Bodybuilding/Sculpting check-in;-)

[janiejoey]

Disc 5 Back and triceps. Got ta love it. Felt really good. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone! Had homemade frozen yogurt tonight. Was delicious. Made chocolate ice cream made from milk kefir and 100% coacoa and less sugar. When I tasted it, it was really good, but still a lot of calories. Must only enjoy 1/2 cup.

Take care,

Janie

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Hi Everyone,

Happy thanksgiving to you all. No doubt you are having a great time celebrating with your family.

Today workout for me was Imax2 and 200triceps extension challenge. I have sat my anatomy and physiology plus Principle of fitness yesterday. I am confident I have passed it.I now have final rehearsal to do for my practical exam next week 04th of December .Next week I will be done! Well at least for a while

Kind Regards,

 

[Burning2]

Nathalie, congratulations. Way to go girl.
Lots of extensions there girlie.
And It was a Happy one here for us.

Veronika

 

[jengollf]

Hello ladies! My eating got completely off track during Thanksgiving! But I am getting back on track, tightening the diet back up.

Nathalie--200 tricep extensions! Wow! I am impressed! Great job! And congrats on being done with the class. Is that it? Or are there more classes? What's next?

Veronika--I adore Crossfire! It was my favorite cardio workout until X10 came along. It is still in my top 5 favorites. And it is so nice when people notice the changes in your body from all the hard work. Congrats! I want a spin bike too. I own a recumbent bike that I spent a lot of $$ on after I was in a very bad accident. I use it for Cathe's spin workouts but I am clearly not getting the full effect of her workouts since I cannot stand/ride. It is on my "want" list--but probably not this Christmas! And I haven't always been able to do push ups on my toes. That came with time. I remember when I was doing The Firm, I was always doing the knee version when they did push ups. The workout that got me strong enough to do a lot on my toes them is Jari Love's Get Ripped. I think it is Get Ripped 1000--she does 72 push ups total (drop sets) in that one and I was determined to do them all. That is one of my favorite workouts (haven't done it in years, but thinking about it now I suddenly really want to) and I did it so much that eventually I was able to do them all on my toes. Then after that I did P90X--which makes you do a lot of push ups and then Cathe! So I worked my way up to it over the years--not weeks or months. And even in some of Cathe's STS workouts it depends where she places some of them. For example some of the early Meso 1 Chest workouts I do every single push up on my toes because of the way she structures the workout--but when she decides to stick the drop set push ups at the end of the workout--then follows them with 21 push ups... by the end of the set I sometimes go to my knees because my upper body is so burned out. I'm sure people have gotten cut and lean with Cathe--because her workouts, particularly STS, have the potential. But as you know, the diet has to be in place and mine never seems to be so I don't ever get that "cut" like you see in magazines. But I do think it is possible. I want to get some semblance of it this time (tho I'll never get fitness model cut) but I have to get my diet back on track. Thanksgiving threw me completely off the wagon! But it is over and I am getting back on track.

janiejoey--I wish I had the time, energy and motivation to cook special things. I love to eat but hate to cook. I do frequently do a lot of healthy cooking on the weekends to prep meals for the week--but I hate doing it even tho I love the end result. But I never have the energy or motivation to make healthier desserts. I wish I did because then maybe I wouldn't be so tempted to eat the sinful stuff!

And you ladies have helped me change my mind. I decided no weights during my recovery week. Just step and kickboxing workouts. I am actually looking forward to it! This week has been a hard week workout-wise even without the doubles! This morning I did Paul Katami's ASAP 4x4 Bootcamp. That man creates some really advanced and challenging workouts! I need to go peruse some more of his workouts! I started with Burn and Build (or Build and Burn--can't remember the order of the two words!) and loved it. It was so challenging

Thanks ladies for all of your kind words about my mom. Luckily we live in the same neighborhood (both of my brothers live in other states) so I am close by and can help a lot.

Tomorrow is TTM Extreme, then it's a relaxing step and kickboxing recovery week! I am actually looking forward to it though I know by the end I'll be craving the strength work again.

