My 1st CC

spyrosmom

spyrosmom

Cathlete
And I am soooo thankful to still be alive and have both my lungs. I sent an email the other day to Coach Sean explaining how the nice people over hear keep extolling his virtues and are trying to spend my $$ for me!!! I don't have any fancy-pants treadmill/climber/eliptical at home (wish I did) but have recently taken up running.

So he wrote back said I would be best to start w/ #5 for running, although they can all be used for running. Said for hills, just increase speed to increase intensity. So then he even sent me #5 - how cool is that?????

I did it tonight and holy smokes, it was tough. Lucky me?? - I even managed to be at real hills for most of the hill work. The longer intervals/hills at the beginning are tough business. The shorter sprints at the end were easier for me. But I made it. I was never so happy to see my house in my life!!!! I think I'm addicted. Thanks, guys!!!!

Nan
 
I just did my first CC (#2) on Monday (on the bike). I DEFINITELY worked harder than I do when I just watch TV, and the time sure went a lot faster. I liked it, but I'm not sure if I will keep doing it. I'm going to give it another try before deciding whether or not to get another. My podiatrist definitely wants me to mix in some no-impact cardio along with my Cathe workouts, but I'm still not a big fan of the bike, although it was certainly a lot better this way. We'll see.

I'm tempted to try it walking outside (I guess doing walking lunges if I'm not at a hill), but it's so dang hot out!
 
jodijodi - I just did #2 on the bike today. Time flew by! What kind of bike do you use? Of course, biking is one of my favorite things to do, but I do find upright stationary bikes uncomfortable and recumbant bikes not as challenging as mine. I use a bike in a trainer. I agree - if I sit and watch TV, I will get a pretty good workout, but nothing compared to what I did using CC#2!!
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of CC:7

I started with just one..CCPP and figured that was all I needed. NOT!! I quickly bought vol 2R-7 and I can't get enough of them. The workouts just fly by and are over with before you know it. Isn't Coach Sean the best?!!

Have fun.

JJ
 
Nan, welcome to the adventure! The beginning music in Vol. 5 makes me want to fly! It just sets up the workout with an incredible energy, doesn't it? It's used in the Press Play workout, too. And Sean's customer service is the best around -- he's just an awesome guy. Enjoy your workout!
 
>jodijodi - I just did #2 on the bike today. Time flew by!
>What kind of bike do you use? Of course, biking is one of my
>favorite things to do, but I do find upright stationary bikes
>uncomfortable and recumbant bikes not as challenging as mine.
>I use a bike in a trainer. I agree - if I sit and watch TV, I
>will get a pretty good workout, but nothing compared to what I
>did using CC#2!!

Shana, can you recommend a particular trainer? I've only ever used an elliptical for CC workouts and I'd love to try them on a bike. My bicycle, a hybrid, has been sitting out in the garage for almost 2 years and I'd love to know how to make it stationary. TIA :)
 
I just bought my first CC the other day and am very excited to get it and try! I plan to do mine on my bike in a trainer.

Thanks for sharing!

Mary
 
>>jodijodi - I just did #2 on the bike today. Time flew by!
>>What kind of bike do you use? Of course, biking is one of
>my
>>favorite things to do, but I do find upright stationary
>bikes
>>uncomfortable and recumbant bikes not as challenging as mine.
>
>>I use a bike in a trainer. I agree - if I sit and watch TV,
>I
>>will get a pretty good workout, but nothing compared to what
>I
>>did using CC#2!!
>
>Shana, can you recommend a particular trainer? I've only ever
>used an elliptical for CC workouts and I'd love to try them on
>a bike. My bicycle, a hybrid, has been sitting out in the
>garage for almost 2 years and I'd love to know how to make it
>stationary. TIA :)


Michelle - I have the CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer. Mine is not the newest model that has the quick release yellow lever (here is a link: http://www.rei.com/pwr/product-revi...s/p/667910-CycleOps-Fluid-2-Bike-Trainer.html) Otherwise, it is identical and that quick release would be so great to have. You can get deals on them - ebay as well as some biking websites. I got free shipping, I remember, but other than that, don't remember what I paid but it was the best deal I could find after much, much looking! The Fluid 2 is worth the extra cash, in my opinion, because it is quieter than the others and the fluid supposedly heats up as you ride and increases resistance but I never notice anything and you can read varying thoughts on that subject I think. Regardless, it is great and I have ridden about 1500 miles on mine without a single problem. If you have nobby tires, though, you will probably want to change to a smoother tread. I stuck with a wider tire that has some nobbies on the edges but a smooth bead down the middle. Makes it so much quieter!!
 
Shana, I have a cheap hand-me-down stationary bike. It's kind of a catch-22: maybe I don't like using it because my bike is bad, but I'm reluctant to spend money on a new bike because so far I don't like riding the bike. Does that make sense? I tried some bikes at the gym, including a recumbent, and I didn't really like those either. It's too bad, because my joints could really use the break from higher impact exercise.

One of my biggest problems is that the seat is very uncomfortable. I've looked everywhere and I can't find a new cushy seat or pad to fit it. So yesterday I cut up an old workout mat to make a pad for it. We'll see if it helps.


I'm going to give it another try today and see how it goes.
 
