I Completed Meso Two-My Observations and Questions

[regina]

I completed Meso two yesterday. These are some of my thoughts and observations. First let me state that I come with a Power lifting background and this may influence some of my remarks. Also the only weight lifting that I did for these past two months was STS! I was a little fearful of this-thinking that I would lose strength - but not so. I did a few romanian deadlifts and power cleans today and could actually lift more than I could before STS! Thanks Cathe! (I know that I was suppose to rest today- but I just had to know. The rest of the week I will rest!

1. I definitely enjoyed meso two, but I think that I enjoyed meso one slightly more. With meso one, my body was definitely out of my comfort zone. Power lifters rest a lot more time between sets (because of the heavier weights utilized). The month before I did meso one, I had just completed a two month cycle of the same type endurance lifting, therefiore I am not sure why I felt so challenged by meso one. The 30 second rest periods in meso one really challenged me.

2. In Meso one my legs became leaner.

3. In Meso one- I lost a few pounds and gained lean muscle mass. During STS I actually cheated more than usual and still lost weight and leaned out? WHY?

4. The leg tri-sets in meso two were the most challenging. I used 80% of my one rep max and the aerobic factor really kicked in.

5. In meso one- I noticed better arm definition -especially the tricep horse shoe had terrific definition,

6..In Meso two- the quad- the teardrop- became better defined I was surprised by this because I did not do any leg extensions during this meso. I also did not do any angled leg presses. I only did STS exercises!

7. In Meso one I had DOMS after almost all of the workouts (esp legs). In Meso two, I never had DOMS. Why I had DOMS in Meso one and not in Meso two baffles me. I do know that DOMS does not necessarily relate to a beneficial workout. Hopefully some of my fellow Cathe fans will have an answer!


8. I suspect that I will feel right a home in Meos 3 because of the heavier weights used. However--- I am wise enough by now to know that Cathe almost always surprises me!

9. I had mapped out a detailed plan of what activities I would do during the rest week of meso one. For the meso two rest week I could not bring myself to make a single fitness plan! I am not sure why? I will take each day as it comes and do what ever the spirit leads me to do.

10. My husband and I did both mesocycles together and he thinks that Cathe kicks butt! He plans to do STS again after we complete meso three. Last night he informed me that he and three other guys are going to do it together (no wives or girlfriends are invited)! He loving it! He use to be a natural body builder.

MESO THREE -- HERE I COME!

 

[Mona S]

Great post - thanks for sharing your observations. I have no answers for you, but am baffled why you didn't have DOMS in Meso 2? Congrats on all your progress and finishing Meso 2 - look forward to hearing from you after you complete Meso 3!

 

[Dela]

Yes, this is a great post, thank you for sharing. It's funny, in Meso 1 I did not have significant DOMS at all, but in Meso 2 week 1, Discs 13 and 14 killed me! I mean crazy, hard to sit down and walk around kind of DOMS.

But I was doing Endurance style weights for a while before I started this, so I figured I was a bit more "used" to the meso1 workouts, and it sounds like mabye your body was more used to a heavier lifting style so the Endurance style really "shocked" your body. Just a thought.

I love to hear how effective this is for exercisers at ALL levels.

 

[laketime]

Regina,

Congratulations on completing Meso 2! It sounds like you are really enjoying it, and are certainly seeing great results.

I am starting the last week of Meso 2 tomorrow. I agree with you on the leg tri-sets -- very challenging. I had serious DOMS after weeks 1 & 2 of the leg segments. The bicep work has also been a good challenge.

Like you, I've also dropped some pounds and have seen more muscle definition. I've never done really heavy weights, so the last couple weeks have been a learning experience. I look forward to the next phase.

Michelle

 

[cb1924]

Thank you for the great post. I am looking foward to moving on to meso 2. I have 1 more week left of meso 1. I am doing a 6month rotation.

My only problem is eating the way I do I am not seeing any visible results. However, I definitely feel alot stronger.

chrissy

 

[Runcrazy]

Thanks for your wonderful post Regina! I really appreciate your sharing your thoughts and experience.

Jo

 

[NAB]

Thanks for starting this thread Regina! I'm in the middle of Meso 2 and here are my thoughts and a question for you.

I have never done any really serious heavy lifting but heavier lifting is one of my favorite exercises. I, too, had DOMS after almost every meso 1 exericise but it not every meso 2 (I did have DOMS for the leg trisets, they were crazy hard!) and I haven't been able to figure out why but I'm worried that I'm not lifting heavy enough.

Here's my problem. I have found that as I have gotten to 75% of my 1RM on the upper body exercises that I often get to failure 1-2 reps before the end of the set with little warning. I am lifting and then I get to a rep and that's it, I can't get the weight up. You'd think I'd have serious DOMS but no, maybe just slight soreness on day 3. It's like there isn't a linear relationship between % of 1RM and number of reps I can do. Is that normal? I hope that makes sense.

Thanks,
Natalie

 

[nightowl81]

Thanks for sharing...It's cool to hear that these workouts are challenging to even the really advanced gym exercisers.

 

[ms71069]

thanks for the reviews!

 

[healthy_vegan]

Thanks!

Wow, great post. Thank you so much for taking the time to post your observations.

My guess on the DOMS issue is that Meso 2 was more similar to the kind of weight lifting you had done in the past, so it wasn't as much a shock to your system, whereas Meso 1 was endurance, which maybe you did not focus on.

I found that I had DOMS the first week of both Mesocycles, and not after. (I'm currently redoing week 2 of Meso 2 due to an injury that interrupted the week.)

i just want to say how fantastic I think it is that your husband and his buddies are Cathe fans. Many men can't seem to wrap their mind around the idea that a woman can help them get stronger. I'm glad they're not like that. My husband admires Cathe, but hates DVD fitness.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[regina]

Thanks for starting this thread Regina! I'm in the middle of Meso 2 and here are my thoughts and a question for you.

I have never done any really serious heavy lifting but heavier lifting is one of my favorite exercises. I, too, had DOMS after almost every meso 1 exericise but it not every meso 2 (I did have DOMS for the leg trisets, they were crazy hard!) and I haven't been able to figure out why but I'm worried that I'm not lifting heavy enough.

Here's my problem. I have found that as I have gotten to 75% of my 1RM on the upper body exercises that I often get to failure 1-2 reps before the end of the set with little warning. I am lifting and then I get to a rep and that's it, I can't get the weight up. You'd think I'd have serious DOMS but no, maybe just slight soreness on day 3. It's like there isn't a linear relationship between % of 1RM and number of reps I can do. Is that normal? I hope that makes sense.

Hi Natalie,
This is what i usually do-
1. As long as I am able to get within two reps of of desired number of reps (with good form), I keep the weight the same. You may want to do "cheat reps" for the last one or two reps.

2. If I did not get within two of my desired number of reps at my target weight and I really believe that if I concentrate more or if I have lifted the same weight before, then I usually leave the weight the same and try the same weight again on the next set.

If I cannot get within two reps of my target weight and i don't believe that I can lift that weight, then I lighten the weight.

4. If the exercise in which I could not lift the weight for the desired number of reps came near the end of my workout and my muscles were fatigued, then I usually lighten the weight (very slightly).

i hope that this helps,

Regina







T