Let's Do This Again STSept-Dec! *Nov 30-Dec 6*

littlefiretop

littlefiretop

Cathlete
Good Morning Warriors! :)

Welcome to the first week of December (yikes :confused:)

As predicted every muscle in my body is now experiencing DOMS of some kind. lol So today will be my recovery day. Walked for about 20 min on the treadmill and stretched this morning. We will see how I am doing after work to decide if I want to throw some cardio in to help work through the DOMS.

Alas, my 9 days off has come to an end, so its back to work for me today. One of the good things about my company is that we shutdown for the holidays, so between shutdown and a few vacation days I am putting in with it, I only have 3 weeks of work before I am off again for almost 3 weeks. woohoo! I have to keep reminding myself of that. ;)

Alright, time for me to go make myself somewhat presentable and get out the door to work. Look forward to hearing how you are all doing today.

:cool:
 
This morning was Disk 28 Chest and Back. I may be maxed out for one arm rows, as I was really struggling with them today. I’m definitely maxed out on chest flies, and that happened last time, too, at the same weight. I really need another 10 lb plate set before I do STS again. I just wish there was a used sporting goods store around here.

My take on what Cathe said about the STS/Shock Cardio rotation was that she would create it but not do it. Would be fun though if she did.

Tara, I agree with Janis - every year gets better and being in shape for them is even better. Actually, I got pregnant the second time when I was 40, and gained around 50 lbs, so getting in shape wasn’t exactly my plan that year. Thankfully, it all went away though. Did you do the squat legs? I don’t have the equipment to go that heavy even with a vest. Plus when I watched those workouts that style of leg workout is the ultimate in boring for me. Somehow it looked much more so that the upper body Meso 3 workouts.

MJ, I was just grocery shopping and running errands on Saturday so no fun stuff for me.

Heather, is the rotation the two sisters are doing in the rotations on the workout manager or somewhere else. I’d like to compare it to what I came up with. Last year my boys were actually both on the 10U baseball club because the the youngest, then 7, made the team, but this year they are split up and they will never be on the same team again! I talked to the other Moms who have two playing and they told me I’d survive it and where to sit so I could see both fields. The downside is that there were likely be times when they are playing in different cities so I’ll miss games. I just hope that they don’t have any tournaments the same weekends!

Janis, I really like KPC. I like it better than Kick Max. Mostly because the challenge in Kick Max is really hard on my body. I like the combos in KPC better, too. I think the cardio is longer in KPC because the leg drills in KM take up so much of the time and KPC has abs in it.
 
Good Morning Ladies

I did Chest and Back Disc 28 as well this morning and it went very well!. It didn't feel nearly as long as last time. I think that my weights must be a little low because I really could have done 8 reps for most of the exercises...it was hard to remember to stop after 7!
I then did a short Bodyrock circuit for Cardio afterwards. It was supposed to be "Fierce" but I did not find it that bad. I have to do a tonne of work this week so these check-ins will be short this week! Too much sitting!
Anyways, Before I forget. I found the front squats really hard on my knees last time around for some reason. Just thought I give those doing squat rack legs a heads up! Beware.

MJ- Hope you have a good week back to work! 3 weeks will fly by!

Cathy - My boys are only 2 years apart so I am hoping that we will have them on some of the same teams some time! Last year we were running to different arenas all the time. No fun!

Tara - I am approaching the 4-0 in a few years and I plan on being in the best shape for that event!

Janis - How did squat rack legs go?

I will get that rotation! Next break!
Talk to you soon
Heather
 
Hi Warriors!

I started this week with BootCamp + Kickbox cardio only, then squeezed in some abs. I did something miraculous (for me at least) and got up early enough to work out before I went to work! It was like 4 AM or something! Felt good & I was peppy most of the day. :)
Tomorrow will be Chest, shoulders & Tris. Then Legs probably on Wed. I enjoyed the first Meso 2 legs routine (Disc 14). It was challenging, but I didn't have too much DOMS the next day. I think I will try to go a little heavier this week.


