Justine, I just realized I never replied to this. Yoga's so good for everything, right? Glad the Sun Sal Bs are working out for you.
Better to spend even $100 a month now to maintain or (preferably) increase strength, endurance, flexibility, balance and mental sharpness, than to end up spending thousands of dollars a month down the road in healthcare, pharmaceutical, home health, nursing home, hospice, and other severe aging/frailty/illness-related costs. Even dedicated exercise over many decades obviously cannot and will not prevent every one of us from needing those things, certainly not forever. And this isn't a slam against people who need those types of care- far from it. I'm not playing "blame the patient" in the least. However, dedication to exercise and generally healthy living now can help delay the need for those very costly services, and possibly eliminate them entirely. Believe me, those expenses eat up savings in a way even the most ardent fitness buff couldn't match...not to mention the toll that frailty in old age takes on the aged people themselves, and on their caregivers. Possessing a firm commitment financially to one's fitness life should be a norm and not an exception to the rule, IMHO.) Thoughts? 
Sorry if that's a nosy or too-detailed question, but I'm wondering if you just add on work to Cathe workouts for the extra challenge, because you're more advanced.Haha I'm seeing big chunks out of the floor filled with sweat and blood!!! Love the "GET IRON" mentality!! My basement floor is concrete and I don't give a @#%$ what it looks like when I'm done!! Glad to know my house may not be the only one with bad floors!!
This is probably a dumb question for you (or everyone doing this), but are you adding Nia Shanks exercise on top of a Cathe rotation that you're following, or do you alternate between their programs? It would be a big time and energy commitment to do both, I'd think. What does Nia help with that Cathe or other trainers haven't addressed? (Not at all a slam at Cathe- different workouts with various trainers provide good variety, so I support cross-training! I apologize if that was addressed already, but I didn't see an answer there. I'm always on the prowl for a new challenge now!)
I know the very advanced exercisers can do their normal 5-6 mornings with Cathe, then do yoga, Pilates, running, swimming, or whatever their own thing is that they love a few evenings a week, too. (On occasion I do some extra mobility drills, yoga, Pilates, or aerobics class in the evening, for example. I find extra exercise is an important pick-me-up during marathon nighttime study sessions for college. Although, I do consider myself only intermediate!) They're able to do this without overtraining because they built up the reserves, no doubt.
I know also that some people are the weekend warrior type, either because they are training for an event, need the extra calorie burn, enjoy the social aspects of their activity, etc. If you do Nia Shanks stuff on top of Cathe work, is it harder to recover well? Do you have to eat more, rest more, stretch more, etc.? Just curious...
Thanks in advance for letting me know, either way.
Is this re: squats or deadlift lockout (pardon my ignorance)?
Karen answered your questions really well and I don't have much to add except to say that in Nia's programs you lift super heavy and are really training for strength. (That's not to say there's no muscle hypertrophy or fat loss, etc., but the reps are generally very low, often lower than STS Meso 3.) I couldn't do Nia's program simultaneously with Cathe lifting. No recovery time. I've been appreciating Nia's 'less is more' and 'minimum effective dose' philosophy. I lift 3-4 times a week, very heavy, walk a lot, do a lot of (advanced) yoga. That's it. No cardio these days -- I'm not jonesing for it like I do when I'm stuck inside and snowed in all winter.
This. I'm taking a week off from Nia and just did KCM's Muscle Up this morning. I think it's her more straightforward heavy lifting DVD (correct me if I'm wrong on this). But after 8 weeks of Nia Shanks I realized -- oh -- this is metabolic weight training. I don't mean it's not challenging or you can't gain muscle or whatever, but there are no rests and I was huffing and puffing almost the whole way through. I loved it! But it's very different (as is Cathe's weight training).
Oh yeah! I think my favorite part of deadlift day is the sound of the plates crashing down on our concrete basement floor!
