Need Advice

W

work2win

Member
Hi,
I'm new to Cathe's website. I'm not new to exercising but was wondering about how I should go about exercercising on a daily basis.

A little about me first. I'm 144 pounds and I'm 5'6 1/2. My goal is to reach 130 and stay (if I go lower -- that will be a miracle). My goal is to lose weight and look great. I can pretty much turn on any Cathe exercise episode and do it -- so I don't think I would have a problem doing any of them. I've been reading about clean eating and know that I have to do this but basically I need something I can stick to. Basically, I've been exercising by turning on the FitTV and doing whatever Cathe is doing for that day for 30 min. in the morning. My husband says that this incorrect because I should be allowing different body parts to rest. But I was under my own assumption that when Cathe comes on tv she is working a certain body part everyday. But I'm not sure of this assumption. I also walk on the treadmill everyday for 30 min in the evening.

What I would like to know is, in very plain language, from a person that don't really know the exercising lingo -- how should I be doing this. Should I buy dvd's and say for mon. work on upper, Tues. work on lower, Wed. work on glutes, or how should it be? We are looking to purchase videos but I'm not sure what to get. Like I said above, I have been doing whatever Cathe is doing for the day for 30 min. in the morning -- so I'm not new to this -- I just need advice on what to work on. Should I work 3 days a week on Cathe and the other 2 on the treadmill? Should I work 5 days a week on Cathe in the morning but on different body parts and still work on the treadmill 5 days a week in the evening? Or is that too much?

I need specifics because that's how I work best. If I have a plan I can pull it off -- but with no vision -- I perish! Please give me specifics if you can. I really appreciate any feedback as soon as possible to start right away!

Thanks.
 
Hi, Renee:

I think the issue with following Cathe (or any of the other instructors) on FitTV is that the daily schedule seems to me to be rather thrown together and not put together as a rotation where you'd be hitting particular body parts in a consistent fashion.

A couple of suggestions. First, visit the "Rotations" board on this forum and look for a thread called "Index to Cathe's Rotations." This includes links to many rotations that Cathe has put together. So you might look for one that relates to your goal (i.e., fat loss) and start by purchasing the DVDs which are on that rotation (my only caveat would be that depending on when the rotation was put together, there might be newer DVDs that could be recommended). Once you have an idea what MIGHT work, post over on Open Discussion and ask for opinions about the DVDs you're thinking about getting. That way, if there's something newer, folks can help you out by making recommendations.

Finally, the diet's got to be cleaned up. :) This is just one of those unfortunately true facts. :)

And welcome! This is a great place for information and support!

Take care,
Marie
 
Another post to checkout at the Rotation Forum is one posted by Debbie titled "Generic Breakdown..." She gives rotations but lists each day as "cardio" or "upper body" etc instead of a specific dvd.

As far as how to go about working out daily, it really varies and it's a good idea not only to NOT workout everyday b/c your body needs at least one rest day, but to vary your routine every few weeks to shock your body. For instance, you may want to alternate cardio and a total body weight routine such as Power Hour for a few weeks, and then maybe do a split routine doing cardio and then upper body on alternate days such as cardio one day, then back&biceps, then cardio, then chest&triceps. Her Pure Strength or Gym Style workouts are great for this. Another way is to do a shorter cardio and one body part per day to really work that part intensely. Some people like to pair up dvds for this. For example...do a short cardio segment of 30 minutes followed by the chest workout from Pure Strength followed by the chest segment from Pyramid Upper Body.

Last but not least, it's good to vary your cardio, say do the treadmill one day, another day do step, another do an interval workout, another time do kickboxing etc.

Good Luck!
 
RE: Need Advice -- 1 more thing!

Thanks to those who answered my email. I really appreciate the advice. I would like to ask one more thing. As far as the clean eating --- is there forums on here about suggestions on what to try?
 
Renee-
Re Fit Tvs schedule...
Cathe addressed this many many months ago if you want to do a search... basiclly she submits a series to fit tv and they air them as they choose to do. It is not a rotaion per se. If you can tiVo or tape them all (thats how I started w/ Cathe) then you can see which series they are from and pull up rotations on that forum for the series. Thats the only way I can think of to do a rotation from fit tv.
 
Hi, Renee!

Since your goal is to lose weight, I suggest a schedule similar to the following,(if you don't want to buy DVD's for this, just tape the FitTV shows and plug them in):

For the first 3-6 weeks:
Day 1: full body weight workout (with 10-15 minutes of cardio up front to serve as an extended warm-up and get the metabolism up a bit)
Day 2: steady-state cardio
Day 3: same as day 1
Day 4: Interval cardio
Day 5: same as day 1 (or switch this to day 5 if you feel you need a longer break)
Day 6: steady-state cardio
Day 7: stretch/rest

Then, if you want to change thing up a bit, move to a rotation similar to this :

Day 1: 10-15 minutes cardio + upper body + core
Day 2: steady-state cardio
Day 3: 10-15 minutes cardio + lower body + core
Day 4: interval cardio
Day 5: as day 1
Day 6: as day 3
Day 7: rest/stretch

Or
Day 1: upper body (as above)
Day 2: steady-state cardio
Day 3: lower body (as above)
Day 5: interval cardio
Day 6: full body weight workout OR cardio/weight circuit workout
Day 7: rest/stretch
 
Kathry, (my comments are all through the message),

Since your goal is to lose weight, I suggest a schedule similar to the following,(if you don't want to buy DVD's for this, just tape the FitTV shows and plug them in):

For the first 3-6 weeks:
Day 1: full body weight workout (with 10-15 minutes of cardio up front to serve as an extended warm-up and get the metabolism up a bit)

For day 1 is there a video name for this full body weight workout so I will know what to look for when I'm taping? Also do you suggest doing a full hour or 30 minutes for all of these days? I usually just do 30 min. per day of Cathe and 30 min. of treadmill at night.

Day 2: steady-state cardio

I'm sorry but I don't know what a steady-state cardio is. I'm a little slow at the terminology -- is there a video name for this as well.

Day 4: Interval cardio

Same as above is there a video name for this.

Day 7: stretch/rest

I'm familiar with stretch and rest

Then, if you want to change thing up a bit, move to a rotation similar to this :

Day 1: 10-15 minutes cardio + upper body + core

Is there a name for this one as well!

Kathy, I will understand if you don't have names for these and you were just giving suggestions -- I can definately look at the DVD's on this website and try to decipher what I need. So far I have taped Slow & Heavy (legs & glutes) and Step, Jump & Pump and I love these two. But my goal is to tape as many as I can and start rotations from them -- and then perhaps I will invest in the newer ones in the future. Thanks so much for your taking the time and writing what you did. I really appreciate it.
 
>For day 1 is there a video name for this full body weight
>workout so I will know what to look for when I'm taping? Also
>do you suggest doing a full hour or 30 minutes for all of
>these days?

Power Hour, Muscle Endurance and Muscle Max are three examples.
I'd suggest doing the full 60 minutes (for more calorie burn and metabolism booste)


>I'm sorry but I don't know what a steady-state cardio is. I'm
>a little slow at the terminology -- is there a video name for
>this as well.

Anything that isn't an interval workout: Rythmic step, most of the "non-Interval-Max" workouts, KPC


>
>Day 4: Interval cardio
>
>Same as above is there a video name for this.
Interval Max, Imax2, Imax 3


>Day 1: 10-15 minutes cardio + upper body + core
>
>Is there a name for this one as well!

Pyramid Upper body, for example


>
>Kathy,

Kathryn ;-)
 
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