Cathy, I did Plyo legs last time I did STS. I enjoyed them even though I had it hit pause several times in each workout! I'm anticipating that the Squat Leg routines won't be as fun to do, but I hope it will challenge my leg muscles in a new way. I'm more inclined toward the plyo legs routines, but I do want to give the Squat Rack legs a try at least once. I found a weighted vest for women that holds up to 50lbs. I ordered it a week ago, but haven't received it yet. It's bulkier than Cathe's vest, but still looked as it wouldn't be uncomfortable to wear. I haven't done my 1RMs for the Squat rack legs yet, so I have no idea how much weight I'll need. I hope b/t my barbell & the vest it will be enough--I dont have a squat rack & have no intentions of buying one! :)

Heather, I did see that the twin sisters (Jolene & Jess, I think) had created a undulating rotation. I hadn't looked at it too closely, but I definitely was planning to take closer peek! I look foward to you posting more about it. :)
Back to Cathy---I did see the rotation in the Workout Manager. I think if you go to the rotations section, you can find it there. Again, I didn't look at it in detail.

Janis, I think I had to read Cathe's post about 5 times, and I'm still not 100% sure what she meant! I'm leaning more towards that she meant just posting a rotation, but we'll see! Even if I have to cut Meso 3 short, I'd love to start up a new round with you all in Jan. I very much would like to be doing the same STS discs everyone else is!

MJ, I can't believe it's December tomorrow either! I have to get my presents to my family in the mail this week to ensure they'll get to them by Christmas. Much to do!
I hope you will post your full story in January. I'd love to read it!

Have a great afternoon, Ladies! See you tomorrow.

Tara
 
Hey Warrior Friends!

The first week of December - OMG! Thanks for the reality check MJ! Geez - doesn't it seem like the last three months just flew by? When I did STS the first time through it seemed like a huge undertaking and an enormous commitment that lasted forever. This round just zipped by.

Squat rack legs was great. I used the power tower as a squat rack. Since I am not squatting any where near the weight limit, I felt pretty confident using it and it worked great. I was bored during the rests, so next time through I'll do planks, crunches, and push ups.

My calendar in workout manager isn't as bad as I thought, Heather, I took a look and just this week is left. I'd love to see the undulating rotation you're talking about, when you have time please post it!

Today, I did 4d split - HIS (chest/back). I don't know if I have shared this before but I am step-challenged. Not just a little bit, but a lot a bit. I gave it a second chance but mid-way through I stopped the step portion and did the chest/back drills, then I did Drill Max. When Shock Cardio comes out, I don't think I will be doing any of the step workouts - lol!

I like STS more than 4day split, I never feel like I really worked the muscles with 4 day split, but it was a nice change of pace.

Tara - your vest sounds plenty heavy, I'd just lift whatever you did/do for Meso 2 legs. Shipping from Europe to the US? That must cost you a fortune every year!

Cathy - thanks for your feedback on KPC, I am leaning towards getting it, but then again - we have Shock Cardio's MMA to look forward to - decisions decisions.

I'm off to eat and do some chores around here. According to the GWF household chores burn more calories than some of my workouts!

:D
 
Janis if you are step challenge HIS isn't one to try (I remember when it came out lots of people were having problems) - took me awhile to get some of it and I had to watch it over and over to get it. If I were you I'd hold off on KPC with the the Shock Cardio's coming. They will be plenty to play with for awhile.

You know there's probably no reason I can't use my tower for squats, too. I'm only 4'9" so it would be easy for me to just walk under the bar and put it on my shoulders and back in to take it off. Plus I only weigh about 100 lbs. so there's no way I can lift really heavy. I just can't get more than 35 lbs. safely up and over my head by myself.
 
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This morning I did 4DS LIS Cardio to see how my calf did and it was ok, but not 100%. Then I did B&G Stability Ball Abs and 25 minutes of yoga. My biggest problem with trying to fit in the yoga/stretching is that I really need to get all my workout done in the morning, because I find it really hard to fit in the rest of the day and my regular workouts are usually at least hour without the extra stuff. I'm just going to keep trying to add some each morning. I also forgot to mention yesterday that I did the extended stretch.
 
Hey Everyone

This morning I did CC6 and now I am back to work! It was a really good run with lots of sprints, lots of runners high! One kid is sick again... it is never ending! Anyways, I looked at the undulating rotation and it is just Cathe's rotation from Oct. 2009. So I am sure we can make it our own as well.

Janis - FYI, I am not step challenged... but a pro but I can hold my own and HIS is my nemasis! I can't follow that one, with all the turning around! That is not the place to start! Not sure where to tell you to start but HIS is brutally challenging for following it!

