Alright, I could be incorrect and please those of you who have experienced this let me know. First, I'm over 40, only 5'2 and my wrist is about the size of a 12 year old little girl. I can gain muscle fairly easily, it's become more difficult the older I've gotten but I can still do it, problem is I can also put on fat and that's harder to get rid of. I finished STS recently and I noticed that while having gained strength and some muscle I felt kind of bloated and definitely had trouble fitting into some of my dresses and pants. I did gain weight so I know some of it was fat, my waist line was bigger than it should have been. Anyway, I started Ripped with Hiit and about the third week I noticed that I was trimming down. The workouts are shorter and pretty intense. When I was doing STS sometimes my workouts were sometimes one hour and 45 minutes long in order for me to fit in cardio. I don't have the option of doing cardio later in the day or I'm not likely to do it. I'm wondering if I had a problem dropping the fat when doing STS due to cortisol? Maybe the longer workouts don't work well for me at this stage in life? Any thoughts?
Endormorph's and Long Workouts?
- Thread starter Ivy
- Start date
DirtDiva
Cathlete
This is tough, not sure if there is *one* answer, because in comparison I'm in my 50's, 5'9 and I complete a full round of STS twice if not three times a year. I have a solid base of muscle, and my body is just plain adapted to this training. However, I also get quite a bit of cardio in with riding, nearly year round if the snow holds, so that may be why I rarely feel bloated (not counting my Friday martini and chips night). What you are eating and not eating is paramount along with key supplements and minerals (zinc, mag, potassium and vitamin c). Bloat for me comes from salty and starchy type foods, which results in a soft look...then I double up on weights, or I sit in my sauna and then pee it out like a race horse for a day or two and I'm back to normal. The other thing that helps is organic herbal teas from Traditional Medicinals and ginger, or a real tonic with quinine, like Q Tonic. Lifting heavy can cause muscle swell and that can take a bit of time to get used to, water helps here and the right minerals. Avoid sugar and soy...cut those out, pretty much any type of highly processed food. Last year after coming out of an injury I had to downgrade my longer rides, but here's the deal with cortisol, if you stay in your MAF range (a calculation of heart rate) https://philmaffetone.com/180-formula/
you will be able to train for longer periods without overdoing it, which may result in higher cortisol levels. Personally, I don't adhere to cortisol as strictly, since I sleep well and I know my diet is mainly anti-inflammatory. I think it paramount that all hormones are balanced, you can mainly tell this if your temperature is in the 98+ zone, you sleep well, have a sex drive and a clear head. I would stick to lifting, maybe drop the last month and do the first two Meso's, or really get in a few rounds of cardio a week with the weight lifting.
you will be able to train for longer periods without overdoing it, which may result in higher cortisol levels. Personally, I don't adhere to cortisol as strictly, since I sleep well and I know my diet is mainly anti-inflammatory. I think it paramount that all hormones are balanced, you can mainly tell this if your temperature is in the 98+ zone, you sleep well, have a sex drive and a clear head. I would stick to lifting, maybe drop the last month and do the first two Meso's, or really get in a few rounds of cardio a week with the weight lifting.
Thanks, I'm not doing STS right now because I'm beginning the second month rotation of Ripped With Hiit. Now that I think about it, it could be my hormones have something to do with it. I've been watching my diet, I've always avoided Soy and have cut way back on sugar. I understand the Zinc, and Mag supplements but why the potassium and vitamin C?
DirtDiva
Cathlete
Because the hormone cortisol is released by the adrenal glands, in its response to stress (which can be mental, physical, nutritional, etc.). Adrenal burnout in simpler terms is why Vitamin C is crucial, because it helps the adrenal glands and does a zillion more processes in the body. Your body can't make Vitamin C, and the recommended amount is too low.
Cortisol can lead to potassium and magnesium excretion, plus it puts a hold on calcium uptake (this can be a big problem for athletes) lets say the charlie horse from hell that visits at night. You can help your body more then you think with the proper supplements and food choices. Potassium is best through food, in my opinion. Just google this up for some more info.
Cortisol can lead to potassium and magnesium excretion, plus it puts a hold on calcium uptake (this can be a big problem for athletes) lets say the charlie horse from hell that visits at night. You can help your body more then you think with the proper supplements and food choices. Potassium is best through food, in my opinion. Just google this up for some more info.
nckfitheart2009
Cathlete
Thanks for your insightful and helpful statements on this thread
.I "love it" when a hypertrophy segment, included in a lifting program, get blamed for a scale increase!!! Helloooo Physiology!
#Stillshakingmyhead
##totalBS# #Justsaying#
FireLight
Cathlete
Thanks for your insightful and helpful statements on this thread
I'm sorry I didn't mean to imply that the hypertrophy was to blame, that's my favorite way of lifting. In Ripped With Hiit I believe that's hypertrophy and my body seems to respond great to how that's done. That's why I was curious as to what key difference is between STS and Ripped with Hiit (other than time length) that my body drops more fat with the latter than the first. Side note, I added 2 Hiit segments and 2 steady state cardio with STS.
nckfitheart2009
Cathlete
My post did not target you personally. You are free to go 4 what pleases you emotionally and aesthetically.
