Cathe's strongest body part in gym style upper body

A

andieje

Cathlete
Hello folks

I was just wondering what you thought was cathe's strongest upper body part in the gym style workout. I ask because I thinking my upper body strenght might be disproportionate - I can almost keep up with cathe on the back/shoulder/biceps gym style but I am nowhere near matching her weights in chest and triceps. How she uses 20lb dumbells after all those pushups is beyond me. I don't know how she uses them for flyes either. And in triceps I don't know how she uses 25lbs for overhead extensions. I would barely be able to manage that weight at the start of the workout, yet alone at that when my muscle is tired.

Please say her chest and triceps workout is alot harder than the other upper body gym style one.

Look forward to your replies
andrea
 
Yes, I think it is. I skip the push ups, because i can't do them, but do all the dumbell work and use 20 pounders for chest and it is still tough. I think chest and shoulders are Cathe's strongest body parts, i.e. the 2 muscle groups most used in push ups. That's why she likes them so much!

Clare
 
I can't use as much weight as Cathe in those areas either, and I don't even do half of those push-ups on my toes. I'm thinking that she is able to lift more because she trains at the gym - has a spotter, etc. Not saying that it can't be done just by using Cathe's w/o's but it is easier to push one's self when there's someone to help lift the bar, plus the pectorals are one of, if not, the hardest areas to strengthen. She probably also trains w/ cables for her triceps which in my opinion is one of the best ways - it really gets into the muscle. But no, I don't think you are disproportionate in UB strength.

Gym style BSB is not as difficult in my opinion and I'm able to lift about the same as Cathe save for the shoulder work (it's just one of my weaker areas).
 
I think it just takes time and consistent training. I can do all the push-ups, but that is because before she came out with that workout I had worked my way up there. However, if that was out before that, I would have struggled to finish half of it. Also, if she had placed that section at the end I wouldn't be able to do much of it at all. My upper body gets exhausted quicker than my lower body.

I do use 25lbs for triceps, but my triceps are my stronger than my biceps, and chest. With my biceps I usually drop in weight. I find 20lbs hard for chest work after all those push-ups...after a set or two I drop down in weight. This workout is exhausting. The first time I did it I felt DOMS for at least 3 days.

Just keep working up towards it. Just try to do as many as you can with the heavier weight then switch down to the lower weight.
 
I used to think triceps were my strongest body part, but ever since doing the GS series, my biceps have really launched into a whole new dimension of training. I mean, my husband even noticed it!!

As far as Cathe is concerned, I think she has an easier time working triceps than biceps.
 
Oh my god! Her chest and triceps are the hardest one. I can't do all the pushkups to begin with and she wants to do chest presses. I am hurtin' by then.



kim
 
Cathe really does a number on chest - I can match her in other upper body weights but no way for this one!

Jo
 
I am glad its not just me that finds the chest workout really hard.

I don't even bother to do the push ups on my toes (though I couldn't do them all if I tried) because I know I won't be able to do the rest of the workout.

You are right about having a trainer/spotter. When I had a trainer I worked so much harder. I don't have a trainer now but i use cathe videos rather than going to the gym because I can find I push myself more witha video to keep up with rather than going to the gym alone.

I haven't got very good eyesight but I am pretty sure that the rest of her crew don't match her weight in chest and triceps either. Am I right?
 
I have noticed a disproportion in chest/back in either Cathe or me! Or both! I use the same weight (or less, with some flyes) as Cathe for chest, but more than Cathe for back (since the back IS a larger muscle than the chest, I think I'm o.k.! I sometimes don't understand Cathe's choice of a lighter weight for back vs. chest). Like in PUB, she starts pullovers with 12# and goes up to 20#. I START at 20# and end with 30# (though most recently have added 2.5# to each set).

I'm thinking that some of this may have to do with individual anatomy. But followed Cathe's workouts to the letter (instead of decreasing some of the chest work, omitting most anterior shoulder work since that muscle is worked during chest work, and going heavier on back), I think I'd have forward-rounded shoulders from having stronger chest/anterior shoulder muscles that would pull me forward (a problem that certain gym-goers have because they stress the "mirror" muscles--chest, anterior shoulder, biceps--and don't do as much work for the "rear" muscles--back and triceps).

As for biceps vs. trieps. I think Cathe goes heavy on biceps most of the time, and a bit light on some triceps exercises (thought not kickbacks). I can go pretty heavy on overhead extensions (up to 30#--though I used to use more when I worked out in a gym).
 
>I don't even bother to do the push ups on my toes (though I
>couldn't do them all if I tried) because I know I won't be
>able to do the rest of the workout.


I decided I had to make a choice in the GS workout: either do all the push-ups at the speed Cathe does (and therefore most on my knees), or do all of them on my toes, and take longer breaks between sets. I decided to do the latter, as I want to keep my ability to do them on my toes (which I developed since I did a P90X rotation last year). I just take the time I need to recover between sets, then do all on my toes. I try to (or "tried," as I haven't done GS in a while) decrease the rest periods between sets each time I do it. As an alternative, one could do the push-ups at Cathe's pace and try to increase the number of reps done on the toes each time.
 
Kathryn has a point about the round-shouldered look. I have a tendency to get that look (in fact my mother pointed it out to me a couple of weeks ago) when I follow Cathe's lead and go real heavy on the chest work, but not as heavy on the back. I have to work each part equally to avoid that stooped shoulder look.

I find Cathe's biceps are extremely strong. She was using 20lbs for bicep curls towards the end of GS biceps. I couldn't believe it, as I was fried using my 10's!
 
I have definitely noticed that Cathe seems to have a 'weaker' back (I use weaker in the loosest sense of the word!!!) than her other upper body parts. It is the only body part I can match her on! In fact, it is the only body part I have ever gone heavier than her on. I would even go so far as to say I find ctx upper body back quite easy whereas I cannot match her for the rest of the upper body.

In response to your idea about how to do the push ups on my toes, that brings me to a question I have had before about cathe's workouts...is it better to keep up with cathe and use a lighter weight if needed or use a heavier weight and take longer rests in between sets. I normally go for the first option because someone told me once to only have 30 secs rest max between sets. However I am starting to think this might be why I plateau easy - I can never increase the weight and keep up with her so I stay the same.

Andrea
 
Another thought - I don't know why there is more emphasis on chest than back given as the back is a bigger muscle (and more important in my opinion too - if you have ever had a back injury you can hardly move any other body part). Lots of people have back problems too. Perhaps its because cathe's videos use functional fitness and promote core stability all round.

I like the fact the gym style workouts have more emphasis on the triceps (they seem to have at least to me). I used to work my biceps more than my triceps until I realised my triceps took up at least 2/3 of the muscle on my upper arm and would define my shape more than my biceps would. Actually triceps are my favourite body part because its really easy to exercise them to failure. As Cathe says in GS 'once they give up, they give up quick' and that makes me feel like I have worked them properly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top