Bodybuilding/Sculpting check-in;-)

Happy New Year buddies, may it be a prosperous and harmonious one!
My daughter and me survived a nasty 2-week long flu . Thanks God it's almost gone.
Today I did KCM Athletic Conditioning 1 - Cardio and ICE Low Impact Sweat - workout 1.
In the past week, I worked out mostly with Jessica Smith TV. I like that I can use my (only) pair of 5-lbs dumbbells with Jessica and still feel pleasantly worked out.
Yesterday - a 52 minute Barre Fusion workout, 2 1-mile Lower Body walks and 2 10 minute abs segments
Friday - a 53 minute core Fusion workout, a 1-mile Upper Body walk and a 25 minute Dance Walk
Today I ordered Kelly Coffey-Meyer's Amped Up Cardio and Body Design. :) I'm so haaappy, I can't wait to receive them!
Calgary library has Kelly's Start Here DVD, which I booked to try;)

It's hard to believe, but I haven't bought and of Cathe's S&S workouts yet. I think they would be too advanced for me at this stage, plus I don't have the equipment. I will purchase Cardio Slam download sooner or later. Nathalie & Jodie do you like it?

Greetings and stay healthy my friends!
 
Happy New Year!!

Svetlana, so glad you and your daughter are feeling better. You're doing great with all your workouts despite only having your dumbbells. Is there a sports store near you where you can at least browse for some other equipment? It's always fun to window shop and dream!

I'm in my last week of STS!! Today for my cardio I tried Cardio Slam. I really liked it! I think it mixes high intensity and low intensity stuff pretty well. Svetlana, even though the last part uses a step topper, you could do the moves without it. The middle section uses a mat, but I didn't even bother with it. I know the download wouldn't include the premix with the modifications, but Cathe does suggest quite a few while doing the workout. I think you could handle it.

Next week will be a recovery week (I'll probably do some more Cathe Live stuff) and then I will dive into the rest of the new workouts. Looking forward to it!

Nathalie and Tom, I hope you are both doing well!
 
Hi everyone,

I am looking for a check-in to help me get back on track for year 2017 again, so I'm wondering if I could join this one?

My theme for this year is balance - weather between exercise and rest, eating healthy without getting too obsessive as well as working and making sure I have enough time for my two daughters. At the end of the year I want to feel not just fitter, but all-around happier and more balanced in my life.

Let me introduce myself, I live in Scandinavia (so don't wonder about the strange posting times... ;/), I'm a single mother of two teenage girls, and have been a Cathlete for over ten years (with longer and shorter times off with stress at work and home taking their toll at times, but throughout the years, Cathe been the one "stable" components in turbulent times as well - definitely key component in getting back on track always :)).

Last few years have been especially stressful at work, with cuts and lay-offs and hence reorganizations - so even though I love my work, I finally ended up changing jobs, which is stressful as such, but things are starting to get finally better. Thank God I have Cathe to keep me going, though I noticed with all the external stress, I think I almost overdid it with exercising too hard, as even though it is positive stress, it's still stress on the body too. I know I have a tendency to feel guilty if I skip a day of exercise or don't stick to eating healthy, so I am really trying to learn not to be too hard on myself. Hence the theme balance for this year :)!

So I hope I can join this check-in from time to time - this forum seems great to share how it's going with someone else who knows what a Cathlete even is... ;/))). Taody was Low Impact Circuit - Lower body circuit premix as I did Xtrain chest, back and shoulders yesterdday, which was great!

Have a great Sunday all!

sisu
 
Welcome sisu! We would be glad to have you join our group. I haven't been as regular as I should about posting on this forum and will try to do a better job of it! The only Cathe "official" w/os I have done are sts, which I loved, and a did a little slow and heavy years ago. I, primarily do weight work and need to get better about the cardio............someday! You sound dedicated, really hard to mix work, parenthood and still find time to take care of yourself..congrats on finding a way to accomplish that! Hope you will join in!
 
Hello sisu! Always nice to see a fresh face in the check in! Yes, Cathe is wonderful, isn't she? :) I've known about her for years but she didn't become my "obsession" until a few years ago. She really has completely changed the way I exercise. She's amazing!

I just finished my first round ever of STS, and today I started the January rotation for the new Strong & Sweaty series. I did Total Body Giant Sets which I loved! I also added on Concentrated Abs from the 10 Pounds Down: Cardio Abs DVD from Jessica Smith.

Again, welcome! I look forward to reading more from you!
 
Dear tslop49 and catwoman,

thanks for your warm welcomes, great to join this group of fellow Cathletes! I have really craved a place where I can rave about how great you feel this morning as you did that and that w/o, but you just can't really do that with people who don't know anything about a good Cathe workout :). Not to speak being able to compare the different workouts etc :) :).

And I am really waiting to learn more about both your experiences with weight workouts. I've been bit of a cardio junkie (well, lately I've been really into circuit and metabolic workouts, they just give such an amazing feel that you've really worked your whole body) - but all in all now I really want to put more emphasis on weights as well.

