Comparing STS 1.0 & 2.0

[Kellyro77]

This reminds me... years ago I worked on a large college campus. We often had young women coming in who were at risk for eating disorders ... they were mourning their adolescent bodies & didn't like coming into full womanhood, with curves and fat deposits in places they didn't have as young, athletic teens. Most of them adjusted to their new bodies over time, some went full into disordered eating & body dysmorphic disorders. Entering into middle-age is sort of like that - the passing into another womanly phase ... we mourn what we are losing & not too sure about what's coming ... but it's better than the alternative and all a part of life.... Maybe we need some role-models on how to age gracefully ... I think I was blessed to watch my mother, aunts and their friends accept this stage of their lives .... hmmm, more "stuff " to reflect on ....

Yes, I wish my aging wasn't so traumatic, too. Western culture is so anti-elderly. I remember having my ear talked off and my mind crammed with "this is what happens at puberty!!!" messages when I was young and in school, but there's really not much out there for maturing and peri-menopause or menopause unless you advocate for yourself and do the time to research it.

I'm just grateful I have a lot of women friends who are at varying ages, many whom are older than me who have been great in pointing out to me that I may be starting into peri/menopause based on my descriptions of what's been going on with me. Else I'd have been pretty clueless and outright frustrated for a lot longer than I initially was.

Not saying it's something I'm skipping around happy to be experiencing. Again, some of that is cultural conditioning that when women age we become obsolete. But some if it is just being fed up with insane mood swings, graying hairs, and new, confounding aches, brain fog, etc.

I do look forward to eventually no more periods, though - and therefore no more menstrual products.

 

[Braille]

I'm really hard on my legs because Lower Body is hard to get defined for some reason and I've been working out for years and eating healthy. I don't understand why my legs are losing their firmness especially in my quads and thighs I'm so frustrated!! I don't know if it's because I'm 43 now and my body is not responding anymore to how it was! So I'm trying a variety now it's working out good so far I'm on my second week and I'm not getting bored lol. But on leg endurance I'm doing any of cathes videos like butts and guts or any light weight high reps. I even use alot of cathes Live leg workouts.
Hopefully this makes since

I'm really petite and physically active. I wasn't accustomed to developing fat, which is what I thought was causing my thighs to lose definition. I talked to my doctor about menopause and some of my symptoms. While I was in her office, I asked if there was anything I could do to combat fat. She took one look at me and said, "what fat?" I explained that my thighs used to be tight, firm, and defined. She just laughed at me and told me that the "looseness" wasn't fat. It was lack of muscle. I told her that was impossible, because I'd added strength training to my workouts. She asked me if I'd also added additional protein. I told her no, but I get enough protein according to the recommendations on the charts. She told me that I needed to get enough protein for my body, the changes it's going through, and the amount of physical activity that I do, regardless of what the charts say. So, I increased my protein intake. Within 2 months, my body was back to being tight and defined, even the parts that I hadn't noticed as much as the thighs. The next time I talked to my doctor, I thanked her. She said that a lot of active women that eat "right" are accidently starving their bodies by not increasing their protein levels when they are going through the change. Peri-menopause is a lot of work for our bodies. Working out puts additional work on it, even though it's good for us. We have to feed our bodies enough of what it needs if we want it to handle the work it's going through. Insufficient protein is often the culprit. After I increased my protein, my strength started increasing as well. I'm turning 53 later this month and am still learning to listen to my body. This last year, I also learned that I get more gains from my workouts if I take 2 active recovery days. I was pretty negative about menopause, but I'm starting to develop a more positive attitude about it. My body and it's needs are changing, and I just need to listen to it and respond accordingly. Everybody's body is different and mine evidently needs 2 active recovery days and more protein, so that's what I'm giving it, until it changes it's mind and starts misbehaving in it's attempt to tell me it needs something else. lol I thought I'd been listening to my body all along, but I know now that I wasn't. I was doing for and to my body what it used to be telling me it needed. My body's needs changed, and I was stuck in the past. Then, I tried doing "extra" of what it wasn't responding to in order to "fix" it. It turned out that I just needed to feed it and rest it differently. Lesson learned. Hopefully I'll be quicker on the uptake next time.

 

[Gobias]

In a previous post, I mentioned a layout that I saw on how to do all 6 CTX single body part workouts in one week

Do you mind pointing me to this post? I would love to see the layout.

 

[Gobias]

Thank you to everyone who replied. I had initially made a template of taking the 16 weeks of STS 2.0 and the 12 weeks of STS 1.0 and alternated weeks in order (had to throw a few double STS 2.0 weeks in there since it is longer) for a 7 month rotation.

However, there are some good ideas here that I am going to think about and I will incorporate. I am especially interested in the undulating ideas....not exactly sure what that means, but I do remember Cathe mentioning it in the XTrain era, I believe. Thanks to all!

Side note: Regarding some of the tangent posts above, I will try to keep this short, as I could go on for days....

I have always been thin. I started working out at about 20 yrs old. I always felt muscle and knew I was strong, but never looked "cut"; I was always a bit "soft" looking. About a decade ago, I changed my way of eating to 100% unprocessed / clean. I immediately lost 20 pounds of softness I didn't know I even had and I wasn't even trying! (took 3 months max). I then looked "cut" and I swear there is rarely a day that goes by that someone doesn't mention my arms or legs or stomach (when at the beach). It was the food! I thought I was eating healthy, but I still had a softness on me and the muscle underneath couldn't be seen.

Even though I lift about the same weight as I did 30 years ago (I keep track of all of my workouts!) and do about the same type of variety of exercise as I have the last 30 years, and have been told I am a healthy weight and BMI, I feel and look so much better than I did 30 years ago. I also have almost zero cellulite (sorry for the visual, but you can only see cellulite on me if I squeeze my bottom really hard and the lighting is harsh....you can see just a little bit - and I am not even sure it is cellulite as it looks more like just squeezing. Whereas before I changed my way of eating, I had cellulite on my bottom and it started creeping down my thighs in harsh lighting.)

Upon changing my diet, I also immediately started sleeping better and way less (cut my sleep hours by more than half and am always energized). I have energy all the time and haven't been sick in over a dozen years - not a sniffle, tickle...nothing. I am on zero meds and am around sickies all the time. (I used to get the obligatory spring and fall sicknesses like clockwork every single year). My skin and eyes are clear and bright.

I have never counted calories or macros or even watched or worried what I ate. However, after this transformation for me, I now get asked about my calories and macros. About once per year I will monitor what I eat so I can answer others. Without planning, I just automatically gravitate towards 80%-10%-10% of Carbs - Protein - Fat. I eat about 3,000-4,000 calories per day. 100% unprocessed foods.

I was never unhappy with my body at 20 yrs old, but boy do I prefer my 50+ year body now! I look and function so much better, IMO. For those interested, I follow Chef AJ, Alan Goldhammer, John McDougal's way of eating. (And that doesn't mean I follow them for recipes, etc. I just happened upon this lifestyle on my own, saw it worked, and then found out there is a plethora of people, including the above, who also eat the way I eat with the same results! There are so many more people who eat this way, usually called "SOS-Free" or "SOFAS-Free".) It is cheap, easy, delicious, satiating and healthy!

Hope this helps someone.

 

[ashaw]

Do you mind pointing me to this post? I would love to see the layout.

I can’t find the original post but I took a screen shot of the order and it’s as follows: back/leg circuit, chest, legs, shoulders, biceps and triceps.