Sorry, I have no idea if I'm doing this the right way, but your reply was really helpful. Sometimes I feel like Cathe, or maybe the theories behind her workouts are so complex. That's why I don't know where to start. I too loved the original FIRM workouts. All I know is I'm more physically challenged than ever.
Your progress sounds amazing. And like you've had lots of challenges along the way. Do you have an end goal of either weight, size or measurements?
Well, I guess every woman has arbitrary goals in mind as far as ideal weight on the scale or measurements go.
No matter what goal you get to, you always want something just a little bit better, right? That said, I have come so much farther already than I ever dreamed possible a year or two ago, I try not to get greedy with the goals (silly as that might sound). It becomes easy to forget at times, but two years ago I could not take a shower without getting exhausted! Walking up a flight of stairs had become impossible, let alone completing an hour-long step aerobics DVD...people who knew me then literally do not recognize me now, and it was only a couple of years ago! I was obese very early on in life, so I never knew what "normal"-sized people felt like, and I'm still adjusting to the way people view me now instead. Considering I wear a smaller pants size than I did when I was ten years old (I swear, I can't make this stuff up!), I am thrilled to bits with what I've achieved already. It sounds corny, but I honestly feel a great deal of gratitude that I received a second chance at health and fitness that it seems few people who got as bad off as I was ever get to experience. So my goals tend to be more about eating healthy enough and frequently enough so that my workouts are well-fueled and my energy levels stay high. It is challenging to both put on muscle and lose lots of fat beyond that enviable beginner stage, and I guess building muscle means more to me right now.
Learning new cardio routines + lifting weights frequently and steadily making progress at both of them provide a lot more motivation to me than weight- or size-related goals by this time. I can control how much I exercise and what I do each day...I can't so easily control my size or weight. As long as I don't gain at this point, I stay pretty happy. I am not what society would consider anywhere near thin, but I am pretty firm and I wear a small size for my weight because I have a good amount of muscle. My cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc., are all well within normal ranges and are typically in the optimal ones. I have plenty of energy most days (with fibromyalgia, THAT is saying something!) Would I love to be thin and cut and look like the ladies in a Cathe workout? Absolutely! Is that realistic? For someone who spent their life very obese, it may not be. I don't like to make looks my primary motivation anymore because it just
isn't very motivating to me. For some people, it is their motivation and all they need, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Cathe scared the living daylights out of me at first! I admit, it is a lot to learn. I was also a FIRM snob for years, believing I knew it all, and that I was doing the most superior workouts on the market. (At the time they were released in the 1980's, could have been true...) I think (but please don't quote me) that Cathe has an overriding philosophy of variety and consistency being the greatest things in working out. Let me tell you, The FIRM is a SUPERB foundation for Cathe's workouts! If you've done them regularly and were doing close to instructor level on those, you're ready for Cathe. Not ready for
mastery of Cathe workouts...but ready to start.
That's my humble opinion, anyway. The FIRM also builds fabulous muscle endurance and a wide variety of skills that can really come in handy with Cathe workouts. If you've done The Classics and Standing Legs a lot, workouts like Legs and Glutes or Butts and Guts will be far easier for it.
I focus on getting in lots of variety to challenge my body in fresh ways, mastering new cardio routines in particular, because step is my weakness. I make sure to hit every body part hard and heavy at least once per week, because I tend to be bad about that. (This is where I must bring up The FIRM again. Because of how it's set up, it can be impossible to really exhaust a muscle group to failure with those workouts. Even Standing Legs, tough as it can be, doesn't train quads in a concentrated way, for example. Once you're beyond an intermediate level, this lack of concentration can become a problem. I don't know if you've experienced that issue, I'm simply relaying what one of my problems were.) I have to hit legs A LOT. I still do tons of floorwork, because it really helps me personally. These days I'm using the resistance band or stability or medicine ball to train the smaller muscles like adductors in new ways, and I'm loving it. I'm trying to build really balanced strength all over my body, prevent overuse injuries and ones created by muscular imbalances, and to step out of my comfort zone frequently.
You sound like the type who enjoys the "hour a day, every day" workout style; if so, I'm the exact same way. I need daily movement! The FIRM workouts switch activities every few minutes, which is more fun at times and builds a certain kind of endurance, but can make it all too easy to think we're working harder than we are. I got to a point where I realized that yes, I was putting in the quantity of time - an hour or more a day, six or seven days a week - to exercise that should create body change. However, the lack of any true low-rep, high-poundage training was stunting my muscle growth. And more muscle = more positive body changes, not more "bulk". (As long as cardio and diet are kept in check.) This is why I personally would recommend Gym Style or Pure Strength to most FIRMies looking to transition into Cathe, because they are indeed a great muscle shock to FIRMies without being
so different that they'd hold no appeal whatsoever. (My idea was to keep away from doing any Cathe routines similar to The FIRM for awhile- i.e., any total-body routines with higher reps and lower or moderate weights. That may not be your intention, which I understand.) STS is wonderful from what I hear, but I personally would have to feel very comfy with the knowledge I'll be sticking with Cathe over the long haul before I'd invest that kind of money into a system. Not saying it isn't worth it, I just know even I'm nowhere near investing in that yet! Pure Strength, while a tad dated in looks, may be more "familiar" in feeling to you, if older FIRMs are what you've been working out to. You sound incredibly fit though, to be doing so well with the RWH series! I think I should be asking you for recommendations instead!
I must say I viewed RWH On Demand, and one reason it didn't appeal to me as much for the present time is that it kind of reminds me of The FIRM. It's more advanced and up-to-date, that is for sure...but it seems quite different from the strength-training of Gym Style or Pure Strength. The cardio seems very different than the old step workouts, hi/lo and interval training Cathe did in the past, too. I know science is ever-changing, and Cathe is going with what is showing great results at the present time for people looking to reach their fitness goals in general. Please feel free to disagree with my strategies, though. RWH changes activities a lot, doesn't seem to pack on multiple sets of exercises or use loads and loads of heavy sets, doesn't take many rests, and is a bit shorter in length than some of Cathe's older series.
Ultimately, if you are enjoying RWH, pick the rotation with that which appeals most to you and try it for a month or so. (However long is recommended by Cathe). If it gives you the results you want, you're on the right track! I am offering my perspective, but my goals and body may be completely different than yours, and I don't want to make things
more complex for you at all.
