November Pregnancy/TTC Check-in

Hi Lisa,
Happy Official 2nd Trimester Celebration! Yay!
When is your due date?

Great job on LIS Lower Body Tri-Sets! I'm in awe of your pregnancy workout abilities.
I bet I'll try this one in the coming week or two as I move onto LIS. Just hoping Cathe shows a little more mercy than STS Meso 2 Legs....

Yup, today was GS Back/Shoulders/Bis, so I'm now saying bye-bye (and tri-tri) to all the GS workout for a while. Three more days of this rotation, but I have a little more room for flexibility and creativity (if that word makes sense in this context) over the next 3 days. I really enjoyed the bicep work today. Felt good and I felt strong!
I hope to get out for a brisk stroller walk later today. I'm trying to get outside while the weather still permits, although this is more for sanity than fitness...

So great that your husband will always have your daughter's birthday off. It's so good to celebrate together -- kid birthdays are the best!

TGIF!
Roz
 
Roz,

Due date is May 12. Seems like forever! I hope I'll be able to continue to workout as I desire until then, but we shall see!

Today was PUB. I've done this workout for 4 weeks in a row, just because I wanted to, but after today the DVD is going to go on the shelf for awhile. I had a great workout and enjoyed it but am ready to move along, just as you are ready to move along from GS. You really are ending this rotation strong--upping your squat weights and killing it on the biceps today. Yay! Looking forward to hear how you round out this week of workouts.

LIS Lower Body trisets is way way way gentler than Meso 2. It's shorter, there seems to be more rest time between exercises, and there are no gliding disc moves (those kill me). Just beware that the music is, quite frankly, awful. Cathe's personality is great, the moves are great, but this workout and LIS Upper Body trisets have the worst music of any of Cathe's workouts IMO.

Hope you get your outdoor walk. We got a big old snow dump this morning so no outside time for us today!

Lisa
 
Hi Lisa,
Nice job on PUB! You're one strong mama! :)
I hope you're able to continue workout out as you wish, too. Were you able to continue lifting through your last pregnancy (of course making adjustments as you went along, etc.)?

So on your recommendation, I did Lower Body Blast this morning (with leg conditioning drills) -- loved it! Loved the pacing, and loved that the cardio blasts were only occasional to keep the heart rate up. Glad I didn't let my fem-machismo take over and load up the barbell too heavy... I was thinking during the wide-stance deadlifts 'oh this is too light', then Cathe steps forward and kills us with static lunges w/ low ends, pulses, etc. As usual, Cathe had the last laugh.
I know I said this about the LBB conditioning drills, but I think both the floorwork and the barre bonus from LBB would be great later-pregnancy options. You can get in your kegels during these exercises, too! like those firewalker butterflies.

I think I should take a solid 2-day rest before embarking on my 2 weeks of LIS, so I may do an upper body weight workout tomorrow then Sunday and Monday off instead of cardio tomorrow and total body Sunday. Today was a good cardio workout in addition to toasting up my lower body. We shall see! I'm lousy at taking days off.

Just realized I said TGIF yesterday (Thursday). Mommy brain!
Happy weekend!
Roz
 
Roz,

Yes, mommy brain is real. I figured you meant TGI Thursday. :) Have you guys gotten snow? It has been falling almost non-stop for 36 hours here. I am not a fan. My DH even took the day off today because driving was just too dangerous.

Today was cardio for me, the elliptical again. It was a good workout but I'm starting to feel something coming on so I am going to take Sat and Sun as rest days. Guess we're both going to have to force ourselves to get 2 rest days! :)

So glad to hear you liked LBB. I know Cathe really fools you into thinking she's going easy on you, but I've done it so many times that I keep reminding myself "remember those static lunges at the end are coming to kill you!" And then that floor work is just the icing on the cake, and you can keep reminding me as many times as you want about workouts you think I'd like during pregnancy. Like I said earlier, mommy brain is a real disease!