Keep up the good work everyone! And BTW--how did everyone else fair this Thanksgiving? Better than me I hope! I had a little bit of everything!

 

[Burning2]

Hi Jen, getting off your diet on Thanksgiving must mean someone did a fine job of cooking just like at my in-laws. And yes, I got off my diet and I will be off of my clean eating tomorrow also because I love leftovers and have some in my fridge. Oh well. I am choosing to do that and that makes a huge difference in my mind. lol but true. I will get back on it on Sunday. pinky swear

That is impressive about you doing all those pushups. Only thing is, I have been doing pushups for years too but I still can't do them. So maybe I still need some more years. Ha. Thanks for the uplift. I will keep trying.

Cathe responded to someone who was wanting to win her Work Fitness Challenge on Ask Cathe. She advised doing a rotation basically like ours but on a 5 month and 6 month rotation to get lean. She also advised to get a nutritionist for the diet. So, getting lean and cut can be done even in a shorter amount of time using her workouts as long as the diet is spot on. So I better eat those leftovers fast!

Jen, thank you for your encouragement and for sharing your experiences and wisdom. You have been very helpful and I am grateful for you!

VERONIKA

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Hi Jen,

That is impressive about you doing all those pushups. Only thing is, I have been doing pushups for years too but I still can't do them. So maybe I still need some more years. Ha. Thanks for the uplift. I will keep trying.

Cathe responded to someone who was wanting to win her Work Fitness Challenge on Ask Cathe. She advised doing a rotation basically like ours but on a 5 month and 6 month rotation to get lean.
VERONIKA

Hi EVeryone,

I am just popping in briefly to chime in about veronika's quote above.

Because cathe's response to this thread is 100% relevant to what we are aiming for , i thought of copy and pasting it on here.
==========================================================
i bchgrl40! Thanks for your kind words. When is your actual transformation challenge winner picked? How many months do you have to get in shape? What is your current lifting routine?

I think your idea of considering the Paleo diet and eating anti inflammatory foods too is a great idea. Diet is 50% of the "get fit" equation. Especially when you are looking for a total body transformation. If you have time to do STS in it's entirety I would do that and then repeat Meso Cycle 2 if you have time. I would also strongly suggest my Gym Style workouts (from the Hard Core series). These workouts also reflect how a lot of how body builders weight train. In fact if you have six months until your contest I would suggest:

3 Months STS (entire STS program)...
take a full week off
STS Meso Two (Only) again for one month...
Then take a week off
Hard Core Gym Style workouts for 6 weeks.

In addition to your STS/Hardcore Gym Style workouts, you can do cardio 4 to 5 times a week at 45 to 60 minute sessions, for the first two months.

You can do cardio 3 to 4 times per week at 45 min sessions for months three & four

You can do cardio 3 times a week for about 30 to 45 minutes a session for months five & six .

Your calories will alter every couple of months (I suggest you see a nutritionist to make sure your calorie intake supports you workout load or you will go backwards with your progress).

Good Luck and keep me posted.
==========================================================

To veronika: I had never done *ANY* push up before I started working out cathe seven years ago. Now I do them on toes and stronger I am getting , more I am able to do without rest and more fun fun I am havingcool:. Honestly nothing is fun than this ability of pumping the chest keeping a confident posture. It takes time and determination to succeed doing them. Another thing I was sad not being to do was hamstring rolls in on stability ball I was very adamant to do them and now I sometime do them ramdomly during tv break. Everyone has to start somewhere


I will definitely take the information above on board. I suggest you do too if you want a transformation.

As to the guilty feeling you are going through because of festivity food consumption, Please do not beat yourself up as long as you get back to your usual clean routine quickly. We still have christmas and new year coming to.

