Bodybuilding/Sculpting check-in;-)

Good morning everyone--I only had time for the quick post last night. I follow Sagi/Body Beast on FB and he posted that trailer so I had to share.

I love the way you are dong muscle splits SarBear--blending anything with GS, really, is killer! But S&H are some awesome workouts. I think they complement GS nicely.

Mary--it sounds like you have really gotten that basement in shape! Sounds awesome! Pure Strength are awesome workouts. Not Cathe's very best--but for the shorter length, very effective. They are great for when I am working overtime--then I can tack on some cardio at the end. Pure Strength Legs tho--that one is longer (over an hour) and brutal!

Tslop46--we did a birthday at Joes Crab Shack once for my daughter. They gave her a pie publically and shoved it in her face. It was funny. She was a very young and took it well. We can't go there anymore tho because I developed a shellfish allergy when I was 30. So no more crabshack for me.

This morning was PeakFit Cardio Strength 2. Svetlana--I actually saw what you were talking about in this workout--how she points out during the Peaks that the people in the program have been doing it for 8 weeks. I don't think she means any insult by it. I remember when I first did her Peak 10 Cardio Interval Burn and Cardio Strength FIVE years ago. I had done plyometrics before, but not like I do now. Plus, I was still recovering from a severe accident in 2009 in which my heels were crushed. I have plates and screws in my heels and my orthopedic surgeon told me I'd probably never do plyometrcis again (I was in the middle of P90X when the drunk driver decided to try to kill me by hitting my car head on). Anyway, I bring this up because when I first did her Peak 10 workouts I was just getting back into plyometrics and even before the accident P90X's Plyo X was very challenging for me. Michelle's first Peak 10 workouts used to kill me! Wipe me out! Those plyo/HIIT Peaks were hard and I was really pushing through. So I can understand her encouraging people who are new to that kind of exercise. Plyo is hard if you are not accustomed to it. It still challenges me, don't misunderstand, but her Peak 10/PeakFit workouts don't waste me like they used to. And that is her point--letting the exerciser know that this may be hard now (the first few times through) but keep at it and you'll be HIITing the entire time, no personal breaks. And people new to that kind of exercise need to know that and understand so they don't throw in the towel. HIIT/plyo does get easier with consistency.
 
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I was feeling pretty sore yesterday so this morning I did Travis Eliot's Yoga Foundations Class 2. I have the Ultimate Yogi set but the workouts are so long and challenging. I do like to do Yin Yoga and Gentle Yoga once in a while. I really should make myself do the rest of the set, but I do have to remind myself to do them as a regular workout rather than a recovery/stretch day.

Hammer & Chisel looks like it could be pretty darn good!!! Are the pre-sale prices lower? Beachbody seems expensive to me.
 
Very excited about Hammer & Chisel! I'm with Mary though in that I probably won't be excited about the price.

Today is a rest day. Next week is my business travel week so I'm already trying to figure out the workout schedule.

Here is a link to an interesting article in my e-mail this morning. Just like the article says, I don't give much thought to this muscle: http://blog.barmethod.com/the-most-neglected-muscle-during-exercise-the-serratus-anterior/
 
catwoman7631 said:
Just like the article says, I don't give much thought to this muscle:
Click to expand...

Hello everyone,

Thanks for sharing this article Jodi. I usually feel my serratus the day after long series of push ups.:)

Aesthetically a nice defined serratus result in a nice defined torso for both men and women.

I too ladies would like to know what this hammer and chisel is about?
What type of training is the program based on? I am with all of you who are not excited about the price.
To be honest Beachbody are just overpriced for what they offer.

Today's workout for me was Cycle max again:):) long premix
 
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Mary--the pre-sale prices usually only give you free shipping. And yes, Beachbody is very expensive. But for this program, I will pay it. However, I am still waiting for black Friday this year! I hope to get Asylum 2 and 21 Day Fix for cheap.

Nathalie--the link I posted doesn't give a lot of information. I can only assume Sagi (Body Beast) is the hammer and Autumn (21 Day Fix) is the chisel. Since they are both bodybuilders, I am also assuming this is a strength program with Sagi leading the heavy lifting and Autumn leading something lighter. But honestly, I have no clue. I'm not familiar with Autumn. I haven't yet been motivated to purchase her program (but I'll happily buy it on sale!), but I love Body Beast. Sagi is really the reason I will pre-order.
 
Jen, I think I will order it! I have not attempted Body beast yet but it is definitely my cup of tea.