Here's my thing with weights I suppose: doing upper body just doesn't always give that feeling of having done a thorough workout. Maybe I'm just too impatient... maybe I should really try to think of it as training focus as much as muscle..., which I suppose it is about anyway.

But while getting there I was thinking of trying something like RWH upper body circuit, though I don't know if you can really count that as proper weight work if I would really like to see results. I think so far one of my favorites has been Pyramid Upper Body, straight forward enough I suppose ;/). (For now I'm still healing from a slight shoulder injury too, can't lift heavy with my other arm which makes me think I don't want to start something like an STS rotation yet).

With legs again, I just feel like I get such a great leg workout with something like Body Max or some of the other circuit workouts combining blasts and some leg work.

So my question - what workouts that have some cardio element do you feel like you've gotten strength/toning benefits from as well? Or how do you feel the total body weight workouts compare to doing single muscle groups at a time? Or perhaps I should try going for one muscle group per day, which would allow to include some cardio elements oa...? Greatful for any suggestions!

Toady I think I will try ICE Bootcamp (never tried it yet), and add the biceps as that one I missed last week :).

Have a great week everyone!

sisu
 
sisu, before discovering Cathe, my workouts consisted only of total body workouts and cardio. I was kind of like you in that I thought what is working only a few muscles at a time going to get me? And then I decided to try the splits in XTrain. When I saw the muscles on me start to really develop, I was hooked! Now I would much rather do splits or even one body part a day to really build muscle.

I can think of several leg workouts which combine cardio with weights...Cardio Leg Blast, Lift It HiiT It Legs, all of the Plyo Legs from STS, etc...but you're right about there not being a whole lot of those kind of workouts for the upper body. You could try some weight workouts that are aimed more at endurance and therefore would get your heart rate up higher. Phase 1 from STS comes to mind, but if you are nursing a hurt shoulder, I would definitely wait until that is 100% before tackling STS. You could also focus on one body part a day for weights and then also do some cardio afterwards, depending on how much time you have to workout. I did an excellent rotation where I mixed the Muscle Meltdowns from ICE with 21 Day Fix Extreme. Saw great results!

I will add this...do what you enjoy! If circuit and metabolic workouts are what get you excited to exercise right now, then do those kinds of workouts. When you feel like you're ready to change things up, experiment. See what else may work for you, but above all, have fun doing it! :)
 
Good morning ladies! Sis, I echo Jodi, I feel you need more sets to build muscle than you can get on a total body w/o and I too would wait until your shoulder is good before trying sts...great program but pretty intense and would be tough to do with a "bum wing". Today for me was chest and tris, a 10 set bench pyramid following each set with a set of range of motion isometric pec fly. I do these by sitting and placing my forearms on the outside of my knees and use my legs to provide resistance through the exercise, kind of like a pec deck. I started doing these when I was having shoulder issues on bench press and it seems to help "fry" the chest. Next I did 3 sets of tri pushdowns and 3 sets of dumbbell kickbacks and finished with a set of cable crunches. Have a great start to your week ladies!
 
Hi Everyone,

Here is last week check in.

PRS#1, Sands total body giant set,Sands Bootcamp, Cyle fit --- Live and Ramped up upper Body.

Today I did Michael skogg Root Level1 and 2:):) I had fun doing this. I really want to get back
into Kettlebell.:)
 
tslop49 said:
Good morning ladies! Sis, I echo Jodi, I feel you need more sets to build muscle than you can get on a total body w/o and I too would wait until your shoulder is good before trying sts...great program but pretty intense and would be tough to do with a "bum wing"
Click to expand...

I had to complete today's kettlebell workout around the "bum wing" My shoulder actually feel better.
I won't start STS without regaining back full ROM :)
 
Hi @sisu ,

Welcome to our check in. Feel free to post whenever it is convenient for you. I live in Europe, do not feel awkward about
posting during "unsocial" time. There are divers cathletes living accross the globe here.

Sisu, I too am taking care of an injured shoulder. This situation has made me identify stuff I need to fix. I have had various
physio session and it is getting a lot better now.

With regards to your question, I would do more reps instead of lifting different weight loads because of the imbalance.
Basically we are on the same boat here;);):) Unilateral exercises are what is recommended to enable the weaker side
to improve.

Just a brief introduction from myself. I have been working out cathe for ten-eleven years now. Lost weight, sizes, inches
etc... in the process. I am Belgian, live not far from Brussels, have travelled and lived in the UK for a long time:);)
I live with my fiance. No children. I am an accounting professional and a certified group instructor + Gym instructor.
I am not teaching at the moment.:)

Here below are few article. Hope they help:)

http://cathe.com/correcting-shoulder-muscle-imbalances#comments

http://cathe.com/7-benefits-of-unilateral-training

http://cathe.com/fitness-q-a-what-is-a-muscle-imbalance

I will add another helpful article when I get a chance.

Kind Regards:)
 
Hi all!

