Meso 1, 2 or 3; which is your favorite?

ksg68

ksg68

Cathlete
I can only afford to purchase one of the STS workouts. For those who've done them, which is your favorite? Why? I love the Gym Style series and am looking for a nice compliment to them.

Thanks!
 
i like meso 1 best. i like all the variations of exercises as well as the minimal rest breaks. I get bored easily and this cycle is constantly moving along so the workout goes super fast. Meso 2 is a close second but to change it up a bit i often add cardio during the rest intervals which are about a minute long. My least fav was meso 3 just because it was your typical heavy lifting moves with long rest periods
 
Meso 1

Terri:

I love, love, love Meso 1! It is fun, fun, fun! I love the “creative” exercises with the band and stability ball as opposed to more traditional moves in Meso 2, and the fast pace gives it a cardio feel and keeps my attention. It reminds me of a split version of Supersets. For my body, Meso 1 is better for weight loss. My body responds better to cardio, circuits, and endurance workouts. I enjoyed every Meso 1 workout and looked forward to each one. In addition to the fun factor, the endurance workouts gave me a burst of energy. I did not experience any increased hunger and slept restfully at night. Meso 2 is more like the Gym Styles. I was extremely tired and crazy hungry during Meso 2. I did not sleep well at night and went to HEB at 2:00 a.m. one morning for eggs to satisfy an intense protein craving! Cathe’s egg partnership announcement tickled me because something about Meso 2 said eat, eat, eat eggs. LOL! If you want something different to complement the Gym Styles, go for Meso 1. After 2 months of Meso 1, a recovery week, and 2 months of Meso 2, I decided to take a break for the summer and start the 3-month rotation in the fall. I have not experienced Meso 3 yet. The plyo leg routine looks like a blast! Meso 1 has the most variety and the fastest pace. Meso 3 has the least variety and the slowest pace. Meso 2 is in the middle! The Meso 1 music is more energizing too!

P.S. Cathe told me before I started STS that Meso 1 would be my favorite. She was right! :)

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).
 
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It really depends on what you consider fun factor. For me, I really enjoyed Meso 2. The pace was perfect for me. I constantly had to pause the player for Meso 1 to change weights, change equipment, etc.
 
lorrayne said:
It really depends on what you consider fun factor. For me, I really enjoyed Meso 2. The pace was perfect for me. I constantly had to pause the player for Meso 1 to change weights, change equipment, etc.
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I'm with ya there Lorrayne. It seemed no matter how organized I was I always had to pause in Meso 1 :confused:
 
I haven't finished Meso 3 yet, but I'd say my favorite is Meso 2! I felt hurried and rushed at times during Meso 1 and had to pause a lot, but I did like the variety in it. I also felt more tired during Meso 1 for some reason. I'm doing the 6 month rotation, and I was sooooo jealous during Meso 1 when those doing the 3 month rotation finished Meso 1 and got to take their recovery week and I still had 4 weeks to go before mine... :)

That said, I just love STS and I'm going to do it again when STS Cardio is released. It's the best fitness investment I ever made!
 
OK, well, I think I liked Meso 3 the best. If you really like GS, then my suggestion would be to go with Meso 2. Meso 1 is similar to the GS, IMO. Meso 3 is heavy and slow - which I liked but Meso 2 was great too and may be more to your liking.
 
I liked Meso 2,the best, Meso 3 was slow and heavy, but I survived. Like everyone else, I had to pause several times during Meso 1. I can't wait to do it again later this year.

Suzette
 
I was kind of like "love the one you're with"--which ever cycle I was doing was the one I liked best. I was rushed in Meso 1 and again no matter how organized I was I had to pause to write down my weight and reps and get my stuff together. Had to put my glasses on also to make my entries. Seemed like every second counted.
 
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I've loved all mesocycles, but, for me, I would say meso 1 would be my favorite.

I felt rushed and frustrated a couple of times doing the workouts in meso 1, but thought the leg workouts were the best I'd ever done. And I had great results with how I looked in my upper body as well AND I felt strong and energized throughout all of meso 1. Despite the rushed factor, I call this my favorite because of the leg workous.

I much preferred the pacing of meso 2 and the style of lifting, but like others have said about themselves, my energy at times was way low doing this mesocycle, and I didn't see the same results in my muscles as I did in meso 1. I still had results, but they weren't as pronounced. What keeps me from saying this was my favorite, however, was the low energy feeling I had during this stage.

