Bodybuilding/Sculpting check-in;-)

This morning was Xtrain Supercuts + Core 1. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that workout! Cathe was using plank kickouts long before Chalene in PiYo!

Thanks Nathalie--and I don't think you have to sign up for anything to listen to podcasts. I have a podcast app on my phone and I subscribe to the people I want to listen to so that I know as soon as they upload a new episode, but I don't have to be subscribed to listen to their podcasts. I sent you links to them via FB messenger.

And I know a perfect body doesn't exist and so much of what we see is photo-shopped but I get down on myself sometimes because I know I workout hard and lately when I look in the mirror I can't tell. Or I will see pictures of myself and think--my arms look fat not muscular yet I know for a fact there isn't a jiggle on my arms--no tricep "wings" here, they are solid muscle. I also know it all comes back to diet and that is my real failing. I am trying harder lately and making progress, but unfortunately I also have a husband who constantly sabotages my eating.
 
This morning was squats 3x3 and 2x8 reverse lunges 5sets of 6 or 7 reps each leg (supposed to be 10) and hanging knee raises 5 sets. I added 3 sets of single leg calf raises with 40# dumbbell 20x20x25 1 set of dumbbell curls and 2 sets of concentration curls all 8 rep sets, and finished with 2 sets of pushups. Now for the weekend where probably I won't do "didly squat"!!!
 
Jodi and Tom, you made me laugh! I love your sense of humor.
Jen and Nathalie - my fingers are always cold, even without fasting. I dread the winter! Gloves, even very thick ones do not help. When I type, I keep my arms around my neck to let them unfreeze a bit. The fingers become violet color and hurt. I think it's caused by insufficient blood circulation. Doing cardio in the winter months is the only thing which warms me up temporarily. The fact that we don't switch on the heater often enough ( because we can't afford the high electricity bill ) does not help.
You are right about the perfect woman figure brainwashing. I used to care , now not anymore. I'm living with my imperfections and accepting myself. I wear an AA cup bra and do not consider surgical "enhancement". Yes, I wish I had a more feminine body but not at the price of surgery and spending my last savings on this. (And whatever the beauty contests may try to convince me, men in my life accepted me as-is. I didn't expect my man to look perfect either )
And think about the bright side. You live in countries where most people are satisfied. They pay money to lose weight because they can afford any and all food they wish to eat. In many many places around the planet people starve due to poverty. They are thin but they want to get more rounded. Because rounded (within the clinical norms) is a sign of healthiness.
Really, life has much bigger problems than a few lbs / kgs.
Jen, I look up to you. I wish I'm that fit at your age. Tomorrow I'm doing SuperCuts thanks for the great idea.
And you are beautiful. Here in this forum we all are!

Here are my workouts in the past 3 days: All of them made me feel great.
Wednesday: Xtrain Chest, Shoulders, Back & STS Ab Circuits - No Equipment Abs; Doubles: KCM Your Best Body, legs & cardio premix
Thursday: Xtrain Cardio Leg Blast; Doubles KCM Body Training Workout #2
Today: 4 Day Split - BootCamp cardio & Shoulders & Abs from Low Intensity Step; Doubles TurboFire Hiit 20 and KCM Body Training Hip Mix

Virtual hugs to everyone!
 
Hey gang--haven't checked in in awhile because my cold progressed this week into a full blown chest cold (lots of chest congestion and coughing). I tried to workout a couple times earlier in the week, but each day my cold has gotten worse so I've backed off the last few days. I was going to try to workout this morning, but the cough is still pretty bad so I'm going to try to take it easy again. I absolutely hate missing this many workouts, but I know that even if I tried working out it would be no fun dealing with the coughing attacks. Hoping this thing will pass soon so I can get back to my normal schedule. Oh and then yesterday morning I woke up and my shoulder was hurting AGAIN--worse than last time. I'm starting to wonder if I'm sleeping on it wrong or something because this time I know it's not from working out. Hopefully, all this rest will help that to heal as well.

Hope everyone has a nice Saturday!!!
 
I was reading Jen and Svetlana's comments and I can't believe the insecurities we all have. The messages sent to, especially women, media driven are so unrealistic and unhealthy. The women portrayed with these images can't begin to do the physical workouts you do every day! I am in awe of what the women on these forums are capable of and any " body" that can do what you do is, in my mind, PERFECT!! I am sure that none of my male friends can do what you do and that includes ME!! So rejoice in your temples given by God and built by you!! I'll get off the pulpit now! Lol
 
Here, here, Tom! Beautifully said!

