Freestyle rotation using Cathe - comments please!!

Wantfit - I have to admit, I could not finish the legs and glutes extreme last night, but boy did I try! My legs finally quit working on me - LOL - next time I do it I am not going to use weights or super super light so I can get through it all........

Tonight is BootCamp though and shouldn't be too bad - those 200 lunges will be the tough one for me later on, but I have a friend coming over to do BC with me and she said she would do the lunges as well, so this should be fun...ny...}( }( :D :D }(
 
Reba, Now I know I am not the only being fried by LG Extrem! I learned to adjust my weight from first three days w/o in this rotation. When I did PUB, I thought I just finished using PUB/PLB rotation, I wanted to substitute it with GS: CT&BSB. I heard so many people talking about GS. I really love Pyrimid series. I had GS for a couple months, never used it. Thought it might be a chance to test the water. Miamy, even I reduced the weight a lot, I still could not finish all sets...;( Next time, I will stick to your rotation, PUB. ;)

This morning, I did BC & 200 walking lunges. I never did the whole BC before. Gosh, I tried so hard to catch on Cathe's pace, but I still fell behind.x( I could only finish 1/3 of the military press. After cissor crossing, I could not get myself up, needless to say, jumping up... ;-)

Today, when I did walking lunges, I addes raising leg when you stand up after lunge. This will give hamstring and buttlock (I don't know if these are the right muslce names or not. But I felt contraction in these two areas when I added this raise)additional kicks. So far this seems the shortest workout in the rotation.

You are so lucky that you will have a friend working out with you. That will give you additional push when you need it. For me now, I am sweating & dripping by myself in the basement...;-)

WantFit
 
I'm interested in trying this rotation/concept and I have a quick question. We've all had it drilled into our minds that muscles need rest in between workouts to recover...and while you aren't necessarily lifting heavy EVERY single day for legs, would it be better for me to do one day of the lighter weights, then the next use no weight for the leg workout, then the next go back to lighter weights, etc.? I'm just really afraid of overtraining...i'd like to keep seeing results and not burn out too fast and injure myself. Just curious, because I'm tempted to try this! My legs need work no matter how hard i push them!

Thanks
Catie
 
I finished my first week in this rotation. This morning, PLB+30 treadmill run 30 min.

Catie, I have the same worry as you. I did it very light weight, sometimes no weight at all. That is why I love walking lunges. I can really feel the impact of my legs, butt. But it is easy to my knees.

So far, I like this rotation. Thought the weight is light, but I think it builds my endurance and burning fat. I sweat so much (I am not the person easy to sweat) and my heart rate is right up there. In running session, I always ran not be able to speak to push myself.

I am not an expert. I think your plan sounds good. Carol or Reba or anyone here might be better to answer your questions.

WantFit
 
Carole is much more the expert than I am, but from what I have researched..........the reason we give muscles time to recover is so they can build and GROW, but for us pear shaped women or (women in general) - most would prefer to have slender and toned legs bc we tend to BULK very easily in our lower half, so its better to train more frequently using lighter weights or NO weights at all and according the followers of freestyle - lunges is the "Queen" of exercises for women whereas suats are emphasized for men.........

I am not worried about overtraining my legs as long as I am doing light weights or no weights and am stretching them out weekly using pilates or yoga........so far I love working my legs daily - I always work up a good sweat and you are working your larger muscle groups, so you should be burning more calories - if that makes sense...........maybe Carole will chime in here - I am very new to this concept of "freestyle" training but it makes alot of sense to me after reading various articles on it.............when i think about it, I applied it to my arms once before and got great results! I was doing kickbox or lifting upper body almost every day for a month and really got some nice tone to them!!