Looking back last year I lost weight. I need to plan it

We all have food weakness. I am disclosing mine I love my french fries and when I have them it has got to be with mayonnaise ( not the best choice but I am very much Belgian/french when it comes to my french fries). Well and I love my belgian waffle too---

Well I know I can *NOT*have that every day otherwise I will expand
In fact I deliberately chosen not to have a deep frier in my household. Those are occasional treat for me

To Jen,

I still have practical assessment for my ETM exam next week Wednesday. Theory Anatomy and Physiology is done now. I am sure I have passed it. I will have to do first aid one trainer and gain a certificate. It's a requirement for group exercise instructor to hold a first aid certificate.

Jen would you mind listing details of your book on refine sugar.

Have a good day everyone.

I am off to do disc 12 and tabatacise. Yeah you have guessed it it's leg day.

I will report later.

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Lol did i say I was popping in a short note?

 

[Burning2]

Nathalia, you sure did and glad you popped in longer.


I am going to keep working on those pushups. When I do them though I do not feel anything in my chest but in my upper arms and right wrist. I know why the wrist bothers me as I had a ganglion cyst removed two years ago in Dec. and it gives in quickly unless I do the pushups using dumbbells or if I do the pushups on my knuckles. Am I placing my arms in the wrong place? or it could be that I am weak ? Hope not. Been doing Cathe now since 2002 or 2003.

Yummy on the French fries.I eat mine with Jalapeno mayo sauce and I have to make sure it happens only once in a while. Thank goodness Thanksgiving comes only once a year here in the US, right?

Wow Nathalia, You are so close to finishing. Well done.

I am off to do my leg workout using Disc 9. SO not looking forward to the DOMS afterwards.

Veronika

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Hi Everyone,

I have just baked my first protein/oat bar with following ingredient:

• 150 gr oat
• 120 gr protein dessert, any protein isolate flavoured with minimal 90-95% protein content is fine!
• 120 gr Agave nectar, you can sub organic Honey
• 50gr dried fruit
• 100 gr Butter with less than 3% to none saturated fat!
• 1 tbsp grounded cinnamon
• 50-80gr pumpkin seeds

This should add up to 2357kcal 12 servings 197kcal per bar

I am happy with the amount calories considering commercial flap jack/granola bar calories add up to 400-500 kcal per bar! yikes

Directions:

Use a large bowl , add all dry ingredients, mix together using a wooden spoon or spatula. I did not use a mixer as I did not want to ground the ingredients. This is just my personal preference. Then gradually add agave nectar and melted butter while mixing all ingredients. Keep on mixing till the mixture is moisten. Add liquid egg, about 30-50 gr to moisten and flatten the mixture in a square non stick tin pre-wrapped with baking paper.Pre-heat the oven at 150-180 degree Celsius for ten to fifteen minutes. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The smell coming off the kitchen is so nice!

As soon as it is cooked cut it in square and wrap each portion individually in foil paper. Done! 12 serving is more than enough for a week.

Sorry I have not been able to provide the ounces equivalent to grams. ;-)

Hope you like my recipe. let me know what you think ;-)

 

[Burning2]

Wow Nathalia,
Not only do you inform us on fitness for our muscles, you also workout our brains on math skills in converting grams to ounces!
Printed it out and will try this this week. I try to find recipes that are all natural and taste good for my special needs son who has autism. These are great for the rest of my family too,I am sure.
Thank you again.

 

[bzbnmom]

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! Ours was just us at home, so we had more of a paleo-like dinner, except for the gravy and dessert. It was so good! The "really bad food" didn't happen until today. We had a potluck 4-H Christmas Party. So this week will be clean, because I really like how my jeans have been fitting lately.

This week I did:
Sun - Flex Train
Mon - STS Disc 4
Tues - XTrain Supercuts
Wed - STS Disc 5
Thurs - X10: X38 Premix
Fri - STS Disc 6
Sat - Michelle Dozois Body Fit 360

Sun - Today was rest day. My core feels yesterday's workout!
Mon - Tomorrow I will move on to STS Disc 7.

Janie, your desserts sound sooo good. Unfortunately, I'm like Jen, I like to eat but I don't like to cook, but it's always good when I do.

Nathalie, Ouch! 200 reps - I can't even imagine the burn. Good job on your class. You're almost there!