Thank you for all the great tips and support!

catwoman - I'm so happy I'm not the only one who has thought moving just one muscle group at a time isn't gonna get me anywhere... ;/), despite "knowing" otherwise... And you're dead on, just what I needed to hear was a reminder to keep in mind the fun factor! And accordingly going with something like one upper body part per day seems like a good strategy here, that sounds so much more doable (and fun ;/) at least for those days I really feel like needing that cardio-fix.

and yes I agree to the suggestions to hold on attempting anything like sts before my shoulder is fine

nckfitheart - thank you for introducing yourself, great to meet you! I work in the academic world, so working out is just a hobby (or a way of life with Cathe I would say). Amazing how Cathe has really managed to create something that brings all of these exercise-lovers from all over together! I haven't really done very many other w/o dvd:s since I found Cathe, but it's hard to believe there would be such a "following" with all.

Thanks also so much for the tips and links regards to my shoulder! Like someone else suggested too, more reps for one sounds like a good strategy. Trying to do the same weight/reps on both sides sets you really up for lifting with bad form on the weaker side.

Hope your shoulder is getting better too!

Yesterday I did ICE Bootcamp + blizzard blast yesterday. Was absolutely great - it SOOO hit the spot for cardio + feeling totally worked out all over! So today I actually do have the patience to go for xtrain biceps and triceps :).

Have a great day everyone!

sisu
 
sisu said:
With legs again, I just feel like I get such a great leg workout with something like Body Max or some of the other circuit workouts combining blasts and some leg work.

So my question - what workouts that have some cardio element do you feel like you've gotten strength/toning benefits from as well? Or how do you feel the total body weight workouts compare to doing single muscle groups at a time? Or perhaps I should try going for one muscle group per day, which would allow to include some cardio elements oa...? Greatful for any suggestions!
Click to expand...

I do not opt for circuit/Metabolic when I need to reach for STRENGTH:);)
Strength for me is Muscle Max or STS total for full body strength training.

With regards to your second question, I love total body pure weight workout very much. It is challenging and it require a lot
of energy to recover from them when done correctly properly. In other words, when it is done properly with good form giving
100% you will burn a lot of calories.

I also like split training. I believe anyone who is into compound training should try both split at any point of their lives.
switching from split enable gains. Muscle gets stronger and defined. Plus split help in fixing and taking care of weaknesses.
So I would advise change things up from time to time.

Just like you I love Body Max;);):p. It was my first cathe's step workout. No the easiest in the entire collection. I was patient to
learn. When I mastered the moves, it was so much fun. I got hooked;)
Yes you are right the circuit segment with plie squat with barbell is really brutal. Legs are worked hard while stepping and then
they get even more challenged during the circuit. It is not the intensity I have seen filmed recently:p:p;)

Welcome in Cathe Land. You will end up adding more dvds.:)
 
catwoman7631 said:
Here's what I did for today:

S&S Bootcamp
HiiT for Beginners: HiiT with Kickboxing from JS on YouTube
18-Minute Full Body Stretching from JS on YouTube

Bootcamp was awesome!
Click to expand...

This Sands Bootcamp is one I like the most in the series. I am happy to do it without any modification.
I love the cross over clean and press ---> This move inspire me to try out unilaterally pressing a kettlebell:p;):)
This move has been questioned and rated unsafe. I think it is fine as long as it is done properly with good spot on
coordination.

@catwoman7631 What are you thougths on this?
 
Good morning ladies! Today was back and bi day here, 4 sets of chin ups (finished last set with a 30 sec chin over bar hang), 3x10 pendlay row, 3x10 lat pulldown, 4 sets ez bar curl and 2 sets conc curls. Bi's are definitely tougher when they follow back..pre exhaustion is really effective! Make the day terrific all!
 
nckfitheart2009 said:
This Sands Bootcamp is one I like the most in the series. I am happy to do it without any modification.
I love the cross over clean and press ---> This move inspire me to try out unilaterally pressing a kettlebell:p;):)
This move has been questioned and rated unsafe. I think it is fine as long as it is done properly with good spot on
coordination.

@catwoman7631 What are you thougths on this?
Click to expand...

I agree with you completely! LOVED the clean and press move. And your Kettlebell move may inspire me to try that as well. Done with good form, you're right, it should be fine.

Today at lunch I did a quick walk/run interval workout from Pahla B. Fitness on YouTube. After work I did S&S Ramped Up Upper Body and a 1-mile Express Flat Abs Walk from JSTV. Wow, RUUB is tough!! I know I will be feeling that one tomorrow!
 
This morning for me was supposed to be leg day. My history is that if I skip anything it is ALWAYS leg day! Well, today I didn't make it to the weight room but I did do a leg(primarily) circuit, sort of a bodyweight 100 rep challenge. I did 4 set of 25 squats, single calf raises,reverse lunges (24, alternate leg) and pushups. This circuit really elevated my heart rate, didn't rest much in between and since I don't do a lot of cardio, it seemed to get me racing! Good work all!
 
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