Cathy - Glad to hear you got your stretching in. My biggest help for my calf was to stetch it in the morning by sitting with one leg crossed over the other on the edge of the bed and then grabbing your toes and pulling then back towards your calf as hard as you can. I usually do it every morning. It stretches your foot and into your calf too.

Tara - I would think an extra 50 lbs on your body should do the trick!

MJ - It just snowed here today and there is a white blanket on the ground so anytime you want to talk about your walks on the beach I am all ears! For some reason it just makes me feel warm!

My plan is to do Plyo legs tomorrow if I do not give blood today... otherwise tomorrow will be a rest day!
Cheers
Heather
 
Heather thanks for the stretch tip. I have trouble remembering things when that I plan to do first thing I wake up. Usually I just find my workout clothes in the dark, feed the cats and head downstairs to workout. Then I remember later that "oh yeah, I was going to do ___ ." :)

I can't remember the pattern of the undulating rotation that I came up with, but it's 6 weeks of workouts, then a rest week, 6 weeks of workouts, then a final rest week. So, I use all the workouts and it would be 14 weeks long. Cathe's wouldn't use all the workouts in only 4 weeks. When I get a chance, I'll post the pattern I came up with and we can dissect it, because I'm not sure it's exactly what I want.
 
Ok, here's the undulating rotation I have in the rotations part of the workout manager. Basically you do a week of Meso 3, a week of Meso 1, and then a week of Meso 2 and repeat that sequence twice and then take a rest week.

I didn't mess up the weeks in the Meso's. I just went through them 1, 2, 3, 4.

So, my question is, would it be better to also mix up the weeks within the Meso's for even more muscle confusion?

I'm thinking that in the big picture it probably would be, and if you guys are interested, I'll try and rap my brain around figuring that out and come up with something more complicated. Then when we have something we like I can put it in the rotation calendar for whoever wants to use it.

Here's what I have now. I put all the leg workouts on Wednesdays, because that was Cathe's suggestion to someone, and personally it's what I prefer.

Week 1
Disk 25 M3 W1
Disk 26 M3 W1
Disk 27 M3 W1

Week 2
Disk 1 M1 W1
Disk 3 M1 W1
Disk 2 M1 W1

Week 3
Disk 13 M2 W2
Disk 14 M2 W2
Disk 15 M2 W2

Week 4
Disk 28 M3 W2
Disk 29 M3 W2
Disk 30 M3 W2

Week 5
Disk 4 M1 W2
Disk 6 M1 W2
Disk 5 M1 W2

Week 6
Disk 16 M2 W2
Disk 17 M2 W2
Disk 18 M2 W2

Week 7
Rest Week

Week 8
Disk 31 M3 W3
Disk 32 M3 W3
Disk 33 M3 W3

Week 9
Disk 7 M1 W3
Disk 9 M1 W3
Disk 8 M1 W3

Week 10
Disk 19 M2 W2
Disk 20 M2 W2
Disk 21 M2 W2
Week 11
Disk 34 M3 W4
Disk 35 M3 W4
Disk 36 M3 W4

Week 12
Disk 10 M1 W4
Disk 12 M1 W4
Disk 11 M1 W4

Week 13
Disk 22 M1 W4
Disk 23 M1 W4
Disk 24 M1 W4

Week 14
Rest
 
Good Afternoon Wily Warrior Women!

Thank you Heather and Cathy for your support and feedback about HIS and my two left feet. I am happy to know that workout was not simplistic and not the place to start!

I ran for 40 minutes today, CCV4. (I can't wait to do the longer workouts, Heather, I love CCV6) When I was done, and still sweaty and warm, I did 4day split - bootcamp/biceps and triceps. Contrary to yesterday's comment about 4DS not working my chest/back, today my triceps and biceps got cooked and I really enjoyed the boot camp portion.

Cathy - while I was jumping around I thought of your calf - mine has been cramping a bit after Plyo Wednesday, Heather's stretch works exceedingly well. On Saturday, when I did my little run to work out the soreness, I got off the treadmill two or three times to stretch my calf while it was warm. Both stretches did the trick.

The undulating rotation looks great! I think the muscles would be plenty confused without changing the order of the dvd intensity.

Heather - can you give blood on Thursday? I think we're all scheduled to do plyo tomorrow! Plyo Wednesday. Would that be a first??? All of us doing the same workout on the same day - call me sentimental - but I find that possibility inspiring and motivating.