Veronika, I can only do 20 pushups in a row and I'm hoping to improve that. At 20 my arms get tired but so does my lower back. My right wrist gets sore too, I'm not sure why, but I'm hoping it will go away. Maybe you could check youtube for proper form for a pushup? Anyway, we're both bound to improve through STS, right?

And Nathalie, about those hamstring rollouts ... I hate those because I can't do them very well, but I would love them if I could. I really should work on them, but they're my least favorite.

Jen, I'm looking forward to my recovery week. It won't be til after Christmas though. {sigh} I'm planning on not using any weights - probably just step and yoga. You got me looking at Paul Katami's workouts, Kettlebell Konnect caught my eye. Hmmm, I may need to try one of his DVDs sometime.... Enjoy your recovery week!

Well, ladies, since it was Black Friday weekend, I did some shopping, all fitness related. I ordered the Ruthless DVD set, Christi Taylor's Pure Cinnamon Spice, Anni Mairs Fierce Force, and 10 Minute Solution Belly Butt and Thigh Blasters (it was only $5 and uses a firewalker band for the whole workout!). I also bought two sets of dumbbells 30-lb (13.6 kg) and 35-lb (15.9 kg) on sale. Now I have a question for you about these. I am using my 25-lb (11.3 kg) dumbbells right now with STS (ie. incline chest flys-27 lb, seated overhead extensions-27lb, deadlifts, squats). Will I ever need the 35-lb dumbbells later on in STS Meso 2 and 3? Since you have all done STS before and I haven't, I thought you could advise me.

I do have my husband's old barbell, so far up to 40 lbs (18.1 kg) in the house, with more plates in the garage that I'll have to dust off and bring in. Maybe around 50 lbs more? Let me know what you think about the 35 lb dumbbells. Should I keep them or take them back?

Happy lifting!
Mary

 

[jengollf]

Ahhhh... recovery week really is nice. I know I'll soon start feeling like I am not doing enough (I always get that way by the end of a recovery week) but sometimes I just don't feel like doing another tuck jump or air jack or burpee.

Mary, I wish I could get the folks in my family to eat more paleo. Both of the meals we went to were empty carb-fests. They were vey yummy--but definitely not good for you!

And as for heavy dumbbells--yes, I went 30+ in Meso 1--week 4 I was using 35# for one arm rows (80# for barbell rows). And it just keeps going up each mesocycle (obviously) so that by the end of meso 3 I was doing 45# one arm rows and 95# barbell rows, 75# chest press and 40# chest flies. So for me, having a wide variety of dumbbells is very useful! I will say that until STS I rarely used more than 35# dumbbells. In fact, I still don't. STS is the only program that I end up lifting that heavy, though I did lift pretty heavy in Burn Sets, but still not nearly as heavy as STS Meso 3. So anyway--don't take them back! Even if for some reason you don't use them this time, if you keep doing STS rounds you will eventually. But I bet you will be using them at least by Meso 3 if not before.

Thanks for the recipe Nathalie! I might have to try that--I love protein bars but I usually buy commercial ones. I like the all natural ones which of course are always more expensive. So I might take a shot at making my own. And I've had to convert non-US recipes before so I can figure it out!

As for push ups--It's not weakness; even if we are "normal-sized," push ups are still lifting a lot of weight. When you are doing a push up on your toes you are lifting 67-75% of your body weight and even when doing a modified push up on your knees you are lifting 53-60%. So a 135 pound women doing a push up on her toes is like benching 90-100 pounds. That's a lot.

