jen, what a stressful situation! I'm glad your family is ok! Well, haha um I think it's going to be a verrrry long time before I attempt Slo-Mo Legs. A hardcore rotation with Cathe, KCM and Amy sounds really really good though!

Jodi, I just got P57 Classic 57 Minute and Express 30 Minute today - super super cheap, somebody didn't like em! I previewed one. Tanya is quite a character!

Yesterday was a rest day. And then I couldn't sleep very well last night so this morning I skipped my workout and went straight for the coffee. This afternoon I did Barre3 Body Burner on YouTube. I remember this being pretty easy the first time I did it. Well today it felt hard, probably because I'm so tired. So I'm now thinking I'm going to go for the Barre3 set for sure. :D
 
Today was Slo Mo Back & Shoulders. Love...that's all I can say!!

Jen, I've been watching those storms on the news. So glad you and your family are ok. I know there are more to come so stay safe. I read your Slo Mo review and even though my leg focus has been on barre, I now really want to try Slo Mo Legs. It sounds amazing! I think I want to do another week of Slo Mo...I'm hooked!

Mary, I hope Tanya grows on you like she did me. She can be so goofy...she says at one point, "If you don't squeeze your buns, no one else will!" It's so silly, but I can't help but laugh because she really seems into you getting a good workout. Do you have any Bar Method workouts? I read they are similar to P57 so of course I'm interested. I also wouldn't mind getting more P57...I'm still thinking about Barre3...and I have a few barre workouts sitting in my cart at Total Fitness...:D
 
Thanks ladies! We have days of more storms and tornado warnings. No fun. Today is supposed to be another bad day.

And I'm with you Jodi--I am so enamoured of Slo-Mo I decided it gets another week. I also decided to take a break from new workouts and blogging for a while, as well as doubles. So I trashed months of rotations last night. I am still doing Drop Set Strength tomorrow. Next week is Slo-Mo and I don't know what else. I figure it out today. I am going to stick with tried and true favorites for the next few weeks and then when I get my motivation back, I'll try some new workouts/programs and start blogging again. I'm burned out on new workouts for a while. Plus I hate discovering workouts I love then not coming back to them for months. I just want to keep doing them! So that is what I am going to do.
 
I forgot to actually check in! This morning was Rockout Knockout premix that includes heavy bag bonus. And Mary--I recant what I said about heavy bag bonuses before--there was lots of kicking in that bonus! But I know they aren't all like that. Hard Strikes I think is all punches. I think MMA Boxing is, too.
 
This morning I did Body Beast Bulk Chest + XTrain Legs - WU, Standing, Stretch.

Jen, good to know about Rockout Knockout. I saw the national weather map this morning. It does look bad for you today. Take care. We are having unusually warm upper 70's/lower 80's temps and the storms are passing us by. That's nice. It'll be getting cooler starting tomorrow.

Jody, I don't have any Bar Methods. I finally ordered Barre3 last night!

I've been thinking about doing an extended rotation of Traditional UB/Kettlebells/Barre over the summer. I'd like to use P90X and/or Cathe for UB, RKS and/or AOS, and all my new barre wo's (starting with the easiest). Just a nice thought.
 
Today is my rest day.

Jen, good for you for changing things up. Sometimes you just need a new direction. I'm curious about doubles though...why are you giving those up?

I love the heavy bag tabata bonus on Hard Strikes! Haven't done it in awhile, but I don't remember there being any kicking in it. MMA Boxing...another I haven't done in a long time. I do remember my upper body being so sore after trying it the first time. Saying all that, I see what you mean, Jen, about not coming back to workouts you love for months!
 
Jodi--I don't know what's up with me lately. I have no problem with my morning workouts but I am lacking motivation some days to do my doubles and this week I just didn't feel like it. This happens sometimes and I take a break and after a few weeks I get my doubles mojo back and start up again. When I told my husband I was taking a blogging and doubles break he got worried. He was afraid I was getting depressed or something!

And yes--Hard Strikes heavy bag bonus is one of my favorites. One of the few kickboxing workouts I've done that actually gave me severe DOMS in my back!

Mary P90X is a good choice to include in an UB rotation--he does have some excellent UB workouts. His LB workouts are always lacking IMHO.
 
I was inspired by you ladies so on Thursday I did Slo Mo back and Shoulders. Today I'm doing the other Slo Mo upper body workout (chest, biceps, and triceps). It's probably been a year since I've done these workouts. I had forgotten how good they are! Jen-I told you that lower body workout is brutal!!!! That one always gives me crazy DOMs. Yesterday was a cardio day so I did Hiit on the treadmill.

Oh my goodness and I was beyond excited to get the Cathe email yesterday about the new and improved workout blender. There are so many fun rotations that fellow forum user-FitnessFreak has put together over the years that I've been dying to try! A lot of them blend segments from various workout DVDs so I've held off on trying any of them because it seemed like it would be such a hassle to be switching back and forth between various DVDs in one workout session. The workout blender should make this so much easier!!! I was thinking of starting a rotation of body beast next, but I may hold off on that now and try out the new blender. I'm so excited!
 