My last pregnancy I was able to do weight workouts until the bitter end. Had to add extra pauses here and there, go lighter, and definitely stuck to total body endurance workouts. Lots of Jari Love, Cathe's Supersets, Push Pull, High Reps, those kinds of things. LIC was another favorite towards the end. I'm just going to keep moving my body as long as I can, even if that means walks for cardio. Just have to make sure I balance it out by eating enough, which in and of itself might force me to slow down since the nausea is still in full effect! What was your workout experience during your pregnancy? You've described it somewhat, but did you keep going until the end?

If you feel tempted to cheat on your 2 rest days, remember that I'm right there with you! Hope you have a wonderful weekend with your sweet little family!

Lisa
 
Hi Lisa,
We have had a little snow but no real accumulation. Sorry you're getting dumped on! Hope at least your daughter gets to do some snow angels...
I hope you're not getting sick! Ugh. Good call to take a couple days off.

In terms of my pregnancy exercise: First trimester I was pretty constantly nauseous and didn't feel like working out much. I did walk some and did a little weight work, I think. Second and third tris I had some pregnancy-specific DVDs and did some walking. Probably more than many do, but not what I'd consider a lot. But I was coming in having seriously cut back on exercise (to get my body fat up), so hopefully, now that my body fat is a bit higher, I can workout in my second pregnancy more like you are in yours now! I know I'd feel a lot better physically and emotionally.

Today I finally tried Pyramid Upper Body -- loved it! I can also see why it's a great pregnancy workout, as much of the intensity comes from piling on training volume and not from crazy heavy weight. My biceps and front delts are wasted! I totally cracked up when the 'get me out of this video game' music came on 2/3 of the way through biceps. So appropriate.
I also did the first half (about 20 mins) of Step Express w/ Blasts (Live class).

Which brings me to a thought I had (and sorry, I know I'm being an awful enabler here). I take back what I said about the Live workouts during pregnancy before. I haven't tried the majority of them, but the ones I have tend to be simpler choreography (makes sense, as the Live participants can't preview anything), and from what I see on the Cathe Live list, the weight/resistance ones tend to be high reps (probably due to complications with rep max weight selection and too much equipment needed for major hypertrophy/strength stuff) with many of them being total body.
Feel free to kick me here, but if you're looking to add more pregnancy-friendly workouts to what you've got, it might be worth trying it out for one month ($10) and seeing if those workouts are good for you in pregnancy. I actually think I'd use a lot of these during pregnancy. You can make them as intense as you want, but she's not in Killer Cathe mode for all of them.
Sorry -- I know I'm being bad! ;)

I may actually do a freestyle LIS/Live rotation until RWH comes out. Just what I feel like trying that day. But it would end up being more high reps and metabolic stuff with some straight cardio in there, too. Then I'll bust out my weight bench for RWH ;)

Hope you're already feeling better, staying warm, and enjoying the weekend and your 2-day rest! I'll try to stick to my resolve to rest for 2 days. Hopefully if it's warm enough I can bundle up DD and get outside for a brisk walk on at least one of those days.
See you Tuesday,
Roz
 
Happy Saturday, Roz!

Interesting to read about your workout experience during your first pregnancy. Everything changes so much during pregnancy it is so hard to hold yourself to any strict plan. At least that's what I have found, since that only leads to disappointment. You never know when a pregnancy is one that needs bed rest at some point, and yet other pregnancies are picture perfect. I must admit I do kinda want to punch people in the face when they tell me they never got nauseous and loved every moment of being pregnant! (I'm kidding, of course! It's actually jealousy...) For me, pregnancy is more like an alien invader has taken over my body. Of course I love my baby but I enjoy them much more when they are OUTSIDE. :)

Thank you for sharing your opinions on Cathe Live. DH really really wants to get it for me for Christmas. Perfect gift idea for him--a guaranteed winner because we are a Cathlete household and no thinking involved. ;) Never ever feel bad for enabling me. I do enjoy splurging on fitness related things. I'm not a big clothes or purse hog, for me it's exercise videos and yummy food. So enable away! I'll let you know what I decide about Cathe Live. I saw the clip for Thursday's workout and thought that it would be perfect for my workouts these days. I do have one question, though: does Cathe announce what weight she is using during Cathe Live? The reason I ask is because I've done her workouts so much that I can gauge what weight I need based on what weight she is using.