). I finished STS yesterday - with a fab Squat Rack w/o. I was meant to be doing a plyo HiiT this morning - the jumping was OK, but getting down low on anything (snowboards!) was torture.
What!!! Honorary girl?? Well thanks, (I think?) No Bruce Jenner here.!!!I am proud of those hormones that DO seem to drive me do stupid stuff and like Karen says, I don't think we are the technicians you ladies are I have to admit that I do WAY too little deadlifting because I know my form needs work and it is the easiest lift to cause injury if done wrong. But hey..I am mostly retired now..don't really need that back, so time to go for it! And thanks Justinef for inclusion!! Still kinda hurts though hahaGood timing with the questions, girls (and tslop49 - our honorary girl
I've decided on the Double Wave rotation, like Karen. My choices were narrowed down by the fact that I like a long rotation, but quite varied withing the rotation - so 4 weeks doing the same 4 workouts is OK, but about my limit. Curious as to how you all decided on which Badass rotation to do. Roz - has doing KISS altered your choice of the next?
Locking out on a deadlift? I'm not sure what that indicates - if I'm struggling, it's with getting the darned thing off the floor! Upper body strength is not great for me - I wear lifting straps for deadlifts, but still feel it in my forearms etc. And, yes, if something is too heavy, I'll just drop it - the stone floor of my workout room is about 400 years old, so if it's survived this long, it can cope with a crazy middle-aged woman doing weird thing to lumps of iron!
Karen - any words of advice as I go into the Double Wave Progression? I think the first week will be all about finding out where my current limits are. For example, I've on ever done press-ups for reps. I don't know which variation will be right for just 5 reps. But I'll be wanting to use my new suspension system! Hope the cold clears up soon.
Lizzie - I'll just be doing Nia (4x per week at first) and then doing HiiT 2x per week. I'll also do half an hour or so yoga daily, and of course I'll be walking my pups! That'll do me! You sound like you do plenty....and you claim to be intermediate, but I reckon you're just modest
Chasing the iron dragon....yes. Quite addictive, eh? My name is Justine, and I like picking up things that are difficult to pick up....
I actually chose KISS in part because it's only 8 weeks, and I wanted to get my feet wet with something shorter. I really enjoyed KISS and am doing the heavy singles program in part because it's different from KISS (just for variety) and I can play with going very heavy and also have some higher rep sets in there.
I always return to metabolic workouts, even though I know I probably ought to branch out more often into different territory. I admit it, I have been über-skeptical of the short-workout movement taking off as of late. Well, it's been taking off for a couple of years minimum, but I'm probably way late to the game, so it's new to me! I must have some sort of 1980's aerobics class mental block (along with a lifetime of obesity behind me) pushing my brain to fight against accepting short workouts as equal or superior, no matter how intense they are. And I know they are intense, at least in Nia Shanks' case. It is so ingrained in my brain, "Work out for an hour (or close to it), sweat your tail off, or don't even bother." The thought of doing 1-5 reps or 6 exercises or so for a few sets only? What?! I just do not feel like I'll ever keep my weight down if I did that. I'll think, "Yeah, I'm sure that it works for the already trim who just want to stay nice and firm and fit plus gain some muscle, but for a big chick like me? Yeah, right!" I know pretty much anyone would gain muscle on it, but the fat-burning part...can anyone address that for me? I adore the variety of cross-training with tons of different exercises. I also actually enjoy finishing a workout knowing that I completely gave all of myself to it, and am utterly spent. Not every workout can or should be that way, but many of them have to be for me or I'm not all that pleased with my efforts. Maybe that's out-of-balance? I don't know. Does Nia's program leave you feeling like, "Wow, that's the utter limit of my ability today!"? Again, I could be completely wacky, but I so love reaching the point of being drenched in sweat after a workout and having put in significant time to the challenge. Sorry if this is going way beyond the scope of questions I ought to ask here, but I am truly interested in any answers.