:7 :7
 
WantFit and Reba,

Thanks for addressing my question within your posts...they really helped me get a better feel for what freestyle is all about. I think i may try a rotation in the next week or so for a bit and see what happens. Reba, you totally described my lower half...I'm not overweight but definitely have a bulkier look than i would like. Hopefully this will be a remedy to that, can't hurt to try...or at least will shock my system! :D

Have a great weekend everyone!
Catie
 
Catie...Reba explained it very well!...:)...in the book of course it goes into more detail. As long as you don't lift with heavy weight and focus more on high reps (4 x 20, for example) you won't overwork or injure the muscle, as a pear shape you will benefit and actually tone down from Freestyle training. This is the way dancers and ice skaters have always trained and look at their legs! Heavy lifting with rest days is for building up the muscle like Reba said. If you tend to bulk as I do as I have gotten older I am not sure Building will work for me now. But I want to tone and slim down my thighs. Freestyle takes some time but I think the benefit is well worth it..:)...Carole
 
Carole,

Thanks so much! I have definitely decided to try this training method for awhile. I went shopping today and tried on some Seven jeans (kind of stupidly because I know they run a size or two small but tried anyway) and of course to no luck. I got really down on myself for awhile because I DESPERATELY need to lean out my lower half...waist up is pretty great if i do say so myself but i have stubborn inches to lose in the area. Though I LOVE LOVE my step workouts i think i'm going to substitute more walking and jogging and cut my cardio down to one or two indoor sessions a week. I'll train upper body the same and will now try freestyle for legs. I'll be back with questions and comments i'm sure... I think I'll start by the structure provided in this threads original post...

Have a great weekend everyone,
Catie
 
Catie - keep us posted on how things are going for you :) I have started incorporating more kickbox and running again and it seems to be doing the trick for my lower half as well! I have always LOVED jogging, but at least when I get burned out or my legs feel super tight = I can substitute Cathe Step Cardio and not lose intensity and that is so important to me!!

Take Care!!!
 
I need to tone my upper body too. I am interest in your rotation to tune up upper body, could you share with me?

Thanks

WantFit
 
I used the Tank Top Rotation Variation for my upper body and it really helped strengthen it up........but I saw the BEST results when I did PUB 2X per week and ME once a week!! Which is why I still do PUB once a week no matter what! I love that workout! If I get bored I do different excercises but follow the format :)
HTH :) :)
 
Reba,

What happens after 4 weeks of Freestyle? Do you continue freestyle training or do you return to your normal routine of heavy lifting with the lower body? I have also started a freestyle rotation but don't know the best way to move on after 4-6 weeks of freestyling.

Thanks for your comments.

Tracy
 
I have been thinking about what to do after freestyle as well bc I really really like working my legs this often, so I am trying to think of something new for my muscles but also working the legs everyday...........to be honest.........I am toying with a Power Yoga/Pilates and all cardio and circuits rotation for the next four weeks...........I think my body needs a different sort of challenge using a similar concept.....

EX:
ONE: 45 mins jog and Brian Kest Power Yoga II Tone (Sat)
TWO: Interval Max 1,2, or 3 and 40-60 mins of pilates for core work
THREE: Step Blast and 20 mins Stamina Yoga
FOUR: Brian Kest Power Yoga III Strength and 30 mins walk
FIVE: Cardio of choice 30-60 mins and 40 mins Pilates
SIX: Gauntlet or Viper or SJP & 30 mins of Pilates
Seven: Brian Kest Power Yoga I - Energize (more stretching and less power moves)or OFF

This is just something I am toying with because I feel the need to challenge my body in a different way and yoga incorporates alot of lunging type movements with lots of cobra style pushups that would still challenge the lower body and also upper body. I have been doing so many workouts using weights that I think it might be time to change that for four weeks and start using my body weight to challenge myself..........its just a thought......and I still want to be working my legs about 6X per week.....

I LOVE Brian Kest Energize, Tone, and Strengthen series! I can honestly say that my body feels thoroughly worked after I am done and it is quite a challenge!!!