While we are on the bodybuilding topic, Jen here is my cycle for 35 weeks as from my next STS round:)

  • Do 1 month of Meso 1 and Meso 2 plus One month of Meso 3 - 2 months
  • Take one week off. Active recovery - 1 Week
  • Do Gym Styles for one month! - 1 Month
  • Do the low impact series for two weeks - 2 weeks
  • Do 12 week Buff Dude program - 12 weeks
  • Do Four Day Split for 2 weeks
  • Do Shock Cardio Series for two weeks
  • Do burnset from X-TRAIN for 2 weeks
  • Do RwH for 2 weeks
Total 35 Weeks
  • Do Body Beast, TBA
 
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Today was arm day at the "Y"! I did 3 tri sets barbell curls/tricep pushdowns lying tricep extensions/hammer curls crossbody tricep extensions/concentration curls. I finished with a long set of dumbbell kickbacks and 21s for biceps. After 20 sets on arms I was shot!!! I have seen Autumn on 21 day fix I think, and she seems cool, but I thought Sagi was irritating on Body Beast,and I went with a paper program,copying it down so I didn't have to listen to him. I only went about 3 weeks or so on Beast because I think I couldn't adapt to the 6 day schedule. I went down one morning and sat on the bench and said" screw it" I'm tired and that was it. I also didn't like his tempo, so I guess I'm not a big fan. I think being "nursing home ready" I like more rest between heavy lifting sets.I thought sts was great about that and I will probably revisit meso 2 and 3 sometime...(probably not 1) Just a rant,I'm done!!! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
 
tslop49 said:
Today was arm day at the "Y"! I did 3 tri sets barbell curls/tricep pushdowns lying tricep extensions/hammer curls crossbody tricep extensions/concentration curls. I finished with a long set of dumbbell kickbacks and 21s for biceps.
Click to expand...

Your arms, Tom, must have been cooked:D:D:D after these above. Barbell curls, lying triceps extensions and tricep
pushdown are :):)my favourites. In fact I love hammer curls and crossbody extensions too.
I am looking forward to trying Body Beast for the first time. I would rather listen to Sagi than Tony Horton:)
I had a great weekend thanks.

Mary: Glad to hear from you. What rep range is powersculpting. I do have few KCM stuff which I have not tried out.
Not sure if powersculpting is one of them! I need to find time to try DVDs I have not opened. Some are still
wrapped:)

Jodi: Talking about Serratus Anterior, I do not pay much attention to it either. According to article we should as
Posture is important. Plus this muscle is part of obliques. It is more visible is man than women as our bosom
/boobs tend to hide them LOL:p:pAnyway...There is another exercise cathe do make us do holding light
dumbbell which hit this muscle. When I remember it I will share here.:)

Wod was 75 minutes 2 rounds premix Push and pull.... Bulgarian squat/reversed static lunge on step
just felt a struggle. Those never get easy. Then I did kneeling Band Crunch 100reps:)

Happy week end everyone:)
 
nckfitheart2009 said:
Jodi: Talking about Serratus Anterior, I do not pay much attention to it either. According to article we should as
Posture is important. Plus this muscle is part of obliques. It is more visible is man than women as our bosom
/boobs tend to hide them LOL:p:pAnyway...There is another exercise cathe do make us do holding light
dumbbell which hit this muscle. When I remember it I will share here.:)
Click to expand...

Addendum to my post above regarding Serratus Anterior. We do work it while doing Pull overs as well.
I did some pull over today. I love it:):)
 
This morning I did Anarchy Phase 1 Strength + Endurance + Abs + STS Extended Stretch. All together it was an long, excellent workout!

Thanks for posting that link Jodi--I think some of Mark Lauren's workouts hit that muscle and Sagi does in Body Beast--those Scap Traps. I loved those!

Wow Nathalie! You have a lot mapped out. That's awesome. I don't have that much planned out. I'm doing 15 weeks of STS starting in September (that includes the recovery weeks) followed by 4 weeks of Body Beast and after that, I'm not sure. Maybe Hammer & Chisel if its out? Maybe a RwH/GS combo. Maybe P90X.

tslop49--I agree about Sagi's uneven rhythm during the workouts. It bothered me because I was so accustomed to Cathe's excellent cueing and timing, but I also loved the results I got from it. And there were a lot of other things I really liked about the workouts, too. But I also found Sagi irritating at times. I am not in the "I have a crush on Sagi" group.

Mary--I love Powerscuplting. That is a tough workout! I think you own it, Nathalie--it's the other workout on KCM's Lift. I don't know how many reps there are but you do each exercise for a full minute. It burns the muscles out!
 
Here is my check in for the past week.

Week 4 Burn Phase

Day 1 Burn Circuit 1
Day 2 Rest
Day 3 Burn Circuit 2
Day 4 Rest
Day 5 Burn Circuit 3

Ok, I completed the Burn Phase, a month really goes fast. I didn't get my cardio in last week because I was exhausted. Even though
this program is not as hard as Cathe's workouts, I found that I was pretty tired some mornings from the weight training. The biggest change
I've seen from this phase is how tight my legs are, which is why I've felt so fatigued. Ive also noticed how I don't have the desire for junk food. Just want good clean food, which Ive been doing a good job with, but still need to tweak it a bit. I think that's because Chalene talks a lot at the end of the workout about eating like an athlete.

