Intensity series vs. CTX series - what worked better for you
- Thread starter SHANI
- Start date
Cruncholi
Cathlete
Shani,
Hi. I have done both of these series. I am still using the Intensity Series now and will finish a 10-week rotation this week. I found that I got a lot of benefit from the I-series in terms of becoming smaller and firmer in my butt and the backs of my legs. I also appear to have lost about 2 pounds in that amount of time. I feel stronger and leaner with more cuts in my arms after this series.
I have had a somewhat clean diet during the I-series, but I do eat chocolate every day and I don't really hold back when I go out to dinner. In general I do not eat too much junk food/desserts. I like vegetables and fruits and will buy whole grain products at the store if I can find them. I don't hold back on cooking with olive oil either and I do eat cheese and lean cuts of meat. I try to eat healthy, but often times it is just not practical and I do find myself delinquent on the recommended nine servings per day of fruits and veggies.
I did the CTX series as designed about 1.5 years ago shortly after it came out, I found it increased my cardio endurance a lot. My legs thinned out a little but, but not too much. I didn't feel that I became stronger in my upper body, but that I maintained my strength with the one muscle group per week approach. I didn't really like lifting every day because my living room was always messy. I think that I may feel differently if I did this series now because my muscles are more developed and I can lift heavier than I could back then, so I may realize different benefits now. The CTX series is just a lot of fun to me with the shorter cardios and weight lifting together. I didn't get bored.
I also did a modified CTX series where I did two body parts per day plus a cardio. That was tough because each workout was more than one hour and it was hard to fit it in (had to get up earlier).
I don't really remember what my diet was like when I did the CTX series as designed. It was early on in my quest to educate myself about proper nutrition, so it probably was not as good as it has been during the I-series.
Overall, I give more kudos to the I-series than the CTX series as a package deal. I use my CTX cardios every week now, sometimes two or three times per week when I run short on time, or just don't have the energy for a one-hour workout. I love those short cardios.
I hope I helped you some.
Linda
Hi. I have done both of these series. I am still using the Intensity Series now and will finish a 10-week rotation this week. I found that I got a lot of benefit from the I-series in terms of becoming smaller and firmer in my butt and the backs of my legs. I also appear to have lost about 2 pounds in that amount of time. I feel stronger and leaner with more cuts in my arms after this series.
I have had a somewhat clean diet during the I-series, but I do eat chocolate every day and I don't really hold back when I go out to dinner. In general I do not eat too much junk food/desserts. I like vegetables and fruits and will buy whole grain products at the store if I can find them. I don't hold back on cooking with olive oil either and I do eat cheese and lean cuts of meat. I try to eat healthy, but often times it is just not practical and I do find myself delinquent on the recommended nine servings per day of fruits and veggies.
I did the CTX series as designed about 1.5 years ago shortly after it came out, I found it increased my cardio endurance a lot. My legs thinned out a little but, but not too much. I didn't feel that I became stronger in my upper body, but that I maintained my strength with the one muscle group per week approach. I didn't really like lifting every day because my living room was always messy. I think that I may feel differently if I did this series now because my muscles are more developed and I can lift heavier than I could back then, so I may realize different benefits now. The CTX series is just a lot of fun to me with the shorter cardios and weight lifting together. I didn't get bored.
I also did a modified CTX series where I did two body parts per day plus a cardio. That was tough because each workout was more than one hour and it was hard to fit it in (had to get up earlier).
I don't really remember what my diet was like when I did the CTX series as designed. It was early on in my quest to educate myself about proper nutrition, so it probably was not as good as it has been during the I-series.
Overall, I give more kudos to the I-series than the CTX series as a package deal. I use my CTX cardios every week now, sometimes two or three times per week when I run short on time, or just don't have the energy for a one-hour workout. I love those short cardios.
I hope I helped you some.
Linda
RE: Intensity series vs. CTX series - what worke...
Hi! I haven't had time to evaluate the effects of the intensity series yet. And 'results' is a very subjective thing. I want to share a CTX/PS rotation that I used. It was part of a longer rotation suggested by Cathe back in Sept 00. In terms of results being defined as slimming the mid-section and good arm definition this rotation really did it for me. (Legs are not a problem for me so I didn't evaluate that aspect) Also, I was careful with what I ate. No junk food, no fast food, no desserts. I did not restrict carbs. I did not restrict calories, and I averaged 2000-2200 per day. I only did this for a 3-week stretch. I found it very intense. I have put the rotation in quotes.
" Mon....Power Circuit (back) in its entirety plus add on PS
Chest/Shoulder/Tricep
Tues.....Kickbox (bi's) in its entirety
Wed......All Step (shoulder) in its entirety
Thurs.....Step & Intervals (chest) in its entirety plus PS Back/Bicep/Abs
Fri........Leaner Legs plus the floor work portion of PS Legs(so its the
section that has inner thigh, outer thigh, hamstrings, but leave out
abs since you already had them on the Leaner Leg tape)
Sat........10/10/10 (triceps) in its entirety"
-joy
Hi! I haven't had time to evaluate the effects of the intensity series yet. And 'results' is a very subjective thing. I want to share a CTX/PS rotation that I used. It was part of a longer rotation suggested by Cathe back in Sept 00. In terms of results being defined as slimming the mid-section and good arm definition this rotation really did it for me. (Legs are not a problem for me so I didn't evaluate that aspect) Also, I was careful with what I ate. No junk food, no fast food, no desserts. I did not restrict carbs. I did not restrict calories, and I averaged 2000-2200 per day. I only did this for a 3-week stretch. I found it very intense. I have put the rotation in quotes.
