((((((((((No Sweets week of Jan 20))))))))))

fit_fairy

fit_fairy

Cathlete
Well, Jan is almost over!! I am always glad when Jan is over :D I was very crampy this late yesterday and this morning. Stayed on the couch till after 3 and finally felt like working out. I did legs. It was supposed to be heavy legs but it was semi-heavy because DH is having back trouble and my squat rack isn't here yet. But had a decent w/o. I've had a few small treats this weekend.

Rose, I hope you are hanging in there girl!
Affirm, I hope you are not sick.

Are you all off tomorrow? I have to work :( Oh well, can't get all the holidays off LOL!!

[font color= purple size=+3]Catherine[/font]

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I am feeling back to normal now. I am glad it was a long weekend so I could just rest and not worry about anything else.

This morning I did 45 minutes on the treadmill. I rarely walk on my treadmill, so I must say that I have been enjoying the change for my cardio.

Fitfairy, I hope those cramps are better now. At least you were able to get in your leg workout.
 
Hey ladies. I go back to work tomorrow. Yesterday I did a short (and old) Firm tape with ultra light weights and no tall step exercises and I did a very light cardio on Saturday. Today I've been doing some cleaning and right now my back feels somewhat tight. I wanted to exercise (and it was on schedule), but I better skip it and do something tomorrow (probably another Firm tape). With ttom, cravings and all these days without exercising I've gained about 2-3 pounds, but I'm not going to get obsessed with that. I'll take it one day at a time (and besides I always gain water weight on ttom:p ). Too bad you had to work Catherine, I hope it was a slow Monday for you. I'm also glad you're feeling better Affirm. I hope you ladies have a nice week.

Edited to add: Catherine, I just read on the STS forum that we're going to need a pull-up bar or something like that. What do you use for chin-ups and where can I find it? :p I'm going to Walmart next Sunday and hopefully they have the squat rack/bench you got because I love it and it has great reviews (I will check if they can do the ship to store if they don't have it). I won't get the slanted risers because my step is from Reebok and those risers are not compatible with my step, I can always use the new bench for that. I hope I can find it. We'll see.
 
Rose, glad you are working out again, but please be careful (I know you will be) Maybe some yoga and stretching???

I am so excited about pullups/chinups being included in STS!! Maybe you can join the chinup checkin. It's kinda died down :( But I love chinning!!!! I have a power tower made by ironman. I got it from Amazon.com for about $120. It looks something like this one:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31eNbYTcm5L._SS400_.jpg
[font color= purple size=+3]Catherine[/font]

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I am being extremely careful. More than ever. I just have to do something even if it is a powerwalk for 30 mins, otherwise I can't sleep. I suffer from chronic insomnia and exercise helps me with that. Last week was awful for me, I tossed and turned on my bed every single night and even tossing and turning hurt because of my disks. I know that I probably won't be able to do a decent Cathe cardio workout for a long time. I really miss those cardios (IMax, BM, Drill Max, etc. I miss all the high impact ones), but I just don't want to make my problem worse.

I like that tower, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet. I can't even do one unassisted pull-up/chin-up, but then again I was never able to do push-ups on my toes and now after doing Cathe for all these years I am. I know I will use the squat rack/bench and that will take a lot of space so I don't know where I would put a tower. What other options are out there that won't take that much space? I read about a door attachment, but I've never seen one nor do I know where to get one. I remember that my ex-bf had a pull-up bar in his studio and he had to drill a couple of holes in the roof to attach it (that sounds scary to me lol!) I know I'll have a couple of months to figure that out, but it kind of caught me by surprise that we'll be doing some pull-up/chin-up work too and I don't have equipment for that.
 
Rose, Beachbody has a door attachment for chinups/pullups that people seem to like real well. My tower does take up a lot of space, but I love it. You could also use the squat rack to to supine rows. Put the bar about an arms length from the floor. Lye flat on your back grab the bar and pull your self up that way. It's a good way to start at least.

[font color= purple size=+3]Catherine[/font]

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My squat rack is here, my squat rack is here!!!! Now if I can only get DH to put it together LOL!!!

I took a rest day today. We took my mom out for dinner. It is her 75th birthday. She had a half a shot of tequilla LOL!! I don't think she's ever done that before :eek: Guess she'll sleep well tonight.

Eating has been good, if you don't count the two beers I had tonight :+ I've noticed that my pants are getting tight. I'd like to think it's all the heavy lifting I've been doing. I haven't got on the scale and probably won't. Just maybe need to bump up the cardio a bit.

I hope you ladies are doing ok!!

[font color= purple size=+3]Catherine[/font]

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YEAH@@ to the squat rack. Those 2 beers don't even count. You were celebrating....not just drinking to be drinking...

Rose, I am glad you are being careful in selecting your workouts.

This morning was IMAX 2 through interval 7.

Eating has been pretty good.
 
Woo freaking hoo Catherine! I'm so happy for you! I'm going to Walmart on Sunday to see if they have it. My mom is turning 70 on Feb 1. I doubt she'll drink tequila though. I can drink it for her lol! Haven't done that in a loooong time ha ha. Affirm I miss my Imaxes soooo much. I won't even entertain the idea of even doing the step only portions for now, but I'm glad you did it. IMax 2 is so much fun.