SarBear, so sorry you're not feeling well. Take the time to let your body heal. You'll be back at it in no time.

Today was a Ruthless day. I did Lunatic Intervals, Core + Flex, and Performance Stretch and Yoga. A great mix of cardio, ab work, and stretching. The stretching was so needed after the RWH workouts!
 
Today I did Extend Barre: Lean & Chiseled. This is a new-to-me barre workout which I got because Amazon kept recommending it to me and it had a ton of 5-star reviews. It was a good workout, but not the toughest barre work I've done. It has more of a cardio element to it, most moves are done slowly a few times and then the speed is increased. The pace is not as manic as the P57 workouts. I'd say it was similar in speed to the one Tracy Mallett DVD I have. I was going to add on some cardio afterwards, but since it had the cardio element and the moves didn't leave my legs begging for mercy, I decided to add on Ruthless Wicked Lower Body instead. Oh yes, that did the trick. Legs were and still are burning.
 
This week starts STS for me. This morning I did Disk #1 Chest, Shoulders & Biceps followed by Medicine Ball Abs. Planned Doubles is HIIT #1 (40/20). I love STS! Meso 1 workouts move so fast you never get bored.

Saturday I did KBKB Scorcher Power and Diversity and Sunday I did TurboFire Stretch 40.

How was Supercuts Svetlana? Such a great workout! You're right--the world has bigger problems than my first world concerns!

Thanks for the comment tslop49--it made me smile. I actually read it this weekend but today is the first chance I've had to post.

I am feeling better. I think it was yoga yesterday and STS this morning. I just love that program and somehow it makes me feel better to be doing it. I have also been pushing myself too hard I think. I never take rest days anymore and doing yoga yesterday (and no other workouts) was exactly what my body needed. It felt so good and I think I really need to refocus--not just on taking a rest day every week, but on incorporating long stretch/yoga sessions every week. So I am designating Sunday my Yoga day where I do yoga and nothing else. Hopefully it will stick.
 
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Jen. I am going to try to do an sts rotation after Nia , but I am trying to decide whether to do meso 1 or skip to 2...1 is a real grind for me,lots. Of long sets, but the endurance really helps cause these workouts usually take me 90 min.(us old guys need "lotsa"rest between the heavy sets of meso 2 and 3!! Today's workout was bench press 3x3 and 1x8 not counting warm up sets inverted pull ups 5x8 suspended pushups 5x10 and barbell curls 5x8. I added a couple of drop sets of bench, working on the low end range. I watched several deadlift videos and will use that knowledge tomorrow...hopefully!! I didn't raise any weights today, but did increase some reps. Next week will be a deload week, then the next week will be 5x2 on heavy lifts....luvs me some SHORT sets!!!
 
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catwoman7631 said:
Rest day today, a much needed one. I had a hard time reaching back to hook my bra this morning. Tom, I'm sure you can relate to that experience. ;) LOL!
Click to expand...

Jodi LOL Both you and Tom made me laugh:):)

About having hard time reaching the hook of the bra LOL--- you can always rely on your husband to help!
I am sure he would *not* :p:p;)mine LOL.

You reminded me of my myself being on the same boat occasionnally trying to zip up a formal
pencil dress early morning rushing to work Lol;)

Ps being on the same boat I have to find a way on my own no one to rely on Lol
 
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tslop49 said:
I was reading Jen and Svetlana's comments and I can't believe the insecurities we all have. The messages sent to, especially women, media driven are so unrealistic and unhealthy. The women portrayed with these images can't begin to do the physical workouts you do every day! I am in awe of what the women on these forums are capable of and any " body" that can do what you do is, in my mind, PERFECT!! I am sure that none of my male friends can do what you do and that includes ME!! So rejoice in your temples given by God and built by you!! I'll get off the pulpit now! Lol
Click to expand...

Aww Tom this a kind message beautifully written. I shall remember to rejoice in given temple for sure:):)
 
As to workout, I took 2 days off to catch up on some work. Need to refocus and get my one rep done for STS.
I decided to postpone my date for two weeks. It is too warm and humid. I do find it not comfortable at all.
I have been working out on a daily basis without mapping out a rotation and it is just *NOT*the
best way to my liking. So will resume to drafting my rotation and stick to it.

