HippaHips.....

[naughtoj]

Hey Pinky!

Just wanted to let you know that I read your post in the PLB Revisited thread in Video forum and I must say for you to be able to do this:

"When I started out in May, I did lower body strength training twice a week with 4-5 step sessions scattered throughout. I alternated between PS-Legs and PLB, and sometimes did a session of S&H Legs followed by the leg workout in PH."


YOU MUST BE A MACHINE!! Looks soooooo tough!! I don't see how you could have any fat on your legs! Aren't you the little skinny minnie at 108? You did lose weight too initially didn't you? I would love to hear your story and what you do currently....

Ok, now, if you did S&H and PH legs in the same session I am going to crawl in a hole and die.....do tell....

You Rock!

Janice

 

[naughtoj]

Ok, I guess I am the only one that thinks S&H and PH legs in the same session is quite the feat!

I was trying to pay a compliment here, but I see it is getting left in the dust.

Pinky- Are you out there??

 

[hippahips]

Hey Janice, thank you for the compliment. What a pleasant thing to see at the end of an afternoon spent (and failing) on dulling the soreness in my legs from yesterday's PLB. Guess today's rest day then...

Yes, I did do such a rotation when I first started my Cathe workouts. I did it until October last year, after which I concentrated on pure strength training with barely any cardio. Please remember that these were the "old" days when I used lighter weights, between 25-35 lbs. for my lower body, so I could afford to do two heavy duty strength workouts for the lower body a week. This was also before I discovered Leaner Legs and waaay before the BB series came out.

I didn't lose weight initially. I was actually trying to gain weight, which I did. Ten happy pounds.:7 Nine months after giving birth, my back gave out and I went to physical therapy. My son was colic, clingy and suffered from reflux and chronic ear infections. I have scoliosis, and carrying my boy almost 24/7 did a number on my back. I was on three prescription meds: Celebrex for osteoarthritis (which I also have in my spine), Zanaflex (a muscle relaxant) and a prescription painkiller with a name I now forget. My doctor told me that since my bones are genetically weak, the muscles surrounding my bones have to be strong. Therefore, strength training was a must. Three months after I started training using PS and PUB, I was off all my meds. To me it was a miracle.

I started with 2 12-lb. DB's as my heaviest weights both for upper and lower body. I didn't invest in a BB until much later, when I could lift heavier and I got my form right. These days I use 55 lbs. for BB rows (my back is screaming by the middle of the second set), and 20 lbs. (on good days) for 2 out of 3 sets of one-armed rows. I never realized my back, of all body parts, could be this strong. I just reached my goal of bench pressing 50 lbs. but I can only do 2 sets out of 4 with this weight. I skip the DB presses in PS and sub flyes for those so I can do more of them. I use 15's for flyes, and they seem to be getting easier but I know I can't handle 20's yet. So I slow down the reps using a 2-2 count. I can use 15's for shoulder work (lateral raises and military presses), but only on good days. Many times I still have to lower. My biceps and triceps are the upper body parts that lag the most. I still use 8's for most tricep work, a 20-lb. DB for presses (like in PUB), and a 45-lb. BB for dips. I don't do it the way Cathe does in PS though. Those are way too fast for me. I do 2 sets of 12 dips with a 2-2 count. I'm still stuck with a 35-lb. BB for curls, and for concentration curls, I still lower to 30. I can use 15's for those alternating hammer curls and those curls with a rotation. But some days I go lower. For lower body, I use a 45-lb. BB maximum for PLB. For PH, I go down to 25, and for LL, I use 30. These days I look at my body and don't recognize it. I mean, I still know it's mine, but gone are the ribs that are sticking out, the shoulder joints that look like islands. I am solid. I've never been literally solid in my life.

These days I do heavy LB weight work only twice a month although I still do LB work twice a week. Most workouts are now endurance type sessions using LL, L&G or a mix of both. Once my BB reached 45 for leg work, I started seeing bulk down there. Not much, but enough for me to say that this is probably as far as I'll go with LB weight work. Yes, I still have fat in my thighs. My saddlebags are no longer so baggy, but my inner thighs simply won't quit. It's genetic. I've been alternating strength and endurance training since January. I do strength training one week and endurance training the next. Strength weeks are mostly PS, Pyramids and about 2 cardio sessions. Endurance weeks are PH, LL+C&W or LL+CTX-UB split, KPC, a modified hour-long version of CTX Power Circuits, segments of L&G, and IMAX 2.

I don't know what I'm going to do next month but I know I have to slow down with/ease off on my LB workouts. My knees aren't having it anymore. But I plan to continue with UB strength training. I also plan to maybe have a kickboxing week where I do kb workouts all week long (5-6 days) since kickboxing is somehow gentler on my knees than stepping, squatting and lunging.

No, I'm not planning on doing S&H and PH legs in the same session again. At least not in the next month or so. My knees need a break.


Pinky

 

[naughtoj]

Pinky,

Your story is a great one, with a great ending!!! Looks like you have come a long way. Your weight loads are impressive. My upper body drags compared to my lower. I really need to start writing down my weights for the different tapes. I really don't know. I could not list it for you as you have done for me. I know, that is bad for progress!! I am going to do it now for S&H and PLB though, since i will be sticking with this rotation for a while.

Seems weird that you can use 15's for flies and can only bench 50#'s. Are you doing 4 insane Cathe sets or 4 traditional sets of, say, 10. Makes a big difference. All those pulses and low ends can really do a number on your poundages.

You must be in great shape! I wish I had a story as good as yours, but the truth is, I don't remember when I started. Too long ago... I know I feel solid too though! Maybe too solid!!

I am scared to try LL again. I am sure it would humble me!! When I get out of this rotation maybe I will work it in and see!

Talk to you later!!

Janice

 

[hippahips]

Hi Janice,

I've seen your fitness pics, and yes, you ARE solid. Love the way you're posing by your bench, with one bare foot on it, like you've conquered the weights.

If I can do 15's for flyes, how much do you suppose I should be benching? Give me a number and I might work up to it. Just not too high though.:7 Yep, I do 4 sets of 10, 2 of them on a flat bench, another 2 on an incline. For the first set I do 45, then 50 for the second. For those "insane Cathe sets" I have to lower to 25-30 lbs. Her pre-exhaust exercises keep me from lifting heavier. Which, in a way, is good because I have no one to spot me.

Writing down weight loads for various workouts as well as keeping a workout log have really helped my progress. This keeps me from just going through the motions. Reading about the kinds of rotations that a lot of ladies in this forum do also helps me come up with my own, which also helps me focus.

As for LL, oh boy... The first time I did it, I used lower weights than Cathe, much lower weights than in PLB or PS-Legs. I couldn't walk the next day. Those high reps activated parts of my quads I didn't know I had!

Pinky