It is fun to hear about you exploring all the Cathe goodies. Yeah, those PUB biceps are KILLER. What is the "get me out of this video game" song? Are you talking about the Rocky theme song Eye of the Tiger? I really like it when "you're as cold as ice" comes on during the biceps portion because that's how I feel about Cathe during that part...that she's being so mean! ha! Did you like the core work in PUB? Seems like the ball work would be right up your alley.

Feeling somewhat better today but I have a feeling I might need to be patient and wait this icky sickness out. Thanks for asking! Hope you have a great weekend! Talk on Monday.

Lisa
 
Sorry to bust in on your thread, ladies. I had my last baby thirty years ago, but I still remember that nausea. Aarrgghh! Take care Lisa, hope you feel better.
 
desertambrosia said:
Sorry to bust in on your thread, ladies. I had my last baby thirty years ago, but I still remember that nausea. Aarrgghh! Take care Lisa, hope you feel better.
Click to expand...

Karen, you bust in any time you want! I'll take encouragement, wisdom, "this too shall pass," and so on from an expert momma like you anytime!!! And yeah, I figure that my nausea is guaranteed to be gone by May (the month I'm due). Ha!

Lisa
 
Roz,

Okay, fess up. Are you sticking to your two rest days? I'm feeling better today, but honestly I'm thinking I need to take an active recovery week next week. It's been forever--like since the last time I did STS in summer 2013?--since I took an active recovery week. I'm thinking yoga, maybe indoor swimming, or stretching, or...nothing. Plus it will be good to coincide with Thanksgiving since that is such a busy time. I know some people really need that exercise around the food holidays, but I am thankfully to a point in my life where I can savor what I like and let the rest go. And, quite frankly, not sure if it will be much more than a piece of dark meat turkey and dressing for me this year. We'll see what baby lets my stomach tolerate. :) What are your Thanksgiving plans? We're staying home and celebrating with other family members that live in the area. Don't want to go anywhere too far since DD's bday is 2 days after Thanksgiving.

Today = STS Meso 1, disc 12 legs + the Extended Stretch. Had a great workout, although I totally laughed in Cathe's face (in a loving way, of course) when she said "Today we're going to increase our weights to 70% of our 1 rep max!" Ummmm, not me. I was still pretty happy with what I was able to do, though. Interestingly enough deadlifts are the things that are starting to bother me the most, and my stomach is not even that big yet! I think I'm just already starting to feel the shift in weight distribution and it pulls more on my back than I am used to during a deadlift.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Lisa
 
Hi Lisa,

Yes, I did take my rest days (yesterday did include a very long walk)! Though admittedly I was helped in my resolve by my achy back. I think I tweaked it carrying DD in a strange way for too long on Saturday. But I’d been feeling my low back for a couple days before. Leg day-back day-leg day-total upper day in a row really got my low back talking, and not necessarily kind words. If I were to restructure a similar rotation to that GS rotation, I’d do 1. UB split including back 2. Legs 3. UB split not including back 4. Legs – not sandwich back in between two legs days.

I am feeling better today, but I wanted to stay with some moderate, upright cardio just to ease myself back into exercise. I recently did LIC, so I tried the Cathe Live All Step (from the 2014 Road Trip). It was just what the doctor ordered. Plus, another pregnancy winner. Not too long, not too intense, not a ton of impact (and you can easily modify where there’s impact), no complicated choreography, not much turning – but fun!
Then I wanted a little more movement, so did a portion of Turbo Barre: the warm-up, the sort of light conditioning stuff at the beginning, the abs, then the stretch. My first time w/ Turbo Barre. Not something I’d normally reach for, but for today’s purposes, perfect. My back feels better already.

