Help! Suddenly having to lower weights?

Sarahl08

Member
Hi!

I am fairly new to Cathe and have slowly been building my collection of DVD’s (actually a package arrived today which was a great surprise!).

The problem is that I have found this past week and a half or so I have suddenly had to start lowering my weights on some exercises. I had been building up a bit of strength (not much but I had definitely increased my weights over the past few months) until now...and I have no idea why.

I have been rotating full body weight training (ME) with cardio (IMAX, MIC and other non Cathe and DVD’s - for a 3 weights/3 cardio week. On one of my cardio days I have been running.

Any ideas why I seem to suddenly be going backward?
Your help would be so appreciated as I have been reading these forums for awhile and know you all have a much better understanding of this than I do.

Thanks

Sarah
 
You could need more recovery time between weight workouts.

Maybe only do 2 full body workouts per week. If there is a muscle group that's much stronger and could handle an additional workout then just train that part on the 3 rd weight day.
 
SORRY, hit the wrong button, this happens to me too. the weight thing, i just thought it was my age and i do have a tendency to overtrain at times. i am 53 and some days i can go really heavy, like today i did hover squats with 20# on each shoulder, and the second set i did w/17 on each shoulder. and used 25 for french press, 25 for lat row, 17 for double arm bent row. that may not be heavy to some of you, but that is heavy for me. sometimes i just have to take an unscheduled day off. i get soo tired. anyway, that is my 2cents, for what it is worth
cathy
 
Hi,

I did wonder if I maybe just needed a break.

I've now received my other dvd's - thank god I can do something different! I got the Pyramids, Imax2/Carido and weights, Drill Max, Body Max2 and Kick Punch and Crunch so I can mix it up a bit more. But first I may ease up or even take a rest week (I haven't ever done one - apart form when I had laser vision surgery last year and couldn't see :p).

I also started tracking my food at thedailyplate.com and have realised maybe I am not eating enough. I guess this could explain a few things - maybe even why I am having trouble shifting the last few kg's?

I get a bit lost when it comes to the whole macro/micro nutrients stuff but I have bought some protein powder and noticed that that seems to have helped a bit.

Thanks for your advice. I am new to posting on these forums so I really appreciate it.

Sarah
 
A rest week and your daily caloric intake are the first two things I would look at. Also
you might also need to re-evaluate your sleep schedule. When exercising regularly you need more sleep. HTH,
 
A rest week and your daily caloric intake are the first two things I would look at. Also
you might also need to re-evaluate your sleep schedule. When exercising regularly you need more sleep. HTH,


My thoughts exactly! You may need more recovery time or more calories. Also look at your carb intake. Carbs are your energy, so if you aren't getting enough, you won't be able push yourself as hard.
 
Hi,

Ype, I think you all may be spot on. Sleep is a hard one for me (I have to get up at 4:30am to work out before work) and I am trying to up my eating intake at the moment (really scary to do to be honest).

I will also try some rest and see how the combination of paying a bit closer attention to all three helps.

Cheers

Sarah
 
Yikes!!

how do you do cathe at 4 in the morning? i can barely do her when i'm wide awake . i am so impressed.

i use protien powder after every workout. does anyone here know how to access cathe's blog with all the STS stuf on it? i can't figure out where her blog is. i don't know how to navigate this new site very well
cathy
 
My guess is you need a week off. Have you taken any time off within the last 8 weeks? If not, do it. It will help you tremendously and you'll be able to lift heavier when you get back with it.
 
My guess is you need a week off. Have you taken any time off within the last 8 weeks? If not, do it. It will help you tremendously and you'll be able to lift heavier when you get back with it.

Hi, Nope no rest weeks as such in ages (I renovated my house in Nov/Dec and didn't workout but I don't think it counts as I was painting and sanding etc for 8 hours a day).

So...am definitely going to try and take some time off (it's really hard - even just the thought of it kind of freaks me out a bit). But I will try. Then I am going to start up with your rotation for Endurance and Muscle definition before I purchase gym styles (based on your advice in another thread).

I had a body scan last week (it measures your body fat, bone mass etc - you lie on a platfomr that moves very slow through the scanner) and also a test that measure your Oxygen output (to determine BMR) and I get the results this Thursday. Should be a really good way to determine where I am at.

Thanks heaps

Sarah
 
how do you do cathe at 4 in the morning? i can barely do her when i'm wide awake . i am so impressed.

i use protien powder after every workout. does anyone here know how to access cathe's blog with all the STS stuf on it? i can't figure out where her blog is. i don't know how to navigate this new site very well
cathy

Hey

Sorry for the late reply - I am not sure if this is what you are looking for but the link below will take you to Cathe's blog.
http://cathefriedrich.blogspot.com/

Hope this helps - and trust me, there are some morning were I am even more uncoordinated than usual and I am sure it's because I am half asleep :p
 
I am almost positive you are not getting enough protein.

You need a certain amount of protein to fuel your muscles. When you are in a normal healthy state your body needs to have a certain level of amino acid in your blood stream that are used by cells through out your body to make protein. Remember amino acid is the building block of protein. When we eat protein it is broken down into the individual amino acid. The amino acid is now taken into muscle cells and turned into muscle protein which helps your muscles.
We need the amino acid- the biggest reservoir for amino acid is from your muscles when you haven't eaten your body takes amino acid from your muscle cells- it breaks down the protein in your muscle cells and brings it to the blood cells.

long story short- you need to eat enough protein- I think you need 0.8 oz for every 2.2 pounds of body weight. Dont over do it- too much of anything is also bad for ya!
Nicole T. LaGuerre
 

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