>Michelle - I have the CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer. Mine is not
>the newest model that has the quick release yellow lever (here
>is a link:
>http://www.rei.com/pwr/product-revi...s/p/667910-CycleOps-Fluid-2-Bike-Trainer.html)
> Otherwise, it is identical and that quick release would be so
>great to have. You can get deals on them - ebay as well as
>some biking websites. I got free shipping, I remember, but
>other than that, don't remember what I paid but it was the
>best deal I could find after much, much looking! The Fluid 2
>is worth the extra cash, in my opinion, because it is quieter
>than the others and the fluid supposedly heats up as you ride
>and increases resistance but I never notice anything and you
>can read varying thoughts on that subject I think.
>Regardless, it is great and I have ridden about 1500 miles on
>mine without a single problem. If you have nobby tires,
>though, you will probably want to change to a smoother tread.
>I stuck with a wider tire that has some nobbies on the edges
>but a smooth bead down the middle. Makes it so much
>quieter!!

Shana, thank you so much for your detailed reply! I'm off to find this trainer! :) :) :)
 
>Shana, I have a cheap hand-me-down stationary bike. It's kind
>of a catch-22: maybe I don't like using it because my bike is
>bad, but I'm reluctant to spend money on a new bike because so
>far I don't like riding the bike. Does that make sense? I
>tried some bikes at the gym, including a recumbent, and I
>didn't really like those either. It's too bad, because my
>joints could really use the break from higher impact
>exercise.
>
>One of my biggest problems is that the seat is very
>uncomfortable. I've looked everywhere and I can't find a new
>cushy seat or pad to fit it. So yesterday I cut up an old
>workout mat to make a pad for it. We'll see if it helps.
>
>
>I'm going to give it another try today and see how it goes.

I don't know if this will help any or not, but I cannot stand stationary bikes. They are so uncomfortable. No way would I last on one. However, if you at all think you might enjoy biking (and your joints would enjoy it too, as mentioned), you may want to look into this. If you have a good bike store - or sporting store- around, go there and see if they have a trainer for you to try, and be sure they let you try it with a bike that fits you. If you get a bike to fit you, I think you would find it to be so much different and in the trainer, your body is angled at a more natural angle than on a stationary. Good luck -

Michelle - did you find a bike trainer??

I just tried CC#5 on the arc trainer last night - whew! That was tough but fun. My husband gets a kick out of watching me on that. He likes to sit outside at night and I set the trainer up by our bedroom window overlooking the pool. He said I was really flying last night :)
 
I have 2-5, and just picked up 7-8 and pump as well. I ripped them onto my Mp3 player (which I've had for a couple of months, but hadn't used yet!), and am going to be playig with them to see which ones work best for walking outdoors.

I used #7 for yesterday's walk. Very motivating music, and a fast first challenge (I just thank my lucky stars that the level-3 sprints didn't come on an uphill stretch, LOL!). Challenge 2 didn't work so well (hill climbs and sprints--I could do the sprints by going as fast as possible, but the hill climbs didn't correspond to the hills on my path, so I used them more as steady-state recovery: Sean suggests doing walking lunges instead, but I only do those --and retro walking--in very specific neighboorhoods, with lots of tree cover, LOL!)
 
I've been following this thread for a few days. I just received my CC vol. 4,7&8. I hope I didn't overreach my self.
I do run outside 3 days a week about 3 miles. I'm a penguin. Very slow and I want to pick up the pace and add more time and get the max cardio like I do wih Cathe's cardio workouts. I never push myself as hard as Cathe does but I was tired of being tied to my DVD player for my workouts. Right now I'm doing Cathe's June rotation with running sub. for cardio.
Tomorrow is day one with Vol. 4.
Wish me luck.
Colleen ;)
PS
Do you think Sean would throw in Vol 5 for me too? LOL
 
Kathryn, I would love to hear any recommendations you have for doing CCs while walking. I can't run because of my joints, but I'd love to try walking outdoors with them. So you do sprints by walking as fast as possible, and Sean recommends doing walking lunges for hills? I have plenty of real hills in my neighborhood but I doubt that I could make them correspond to the hills in the workout.

The website mentions incorporating upper body movements with hand weights as well. Has anyone tried this?

Anyway, if you or anyone else has any suggestions I am interested in hearing them.
 
>Kathryn, I would love to hear any recommendations you have
>for doing CCs while walking. I can't run because of my joints,
>but I'd love to try walking outdoors with them. So you do
>sprints by walking as fast as possible, and Sean recommends
>doing walking lunges for hills? I have plenty of real hills in
>my neighborhood but I doubt that I could make them correspond
>to the hills in the workout.

I'm just experimenting with CC for now. What I think I'll end up doing eventually is making a playlist of segments that work well for walking (basically intervals and steady state: as I said above, the 'hill climbs' don't work particularly well. Though Sean also suggests just going faster to increase the intensity, I'd rather follow the beat of the music--the reason I'd use music to workout to. If not following the music isn't a bit deal for you, then you could do 'sprints' in place of 'hill climbs').

>The website mentions incorporating upper body movements with
>hand weights as well. Has anyone tried this?

I don't believe in using hand weights while walking. I think the risks outweigh the benefits. But I do wear a weighted vest (more normal weight distribution, and added calorie burn).
 
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