BTW - I am not sure how fast I run. I need to calibrate (properly) the footpod to my new HRM. If I go by the TM numbers, I am averaging bwtn 8.5-9 min mile, faster on sprints (7.8), slower on recovery (10).

Tara - How did Chest-Shoulders-Tri's go? High fives ^^^^ for working out at 4 am! I am truly impressed. :)

MJ - So - what is the status of your head to toe DOMS and work re-entry? Does one help take your mind off of the other? :D After months of use, does your GWF display reflect the same numbers as the Activity Manager? My display shows roughly 188 -200 more calories burned than the data on the Manager. I sure would like to go with the higher number - it could mean an extra snack or treat!

Tomorrow is PLYO WEDNESDAY and also my orthopedic surgeon 2nd follow-up. I think the news will be good!:)
 
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Hi All,

Well, the early morning workout routine did not last long. Quite the opposite! Almost overslept this AM. :) So, today's workout was an afternoon & evening thing. I did a light jog after work & then did Chest, Shoulders, & Tris later. I find that the C,S& T are the most challenging workouts for me in this Meso cycle, but I always feel like Wonder Woman when I done! I did stay with all the recommended weights, even went up a couple of pounds for the incline chest flys. Shoulders are feeling the DOMS already!
I finally put my Power Tower together this past weekend & was glad to have it ready to rest my barbell on. It was hard hoisting it up last time I did Meso 2 & 3.


Heather, thanks for checking out that rotation & letting us know that it was basically the same as Cathe's Oct 09 rotation.

Cathy, I really like how you set up the undulating rotation. I agree with Janis about staying with the same Meso each week. I think because we are working only each muscle group once a week, we can stay with the same Mesocycle weekly. For example, if we did chest on a Mon, then switched to the a different meso for legs on Wed, the chest muscles would be resting anyway & no muscle confusion would be occuring for the chest. (I think...)

Janis, enjoy Plyo legs tomorrow! Hope you get good news from your orthopedic MD!

MJ, hope your return to work went well. It is good to get a break, but it's always hard for me to go back to work!

Till Tomorrow,
Tara
 
Hey Everyone

I am up for Plyo Legs tomorrow!... I decided that there was no need for me to give more blood today... (good times)!

As far as the Undulating rotation part of me wants to mix up the weeks just to keep things really different but I am really ready to go with the flow! Thanks Cathy for putting that all together!

Tara - I have to get up for work sometimes at 3:30 and 4 am... for some reason that time really makes me tired but getting up at 5:30 seems to not kill me. I usually get up a 6 for my workouts.

Janis - Good luck tomorrow with the Dr! I really love CC4 for some reason... maybe it's the Yoda voice I don't know but it is one that I really get alot out of. I will burn more calories on CC4 with less time than some of the longer ones. CC6 was good though I really liked all the sprints... BTW you run way faster than me. I have short scottish legs that have no concept of speed of light! But they are getting faster!

Cathy - I often forget to do the stretch until I am mostly dressed. As long as you do it before you start to work out is best. Often I get a wake up call early in the morning and then stretch really does not happen then. It does help though!

Good luck to everyone with Plyo Legs tomorrow... I will be right there sweating along with you! and maybe a little swearing too!

Heather
 
I need a shirt that says "I survived Plyo Legs" :D I didn't take the time to look, but I'm really hoping that there are no half turn jumps the next two weeks. Those kill me. I followed it up with the stretch from Leg & Glutes, because I like that stretch and I wanted something that wasn't real long.

How about if we go with the undulating rotation I have this time and I come up with a different one for the time after that. ;) I think staying within the same Meso for the week works because we're doing different parts each time and there's no real reason to change that, but I think playing with the order of the weeks used. Ugh! I went and looked at my list and realized that while I had all the disks in the right order, I had for some reason mistyped some of the week numbers. Here's the real list with week numbers and disk numbers all actually matching:

Week 1
Disk 25 M3 W1
Disk 26 M3 W1
Disk 27 M3 W1

Week 2
Disk 1 M1 W1
Disk 3 M1 W1
Disk 2 M1 W1

Week 3
Disk 13 M2 W1
Disk 14 M2 W1
Disk 15 M2 W1

Week 4
Disk 28 M3 W2
Disk 29 M3 W2
Disk 30 M3 W2

Week 5
Disk 4 M1 W2
Disk 6 M1 W2
Disk 5 M1 W2

Week 6
Disk 16 M2 W2
Disk 17 M2 W2
Disk 18 M2 W2

Week 7
Rest Week

Week 8
Disk 31 M3 W3
Disk 32 M3 W3
Disk 33 M3 W3

Week 9
Disk 7 M1 W3
Disk 9 M1 W3
Disk 8 M1 W3

Week 10
Disk 19 M2 W3
Disk 20 M2 W3
Disk 21 M2 W3
Week 11
Disk 34 M3 W4
Disk 35 M3 W4
Disk 36 M3 W4

