SirenSongWoman
Cathlete
I finally came up with a plan for Mesocycles 1 and 2 and did my first workout today. It was fantastic! Here's what I did:
- I did the first THIRD of disk 3: Legs (Walking Lunges/Plie Squats through Wall Squats w/Ball/Leg Extensions), doing Legs first because I wanted to work the larger muscle groups first.
- Then I did the first THIRD of disk 2: Back and Triceps (Lat Pull Downs w/band through Flat Bench BB Tricep Extensions).
- Then I did the first THIRD of disk 1: Chest, Shoulders & Biceps (Push Ups, Standard through Incline Curl Alternating/Rotate at Top).
I made up record sheets I plan to keep in a binder so I can refer back to my notes (I made quite a few) and know what worked and didn't.
I want to continue including a non-STS full body workout of my choice on a regular basis and to do that I cannot follow a 7-day plan so here is what I'm doing:
DAY 1: STS - First thirds of disks 1, 2, and 3 (Legs first).
DAY 2: Cardio (usually a Cardio Coach, the fastest I can go for no more than 20 minutes on treadmill, or 10 total minutes of jump roping).
DAY 3: STS - Second thirds of disks 1, 2, and 3 (Legs first).
DAY 4: Like Day 2.
DAY 5: STS - FInal thirds of disks 1, 2, and 3 (Legs first).
DAY 6: Like Day 2.
DAY 7: Any non-STS Full Body workout of my choice (I don't want to give up kettlebells, Muscle Max, Amy Bento or any number of FB workouts designed by some of my favorite fitness authors)
DAY 8: REST
DAY 9: STS - First thirds of disks 4, 5, and 6 (Legs first).
and so on...
I plan to continue in this way all through Mesocycles 1 and 2. It will be a while before I get to Mesocycle 3 so I haven't settled on how I plan to do that. I think Kathryn's suggestion of several days ago was interesting (do half the legs and half the chest/back twice per week and half the legs and half shoulders/arms once per week... again, not following a 7 day week!) I might do that, since I want my focus on the larger muscle groups and compound moves for the biggest fat-burning bang. I want to have the body I'm after by May so I'm not playing around
.
This first combination workout took me under an hour and I just loved it. I will say if you plan on doing anything like this, preview the disks to figure out where to best break them up into thirds (or halves) because you don't want to interrupt any supersets or moves designed to be done together. Also, I did this using my dvd player but will be using my laptop from now on. I can actually cue-up my laptop so when I re-insert, say, disk 2 it will ask me if I want to pick up where I last left off. I WISH my dvd player could do that because the dvd player resulted in a bit too much down time.
I have to say the thing I love most about STS (besides lots of camera angles, unobtrusive music, and seamless editing) is the way, in most cases, you do a set of an exercise then immediately move on to a different exercise or variation. I always dreaded endless repetitions and, thus far, it appears STS is much tighter than other productions (by anyone!). The dread factor has been greatly reduced.
Excellent work, Cathe!
- I did the first THIRD of disk 3: Legs (Walking Lunges/Plie Squats through Wall Squats w/Ball/Leg Extensions), doing Legs first because I wanted to work the larger muscle groups first.
- Then I did the first THIRD of disk 2: Back and Triceps (Lat Pull Downs w/band through Flat Bench BB Tricep Extensions).
- Then I did the first THIRD of disk 1: Chest, Shoulders & Biceps (Push Ups, Standard through Incline Curl Alternating/Rotate at Top).
I made up record sheets I plan to keep in a binder so I can refer back to my notes (I made quite a few) and know what worked and didn't.
I want to continue including a non-STS full body workout of my choice on a regular basis and to do that I cannot follow a 7-day plan so here is what I'm doing:
DAY 1: STS - First thirds of disks 1, 2, and 3 (Legs first).
DAY 2: Cardio (usually a Cardio Coach, the fastest I can go for no more than 20 minutes on treadmill, or 10 total minutes of jump roping).
DAY 3: STS - Second thirds of disks 1, 2, and 3 (Legs first).
DAY 4: Like Day 2.
DAY 5: STS - FInal thirds of disks 1, 2, and 3 (Legs first).
DAY 6: Like Day 2.
DAY 7: Any non-STS Full Body workout of my choice (I don't want to give up kettlebells, Muscle Max, Amy Bento or any number of FB workouts designed by some of my favorite fitness authors)
DAY 8: REST
DAY 9: STS - First thirds of disks 4, 5, and 6 (Legs first).
and so on...
I plan to continue in this way all through Mesocycles 1 and 2. It will be a while before I get to Mesocycle 3 so I haven't settled on how I plan to do that. I think Kathryn's suggestion of several days ago was interesting (do half the legs and half the chest/back twice per week and half the legs and half shoulders/arms once per week... again, not following a 7 day week!) I might do that, since I want my focus on the larger muscle groups and compound moves for the biggest fat-burning bang. I want to have the body I'm after by May so I'm not playing around
.This first combination workout took me under an hour and I just loved it. I will say if you plan on doing anything like this, preview the disks to figure out where to best break them up into thirds (or halves) because you don't want to interrupt any supersets or moves designed to be done together. Also, I did this using my dvd player but will be using my laptop from now on. I can actually cue-up my laptop so when I re-insert, say, disk 2 it will ask me if I want to pick up where I last left off. I WISH my dvd player could do that because the dvd player resulted in a bit too much down time.
I have to say the thing I love most about STS (besides lots of camera angles, unobtrusive music, and seamless editing) is the way, in most cases, you do a set of an exercise then immediately move on to a different exercise or variation. I always dreaded endless repetitions and, thus far, it appears STS is much tighter than other productions (by anyone!). The dread factor has been greatly reduced.
Excellent work, Cathe!
