Butts and Guts — Better Than My PT!

AVeyRa

AVeyRa

Cathlete
*Disclaimer: OBVIOUSLY check with your doctor if you are having pain. This is just my story*

Been in PT about six weeks for some nagging hip and lower back pain I’ve had since about Feb of ‘22. Nothing debilitating, just achy, sore and tight. I still have full mobility, etc. But I’m weaker and tighter on my left side, for sure. Admittedly, my local small-town PT is probably not the best example of “professional” as I only had two sessions per week and no at-home recommendations. I think it’s a money-maker for him via workmen’s comp and insurance referrals. Most of the people there are much older and I’m always the only one sweating.

Well, I discovered at home that if I do firewalkers and glute work, foam rolling (YouTube has some great recommendations for releasing the psoas, for example) and really good stretching, plus abs, that my back, tailbone and hip feel loads better. So I went out on a limb and bought some (MORE) Cathe glute, ab and stretching DVDs. “Butts and Guts” looked particularly promising, so I did the Timesaver Premix this morning.

…WOW…

Y’all have been talking about “Butts and Guts” and how fun it is in random comments on various threads, but I really had no idea until I did it. This one is like no other Cathe video. I LOVE IT! Especially the ball work, which adds so much fun and interest. It‘s like playing and working at the same time. The ab work is challenging, but doable — and once again that ball plays a fun part in keeping it interesting and different. (My ball is weighted with sand in it to keep it from rolling, so: extra spicy.) The ending stretch is just gorgeous and felt so good on my hips and low back that, after I foam rolled my hips, glutes and quads into submission, I felt AMAZING.

HIGHLY recommend this one for people who sit a lot and/or have tight or stiff hips, 100%
 
Butts & Guts is one of the LB workouts I do when my ITBand is irritated. I also will piece-meal the floor & barre work from other workouts (Xtrain Legs, Lower Body Blast, Lean Legs & Abs, Great Glutes, Pure Strength, STS TB, and other bonus work from other TBs). I'll limit heavy-weight work when rehabbing it; I don't eliminate it -which is why Butts &Guts is perfect. I think B&G was produced when Cathe was recovering from knee surgery ... I could be mistaken as it was awhile ago .... Oh, and I love the stability ball ab bonus on B&G too!
 
Debinmi said:
Butts & Guts is one of the LB workouts I do when my ITBand is irritated. I also will piece-meal the floor & barre work from other workouts (Xtrain Legs, Lower Body Blast, Lean Legs & Abs, Great Glutes, Pure Strength, STS TB, and other bonus work from other TBs). I'll limit heavy-weight work when rehabbing it; I don't eliminate it -which is why Butts &Guts is perfect. I think B&G was produced when Cathe was recovering from knee surgery ... I could be mistaken as it was awhile ago .... Oh, and I love the stability ball ab bonus on B&G too!
Click to expand...
So I’m not alone in this approach!

Can you share some highlights for me, re the IT band “workouts”? I feel like the IT band, psoas, iliacus, and piriformis are all in this thing together as the culprits. TIA!
 
Yeah I agree, they do seem to be all connected. I think my ITBand irritation was from weaker gluteus medius and minimus compared to the gluteus maximus. So Firewalkers, Clam shells, pizza presses and their variations, inner/outer & front thigh raises, longer wall squats, barre work where you lift the legs vs the tip-toe- squats all seem to help. So band work, barre work and floor work. Oh and I forgot ICE To the Mat & Boss Bands as options. It took about 2 months of doing these type of excercises to lose the irritation/pain. I still did traditional LB weight work, just not as many reps/sets so as to not lose my strength. That's why B&G was in my rotation for those 2 months as it has both types of excercises. Sometimes I would do 2 LB workouts a week, one traditional weight work & one "rehabbing". I suppose I could have done the rehabbing excercises more often as in regular PT & maybe it would have sped up the healing. Oh, and stretching/mobility work focused on opening the hips, stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings and calves a few times a week too. Now I would include foam rolling also. (I didn't know about softer rollers back then & my hard roller was agony).
 
My fitness journey with Cathe really took off in 2010 and Butts & Guts was the first Cathe lower body workout that I did and I remember being sore for a few days because at that time I was doing Jari Love Get Ripped dvd's which was all about light weights and high reps.

Butts & Guts was non-stop fun, the music was really good and I loved the variety of exercises. Those low pulse lunges at the end of the standing segment just about did me in the first time! One fun memory from that workout was when Cathe is doing the firewalkers, she talked about how her "little boys" loved doing them with her, especially the ones where you crouch down. I think that workout came out in 2006, so her boys were still little boys. Its amazing to think that today they're young men in their early 20's! Doing on older DVD like that is fun because it really is like going back in time. Same thing in Slow & Heavy when Cathe welcomes Cedie back from having a baby. That workout came out about 20 years ago.

Now that I'm taking a break from STS2.0, I'll have to add Butts & Guts to my lower body rotation.
 
I've used Butts & Guts for quite some time primarily for the floor work/stability ball section. When I'm trying to stay on top of my lower back issues, I make sure I throw in either the floor and core work from Butts & Guts, or ICE's To the Mat.

Both contain exercises that my own PT prescribed to me to address chronic lower back issues, as well. Ultimately the key to addressing that pain for me is strengthening my glutes, hips, and core.

Thanks for mentioning these workout options, as I haven't used them in quite a while, and may look to insert them back into my regular rotations.
 
To The Mat: Legs & Glutes has been a go to workout for me during 2 different lower body injuries. Last September, when my dog and my neighbor’s dog both ran into my lower leg and I sprained my foot and ankle, that workout enabled me to do lower body without being on my feet and using weights. It took a good month for that injury to heal.

Then when I sprained my other ankle last month, I once again reached for To The Mat. Thankfully that one healed a bit quicker and I was back to lower body within about 2 weeks.
 
Hee hee, if you go to the individual dvds on shop Cathe, and look for Ice To the Mat,
Legs & glutes, and look at back cover pic, it says Lets & Glutes! Either auto correct
did it’s magic, or didn’t!:)
 
Well, I will admit I hadn’t either, but read about it over on another forum and I had to
check it out myself. If I am not practicing things, I am investigating them. :)
 
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