Cathe, The Firm and Aerobic versus Weights.... long !

[lwdinsf]

Hi Everyone, I bet this has been discussed before, but I have a question about Aerobics versus Weights in terms of body FAT loss.
Here's the deal: I am an advanced exerciser who's been at it for over 20 years (I'm 32), and started incorporating weights into my workouts about 4 years ago. I certainly have firmed up, but I am still trying to lose body fat (of course ), and am looking into the options. I've been reading a couple books, one by Chris Aceto, called "Everything you need to know about fat loss", and another by Dr. Schwarzbein (DR S) called "The Schwarzbein Principle". THeir diets are similar, although Dr. S advocates more fat than Aceto. He is more a body-building type that focuses more on protein and less on fat.

OK -- Aceto and Schwarzbein (and THE FIRM, Joyce Vedral for that matter) all say that the way to lean down is to concentrate on weight lifting. Aceto and Dr. S are adamant about not overdoing cardio, as it will hinder muscle gain and fat loss. So now I don't know whether I should lower my cardio sessions from 5 to 6 times a week at about 60 minutes average (with interval sessions thrown in), and focus more on weights. ??? Has anyone tried this?

The second question is -- I wonder whether anyone has definitively answered the question as to whether the Firm works as well Cathe, and can be used as a method for fat loss even by an already strong and advanced exerciser.

I hope I haven't been too confusing... !! I am eager to hear your opinions.

THANKS and Kind regards,
Laura

 

[kiwi]

Hi,
Been Firming for 2-3 years now and have to say that the Firm has really good workouts that are time efficient and use up very little space ( to compensate for a lot of equipment? firmies have nil choreography...we jog in place a lot...which is a actually a good thing if you are basically a Firmie )The best videos are Volume 1, firm strength and firm cardio, super sculpt and super cardio, TT and Cardio Burn. The rest are kind of lemons. Some firm fans argue that Cathe is not more advanced but simply complement Firm videos, I think she is more advanced because after doing a month of her tapes my firms were a breeze!
I agree though that she complements them too because we all need variety. Can you lose fat with the firm videos? Definitely! time goes by real fast with them too. They have excellent production as well.

 

[jgoycoolea]

First let me say that I do NOT have a clear answer. I can only share my limited experience with you:

Last spring, I cut back on my daily one hour cardio sessions and focused much more on weight lifting. I did this for about about 3 months. Mon-Fri I hit the bodyparts heavy for 40-60 min. and did about 10-20 min. of aerobics. Sat and Sun I did 50 min of cardio only***. I did each bodypart only once a week. I was consuming ~1 gm of protein per pound of bodyweight and was pretty good at keeping out the junk food. I was totally paranoid of gaining fat bc of less cardio.

***I have read Jay Cutler to say that 50 minutes is when he believes muscle starts to be sacrificed during cardio.


I did not gain any noticable fat. I may have in fact lost a little. I admit to not monitoring my actual weight. I just go by my clothes. I should probably point out that at that time I didn't have much fat to lose either. My lifting increased dramatically. I felt very powerful.


So why did I stop this and go back to my 6-7 days of cardio with only 15-20 minutes of weights? Mainly because of the limitations of a HOME gym. I hit the point where I could lift more than I could safely get into lifting position--think squats, think bench presses on a step. I hit the point where I needed dumbbells that I didn't have. I hit the point where my lifting grip was weaker than what I wanted to lunge with, as that became my heavy leg movement. Etc.

It was very frustrating. I was getting really down by the end of that third month, thinking I was just wasting my time if I couldn't continually progress.... So, I bought some new Cathe tapes and found my spirit again!

In general, the bottom line: I that I think that if you are serious about gaining muscle to lose fat that it will work. But only if you are serious about eating correctly. I whole-heartedly believe that you must get close to one gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight you have. Without the protein, you simply can not build muscle. And the whole point of this is to build muscle to burn more calories at rest.

For me personally, the bottom line: If I cared to belong to a gym or if I could get better equipment or a spotter at home, I'd give it a go again. I definately ate better when lifting more consciously. I felt that it was all tied together more. My feet hurt me less. And much as I really love to step, I enjoyed it even more when I did less of it.

Gosh, I've been doing CTX for way too long now. Maybe I will go back to this program. This time I will be ready for potential negative side effects.

 

[KathyH]

Hi Laura! I'm an advanced exerciser too and have been working out for 17 yrs. now. What I discovered that worked best for me was eating 3 days of high protein and 2 days high carb and then back to high protein. I saw my bodyfat decrease. I also lessened my cardio to 3 days a week using a variety of activities (i.e. hi-lo, step & kickboxing). I use Cathe's Slow & Heavy series for my strength training doing 3 dys. of strength training. I've seen significant muscle definition. When I used Cathe's CTX series, I saw significant bodyfat loss, however, was losing my strength gains. Everybody is different. Some adhere better to a total body endurance workout 2-3 days a week. Try this high protein diet and lessen your cardio days but do it long enough so you see what kind of results you obtain. Good luck! Kathy

 

[jgoycoolea]

Hi Kathy,

I was wondering if you really meant hi protein vs high carb (which you said) or if you really meant low carb vs high carb.