Although I didn't follow this protocol, The New Rules of Lifting lays out a way to slowly start doing a full push up on your toes. They don't believe in the modified push up on your knees. They believe in using risers and always being on your toes. So you could start doing push ups on your step with 5 risers and once they become easy, remove risers until you are doing them on the floor. I've also read that hand placement changes how easy/difficult a push up is (which again seems obvious since Cathe has us changing hand positions all the time). With your hands more narrow (not tricep push ups, but closer to the body) you engage more muscles. The wider your hand placement, the less muscles are activated. Now, I have my own theory on this--just from personal experience. I have found that to be true; however, when I do a wide push up I feel it more in my chest, whereas the more narrow the push up the more I feel it in chest, arms and shoulders so I do fatigue quicker. So I think the wider hand placement isolates the chest muscles more.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts and suggestions! I think the key is consistency. Before I discovered Cathe, Jari Love was one of my favorite trainers and when I discovered Get Ripped 1000 many years ago I did it a lot. At least once a week for months on end. Often more than once a week because it was my favorite workout and I just loved doing it so much. So I was always working on building up to 70 (drop set) push ups. And I find when I am no longer doing push ups frequently for whatever reason (not doing workouts that have a lot of them) when I return to them they are harder and I can't do as many on my toes as I used to be able to--so I have to work my way back up.

And finally, I'm not sure why push ups hurt your hands/wrists. Sometimes I'll start getting pain in my right thumb/hand area but, I'll be honest, I really don't know what to attribute it to, though most recently I did feel it a lot during my STS workouts! But I'm not sure that is what caused it. I don't normally have any hand/wrist pain and I frequently do push ups, so I'm not sure what could cause it. I know they make the push up bars and handles--have you thought of trying those?

Nathalie, the book is called: Why We Get Fat And What to do About It . It is basically an endocrinology study. Now, I have a read a lot of books that use endocrinology as the basis for why we should be eating a certain way, but none have ever made it so understandable and make so much sense to me as this book. It was what finally motivated me to change my eating.

I better go! I've been on her a while! Have a great week ladies. I am enjoying kickboxing and stepping this week.

 

[Burning2]

Yesterday was a leg workout for me using Disc 12. Today's workout was chest, shoulders and biceps using disc 10. For some reason, and I really can't explain it but I was able to do more pushUps on my toes. So that was a plus but my arms still were feeling it. So, Mary, You are right about us getting stronger using STS.

Jen, I will actually start doing those pushups using the risers instead of going on my knees and see how that works out for me. And that is some incredible weight you are lifting! I was shocked since I don't even come close. The heaviest that I am using in Meso 1 is 25 pounds and that is for my back. So that is very encouraging to me.

Okay, tomorrow is a cardio day for me but I still don't know what I want to do. It maybe a kickboxing DVD. Maybe the new disc?

 

[bzbnmom]

Checking in with:

Tues: Lower Body Blast
Wed: Disc 8: Back and Triceps
Thurs: Disc 9: Legs (tomorrow)

I've been doing STS MWF, but we decided to do MWTh. I say "we" because, actually, my 17 YO DD has been doing the STS workouts with me (just STS, no cardio). She wanted to make the schedule switch. I never mentioned her before because I didn't know if she would stick with it. Though she's been active in various sports, working out is very new to her and the hardest part is getting up extra early, but she's doing very well.

Jen, thanks for the advice on the dumbbells. You are really strong!! And you've inspired me tremendously. I'm keeping those 35's and will use them eventually! Yeah! I'm lovin STS and can see doing it repeatedly. I noticed I'm not experiencing any DOMS or tight shoulders anymore, just a little in the glutes. Oh, and my right hand/wrist is not very sore anymore. We probably just need to get used to all the pushups.

Veronika, good job on those push ups!

Isn't it sad about the food mindset these days? We're told to cook like Grandma used to. Even when I was a kid it seems like there was too much bread and sugar. But now it's even worse. The convenience of all that junk and the many years of it makes it hard to reverse and most people don't know or care. We (all parents) need to be teaching our kids how to cook and eat real food. Most of our country's mental and physical problems, children through elderly, come from poor nutrition. I always wonder what I'm really eating when I'm at a restaurant.

I was at my grocery store last week, just before Thanksgiving. Wow, I was overwhelmed as I passed through the bakery section. The sweet baked selection was so impressive and tempting. So this excessiveness is going to last until New Years? I told my kids we won't bake any Christmas cookies until 4 or 5 days before Christmas. Ok, then on the other side of the store there was a huge display of wines. I had to leave there fast. That I will also wait til closer to Christmas for.

