How Are You Doing With Your STS Workouts?

[workout4life]

Hi Cathe,
I'm loving STS. I'm on week 2, today was legs. The leg workout was very challenging. My heartrate was so high after the step ups I had to pause the dvd player. I couldn't do the sit and stand with the chair on one foot, I was able to do a few on one side. Also the wall squats with the ball and dumbbells I can't really pick up the weights.
I'm thinking I should start STS over next week with you. I just don't think I'm ready to move on to harder exercises.
Thanks so much for a great product. I am really love the workouts.
Wren

 

[larks mom]

Hi Cathe

I, too love these workouts. Super tough but I look forward to doing them. Finished week 2 today, wall squats went better than last week. I only used 3 lb weights but I DID IT Don't know about those pushups, though - I failed to do the very last one Monday, just could NOT push up that final 16th rep.

Want you to know I also love the STS Users' Guide. I don't have a printer so I've written 1RMs and various percentages out by hand. Now that I have the guide, I've been penciling in the weight to use by each exercise for each disc. It's working very nicely. So thank you for that as well. I'm all set for next week's workouts. I'll do cardio tomorrow but take all day Sunday off!

Thank you!
Janie

 

[KRISTINE A]

Workout cards

Hi Cathe,

Just want to say this is a kickbutt workout-I love it. Anyway, my question is: on the workout cards that we print, why are some of the target weights listed at N/A, when I have already done my 1RM? I am really trying to be as efficient as possible, but when I have to guess at the weight it takes too much time. Any suggestions? I'm sorry if this question has already been asked, but if I read all of the posts, I would never get to my workout!!

Again, STS is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Cathe and Crew,

Kris

 

[SirenSongWoman]

Okay, Cathe, I have to ask - and I hope you won't be mad. I did splits for a year and got so-so results so I switched to full-body workouts (including Muscle Max, which I love) and immediately saw great results. Because I know splits don't really do much for me I wanted to get your feelings on the way I'm using STS (uh oh, she's thinking...): Like everyone else, I'm working out to STS 3 days per week but I'm not doing each complete disk in 1, 2, 3 order. Because I'm trying to get my largest muscle groups firing first (I'm trying to burn fat) I'm trying to hit all the muscle groups in each workout. I'm doing a third of each of three disks, in reverse order (i.e., 3,2,1 1st third/1st workout, followed by 3,2,1 second third/second workout, then 3,2,1 final third/third workout, then the same pattern for disks 6,5,4...). I planned to work STS this way up to mesocycle 3.

I know you designed STS to work in a very specific way and you may, perhaps, not approve. Your feelings regarding whether or not using STS in this way will or will not be effective would be appreciated because I wonder if it's even possible to do STS the way I need to. You'd know better than me if this is going to work.

At any rate, I love the look, feel, and pacing of these workouts and the way they cut straight to the chase, though this may only be true of M1 (muscle endurance), which is designed with little down time for a reason. I haven't previewed the other mesocycles yet.

 

[boxermk]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

I love these workouts cathe, they have exceeded my expectations. You are such a class act. These are great. Thank God you exist, I don't think i'd ever be in shape if it werent' for you. STS is the BEST!

 

[carolmcf]

Very excited about STS so far

I went back and forth deciding whether or not to order STS. I have always favored the cardio and cardio with wts programs in the past. At first I ordered just the first mesocycle to see if I liked it, but then I changed my order to the entire program. I just completed the first week, Disc 3 yesterday and I am loving the rotation that Cathe suggested (in one of the first posts of this forum). It is a challenge every day, but doable. The STS guide book is a tremendous help, and doing the IRM test by their guidelines made the workout different for me than any I have ever tried. It really makes a difference when you don't guess which wt to use! I find myself looking forward to each STS workout and reading about it first. I am sore, but not terribly, and I am realizing I probably didn't progress wts as I should have in past workouts.
I've tried two of the ab circuits so far, and they are a blast!
As with all of the Cathe videos, I love the music, I love the setting and the cast. My husband calls them my imaginary friends!
Thank you, Cathe!

 

[Amy Steppe]

Hi Everyone! I'm going to be here for a short while if you have any questions. I'll also be checking the forums in between to grab some questions to answer.

I wanted to quickly update you.....we have been very busy the last few days working on filming and editing the Cathe TV segments. I think you are really going to like the nice relaxed format of these segments. A time for all of us to connect together on a deliberately less formal platform. No memorized scripts or fancy up doo's , just everyday me wanting to share helpful fitness tid bits and topics with you.

On that note, thank you for posting the questions that you did last week under my STS start date post. I only had time to take one question (Frances, you are the lucky winner ) as we are limited to 10 minutes in our Youtube clips. However, we think this will be a great feature to include in our STS weekly Cathe TV check ins and would like to continue to do so.
So keep your questions coming and stay tuned every week for anything and everything that will help to make your STS workout experience the best one possible.

I will announce when we post our next Cathe TV STS check in segement.

Cathe, I LOVE Cathe TV! And I LOVED doing disk one from STS. I enjoyed all the variations for the pushups. The time really flew and before I knew it, the workout was over!

 

[Amy Steppe]

Cathe:

I love, love, love STS! I am going for the 5-month rotation and enjoying revisiting the first week of workouts this week. I feel so strong and accomplished after these workouts. They are just as fun as they looked when I previewed them! I love the music and variety, and I am getting nice and sore after each one! I am feeling my triceps as I type (after experiencing back and triceps yesterday morning). The extended stretch is soothing, and the medicine ball abs routine is a personal favorite (especially the standing abs). I have fun playing with toys! Thank you for providing a good variety of workouts on the Ab Circuits DVD for different fitness levels.

I am so glad I invested the time in completing the one-rep max tests. The workout cards tell me how much weight to choose, and I have faith and just do it. I am getting a much better workout than I would with my personal favorite weights. *wink*

I highly recommend the 5-month rotation. These are great workouts the first time, but I discovered that previewing did not fully prepare me for the experience. I bought the Fitness by Cathe weighted gloves at Academy Saturday night and made a few small adjustments that are making a big difference this week! (The gloves allow me to use the exact weights on the workout card). I am amazed at what a difference one pound makes! Two weeks in a row is the way to go!

It is Thursday morning yet? I am so excited to experience the first leg workout again. It has replaced my beloved Butts and Guts leg blast premix as my favorite lower body workout of all time. You hit it out of the park with this series! I never imagined that a cardio queen like me would actually *enjoy* weight training! STS is right up there with my beloved Rhythmic Step! Well done, Cathe! Hugs!

Blessings,
Heather B.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).

Hi Heather!

I am doing just the same - I am doing the 5 to 6 month cycles.

That gives me one week to preview and "rehearse" before going all out!