I did Barre Amped Boot Camp this morning. The whole thing. My knee feels really good today. I hope I didn't push it too much.

SarBear, I'm excited for you about using the Workout Blender. I wish they'd fix the desktop one for download users too! I bought the last 2 series with the downloads but have no use for them until the WB works.

Jen, I don't like it either when I do a workout once and rarely ever again. It's like a new workout the next time too. It's much better for me to use it for a while and get to know it better. I really wish I would do some instructor based rotations. That way I at least can remember what a workout is like and actually know when to use it. I can have a really hard time remembering a workout if I've only done it once. I can see the necessity of you blogging your workouts. But if you really enjoyed it it's a drag not being able to revisit it. I've been doing loose rotations around Body Beast. I kind of like it and I sort of don't. I can do what I want but it takes it little more daily decision making (and it's easier to skip).
 
This morning was Amy Bento's Drop Set Strength. I really liked this workout. It is a long (91 minutes) total body workout--but pretty comprehensive. I did not love it. It is no where near as good as Slo-Mo, which I adore. However, it is a very good workout. It has to be done once tho to get your weights down. I'm sure the second time I will like it much better since I will be lifting the proper weight. But it was a very good workout.

That's what I am feeling right now Mary--it seems hard to train when I don't have myself on a program. How am I progressing if I do a different workout every single day? It's hard to measure. I need to have more consistency in my rotations. I need to stop hoarding workouts and start using the ones I have more consistently. I saw that Cathe's Power Hour was the daily deal today and watched the clip. I own Power Hour btw but have only done it 2 times and that was more than a year ago. As I watched it, all I could think was why? This looks like an excellent workout. So I went and read my own blog review of it--and I thought so when I did it! So why have I not returned to it?

So that is my plan for a while. Some consistency--even if it is doing workouts in 2 week stints, at least I can measure my progress/improvement the next week. The week after next I have to do something different because I am giving blood. I don't know about anyone else, but I have to restructure my workouts for several days after donating blood. I just don't have the same strength, stamina or endurance for several days. So those workouts will be different. But after that I really need to create a better training method than what I have been doing lately. I guess the idea of these fitness programs is actually a good idea for the short term--it keeps you doing something consistently so you can measure progress/gains.

The workout blender seems like a great idea, but I am very resistant to moving away from my DVDs. I have over 200. Plus it's too much of a PIA to keep moving the Apple TV into my workout room every day. I'd have to buy another one just for the workout room if I decided to go that route. Maybe a few years in the future.

Fingers crossed your knee is fine Mary--I know it feels good when you're finally able to do more. My feet have actually been giving me problems which depresses me. I hope it is just the crazy weather here in OK--barometric pressure is all over the place. They are fine in the morning so it doesn't affect my workouts but as the day progresses they start hurting and limping starts. :(

I finally received the replacement DVD for PFLO! Tho now I have no idea when I am going to do that program--at least now I know my DVD works!
 
Today was the treadmill with Sam Hunt and Miley Cyrus. Yes, an odd combination but it worked.

Mary, glad your knee is feeling better!

I'm going to pass on getting Drop Sets for the moment. I have so many other strength workouts I haven't done in awhile (mostly Cathe!) and I really want to go back to them.
 
Happy Sunday (and Mother's Day) ladies! Today was a cardio day so I decided to dig into my Cathe library and pull out a workout I haven't done in awhile--To the Max! I love doing this workout on the weekend because the weekend is usually when I splurge a bit on my eating and it's one heck of a good workout!

I did Amy's Slo Mo Chest, Biceps and Triceps yesterday and boy am I feeling the DOMS today--especially in my chest!!! I cancelled my Cathe Live subscription last night and signed up for On Demand (which includes Cathe Live). The new workout blender is great! I am beyond excited to start using it this week. I've already got a few of my workouts for this week loaded into the system. It was so easy and only took a few minutes. This week's workouts will be a blend of Slow & Heavy and Gym Styles. I have a feeling my muscles are going to be FRIED!!!! :)

Oh and I wanted to get your advice on good body weight only evercise DVDs. Next month there is a week where I am going to be out of town for about 7 days for work. The timing couldn't be worse as it will be two weeks before we leave on our beach vacation to the Dominican Republic. I don't want to take the entire week off from working out, but I also know that I won't be able to keep up with my current workout schedule while on the road, especially since hotel gyms can sometimes be pretty lacking. I'm looking for some good body weight workouts that I can do in the privacy of my hotel room (preferably ones that are 30 minutes or less). Since I won't be able to do my normal heavy weight workouts, I'd like to find some body weight workouts that are challenging and that can take the place of my heavy weight workouts that week (finding cardio workouts that I can do in my hotel room is fairly easy). I know some of you guys are fans of Mark Lauren. Are his body weight workouts pretty challenging? I was looking at his "You are Your Own Gym" set on amazon--seems like this may be a good fit since the workouts are shorter. What about Weider Ruthless? Are any of those workouts strength based or are they all cardio? I saw that KCM has a body weight workout DVD, so I may look into that one as well. I love Cathe's Travel Fit workout, however, it's a longer workout. I feel like if I bring workouts that are 30 minutes or less, I'll be more likely to do them. My work usually keeps us fairly busy on our out of town trips so I'm usually pretty exhausted--hence the reason I don't think I'll be able to commit to longer workouts. I also don't want to not do anything the entire week I'm gone since I'll only have a week when I get back to kick things into high gear before I leave for vacation.