Looking forward to starting the push phase next week.
 
I'm focusing on the upper body before I leave for my business trip tomorrow so today I did my favorite UB workout, Pyramid UB. While away, I plan to do barre and cardio because I can use my iPad in my room. There is a gym at the hotel but from the pics, it looks small and there will be a lot of us there. It may be too crowded to use. Ugh...I am not a fan of traveling!
 
I am almost finished with the Anarchy workouts and I really, really like them a lot. Yesterday was Anarchy Phase 2 Endurance + Free Flow and I also did two 10 Minute Torchers. This morning was Anarchy Phase 2 Strength + two 10 Minute Torchers and planned doubles will be Anarchy Phase 2 Cardio. I found them a lot more effective and fun than I expected. At 30 minutes each they are obviously not comprehensive but when you combine them to make something an hour long--particularly a Strength + Endurance combo--you get a very nice total body metabolic strength workout.
 
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This morning was MMA Boxing to burn out the upper body just a bit more. I tell you, hats off to those who get up super early every morning and do their workouts (Jen!). I guess my body would adjust if I did it regularly, but this morning was tough to give 100% that early, and MMA Boxing is not incredibly hard either!

Looking forward to the Anarchy review, Jen!
 
Hello friends!
First, let me share my joy. I placed my newest Cathe order. Great Glutes DVD will reach me in 5-6 work days. Every time I expect a Cathe DVD I feel like on New Year's Eve :)
I also pre-ordered the kickboxing and mat DVDs from ICE.
Jodi- I've been planning to revisit MMA Boxing for quite some time. Thanks for reminding me about it.
Tom - I think I would prefer STS (or any Cathe workout) to Beach Body series. This makes us two.
Jen - your review of Amy Bento's Kettlebell Dynamics said you were not impressed; I didn't like it either. Today I decided it goes to the Black list. I usually concur with your opinion about workouts. I love other Amy workouts (I own older stuff such as Kickbox Surge, Kickbox Xtreme, Hi Lo Knockout,Hi Lo Xtreme, Abs & Stretch, 10MS etc they are nice but more upper intermediate than advanced)
Mary - I love KCM's Powersculpt! It's the only workout I do from the L.I.F.T. DVD (because I don't own a barbell). But even this one makes purchasing the DVD money well spent .
Nathalie -the number of reps in Powersculpt is , IMO more than enough. I always begin the workout with a set 11 lbs dumbbells but for some of the exercises I end up using 6,7 lbs dumbbells towards the end.

My workouts in the past four days:
Friday: Cardio premix from Cathe's Body Max 2
Core segment from Paul Katami's Kettlebell Kombos
After arriving I did the stretch segment from 10 MS: Pilates Perfect Body

Saturday: Cathe Shock Cardio Hiit - Double Wave Pyramid
Turbo Jam - 20 Minute Fatburner
Ilaria Montagnani's Push Ups Plus Abs

Sunday - the 2nd stretch from Cathe's Total Body Stretching to release my spine after 9 hours travel. And doing some work on the computer. Thank you, Cathe, you saved me.
No workouts

Today - the ankle weight & matt segments of Cathe's Legs & Glutes & the ball and matt segments from Guts and Butts.
Tamilee Webb's I Want Those Abs, workout #2. Glad to report this is still challenging:)
Cardio planned for the evening MMA Boxing (cardio only), and 2 Tabatas from To The Max and Cross Fire.

Greetings to all of you!
 
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This morning was RIPT90 Dead-Lift Killer and I finished my lower body off with 10 Minute Torchers Lower Body Crush. Actually a really good lower body workout that really burned the glutes out. Planned doubles is 3 more 10 Minute Torchers.

Jodi--my Anarchy review is up! My husband did his first workout from Anarchy yesterday and he really liked it, too. He is not in nearly as good shape as me and he struggled to get through Phase 1 Strength.
 
I have been listening to Chalene Johnson's podcasts and I am about to finish a 2 parter on intermittent fasting. I have never had any interest in this before, but now after listening to the podcasts I am rethinking this way of eating as a lifestyle. Has anyone done this? Researched it? Thoughts?
 
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Today I decided to shake things up a bit and ordered Nia's program Beautiful Badass. I know it's a" ladies " program. but seems a really smart functional fitness system. I features a lot of compound movements with some isolation movements as well. It is short and can adjust to about any schedule. I am curious to see if less intensity 2x per week is a effective or more effective than heavy intensity 1x per week. I did the first one this morning, and admit I am not as drained as usual, time will tell if this is a good thing!!
 
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