My STS rotation is done now and I won't change it. Today workout was Afterburn the main program.
I am now loving it compared to when LIS got release. Really enjoyed it today. I should do it often. It is a
great metabolic. I even managed to increase the weight a little bit.

I will share my full rotation at the end of the week. Hope you are all having a good week.

Kind Regards to you all;)
 
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Today was RWH Back, Biceps and Shoulders again. Just love this workout! I tried using a heavier band for the finishers, but it only worked well with some of the exercises. For some of them, such as the T pulls, I couldn't pull it hard enough to make a difference. Something to remember for next time!

Nathalie, if I asked my hubby for help with the bra, I would probably never get dressed! :eek:
 
Today was deadlifts, glute bridges and ab wheels. I did bump up all sets of deadlifts 10# as well as glute bridges 10. I feel I am still doing poor technique on deads and using mostly lower back. Will probably incorporate some Romanian deadlifts to help strengthen hamies and see if that helps. Technique seems to suffer when you load the bar!!
 
This morning was STS #3 Legs + Xtrain 100 rep hip thrusts. Doubles is STS Yoga Abs + Stretch Max 2. I am sore from yesterday's workout! And my glutes are really burning from this morning's 100 hip thrusts!

Tslop--I prefer Meso 2 to all of the others. Doing 1RM and letting the workout manager choose my weights always makes these workouts so hard--but I love it! That's what I love about STS.

Nathalie--Afterburn is one of Cathe's best workouts I think. It never stops challenging me. I always think I should do a LIS rotation, but I never do. Maybe one day. I finally have my STS rotation hammered out and I think the first two months are going to stick (no changes) but sometimes I get ideas and start messing with things. We'll see if my plan to hit the glutes hard is actually overdoing it. If so, I'll make some changes. Meso #3 is still in the works. I have the morning workouts set in stone, but I haven't added in my doubles or yoga workouts.

Jodi--I still think RwH upper body workouts are Cathe's best and most challenging. I can't decide what to do when I finish STS. I have a lot of ideas but one of them is to do 6 weeks alternating RwH Upper and Gym Styles Upper workouts.
 
@jengollf

Afterburn is one of Cathe's best workout---Yes. It is the toughest of low impact. My heart rate is incredibly high.
yesterday especially. Now I know why I have increased the weight and I was huff and puffing big time. Now
I am recovering from inner thighs and quads DOMS.:):)

My rotation has not changed. I need to look at Meso 3 as I do not remember mapping out my rotation. I have about
6 months cycle mapped out --- Generically. Jen well done on combining STS and hip thrust.

How about doing a month rotation with Slow and Heavy? It is good program. You would gain strength.
It is hitting my upper body nicely in a different way. Pyramid lower and upper is another one;);)
 
Hello buddies, you have written some great posts in our check in, as usual :)
Plus, in another thread someone mentioned that a bug is running along the stage in Xtrain Chest, Back, Shoulders. I will look for it while working the pecs lol.

Tom, special thanks for your kind encouragement.
SarBear, wish you a fast and complete shoulder recovery.
Nathalie and Jen, enjoy your STS journey girls. Jen, your review of Michelle Dozois Pure Strength 1 and (especially) Pure Strength 2 motivated me to revisit these workouts in a new way. I sliced the 5 minute chest / back / legs / arms segments and then merged them into 10-minute muscle group segments. I'm happy use of PS1 & PS2 which I previously blacklisted. Your blog is the workout encyclopedia to me, I love it.
Jodi, you made me want to try RWH Back, Biceps, Shoulders. I read a review saying it's a great postural workout. I like mixing bands and dumbbells when working my back. I may have a chance to try BarreAmped (original) and Suzanne Bowen's Gorgeous Core. I will report back

My workouts :
Saturday - TurboFire Hiit 15 and Super Cuts. Great funny sweat fest. Doubles - the biceps and triceps segments from Power Hour and High Reps.
Sunday - Kelly Coffey Meyer's Plateau Buster and Circuit Burn (cardio only). Doubles - the leg segments from STS Total Body & Muscle Max and Xtrain Core 1. The movie maker freeware works like a charm.
Monday - I did half of Turbo Barre in the AM and completed in the PM.
Today - Michelle Dozois' More Cardio Interval Burn. Doubles - KCM Boot Camp workout #1. I was happily puffed! Added the stretch from Amy Bento's Hi Lo Xtreme.

Warm greetings everyone and keep up the good work,
 
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