Based on my time on this forum, I have read many posts on what has been gained, expectated from STS etc.... One of the
pet peeve from a bunch of people has usually been what you described. According to some, STS turn us into ugly hulks
Physiologically, a program,solely and simply can not cause it! I challenge anyone to TEACH me on this with some documentation please. As stated above, there is not *one* blame on this!RwH is a 12 rep range, which is the highest rep range for hypertrophy. It is pretty much a high rep range with less volume
I agree with @DirtDiva on that. Pure muscle building/size likely happen within 8-10 rep range. That is the *one* to blame --- Joking
That said I was quite puzzled! According to your post, completing an average STS program took you 45 minutes more.
Correct me if I have misunderstood your post, Please do not delete your post
. A sts discs is about an hour long. 45 minutes more , IMHO defeit the purpose of what the program was design for --- Fat loss Take care and wish you the best. Peace!
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Ivy, I can totally relate as we are almost identical in our stats. It is a struggle for sure that unless you have our shape some may not truly understand! I've even read info for meso shapes and endo shapes and the recommendations given are almost polar opposites in some ways. I can share with you what has helped me. First, I applaud you with doing RWH. I tried doing a month long RWH rotation and it wore me out! In the simplest terms what worked for me was increasing cardio a bit, cutting back on the volume of strength training and also cutting back on starchy carbs and sugars. For me, increasing cardio "a bit" was simply adding in a 20 minute power walk on the treadmill or just doing the warm-up and short step segment from Athletic Training. The cardio I chose was basic and not plyo. It gave me some freedom to choose and have fun with cardio. I would sometimes just do the warm up and only one section from a Cathe step workout too. I tried to keep these segments to no longer than 20 minutes or so. I did these short cardios as add-ons to my strength training days. For strength I would do more timesaver premixes or a few of the Muscle Meltdowns. I wasn't too strict on which dvd I did, just that I would do less sets which in turn allowed me to go a bit heavier. Drinking more water and cutting back significantly on starchy carbs (even moreso than sweets because I'm not really a sweets person) helped alot. Personally I have large quads so I have been trying to reduce muscle size and for that I have been subbing more plie squats for standard squats, incorporating more floor work and also doing Cathe's lower body work unweighted for the most part.
Also here is a post Cathe answered in the past for someone with a similar question. I also saw good results with this as well. However, on the heavy strength only days I alternated weeks of strength only days with days of cardio add-ons and strength timesavers the next week.
http://cathe.com/forum/threads/your-expertise-please-when-you-have-a-minute.295091/
Also here is a post Cathe answered in the past for someone with a similar question. I also saw good results with this as well. However, on the heavy strength only days I alternated weeks of strength only days with days of cardio add-ons and strength timesavers the next week.
http://cathe.com/forum/threads/your-expertise-please-when-you-have-a-minute.295091/
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My post did not target you personally. You are free to go 4 what pleases you emotionally and aesthetically.
Based on my time on this forum, I have read many posts on what has been gained, expectated from STS etc.... One of the
pet peeve from a bunch of people has usually been what you described. According to some, STS turn us into ugly hulks
RwH is a 12 rep range, which is the highest rep range for hypertrophy. It is pretty much a high rep range with less volume
I agree with @DirtDiva on that. Pure muscle building/size likely happen within 8-10 rep range. That is the *one* to blame --- Joking
That said I was quite puzzled! According to your post, completing an average STS program took you 45 minutes more.
Correct me if I have misunderstood your post, Please do not delete your post
Thanks, I will keep the post up On some STS days I would do cardio right after to get it in and if it were steady state it took me an additional 30 or 35 minutes that day with Hiit it was only an additional 25 or 30. I think Sts can be longer because your using more equipment on some discs.
Thank you for your suggestions and for giving me the info that Cathe had suggested, I don't recall reading that so I must have missed it Thanks.
nckfitheart2009
Cathlete
I hate to discourage you, but cardio, esp. steady state cardio, after strength training has been shown to negate strength gains.... it can also elevate cortisol (as mentioned), which may cause water retention and encourage fat retention. Kill the extra cardio. It's not helping! Instead, I recommend doing cardio only on your off days, and consider shorter, interval sessions (both Hiit and Mitt (moderate interval) training.
I was wondering if I had read that cortisol could be elevated with the longer cardio after the strength training but I wasn't sure. Now, with the moderate interval training is that like metabolic training? There must be something to what you say because since starting Ripped With Hiit I have been leaning out.
nckfitheart2009
Cathlete
This above is supported by various studies and is a fact. After an hour, performance begin to suffer.
It should be addressed and reminded freely
All cardio are not equal. Hiit, should it last 15,20 or 30 minutes have an edgecompared to steady state cardio. This is a fact which may not please everyone but we shall all deal with it!
psusoccer17
Cathlete
The first time I did STS the same thing happened to me, I put on muscle, but sure did put on what seemed like fat. Within a month it seemed to disappear. My next round of STS, about 3mo later, l definitely saw amazing results, no weight gain, and great definition. I was also trying to fit in cardio on those days, the second time around I did not do cardio, lesson learned!