 

[bzbnmom]

WooHoo! I did Legs with my brand new 30-lb dumbbells. I used them for all my deadlifts and squats. It was a good choice. My shoulders and hands will need to get used to them though! On one of the deadlift sets I was getting a burn in the back of my right shoulder and through one of the squat sets I was really hoping my left hand was not going to cramp up on me. All was good though.

I did not like the conditioning exercises at the end on this disk, the hamstring ones ... again I should make myself do those type extra ... I just hate em.

Tomorrow I'll do XTrain All Out Low Impact HiiT + Core, and maybe throw in 100 Rep Scarecrows.

Have a great day ladies!

 

[nckfitheart2009]

WooHoo! I did Legs with my brand new 30-lb dumbbells. I used them for all my deadlifts and squats. It was a good choice. My shoulders and hands will need to get used to them though! On one of the deadlift sets I was getting a burn in the back of my right shoulder and through one of the squat sets I was really hoping my left hand was not going to cramp up on me. All was good though.

I did not like the conditioning exercises at the end on this disk, the hamstring ones ... again I should make myself do those type extra ... I just hate em.

Tomorrow I'll do XTrain All Out Low Impact HiiT + Core, and maybe throw in 100 Rep Scarecrows.

Have a great day ladies!

Wow Mary,

30 pound each dumbbell? Is it meso cycle 1 you are doing. That is what I call heavy load. I do lift this load for cycle 2 and 3 though. Well done. As long as you feel fine. Remember there is still cycle 2 and 3.

This must be challenging on your forearms too. Just like you I used to hate hamstring rolls in. Once you have succeeded in doing them, trust me you will learn to love them cause you will feel the constant burn on your hamstrings. You will gain that diamond cut and definition at the back of your hamstrings.
Now I need to master the one leg roll lol.
That is tougher cause the entire lower part including core is on fire!

Push up well done to both you and Veronika for doing them.
This is a staple in my opinion. I have read all your tiips including Jen's and it is good to share those tip.

Another tip I found useful is to ensure to open up the palm of the hands,firmly plant it on the floor without feeling any discomfort, keeping fingers fairly further a part from each other. I have seen Cedie doing that in some of the video. This help me a lot. placing my hands that way give the best support and help in isolating the pecs better. Once I have done that I feel my chest within seconds travelling up and down This gives me the best alignment to keep up with high reps without loosing the form.

I do not know what your thoughts are as soon as i gain strength in my upper body more fun push ups get. They really level up the heart rate.
The strength of the legs does also come into play. My legs used to let me down in past. At that time I could not lie to myself and knew deep down I had to do something about it. That was a total Grrr for me So glad it is all in the past now.

I am on my recovery week. I have been learning party rocking workout1. It is complex and fun fun fun. I still have combo#6 to learn. I can already state it's fun. Cathe was right. I must admit I was skeptical about this step workout but God, Cathe delivered again. I love the combination of pendulum followed by hip hop repeater. combo#5 challenge stabilizer big time, it does make me pull my front core so tight There is no way I can propel myself and do those 3 counts shuffle so quickly without challenging my core properly. This is excellent for posture.

I have passed all my ETM exams now and I am so relief . Time to have more fun. Hypertrophy coming

Hope you are all having a good week.
I will report later.

Kind Regards,

 

[jengollf]

Hello everyone! Recovery week is almost over and though I have enjoyed it, I am getting antsy. Sometimes I think a recovery "week" is too long for me and maybe what I need is a few recovery days. This morning was Athletic Step + 10 minute of yoga stretching and tomorrow is Low Max. Sunday is Step Works and Monday starts Meso 2! Yay! I am ready to start hitting it hard again!

I'll be doing STS workouts on M, W & TH. For my main cardios during Meso 2, on Tuesdays I will do one of my Peak 10 Cardio Strength workouts, On Fridays I will do one of my TurboFire Fire kickboxing workouts and on Saturdays one of my Jari Love Get Ripped workouts--Jari Love's workouts are cardio + strength/circuit workouts and I have missed them terribly! And Sundays I will continue trying out Cathe's older step workouts (I'll have finally sampled them all by the end of December). Because I only have an hour in the mornings M-F and all of my morning workouts in Meso 2 are an hour, I will be back to doubles. I am doing all 10 Minute Solution workouts for my doubles and I'll be putting together combos of core, lower body and cardio work--my doubles will be 20-30 minutes a day. So that is the Meso 2 plan!