Put another way, on your high carb days do you decrease your protein, or is your protein always kept high every day?

Just a thought...

Jeanne

 

[lindalong]

Hi, Laura
If you're asking about Firm videos specifically, I can offer my experience. While I have many Firm videos, I only really reccommend a few of them. Why? They tend to have very poor instruction on proper form. Some of the lunges, squats, etc. move at a very fast pace. Stretching is short-changed in most videos. Their instructors tend to use poor form. I assume you know good form already, but I think a professional should be conscious of demonstrating it, even if the audience is already aware of how to do it right. Further, as one of the responses said, if you are really serious about lifting weights, it is very hard to do it intensely at home without a lot of equipment and spotters. This is furthered with the Firm because you frequently lift while doing easy cardio patterns, which I found made it harder to lift heavier weights. For the most part, Firms require a lot of equipment (multiple dumbbells, barbell, ball, ankle weights, step, high step), and if you really like complex choreography, you will find Firm choreography incredibly dull. With all that said, is it still worth your time? Yes, especially if you want to lift, but not really heavy weights. Yes, if you want your lifting to come with some cardio too. Yes, if you want some simple footwork with weight training basics as a break from complicated steps. Firms are elaborately produced videos so they are easy to watch. My picks are Crosstrainer Hare and Crosstrainer Tortoise (Tracy Long instructs, she is by far the best instructor on Firm videos) and vol.2, low impact aerobics with Janet Jones (not low impact- there are jacks and jogs in the warm up. This is a fun routine with a good upper body segment as well).

 

[lwdinsf]

Hi Everyone!
Thanks a bunch for your replies! Actually, I have several Firm videos (including a bunch I plan to sell on ebay). .. I haven't used these that much because I thought it better to focus on straight lifting i.e. Cathe or the gym, than to do less-than-the-heaviest weights at a fast pace (though I do like this for variety).

I guess I'm just wondering about people's experiences because 2 years ago, I tried to eat a zone-type diet, (increasing my caloric level which was too low), and doing heavy weights. I gained several pounds (don't have a scale, but my clothes were significantly tighter) on this diet, and don't think it was all muscle. I definitely didn't look more cut than usual.

So I'm experimenting now with the Schwarzbein diet (says to eat WHOLE (non lowfat) foods but no deep-fried foods or refined carbs (including balance bars and the like) while emphasizing strength and less cardio. It's a bit scary for me, but I'm going to try. Thanks all, for your input, and if you have any other stories you'd like to send, write again! Or write me at [email protected]

Happy HOLIDAYS!
Laura

 

[KathyH]

Hi There! On my long cardio workout days I lower the protein and up the carbs. On my strength training days I up the protein and lower the carbs. Does this make sense? Sorry if I wasn't clear enough in my original post to you. Don't keep your protein high every day as you will lose energy and become too sluggish. I do for 3 days straight high protein/low carbs and then I do for 2 days straight high carb/low protein. This is called "carbo cycling". Play around with it and see how your body feels. Best, Kathy

 

[khuynh]

Hi Laura:

I guess I'm going to go out on a limb here but I'll share my experiences.

I started with the Firm and hit a wall. I introduced Cathe and my love for fitness came flooding back. I got to the point where the Firm just wasn't doing it for me, physically and emotionally (keeping me interested, etc.). The newer tapes were not as good a some of their older ones and they weren't going to make any new tapes.

I did finally go exclusively with Cathe and I seen dramatic improvements. I was shocked, happy and scared. I was getting cut and well defined. I did 3 days cardio (including intervals and circuits) and 3 days of weight work. When I didn't see as much progress, I introduced running into my routine and Poof, I was off again. When I hit it again, I introduced biking into my routine and Poof, there it is. I never stopped the weight training, just messed with my cardio days. Then I did 30 minutes cardio and 30 minutes weight training a day for awhile. I had to mix it up. I have never went to a gym. I made a mistake long ago about them and to this day, Cathe has been great at producing results.

Now, my diet is a simple one. 1,500 - 1,800 calories per day, > 25 grams of fiber a day (usually 30 - 40) and < 20% of calories from fat. That's it. The HUGE key there is the fiber grams. It's a challenge to get that much, you really have to make wise choices. You have to eat well in order to hit these three little rules and poof, weight just pours off me. I usually hit 1,800 calories a day to lose 1/2 pound of FAT a week. If I want more, alls I have to do is drop my caloric intake.

Just my thoughts.

Keta.

[link:mykbtforum.efree2net.com/|KBT Forum]