Cathe, Is this a good idea?

W

willpowerAli

Member
Cathe and friends,
I may be nuts but I am having such a hard time deciding which DVD to buy first!!! I never owned a Cathe tape until now. I heard about you, Cathe, from Firm users, but I always stayed away from step tapes. The combos and advanced moves make it so confusing and I feel like I am wasting time trying to do it just right. I stand there trying to watch and do it and most of the time I do sweat, but since I did not do the complete workout, I feel like I wasted valuable time. I wish there was a tape that showed each step move in slow motion. That would be a big help.

I decided I have to stop using this as an excuse and just learn the moves and then I will see the cardio results. Yesterday, I bought the step home trainer that comes with the all step tape at K-mart. I just did it. Yes, the stepping was not very easy, but I will do it many times this week (the step portion) until I can master the moves. I love your style. I think I am making a very wise move by incorporating your tapes. The All Step tape is the first one I own. I decided to buy the cross train xpress series first. I wanted S&H first, but this tape changed my mind because I want to focus on one body part per day and learn your cardio moves. This series was designed with my goals in mind
1) burn fat (I have about 30-32% body fat)
2) build lean muscle (I want more of a gym style workout)
3) maintain an active metabolism (by doing weight work)

I joined the BFL challenge last week, and I am trying to get great results. How can I get the best results using your CTX Series DVD? Look at my training routine below and tell me if it is too much. I do not want to overtrain and decrease my chances of getting great results. I want to do it for 4-8 weeks.

Monday:
*step & Intervals (do aerobics portion twice in the morning for a total of 42 min on an empty stomach)
*Focus on chest in the evening by doing chest routine once then playing it again and doing it one more time for a total of 20 minutes

Tuesday:
*kickbox (do aerobics portion twice in the morning for a total of 46 min on an empty stomach)
*Focus on biceps in the evening by doing bicep routine once then playing it again and doing it one more time for a total of 20 minutes
* doing abs after biceps

Wednesday:
*10-10-10(do aerobics portion twice in the morning for a total of 50 min on an empty stomach)
*Focus on triceps in the evening by doing tricep routine once then playing it again and doing it one more time for a total of 30 minutes

Thursday:
*all step(do aerobics portion twice in the morning for a total of 44 min on an empty stomach)
*Focus on shoulders in the evening by doing shoulder routine once then playing it again and doing it one more time for a total of 20 minutes
* doing abs after shoulders

Friday:
*power circuit (do aerobics portion twice in the morning for a total of 56 min on an empty stomach)
*Focus on back in the evening by doing back routine once then playing it again and doing it one more time for a total of 24 minutes
* doing abs after back routine

Saturday:
leaner legs tape (with abs)

Sunday:
?

Should I keep it this way? How can I also do the two bonus sections (Upper Body Split and All Abs) with this routine? Should I work each body part once or twice per week since I am trying to build muscle not maintain what I have?

I need help. I do not want to overdo it, but I want to create a tough training routine with just the CTX series DVD. I will buy the others later. I really wanted to buy the 23-pack DVD bundle, but that is too much for me to pay at once. I wish there was a plan to pay for the pack in monthly installments to take advantage of that discount. If there is a plan, please let me know.

Alicia
 
Hi, I'm not Cathe, but I honestly think doing each routine twice in one day is overkill and will quickly lead to overtraining and loss of progress. Doing the CTX series as is, putting at least 48 hours between Power Circuit and Leaner Legs (because they both work legs) is more than sufficient to reach your goals.

:) Stacy
 
I'm not Cathe either, but please read about working out on an empty stomach in the 'Body pulls energy from where' post. It talks extensively about this. I've done this for years and didn't know I was sacrificing muscle in doing so. I now drink a glass of orange juice before my workouts.
Good luck!
 
Another thing that you may want to keep in mind is the intensity of the CTX cardios... I gather that All Step is the only one you've done thus far? IMO, it is the least intense of them all. I would be careful with putting them back to back in the same day, especially if you're new to Cathe. Yes, they are shorter than Cathe's typical cardio sessions but it's for that reason that they are intense! If I'm not mistaken she throws a little bit of interval work into each CTX cardio. Just an FYI. I think you'll really enjoy working out with Cathe! Good luck and have fun.

:)
 
Yeah, I never thought they would be very intense short workouts. It may be very difficult for me to double up like that. I am just trying to save money at the moment and get a great rotation using one or two of her DVDs. I will look at the rotations greatest hits volume 1-4 to choose one rotation that will help me with my goals and then I will buy that particular DVD(s).