I'm currently doing meso 3, and I find the pace (especially on squat rack legs) to be a little too slow for me, and it is a bit repetitive. However, I am again seeing that wonderful response in my muscles, and my energy levels are out the roof. I think this would probably be my favorite mesocycle if it weren't for the pacing in squat rack legs (plyo legs is wonderful, though).

Bottom-line though....you can't go wrong with any STS purchase in my opinion. :)
 
CLango said:
I'm currently doing meso 3, and I find the pace (especially on squat rack legs) to be a little too slow for me, and it is a bit repetitive.
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Hmmm. I also am doing meso 3 and wished there was more time to rest for upper body. Another 15 seconds would have been perfect! :D

But, I agree with long rest period for squat rack legs. Just want to hit skip to next chapter on my remote control... However, I did end up with DOMS in the legs the day after so it's doing its job! :)
 
Meso 1

I haven't check in a while. I am surprised to find that I am not the only one like Meso 1.:p

I like Meso 1 the best although like other said no matter how I pre prepared the weight, I still have to pause once a while. But the pace is fast, I felt my heart rate up there when I was doing it.

Here is the list why I like it best:
  1. 1. I like the variety of it. Everytime I finished one dvd, I felt all parts in my target on that day got hit nicely.
  2. 2. I finished 3 1/2 program a month ago. Currently, I am doing my own mixed due to the factor that I feel my muscles response better for Meso 1 & 2. My current rotation is Mixed Meso 1 and 2. I had my rotation post for public in workout manager. Something like Meso 1 Week 1, followed by Meso2 week 1, then Meso 1 week 2, followed by meso 2 week 2, etc. After 8 weeks, I will take one week break. Then just do Meso 3 as it is for the rest of month. My muscles still feel sores now. I never feel serious soreness (but in a good way when I did Meso 3). But Meso 3 did feed up my ego. I never thought I could lift that heavy.
  3. 3. I really really like the bonus in Meso 1 leg dvd. My 11 year old dd also siad it really helped to hit the small muscles that normally not got trained. She is a competitive figure skater. Small muscules helped her jumps and spins.
  4. 4. Meso 2 came close to second. The pace is just right. I can push up a little bit in weight. But I still can work until my muscles feel fatigued but without losing the speed, like I did in Meso 3. But I really miss bonus part in Meso 1.
 
One vote for Meso 3 here. I liked the slow, controlled, heavy lifting the best. I felt that I could concentrate and feel the muscle better. Oh, and I also liked the breaks:p
 
I really like the more endurance-type workouts, so I'm leaning towards Meso 1. What concerns me most is the one-rep max calculations and the all the different weighted dumbbells. While I have a good variety of dumbbells, I don't have anything heavier than 15 lbs. Will I need heavier weights than that? Also, is it a must calculating the one-rep max? Can I get a good enough workout without it?

Also, I have 4DS and while I think it's a good workout, I don't like the supersets and all the changing of the dumbbells, so I don't do the workout. Is Meso 1 like that? I will say that HSC, BC and ME are some of my favorites and love the constant changing/pace of these workouts. But just not in 4DS. However, throughout those workouts (HSC/BC/ME) I'm pretty consistent using 8 lbs or 10 lbs throughout the entire program, at least for the upper body portions, so it makes it very easy going from one exercise to another.
 
I loved Meso 1, but it takes patience. You really do benefit from your 1RM, particularly for this mesocycle, because it moves very quickly from one exercise to the next. It's challenging enough to have it already figured out for you and written down on the workout card -- I can't imagine trying to guess at the proper weight and get it ready without a whole lot more pausing of the DVD than I already did. I hate to say it, but if you don't like the many changes of weights in 4DS I doubt you'll like Meso 1. It's so worth it, though!
 
ksg68 said:
I really like the more endurance-type workouts, so I'm leaning towards Meso 1. What concerns me most is the one-rep max calculations and the all the different weighted dumbbells. While I have a good variety of dumbbells, I don't have anything heavier than 15 lbs. Will I need heavier weights than that? Also, is it a must calculating the one-rep max? Can I get a good enough workout without it?

Also, I have 4DS and while I think it's a good workout, I don't like the supersets and all the changing of the dumbbells, so I don't do the workout. Is Meso 1 like that? I will say that HSC, BC and ME are some of my favorites and love the constant changing/pace of these workouts. But just not in 4DS. However, throughout those workouts (HSC/BC/ME) I'm pretty consistent using 8 lbs or 10 lbs throughout the entire program, at least for the upper body portions, so it makes it very easy going from one exercise to another.
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Yes, you will need heavier than 15s. I used to lift up to about 15 and now I am lifting 25s.
 
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