Yesterday I did a Firm tape and today I'm not sure if I'll exercise or not. My back is still hurting a bit, but I'm taking it slow. We worked half a day today because they had to do some repairs in the afternoon and since I have my afternoon off I decided to go and get a second opinion from a new doctor. He said that I shouldn't consider surgery unless I'm not able to walk (i.e. if the pain is so bad that I can't even stand up to go to the bathroom). My pain has been pretty bad lately but I've managed to at least do that and after my 7 day rest last week my back feels better (not at all like before but better than the day I went to the hospital). He also thought that I had pretty strong ab muscles ("you kinda have a six pack in there" he said. I honestly see half a pack, but who knows), but in contrast he sees my back muscles very weak. I haven't done decent core work since last year. I was doing some traditional crunches a couple of days a week, but I haven't done any planks, supermans, and all those exercises that strengthen my lower back muscles since last year. He suggested I got one of those back stretchers and use it daily for a couple of weeks to see if it helped me. I called a couple of stores and the cheapest one was $80, it had to be ordered from a catalog which meant more $$$ with S&H, and they told me I needed space for it so I decided to try one from QVC which seems pretty popular. It's around $30 and it's very compact. I'm ordering it right now. I hope it works because if it doesn't it's going back asap. I need to see other doctors and get more opinions before I decide if I will get surgery or not. He also said that some people think that surgery is a quick fix and it's not (he has patients that have had multiple back surgeries and they're still in pain which is scary to even think about).

About the pull-ups, I will ask a couple of questions in the STS forums because this is very new to me. I know that with push-ups we can modify until we can do them on our toes but what about pull-ups? Also in the past when Cathe introduces new exercises that need equipment she usually let us know what we can buy (and gives us specific suggestions regarding brands and companies we can trust). I'm pretty confused about the pull-ups, but I certainly want to do at least one before this year is over. Again, we'll see. :) Have fun ladies!
 
Rose, have you gone through physical therapy?? I can not remember. ^5 on your six pack!!

As far as chinups go there are lots of ways to modify. Doing negatives, using a chair, using bands. They are challenging, but man oh man when you do one for the first time it feels awesome!! I am sure Cathe will show modifications.

Affirm, I am so impressed that you can do IMAX2 that early in the morning. Do you workout on an empty stomach?

I did 4ds legs premix today for the first time. Can you believe that's the first time I've done the legs??? I also did chinups in between leg sets. I did a total of 35. Sets are still smaller :( but my total numbers are up. At this point I think it's mental. Still eating good!!

Have a good night!!



[font color= purple size=+3]Catherine[/font]

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Rose, I am so glad you got a second opinion. I wanted to say that the other day, but i didn't want to stick my nose where it didn't belong:)

Fitfairy, yes...I workout on an empty stomach. I usually drink a little water before I start though. I have always done there and it doesn't bother me at all. A matter of fact, I usually don't eat breakfast for another 1 1/2 hour after my workout has ended.

A co-worker had some baked oatmeal cookies today......you know that is my weakness, so I won't even bother to tell you that I ate 3...YIKES----did I tell you she made them with applesauce, so that cut down on the fat right????
 
Hey ladies. Happy Friday! It's a rest day for me woo hoo. Yesterday I did another firm tape. Wow those are really helping me burn some fat without hurting my joints, but I surely miss Cathe. Tomorrow I'm going to start a two week rotation alternating firm (circuit training) tapes with low impact Cathe cardio. After that hopefully I can start with a PS rotation for a month and then a GS rotation to get ready for STS. I need to get some low impact cardio DVDs though. I have to be careful with my cardios. By the way, SNM posted a response about pull-ups and they mentioned that Cathe is going to come out with a "Fitness by Cathe" line and she'll have equipment for pull-ups and that they will be showing modifications as well. I'm so happy about that!

I hope you ladies have a great weekend.
 
Today was a rest day for me too Rose. I am glad you are enjoying FIRM. They truly have some good workouts that are less impact than the Cathe. I believe you can still get a good workout. Glad to know things are working out with your alternative plan.
 
Things are good so far Affirm. I'm still waiting for the back stretcher I ordered. My Firms are really old. I have pretty much all of the Firm tapes from the early 90s when the Benson sisters were still doing tapes together (from the original Volumes up to the Crosstrainers and a couple of tapes that came after that), but when the company changed the workouts got easier and lighter (and with a lot of gizmos like the transfirmer) and I stopped buying their stuff. I also found Cathe in the late 90s and never looked back. I'm glad I kept the Firm tapes though. I really like Susan Harris and Tracie Long and I've seen some of their newer workouts on collagevideo.com but I don't own any of them.

For some reason I'm picturing Catherine and hubby trying to put the squat rack together. lol! I can't go to Walmart this weekend. I'll wait a couple of weeks to check it out.
 
The old FIRMS are good. I have most of the old tapes. I don't think I have anything after Super Cardio and Super Scult and the Combo video (I can't remember the name) that is a premix of various weight workouts)that they stopped making and people loved so much. I love Tracie Long. Over the years, I still ocassionally will do the Tough Tapes, Cross Trainers....don't forget that dreaded Volume 1 with Susan Harris.
 
Hello ladies!! Rose glad to see that you are still able to workout!! Did you check out the pullup site I posted above? Affirm, is your son completely over his pneumonia?

DH put together the squat rack yesterday. It is bigger than I thought with the bench in there. And my 6 foot barbell doesn't fit with the weights on x( So I am off to Dick's Sporting Goods today to look for a 7 foot standard barbell. I didn't workout yesterday because I was waiting on the bench to do upper body and after all of that I was frustrated and just didn't do anything. That was 3 days off this week x(

I will hopefully get back on schedule today.

I hope you ladies have a good weekend.

[font color= purple size=+3]Catherine[/font]

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