Alicia
 
Hi Alicia,

Congratulations on taking the plunge with the CTX series - this was one of my first Cathe purchases and I have not regretted it for one minute!!

I have to agree with the advice above regarding doubling up the cardio - they may be shorter, but they are intense! You WILL get a good cardio workout with each of these!
With regard to the weight portions, rather than doubling up the same section each day, you could try doing the following:

Day One: CTX Cardio + Back + Chest
Day Two: CTX Cardio + Shoulders + Biceps
Day Three: CTX Cardio + Triceps + Back
Day Four: CTX Cardio + Chest + Shoulders
Day Five: CTX Cardio + Biceps + Triceps
Day Six: Leaner Legs + Abs

In my opinion, your muscles would respond to the weight work more favourably this way, as each upper body muscle group will get a rest between workouts, whilst still allowing you to work each muscle group twice per week. Leaving a rest period of 48 hours before working the same body part again is really important, as this is the time that your muscles repair and grow stronger.

Also, (and I'm sure you already know this, but just in case!) don't do Power Circuit on the day before or after Leaner Legs, as Power Circuit cardio incorporates lower body work. Again, leave a day between these two, so as not to risk injury/overwork the lower body.

There are so many different ways to use the CTX series, that I am sure you will be happy with your results.

I would certainly recommend either the Cardio Hits DVD or the new Classic DVD - you could use these for those days when you want to do a longer cardio workout, and use CTX Upper Body/Leaner Legs on separate days for your strength training.

Whatever you decide, I would suggest that you stick to the same weight rotation for 6-8 weeks (if not longer) to give your body time to adjust to the workouts and gain maximum benefits.

Best of luck!

Kaz.

Today Is The Tomorrow We Worried About Yesterday And All Is Well.
 
Kaz and Cathe-- what do you think?

Sounds good. Is it better to work each part once or twice a week?

I guess if I wanted to work each part on a different day I could wait until I have some of her other stength/muscle endurance DVDs and just add that body part exercise to the scheduled day. I just can't decide what would be the best rotation for my body shape and goals. I am doing the BFL challenge and I am trying to get the fastest results possible. I don't want to waste time doing a rotation that is better for someone else with different fitness goals.

I read an article about a grand champion winner who did this as her workout (mainly done in the gym):
Day one- morning cardio (30 min of high-intensity interval sprinting on the treadmill or 10 min each of bike, treadmill, stair machine)
afternoon chest/shoulders/triceps

Day two- morning legs (no cardio)

Day three- morning cardio (40 min brisk walk on treadmill at 6%incline)
afternoon back/biceps/abs

day four rest

Day five- repeat cycle starting on day 1

Her goals and my goals are similar. She basically did 3 sets for every exercise (USUALLY 10-12 REPS EACH) Every 4 weeks, she lowers the scheduled weight for her workouts and increases the # of reps (one week of low weight/high reps to recharge). Every 12 weeks she changes her workout program significantly. She eats every 2.5 hours or so and she does the cardio and weights at different times so that she can refuel her muscles properly before doing weights. Now she is a personal trainer. I wonder if I can use Cathe tapes to do this 3 day on-1 day off rotation (probably). Would S&H work since there is one weeks that weights are reduced? Doing them 3 weeks then doing one week of high rep/low weight then going back to 3 weeks of S&H (or I could do 3 weeks of PS then do lower weights one week and then go back to S&H for another 3 weeks).

Here is her photo:
http://bodyforlife.com/champtips/week_8.shtml

I am on the Firmlist and I showed the women on the list my photo. I wasn't going to show my before picture until I had an after picture, but Trese on the list convinced me. If you want here is my photo for you to see since I already showed other people. The website is still under construction though. http://www.geocities.com/vilas5/temporarypreviewfile.html?1030126154902
As you can see I have to work on losing the body fat, losing inches in the lower body/seeing muscle definition, and gaining muscle in the upper body. That is my goals for now. I mainly used Firm tapes, but now I am ready for Cathe tapes but I want a great rotation for my body shape with my goals in mind. My belly is not very easy to improve because of the 3 c-sections, but I'll do my best. I have to work on getting rid of the fat in that area. I was thinking that I need 5-6 cardios, plenty of core conditioning for abdominal area, high weights for upper body and maybe lower weights for lower body until I lose some of the fat. I also would like to work on flexibility daily.

Alicia
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top