Interval Max kickin' my butt!!!!!

naughtoj

naughtoj

Cathlete
AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, it was only my second time doing it, I confess, but it seems like while i can get through the whole TAPE, I cannot get through the whole INTERVAL. Man, some of em just start burnin'!!!! Like those power lunges or whatever that take all your balance just to execute only to burn your quads in about 3 reps!!! How do you get muscularly more adapted to that??

I guess my question is...cardio wise I am hangin' on...OK, by a very short thread, but I can do it. BUT my leg muscles start burning..and I mean FIRE when she does the all out plyo's and those power lunges. The first interval where Cathe does the jumping and reaching for the sky thing was about all my poor calves could take after the last workout. Couldn't believe how sore they were I think from just all the jumping. I lift weights regularly with Cathe and hike mountains so why do I lack the muscle strength to do 10 non stop plyos??? I mean, by the time Cathe says "Fire in the thighs" I have stopped along time back. I do the first three full plyos and then try to modify but my muscles are burning so bad I feel like I have to all out stop. What gives?? Am I just a weenie??

Annette.............HELLLLPPPPP!!!!
 
No one who even attempts Imax is a weenie! Just keep doing it and it will come.

As a matter of fact, no one who tries ANY Cathe tapes is a weenie!
 
Ditto....

...to what HB said. This tape ain't no walk in the park! It is the hardest tape I've ever done. There is never a time I do it, that I don't get that burn, BUT you will see that everytime you do it, you will get better & better at adding more reps. Try putting it in your rotation 1X/week and you will see that you WILL build stronger each time. Good Luck & keep us posted.

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
Hey, Naughtoj! Help - and support - is on the way!

Obviously, you're not a weenie, you're just being introduced to working your leg muscles in a new way. The strength training that you've done, and will continue to do, will assist enormously in your being able to build up to complete intervals.

One of the reasons Interval Max is so challenging - and beneficial - to the legs is the quasi-plyometric quality of the monster intervals (#2, #4, #5, #6 {somewhat easier}, #8, and #10). Plyometrics is a jump-oriented training method that was developed in East Germany in (I think) the 1960's, and it is designed to develop explosive POWER in all of the trained muscle groups. Slow, grounded strength training is an important part of fitness, and faster-paced, impact-oriented training is excellent for cardio training . . . but plyometric training forces you to recruit more of the quadriceps and hamstrings by: going deeper into the knees with each jump; minimizing the contribution of the feet and calves and momentum when propelling off the floor; and controlling the landing but staying continuous with the jumping. Just keep in mind - the deeper the bend in the knee (within safe limits) the more your leg muscles are recruited.

STAY WITH IT! As I said in our earlier I-Max exchange: a little bit more than you did before, each and every session, and you'll be amazed at your progress. And, you'll find over time that you can use some of the plyo stuff to spice up your other workouts, because I promise you they're gonna start feeling easy.

Hope this helps! A good book to read on plyometrics for sports training is "Jumping Into Plyometrics" by Dr. Donald Chu, second edition; you can get this thru several vendors, and I got mine (and a video tie-in) through Human Kinetics (www.humankinetics.com).

Welcome to the I-Max Gang!

Annette Q. Aquajock
 
RE: More help . . .

Please recite The Happy Premises before each and every I-Max workout:

HAPPY PREMISE #1:

Annette Q. Aquajock, Klutz Emeritus, who has two left feet with six toes on each one, was able to master and expand on the I-Max workout.

HAPPY PREMISE #2:

I am better than Annette Q. Aquajock, morally, spiritually, athletically, aesthetically, intellectually, and probably financially.

HAPPY PREMISE #3:

If SHE can do it, I can do it blindfolded!

AQA
:)
 
Finally!

I knew there had to be someone else who could keep going if it weren't for that danged burning. Let's conquer this one!

Andrea
 
Hi Annette

Your a brave solider ;o) I simply loveeeee Imax. As everyone has said, keep with it, believe you me. It gets easier. I do Imax once or twice a week. And every time I do Imax, I still get the burning in my thighs, woe momma, does it burn.

But I hafta tell you. When I plan for an Imax evening, I make sure I visit GNC for a energy boost drink, mainly a high caffeine drink. I know....I know.....some may call it cheating, but so what, haha. I usually drink it 15/30 minute before my workout.

Imax is *truly* my favorite. I just love how Cathe performs all ten intervals with perfect form; she is INCREDIBLE, in all her videos. In all my um-teen years of working out, she's the best ever, and I mean ever. Keep up the good work, it gets better.

Teddygirl
 
Annette, You Da Word Queen

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-25-02 AT 06:47PM (Est)[/font][p]Girlfriend, I bow to you. I myself am a wordy girl, and (with due thanks to my college and law school professors :)) I must say I'm not easily stumped by a verbal challenge -- but you humble me. You're intelligent, educated, a great writer, a great teacher and you're just funny as he** too. Woo hoo. :)

I just love to log on here and find your new posts!

http://www.clicksmilie.de/sammlung/sport/sport003.gif [FONT C OLOR=Blue]Kathy S.[/FONT]
 
Thanks everyone..

I guess I should remember that lactic acid is my friend!!! HA HA...

Annette..LOL!!! You have got a wonderful sense of humor and I will now recite the happy premises before each and every workout. For sure I will think of you and forge ahead!!!