Any suggestions you ladies have would be greatly appreciated!
 
I started the day off with RwH Plyo HIIT 1 & 2 combined. A good way to start my morning since I knew it would be bad food-wise. And it was! Brunch was sinful and I ate too much for dinner, too--but those were the only two meals I ate today. Still ate too much but oh well!

My not wanting to do doubles lasted all of 2 days! I want to do them again and planned them for this week. We'll see if I change my mind but I am feeling motivated again. Or maybe it is just my horrible diet today spurring me to want to exercise more! Damage control!

SarBear, I am very tempted by the workout blender. I watched Cathe's little tutorial on it and the idea that I can construct my own premixes from all of Cathe's workouts is incredibly tempting. But I am waiting. I think I will definitely end up doing it, but I am going to get an Apple TV for the workout room first. My husband wants to buy the new Apple TV when it comes out later this year so when that happens I'll take the one we're using in the living room for my workout room and maybe sign up as early as this year! I was all resistant to it until I saw that tutorial! Now I want one! BAD!

SarBear I think Mark Lauren's YAYOG is your best bet. It's the right length and it is very strength focused. KCM's is good but not the level of Cathe or Mark Lauren. And tho Weider Ruthless does have a few challenging strength focused workouts most of the workouts are primarily cardio based. YAYOG is much more well-rounded than any of the others mentioned. However, Weider Ruthless does have one really excellent total body strength workout and another excellent lower body one. Don't forget Cathe's Slide N Glide--another great travel workouts with shorter premixes.
 
Today was BarreAmped Boot Camp. Love this workout!

SarBear, I definitely like your suggestions of Mark Lauren and Ruthless for your trip. I would suggest barre workouts for the lower body but there are so few that are 30 minutes or less. I'm sure Jen can tell you more about Mark Lauren's workouts...I only have his EFX which are longer workouts.
 
Hi Ladies,

Today was a rest day.

SarBear: Body weight workout is a very good idea. It will hit your muscle differently.
Cathe on demand is another way to keep all your workout with you anywhere. You can access on demand
from tablet and smartphone. If you can connect the phone to hotel tv if there is one. Most of hotel own new tv
you can connect to tablet and smartphone using HDMI cable. Speak to them;);)
I too know how difficult it is to workout in hotel's gym. Equipments are very minimal.

To Mary: So Glad your knee is getting better. Hope we can start STS September/October.

bzbnmom said:
Jen, I don't like it either when I do a workout once and rarely ever again. It's like a new workout the next time too. It's much better for me to use it for a while and get to know it better. I really wish I would do some instructor based rotations.
Click to expand...

jengollf said:
That's what I am feeling right now Mary--it seems hard to train when I don't have myself on a program. How am I progressing if I do a different workout every single day? It's hard to measure. I need to have more consistency in my rotations.
Click to expand...

Jen and Mary, I have read your quote above. That's why I prefer to visit new cathe's at least three times before moving on.
I rely on my memory to know how to combine workout for future rotation. I mainly workout cathe. So far I can remember
the one I have consistently visted and know how, when and for what goal i can incorporate them in my rotation. I agree with you
jen for tracking progress. That is why I prefer to repeat weight segment and slightly change the load and see how I cope
with it. I did power hour yesterday. Phew :eek::eek:I know you are intending Jen to do it soon. Let me remind you the six minutes
of squat. That is really mean:oops::oops:o_O. It is one of cathe's toughest in my opinion.So far I am fine. i do not know how long
I can operate this way for. I will have to come up with some note eventually stored on cloud or memory stick.

I am doing total compound mixed with some circuit/Metabolics. I will stick to this for two and three months.
This is confusing my muscles. I felt it from the beginning. Here is my first week. Next week will be pretty much the
same. Will change few cardio. I am fine repeating weight segment for two weeks.

Day1:Imax3
Day2: High reps premix upper body plus kickbox 4ds.
Day3: Lower body premix lower body plus tabata prmx#3 1-3.
Day4: Athletic training. 100 push up intermediate.
Day5: TTM core plus Yoga max..100 triceps punch out
Day6: High rep total program. No core.
Day7: stretch Max

About heavy bag, I think I will need:p to buy one. a premix of martial art cardio followed
by upper body weight segment hit my upper body nicely. I like doing that. It is my way
of sort of having the similar hit on muscle as doing CLB for legs!:):):)

That is all I have to share for now.

Wish you all a strong healthy week buddies;)

Will check soon.
 
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