Nathalie--I find push ups exhilarating now, too. I know I used to hate them because they were so hard but now, especially when I come to them fresh and am able to push out so many before I start fatiguing--well, it really makes the endorphins rush! And congrats on passing the exams! Will you be teaching?

bzbnmom--That's awesome you're going so heavy! And I had that problem, too, when I used the heavy dumbbells for lower body--it would hurt my shoulders and forearms and even my hands. I never did get used to it--I much prefer using a barbell (with the shoulder pad) to go heavy on lower body. Now for my lower body workouts that use dumbbells I never use more than 25 pounds (unless it's those plie squats and I'll use 45# on those). The first time I went through STS I got up to 45# dumbbells with the lower body and it hurt my arms and shoulders more than my lower body! Unfortunately, in Meso 1 and 2 it's all dumbbells, so for Christmas I am asking for a weighted vest. That way when I pyramid back down I can go heavier w/out hurting my arms. And in Meso 3--Squat Rack Legs! I am really looking forward to that! I didn't do it the first time through STS--I just did Plyo Legs, but this time I am doing both Plyo Legs and Squat Rack Legs in Meso 3.

I haven't been doing so well with my food lately. With my new mindset, even when I do "bad," it is better than what I was doing before, nevertheless I am not where I want to be--which is back to how well I was doing before Thanksgiving. I had 6 solid weeks of cleaning up my diet so well, and now I am having a problem getting back in the swing of it. I'll keep trying tho!

 

[bzbnmom]

Thank you ladies for the inspiration and motivation to move forward! This is going to be a very good winter for me. Usually I get lazy, unmotivated, and very tired this time of year. I quit exercising, eat poorly, gain weight and feel like I need more sun. This year I feel great so far. I'm realizing the value of check-ins and understanding the love affair with STS.

Nathalie, congratulations passing your exams! That must be a nice "weight" off your shoulders. Yes, as far as push-ups, I've just been noticing instructors on videos with their fingers spread out for them. I'll be making a conscious effort to do that too. Ha ha, the hip hop repeater - that is "the" move that I remember from Party Rockin Step 1. It's my favorite move too! Gosh I wanna do that DVD now.

Jen, I think almost everyone has a hard time with diet in December. Sounds like you're doing pretty well though and you did have that great head start. All we can do is try. January will be a very good month for super clean eating! I'm planning on it. (I know, it's easier said than done.) I love how you've structured your workouts. I really want to do more step but I don't put them in my rotation, for fear of missing out on something more ... ? what, intense? ... I don't know. I just may put one in once every week or two. Jen, I'm curious about the Peak 10 Cardio Strength and Cardio Interval Burn DVDs. Would there be one that you could recommend to start with, easier to follow (less frantic) and lower impact. Not sure that either one of those criteria would apply to Peak 10 lol, but I do like her Body Fit 360 DVD, and the music is good. I guess I'm leaning more toward a Cardio Strength wo, because they look like less impact?.

Yesterday I did Patrick Goudeau's Lean Hot Body and then spent a long draining day Christmas shopping. I was going to workout this morning but decided not to. Tuesday was supposed to be my rest day. I think I'll be making Sunday my rest day and just do my normal 6 days on/1 day rest for this month if I have to do more power shopping on weekends. Tomorrow it's Disc 7 - Chest Biceps and Shoulders.

 

[jengollf]

I really want to do more step but I don't put them in my rotation, for fear of missing out on something more ... ? what, intense? ... I don't know. I just may put one in once every week or two. Jen, I'm curious about the Peak 10 Cardio Strength and Cardio Interval Burn DVDs. Would there be one that you could recommend to start with, easier to follow (less frantic) and lower impact. Not sure that either one of those criteria would apply to Peak 10 lol, but I do like her Body Fit 360 DVD, and the music is good. I guess I'm leaning more toward a Cardio Strength wo, because they look like less impact?

