Hey Chris!

DebbieH

DebbieH

Cathlete
What is your professional advice/opinion on my individual situation...I want sooo badly to be able to do the STS rotation as planned by you...since I teach M, T, W & Th classes which incorporate Hi/Lo cardio & a bit of kickbox the first 45ish minutes of class and the last 30 minutes is devoted to endurance strength work never using more then 8# DB's and an 18# BB. My afternoon classes are Mon & Wed...what if I did STS M, W morning & either F or S...I think I am right in that it is going to be THREE days of work, right? Would I be over training? Not teaching my classes is not an option of course, although I've often thought how cool is would be to workout exclusively with just Cathe! (That must sound awful, like I don't like to teach! I dooo, I love it! I just want to do STS as it is set up! :) Summer sessions, I only teach 2X/week and always love that I can do Cathe workouts MORE then. Okay, I am rambling and prob have you confused....just would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions. (One more thing, if I lower my weights in class down to "nothing," so will my students, so that is not an option either!) Thanks for your thoughts...


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Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aktion/action-smiley-066.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance, I Hope You DANCE!
 
(Thanks Kas!) Yes, Chris...it is pretty much total body as some students only come 1X/week. Are you thinking that maybe I could leave two body parts out the day that I would be doing those parts in STS or having two workouts in one day on the SAME body parts??? Hmmm! Thanks you very much for any advice. I am confused how to do this.


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Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aktion/action-smiley-066.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance, I Hope You DANCE!
 
Debbie, when I did a periodization workout before, I was concerned that I would be overdoing it by including those classes that included weights. If I felt exhausted or felt I needed recovery then I just didn't use weights (I know you said that wasn't an option). A few times I noticed this with my upperbody, especially if I had just worked them out very hard a few hours before or the day before. I found that my legs could take the extra exercise or two with no problems. The weight and sets I used for these classes was vastly different from the weights I used for my main workouts.

My muscle growth didn't seem hindered, because the amount of weight I could lift really increased dramatically....which is why I joined
the gym.


With that said, those total body classes just touch each muscle group usually with one to two endurance exercises with lighter weights, so it's not comprehensive enough. I considered this a quick touch-up.


Our instructors occasionally will drop their weights when they are teaching back to back classes or too many weight classes from day to day, but they explain why and we understand. Believe me they don't let us drop ours, if anything we are often encouraged to add or use more weight!

Namita:)
 
Namita and Chris....

Namita! Thank you so much for you your thoughts...that makes me feel better knowing your muscle growth wasn't compromised. My weights I use at class and with Cathe are quite different too.( My students, when I mention it, look at me like I am nuts if I mention a 25# DB or 50# BB! Ha! ONLY we Catheites understand, eh?) Thank you for taking time to share your expeirence. BTW, I missed you at the last RT! Nice hearing from you here. Chris, if you get a moment, if you could please tell me your thoughts on the BEST approach to incorporate all my classes weekly with STS, I'd appreciate it.


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Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aktion/action-smiley-066.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance, I Hope You DANCE!
 
RE: Namita and Chris....

I’m going to have to make some assumptions to really answer your question. First, since you’re only using a maximum of 8lb dumbbells and a 18 lb bar you’re probably not lifting anywhere near heavy enough to stimulate very many muscle fibers, except for your lower body in which I’m guessing you’re doing a lot of lunges and compound squat moves. This may or may not be the case with your class, but I’m going to assume it is.

Second, I’m going to assume that for many of the exercises you could use a weight that is two to three times heavier than what you’re using if the reps were reduced to around 10.
The reason these assumptions are important is that when you work a muscle, let’s take your Biceps, you really don’t work your entire Bicep, only a part of it. Your Biceps have hundreds of little miniature motors inside of them. Each motor is in control and command of hundreds of muscle fibers. When you lift an object or a weight your body tells a certain number of your biceps motors to turn on. The rest of your biceps motors stay turned off. Your biceps motors don’t have gears or speeds. Either they’re working at 100% or they don’t work at all. That is why when you go to lift a glass of water your brain sends a signal to only just a few muscle motors to turn on. If it told all of your biceps muscle motors to turn on you would throw the glass through the ceiling. The rest of your muscle motors and associated muscle fibers stay totally at rest and turned off.

The heavier the weight the more muscle motors that must be turned on to lift the weight. In your case you’re not lifting heavy enough to cause very many muscle motors to be activated, thus only a small portion of your biceps muscle fibers are being worked. The remaining bicep muscle fibers remain totally at rest and on vacation. STS will wake them up!

In determining how much rest you need between workouts really depends on the intensity of the workout and your fitness level. Since you’re doing the same class with the same light weights every week and you’re not applying a new or unfamiliar workload to your body and you’re physically fit… I don’t really see you having a problem with lack of recovery time.

In a perfect world we would not want you lifting weights at all on off days. But the world is not perfect and many of us have jobs that require us to use our muscles more than other people’s jobs. Cathe also teaches classes with weights that are probably similar to yours and I’ve never seen a problem with her workouts suffering.

I would just suggest choosing a schedule that fits your lifestyle the best and put legs on day which allows for the most recovery time between activities since you’re probably working legs the hardest because of your classes.
 
RE: Namita and Chris....

THANK YOU so much Chris! What a great explanation of muscle motors. I never understood that! (I really like the "throwing the glass through the ceiling"! :7)

Your assumtions were RIGHT! I can pretty much use what Cathe uses weightwise with the exception of a few things here & there so YES, I lift much heavier at home. We do incorporate a lot of squats & lunges in class, sometimes with the BB's (only 18#) I will make sure to keep my STS leg work with at least a day between for recovery. I can't thank you enough for taking time to reply back to help me and most of all, to know I can do STS AS-IS!!! You & Cathe have been wonderful in helping us all understand the whole STS Method. I know many here are so thankful for all your help with our many questions! You guys are THE BEST!!!! Soooo, when will I have STS in my mitts???? :7 :7 :7

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Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aktion/action-smiley-066.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance, I Hope You DANCE!
 
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