" Mon....Power Circuit (back) in its entirety plus add on PS
Chest/Shoulder/Tricep
Tues.....Kickbox (bi's) in its entirety
Wed......All Step (shoulder) in its entirety
Thurs.....Step & Intervals (chest) in its entirety plus PS Back/Bicep/Abs
Fri........Leaner Legs plus the floor work portion of PS Legs(so its the
section that has inner thigh, outer thigh, hamstrings, but leave out
abs since you already had them on the Leaner Leg tape)
Sat........10/10/10 (triceps) in its entirety"
-joy
Cruncholi
Cathlete
Hi Charlene,
I used the Intensity series pretty much as designed. I generally have been doing PUB and PLB on back to back days followed by IMax2, followed by either C&W or BC, followed by ME, followed by a CTX cardio or other light/short cardio. It has worked out well for me and I have definitely seen results. Now if I can only stop eating all those goodies. The food part of fitness is really so important! Good luck.
Linda
I used the Intensity series pretty much as designed. I generally have been doing PUB and PLB on back to back days followed by IMax2, followed by either C&W or BC, followed by ME, followed by a CTX cardio or other light/short cardio. It has worked out well for me and I have definitely seen results. Now if I can only stop eating all those goodies. The food part of fitness is really so important! Good luck.
Linda
I have been doing the body blast rotation using the Intensity Series for about 5 weeks now. I absolutely love it! I have not made any changes to my diet but have noticed recently that I have put on 1-2 pounds. I try to eat clean, but I have to have chocolate in the afternoon, or I will cease to exist! And I've been trying to eat more protein. Anyway, my pants are looser now, so I am assuming that I have replaced some fat with muscle which would account for the slight weight gain. And I have really made some strength gains, which I feel so good about, with even more muscle definition. And I can do all the push-ups on my toes, which I have never done before. Yea!!!!!! I have not really used the CTX series in a formal rotation so I'm sorry I can't give you a comparison of the two. I did a lot of mixing and matching, mostly with Bodymax, Circuit Max, MIC, IMax and MIS. While doing this I was able to maintain my fitness level, and was where I wanted to be weight wise. I do sometimes use the cardio sections in CTX before doing a strength workout. Hope this helps.
Nancy
Nancy
RE: Intensity series vs. CTX series - what worke...
I'm mainly interesting in loosing fat and get defenition without bulk . which series will work best ?
a little bit details on me : I'm 5'3 tall 145lbs weight
want to be 120 but the weight is'nt that important to me , more important is loosing inchs and fat .
before I began to workout seriously I had no shape in the muscles at all . even when I was trim (120lbs) I did'nt see any defenition / muscles in my legs and arms .
when I was going to sculpt classes 3 times a week I began to saw a little bit defention at first but thats all . (her system was doing one set for each body part - with 100 reps or more and light weights ) so I stoped with this classes and started doing the firm ( I am doing the firm for a few months ) . now I have defined quads , not too big and because I do'nt want them to be bigger I'm not heaving my weights ( I'm using 16.5lbs total for strenght training for legs and a little bit less in more endurance workout ) my hamstring have a little bit defenition but they need more . my arms are firmed but I want more defention ( without bulk . although I think Cathe looks good I would'nt want to develop big biceps like she has)
last detail : I do'nt have dvd .
so what do you think will work best for me ?
I'm mainly interesting in loosing fat and get defenition without bulk . which series will work best ?
a little bit details on me : I'm 5'3 tall 145lbs weight
want to be 120 but the weight is'nt that important to me , more important is loosing inchs and fat .
before I began to workout seriously I had no shape in the muscles at all . even when I was trim (120lbs) I did'nt see any defenition / muscles in my legs and arms .
when I was going to sculpt classes 3 times a week I began to saw a little bit defention at first but thats all . (her system was doing one set for each body part - with 100 reps or more and light weights ) so I stoped with this classes and started doing the firm ( I am doing the firm for a few months ) . now I have defined quads , not too big and because I do'nt want them to be bigger I'm not heaving my weights ( I'm using 16.5lbs total for strenght training for legs and a little bit less in more endurance workout ) my hamstring have a little bit defenition but they need more . my arms are firmed but I want more defention ( without bulk . although I think Cathe looks good I would'nt want to develop big biceps like she has)
last detail : I do'nt have dvd .
so what do you think will work best for me ?
RE: Intensity series vs. CTX series - what worke...
If you want more definition without the bulk, I'd go with Power Hour, Boot Camp, Cardio & Weights, Muscle Endurance and Body Max. If you want a whole series, a lot of people experienced the things you are want with doing the CTX series. Some tapes of the CTX series are using up a lot of space, e.g. Power Circuit - I have to modify a lot there and I don't like to do that. I like to do exactly what the instructor does but because of my limited space, I cannot do that with Power Circuit.
If you want more definition without the bulk, I'd go with Power Hour, Boot Camp, Cardio & Weights, Muscle Endurance and Body Max. If you want a whole series, a lot of people experienced the things you are want with doing the CTX series. Some tapes of the CTX series are using up a lot of space, e.g. Power Circuit - I have to modify a lot there and I don't like to do that. I like to do exactly what the instructor does but because of my limited space, I cannot do that with Power Circuit.