Week 12
Disk 10 M1 W4
Disk 12 M1 W4
Disk 11 M1 W4

Week 13
Disk 22 M2 W4
Disk 23 M2 W4
Disk 24 M2 W4

Week 14
Rest

Sometime when I can wrap my brain around it, I'll play with the weeks. Do you all feel ok with having the rest weeks after six weeks this time?
 
Good Morning

I got up and did Plyo legs too. It is so much fun! I feel like I am making some progress too so that is a good feeling! I wore my heart rate monitor and it said I burned 639cal for the workout. I am not sure if that is realistic but it seems better than the workout manager amount of 300 something!

Cathy - Your rotation looks great. I really like the idea of rest after 6 weeks. When I did the 6 month rotation the rest after 8 weeks was too long and resting after 4 seems too short. I'm in.

Hope everyone else survived!
Heather
 
Heather I always feel like the workout manager underestimates my calories burned, but then there's no way it can be anything other than a very basic guess because it can't really judge how hard we're working. One of the things I'd really love to know is my real calorie burn for workouts, but nothing that will tell me would fit in the budget at this point.
 
Good Morning Plyo Warriors!

I just finished. Some of the exercises were intense and others awkward. Did anyone else feel completely ridiculous doing the Rock Climbers? I kept this workout on the low impact side, well, as low impact as I could modify for. I didn't want to set myself up for injury right before my orthopedic appt.

I was thinking about the undulating rotation, I think Tara made a good point, with the exception of legs the different Meso's switch the upper body around. i.e. Meso 1 -Chest Shoulders Biceps, Meso2 -Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, and Meso 3 Chest, Back. It might be hard to configure a rotation without doubling up or leaving out a body part.

Heather - I may run faster, but it sounds like you burn a lot more calories per workout than me! Even with my new, presumably accurate, toys I don't see a huge calorie burn running or doing plyo!

Cathy - I think a rest once every six weeks is perfect!

MJ - I hope you're not drowning in work! I hope your squeezing some tennis in somewhere, at least for stress relief and therapy!

Tara - Congrats on putting up your tower! You'll find so many uses for it! it even comes in handy for stretching - ballet barre style.

I'll report back tomorrow about my orthopedic appt.

:D
 
<<I was thinking about the undulating rotation, I think Tara made a good point, with the exception of legs the different Meso's switch the upper body around. i.e. Meso 1 -Chest Shoulders Biceps, Meso2 -Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, and Meso 3 Chest, Back. It might be hard to configure a rotation without doubling up or leaving out a body part. >>

The rotation is basically set up for upper body, legs, upper body, but that might mean that when she does switch up on some things we'd been doing the same body part on the last workout of one week and the first workout of the next week. And because she might only switch around one body part, you can't just flip the workouts around that week to keep things balanced, and potentially that means going more than a week without working one area. I know some people have already been doing a similar rotation, but I haven't seen any comments on that aspect of it. I really don't see a way to do an undulating rotation without that happening. Thoughts?
 
Hey Everyone

My thoughts - When I wrote out our plan based on muscle group and assumed we did Mon, Wed and Fri as the workout days then at some point for each muscle group we would have a shortened recovery time and an extended recovery time over 4 weeks. I think that this will just be part of the "muscle confusion".
If we don't like it when we are into it we can always change. I'm pumped to try something new!
Tomorrow is going to be my rest day and I WILL do some yoga!

Janis - I really think my heart rate monitor must be out of whack!

Talk to you soon
Heather
 
Good Morning Warriors!

Just popped in to say I am still here and alive, just completely buried in work. I am about a day behind on STS, so I will do plyo legs tonight to catch up. I have been reading our thread when I get a few minute at work just havent really been able to post, will catch up as soon as I can.

Looks like everyone is doing well. Its early, early AM here and I have to get ready for work already and go finish a project.

Talk to you soon. :cool:
 
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