All of the Peak 10 workouts are "frantic" and high impact. All are advanced. I personally find the cardio strength ones much more challenging than the cardio interval burn ones. In case you don't have them, a quick break down: they are all based on her "metabolic blueprint"--which is just her method of identifying them as metabolic workouts. They each have 5 approx. 5 minute blocks and each block is repeated twice for a total of 10 blocks. Each block consists of a basecamp (recovery), an ascent, a climb and a peak (HIIT). The recoveries are active recoveries. The climbs are pretty intense and the HIITs are plyometric. There are a few differences between the cardio strength and the interval burn workouts. The first is obvious--one uses dumbbells and one doesn't, which makes the cardio strength workouts metabolic weight training. The Peak in the cardio interval burn workouts is approx. 30 seconds whereas in the cardio strength workouts it is only approx. 15 seconds. That seems to indicate they are easier but not so at all. For one, the recovery in cardio interval burn workouts is real active recovery--not so in cardio strength. As soon as you finish your plyometrics you are immediately grabbing dumbbells for your "active recovery" which is just an easier version of the strength move you will use in the ascent part of the block. That's the other difference. In cardio strength you use weights for basecamp and ascent, then you have an intense cardio for your climb that often involves push ups/mountain climbers and some high impact moves. Your "ascent" doesn't feel "easier" at all (like it is in interval burns). In fact, Cardio Strength workouts feel like the intensity never stops--it changes form. And of course, how challenging it is depends on the dumbbells you choose. I own her Peak Fit Challenge program in addition to all of her Peak 10 workouts so I actually have 5 cardio strength workouts. In all of them you need a set of heavy dumbbells and a set of lighter dumbbells--but this in relation to they type of workout it is. I generally go as heavy as I can with good form. The strength work is fast paced compound moves, so for my "heavy" weight I never go heavier than 12 pounds and for my light I usually stick with 8 pounds. Now, if you go lighter, you will make these workouts a little easier, which is probably a good idea if they are new to you. They are very, very challenging. I am always completely wrung out after a Cardio Strength workout.

I guess that wasn't a very brief explanation, was it? I think they are incredible workouts, tho.

As for Cathe's step. I have had her older step workouts forever--Cardio Hits and The Classics and I have been avoiding them due to my fear of her complex choreography. I have to say tho, that of the ones I have done so far, it hasn't been a problem. Even when the choreography is complex, I am not having a problem following it. I feel like she teaches it better in these older step workouts. But no, none of them are as intense as a lot of her newer stuff. They are all steady state cardio--some more intense than others. But if you want intense step, Cathe has that, too. Any Imax, Intensity and Maximum Intensity Cardio (one of her hardest cardio workouts ever I think). Those are all super intense step-cardio.

You mentioned Patrick Goudeau's Lean Hot Body--I own that one but haven't done it yet. What do you think of it?

Today was Disk 13 Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. It felt so good to be pumping iron again!!! Doubles today is 3 10 Minute Solution cardio segments.

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Hello Ladies,

Hope you are all well and working hard.

Today I started Meso 2 with disc 13 plus 100 hip thrust. Evening I did PRS 2. I decided to do these new cathe's step whenever I can do doubles during the week. I actually got more than I expected. PRS1 require more than just previewing. Moves are complex and require practice and patience! I got both in the end and now just need to master them. I had a lot of fun doing them. PRS1 contain a lot of spin and rotation. I pulled my hair at first attempt

I have managed to plan my nutrition for this week and hoping to do the same for both meso 2 and 3.

To Burning2: please Let me know the outcome of your first cooking attempt.

To Jen: commercial protein bar contain way too much sugar. That is the reason I prefer to make my own. I made the second batch substituting butter for coconut liquid oil. The bar tasted better. I have not started teaching yet. I will let you know

I will report later on this week.

Kind Regards,