I am glad that I am not alone on this one. Everyone talks about the choreagraphy in IMAX being so easy but I still can't get that ball change thing. I had no experience with step aerobics before Cathe and the only videos I had done were the Firm, so as far as the "rocking horse" and the "in-out-in repeater"....I am still just learning. And when she does U-turns??? FORGET IT!! I don't know which way is up!!! I FEAR Rythmic Step because of this. Maybe the Wedding Tape will get me a little more accustomed.

I must be getting better though, because after IMAX the other day my calves were not about to burst out of my legs and I had no soreness. Last time I was sore for 3 days....AND Cardio Kicks' intensity drills did NOT leave me feeling like a MAC truck hit me the next day. I was not sore either!!! So, YYYEEEAAAHHH!!! Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Confession: I do my Cathe tapes at work almost exclusively on my lunch hour. I crank the A/C (ssshhh..don't tell anyone) to 60 degrees for that hour. The other day I put it on 50!!!! So, I don't know how you all do it in 90 degrees, or even 70!!!! I guess that is another thing I gotta work up to!!! Janice
 
RE: Annette, You Da Word Queen

Kathy S! Thanks for your kind words! I come from good stock - my mother was an English major, and my father is a retired professor of English Education; my brother is an editor and journalist for a weekly in New Orleans and is writing a book . . . so it's in the genes, as they say.

If it weren't for Cathe's forums I'd never get published! I like participating here; most of my other writing for work is dedicated to memoranda about domestic violence assaults and other crimes, so this is a happy place to ply my words!

Annette Q. Aquajock
 
RE: Janice - you rawk!

Hey, Janice! What'd we tell ya? As Cathe says, "As you get stronger and stronger you can go longer and longer, not only in this workout but all of your other workouts . . ." and isn't it amazing how quickly the training benefits happen?

Myself, I don't bother with the fancy footwork like the ball-changes and hop-turns either. Just keep your feet movin'!

How on earth are you able to do these workouts on your lunch hour at your office?! My office is about the size of a gym bag!

Annette
 
RE: Janice - you rawk!

I have a darn cubie as well at work. BUT I have stolen this room downstairs...a secluded part of our company that once was but they only have stuff stored in there now...and turned it into my own weight room!!!

Yep, I got a TV, a VCR, weights ranging from 3 pounds all the way to 20, a 10lb plate for Power Hour, the FIRM step-stool tool box that holds all my videos that I do regularly. PLUS as a cool bonus, my work used to hold their own aerobics classes at lunch..it never worked out..but they had purchased about 10 of the real The Step steps. I didn't even have to buy one. I just drag as many in my room as I need that day. Sometimes I go in early to do the longer workouts. I can run down there during a break and set everything up so that I can just go in there at noon and whip my workout clothes on and start my video. It is really cool....about the only thing I LIKE about my job, other than having my MOM as my boss...(how cool is that??)

Some people have found out about my room, I have a key to it I got from one of our IT guys and I hide it downstairs. Gotta make sure no one steals my stuff. Some of the girls have asked if they could work out in there with me (it is big enough to do Cardio Kicks exactly as it is done in the video as well as all of Circuit Max!!!) but they end up never quite getting there (Thank God!!). I need ALL the room!!! But, probably the very best perk is the A/C...sssshhhhh...

The really sick thing is I have all the weights I need at home too!! I literally have a double stock of almost everything!! I am definetly HOOKED UP, so there is no reason for me to be out of shape now!!! Talk to ya later...Janice
 
RE: Janice - you rawk!

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-27-02 AT 00:19AM (Est)[/font][p]Thanks everyone here: because of reading this thread this morning, I did IMax today and felt virtuous all day afterward! I still modify about 3 intervals, but today I did it with fewer modifications than ever!

I had today off from work so I started later. Also, yesterday was a light exercise day so I was well rested. I think those things contributed. You guys all rawk!!

Aquajock, I love your posts- keep 'em coming!

Janice- I thought I was the only one who stashed weights at work, but you really have me beat! I have a pair of ten pound dumbbells "hidden" on a patio outside the office. I sometimes do a body part or 2 of strength work at lunchtime.
-Connie
 
RE: Janice - you rawk!

That sounds like what I used to do! I used to teach in a church preschool that had a room that used to be used for aerobics classes. We called it the "Big Room" and would take the kids in there when it was too hot (114+) to go outside. (Arizona :) )But on my lunch break I used the TV, VCR and my videos to work out. That is where I did my first Cathe video, actually (TWV). I have to agree--the a/c in there was the best! I would have had room for the whole staff to join me, but they would just eat their Krispy Kremes and extra cheese pizzas and stare at me like I was nuts as I did Intense Moves! (Didn't have Imax yet :) )
The only gross part--no shower! :-(
Wendy
 
RE: Janice - you rawk!

Wendy..
Exact same problem for me with the heat. I also live in Arizona and last summer I tried to take it and hiked every day at high noon for 1 hour ( I have mountains right next to my work). Worked pretty good because I was able to take a shower at work, but there were roaches in them (YUK!!. Eventually, I got some wicked tan lines and decided maybe I should save my skin. Then I got really into Cathe and decided she was better for functional fitness. Now I hike only on weekends or run in the am... but yeah, having an A/C you can contol but don't have to pay for in Arizona is priceless!!!!!! Janice
 
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