Uh-oh, did I get myself into a hole here? ;-)
I don’t follow any rotations. I usually have general guideline, based on Cathe’s older and more recent rotations. I always peek at what she has at the start of every month to see if it gels with what I want to do. If it doesn't, I do a search on other kinds of rotations and go from there. Sometimes I get bored and switch to another series, and sometimes my knees act up, and I have to get rid of the cardio altogether. Also, I train my upper and lower body differently because I’m pear shaped. I go heavy for upper, use endurance for lower. For most of the year, I use endurance workouts for my lower body.
In a very rough nutshell, and using Cathe’s workouts:
bulking: PS series, Gym Styles, S&H (I don’t use this more than 3 weeks at a time), Pyramids (longer rests between sets), CTX-UB, Cathe’s May 2005 rotation. Cardio is 2-3 times a week, shorter and gentler sessions. I break down PUB and CTX-UB so that I’m doing only 1-2 body parts per session – gotta let the body rest.
leaning: circuit-type workouts like Bootcamp, C&W, Circuit Max, SJP; all high step workouts; the Terminator workouts – to keep myself from getting bored, I alternate a week of these with a week of endurance training, or two weeks of these and two weeks of endurance, whatever suits my fancy and however much time I can devote to working out; when doing an endurance-type week, I scatter cardio workouts throughout the week, mostly steady state cardio and kickboxing
maintenance: variety training using different segments from different Cathe workouts, making sure to hit each body part twice a week with moderate weight and do three cardio sessions (that’s as much as my knees can handle). Every 2-3 weeks, go back to heavy weights.
I wish I could be clearer than this, but if there’s one thing you should know about the way I see fitness is this: it’s just a little part of my life, and I work it around everything else. I can’t be too strict on myself regarding workouts and eating, otherwise I won’t do this at all. I started out trying to heal my back, which gave out after carrying my baby all day everyday, and not look like a fitness model or compete in a fitness show – these are totally different scenarios which require a totally different set of rules and ways of eating and training, IMHO. So I’m all for moderation and whatever keeps me motivated. I have periods when I slip. Like these days, I’m too busy to focus on eating well enough to lean out. So I’m starting over all the time.
Also, so much of this I learned through trial and error, and I know that as I get older, I’ll have to tweak things so that I can reach my goals yet still keep it safe, since I have bad joints. So there’s even more trial and error ahead. ;-) Do your research, try things out, do what works for you. That’s it.
Paula, we should meet for coffee sometime. I’d love to meet you. Goodness.. you’re what? About five miles away from me?
Cbelle, if you have more questions, feel free to e-mail me. Thanks.
Pinky
