RE: agree w/ Lydia
Hi again,
I hope I didn't steer you wrong in my previous post by saying that MIS is more strength oriented than PH, because I see that others have said it is a similar type of endurance workout. But I still think that even though alot of the exercises are the same the two workouts feel very different. I was using MIS for 3 months and 7 weeks ago switched to PH. It has provided a nice shock to my system and I've lost several pounds since using it. I know I didn't lose any strength because I did MIS again the other day with 30lbs and it actually felt easier than it used to. I know how it feels to be limited on what you can afford. I plan on trying PS in the future when I can afford it.
I saved a previous post by Cathe which breaks down her weight training videos. Here it is. Hope it helps. Good luck.
CTX WEIGHT WORKOUTS......These workouts are a cross between an endurance and strength workout. Because we move so quickly from exercise to exercise, the endurance aspect kicks in. But, at the same time, we don't really use super light weight and we do provide brief breaks so the strength aspect kicks in too. And finally, because we spend a fairly short amount of strength training time and on just one muscle group per workout, the maintenance aspect kicks in. Depending on how strong you currently are and what your goals are, will determine what these workouts can do for you. If you are just coming back to weights after a long time off, you will get more than maintenance from these 10 minute workouts. However, if you have been working out with weights regularily, then this 10 minute per body part work out will provide enough stimulation to maintain your current strength for about two to three weeks.
PS SERIES........This series is designed to promote mostly muscular strength. The three tapes are designed to be used as formatted. The layout of the exercises are set up to layer on muscle fatigue as you move from exercise to exercise. Thats not to say that you cannot interchange, substitute, and or tack on additional exercises here or there, but it mainly means that to get the optimal benefits from this workout, it should be used as was created. Those who are familiar with weight training and participate in regular rotation experimentation will be able to mix and match parts of this workout to assist in exercise variety, however, for someone who is not interested in doing this, they should rather do the series as provided and then use a whole other series for "shock value" when this particular rotation becomes too familiar to the body. Remember too, that once a routine becomes too familiar to the body that it doesn't mean that the workout will no longer encourage premium results again. It simply means to take a little break from it and do some other rotation before you use it again.
SLOW HEAVY SERIES.......This series is designed to promote PREMIUM muscular strength gains. This will be achieved by going through a series of exercises, performed in a uniquely slow and concentrated manner to eliminate momentum and thereby allow for maximum muscle fiber recruitment. Remember the overall effectiveness of the Slow and Heavy Series is not so much WHAT exercises you select but rather HOW you perform them. Regardless of your fitness level, if you select a weight that challenges you for all of the exercises for the duration of each rep, you will gain premium strength.
MIS.......This workout provides a combination of strength and endurance. Depending on your fitness level, you will pull more in one direction than the other. For instance, if you are new to fitness, deconditioned, or recovering from an injury, you will gain more strength because it will be quite a bit of work to your underused muscles. However, if you are currently very conditioned with weight training, you will most likely feel more endurance conditioning (yet never fully eliminating strength gains)from this workout because of the faster pace of the reps and brief rest periods between the exercises.
POWER HOUR.......Power Hour is designed to promote ALL OUT muscular endurance, good posture and functional fitness while improving your muscle tone and strengthening your core region. You will use a lighter weight than you typically would use for a traditional workout of three sets of 10 to 12 reps. To get superior results, you will need to find the most challenging weight possible that allows you to complete each rep for each exercise yet still maintain good form and alignment. To continue to receive the benefits of this muscular endurance workout, it is very important that you select a heavier weight for each exercise when your current weight selection no longer challenges you to the very last rep.
BODYMAX......This workout (in its entirety) provides OPTIMAL cardiovascular conditioning plus muscular endurance and strength conditioning. Part one (step aerobics) is complete cardiovascular conditioning, while part two (step aerobic/leg work blasts), continues with cardiovascular training and also begins to tap into muscular endurance gains for the legs. Part three (upper body conditioning and abs)begins to pull away from the cardiovascular aspects of the workout and kicks highly into muscular endurance/strength gains. Again, as with (MIS and CTX WEIGHTS)a combination of strength and endurance will be achieved in this portion of the workout for the same reasons as listed in those descriptions.
Hope this helps !
PS. While Power Hour may share some of the similar type of exercise feeling during the squat and lunge track, it differs greatly in layout and accomplishments. Power Hour will have a 6 min and 30 second song for squats and then a few songs later have another 6 min and 30 second song for lunges. Each of these songs will focus on doing highly repetitious, lighter weight, versions of squats/lunges with basically no break (maybe one 20 second break at one point)during the song(to promote ALL OUT muscular endurance of the legs). Leaner legs on the other hand, focuses only on legs for the entire workout (with a heavier weight) and offers frequent exercise breaks, more exercise variation, and promotes a combination of muscular strength and endurance. In summary, think of it as Power Hour being a total BODY endurance workout, while Leaner Legs being a total LEG endurance/strength workout.