:p :p
 
>Reba,
>
>What happens after 4 weeks of Freestyle? Do you continue
>freestyle training or do you return to your normal routine of
>heavy lifting with the lower body? I have also started a
>freestyle rotation but don't know the best way to move on
>after 4-6 weeks of freestyling.
>
>Thanks for your comments.
>
>Tracy


Not Reba....but I don't see why you would want to quit after just 4-6 weeks? Sometimes seeing results takes longer. And for me anyway if I can finally tone down my larger legs as I have so far with Freestyle, I don't want to quit. But then again, we are all different...:)...Carole
 
Reba,

Where did you find Tank Top Rotation? Could you give me the link?

I like ME and PUB/PLB series. I got some good resluts from it. I like your ideas to incorporate yoga/pilate into this rigid training. After this long, high repetitive training, it will be nice there is something different to stretch out the mucle and work it in different groups or ways, but without totally stay put. For Yoga/pilate, I am really a beginner. Could you recommend some dvds for my level?


I finally got S&H. I used it Leg & Abs sections this morning. I used very light weight. But I don't really feel it work on my legs. Should I increase more reps or go for heavy weight?

Thanks

WantFit
 
Carole,
Thanks for your input. I guess something else I thought about is that if you continue with freestyling and lifting only 70-75% of your normal heavy weight that after a while of freestyling wouldn't your normal heavy weight decrease since you wouldn't be lifting that heavy weight. (did I say that in a way that could be understood??) For example, if I normally do squats with 40 pounds and with freestlye I use 30. If I freestyle for 3-4 months and haven't squatted with 40 pounds in 3-4 months possibly my heavy is now 30 instead of 40 and my freestyle weight would decrease from 30.

Or,

Because of the high reps and hopeful strength gains from freestyling, would I at some point need to increase my freestyling weights?

Oh the confusion, ha!

I got a copy of the Freestyle Training - A Revolutionary New Approach to Exercise for Women in the mail today. I've barely gotten into it so I have just enough info at this point to be dangerous, ha!

Tracy
 
Tracy...it can be really confusing huh??? I think my belief is if you have a tendency to bulk Freestyle should be the way to train...regularly. Especially if you start seeing results. I am also thinking as Freestyle is for slimming and heavy weights are for building that if you actually loose some inches where you want to, possibly a 3 week heavy rotation could help and then go back to Freestyle. Shocking your muscles when they get used to a way of exercising is always good. I have not been a very good rotation person. I do mostly what I want. I did do 2 P90X rotations though and got good upper body and ab results. The legs have always been a problem...:)...I hope you like the book...the pictures are a bit dated though...:)...Carole
 
Tracy - I agree with Carole, when you finally start to see results than that means you found something that works and should stick to that style of training, but that doesn't mean you have to do the exact same thing everyday or you will get bored!

I love the Freestyle concept of training for my legs, seems just the ticket with more kickbox and running to finally get my legs slimmer! When I reach my plateau than I will probably go to a quick three week slow and heavy rotation or all circuits or all cardio to mix it up again -

I have only started using a freestyle rotation and I can aalready feel the difference in my lower body which means that eventually I will see the results - but it will take me more than the four weeks I had set out in my rotation to see the results I am after..........
 
HI Reba,

Did you find this rotation gave you the desired results? Were you working to lean out your thighs and glutes and did you end up loosing inches or building more muscle? Just curious since my thighs build up easy but my thighs have become my trouble spot. I have to work with changing hormones as well but do that with bio identical creams. My energy level is good and I work out 6 days a week. I am addressing my diet but it's pretty clean overall.

Your rotation sounds challening but I am always looking for new routine. Appreciate your input.
 
I cannot honestly say that in the past 3 weeks that I have been doing this that my butt and thighs have magically transformed, but my legs already feel stronger and I love the burn in the lower body that I feel. I know that if I stick with it, I will see results - Its just like when I first started working my arms 3-4 times per week! I never noticed anything until about 2 months later and all the sudden I looked in the mirror and went - holy cow - is that a shoulder muscle I see :) It was a great moment!

I think that after 8 weeks, I will be able to post more on my results that I am seeing!

Tidbit of information - Gwen Stefani started using Freestyle for her legs and really saw a difference, so I am sure if you stick to it you will see what you want!:9 :9
 
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