And speaking of backs… it doesn’t surprise me that deadlifts are the first thing to bug you. Even though you’re not big in the belly yet, your center of gravity is already shifting. That’ll put more strain on your back. Then you’ve got the hormone relaxin circulating, so your ligaments are looser, which I imagine would increase that uncomfortable ‘pulling’ feeling.
How did you modify? Just a shallower movement?
And just, wow, hats off to you for doing Meso 1 legs still – you are a rockstar! I’m so impressed.

Good on your for taking (or at least thinking about taking) an active recovery week next week. If it feels right, go for it! I imagine I’ll also go a bit lighter next week (we also have family in from out of town and living nearby, so will be celebrating with them). Though it’s possible (OK, entirely likely) that the holiday and all the gatherings will stress me out, and I’ll need to decompress with some workout therapy ;) Like you, I don’t worry about the ‘toll’ of holidays on weight or feel like I need to compensate with exercise. A big meal with yummy dessert here and there doesn’t really seem to affect me. And honestly, I often find that when I go on vacation for a week and don’t exercise much and eat a ton, I come back and get on the scale and I’ve lost a pound or two. Go figure.

OK, off I go to face the day. Felt good to be back working out today, but glad I took it easy. I’ll wait and see where I’m at physically tomorrow. I think I’ll just take my workouts day by day for now, unfettered and unoppressed by any pre-set rotation ;) I do think I’ll focus on LIS and Live, though.
Have a good one!
Will you be having Thanksgiving dinner at your house? Do you like cooking or do you prefer to delegate? I do love cooking, but will also enlist the help of eager relatives this year. It’s a lot to do with a baby! Er, toddler!
And yes, Karen, glad you 'busted in' :)
Roz
 
Roz,

So sorry to hear about your back. I'm glad your at least able to be somewhat functional with it and find workouts that still feel good for you. I hope this is just a freak incident and you feel 100% soon. And high fives to you for following through with those rest days! ;)

Besides the tweaks you would make to the structure of your GS rotation, how do you feel about the rotation as a whole? Did you get the results you were looking for? Your unfettered and unoppressed rotation (great title!) sounds just like my approach to exercise lately. It really is quite fun and you obviously are an educated exerciser so I think you'll just intuitively create a balanced program for yourself.

OK, you have totally sold me on Cathe Live. I think I'm going to give my DH the green light on that for Christmas. One question: with the weight workouts, does Cathe announce what weight she is using? That always helps me gauge. I hate just guessing.

Today was PUB. I know, I know! I said I was done with this one for a while! But, since I am now committed to an active recovery week next week, I decided to do it one more time. Glad I did. I'm thinking I'll do cardio Wed and Fri, and circuits on Thurs and maybe Sat if I feel like it.
Oh, and in terms of deadlifts, I modified yesterday by just going way lighter, but I think I'm done with deadlifts. When it is for the legs, I will likely substitute hamstring roll-ins on the ball or maybe bridges on the floor. When it is for the back, I will likely just do band pulls or something similar. I totally agree that relaxin is in full effect in my body so I need to be mindful of that.

I admit I am a control freak in the kitchen. I do indeed love to cook but I also love order, cleanliness, and knowing where everything is. (OCD, anyone? Ha!) So I usually delegate toddler duty to other family members while I cook. This year we are cooking our turkey in our NuWave oven which will make it super easy and leave my regular double ovens for all of the sides. Do you have a special signature Thanksgiving dish? Mine is a sausage cornbread dressing.

I know what you mean about going on vacation and coming back a couple pounds lighter. Happens to me, too. I think working out just drives up my appetite so when I'm taking time off I'm just not as hungry. That's my nonscientific theory!

Have a great day. Take care of that back.

Lisa
 
Good morning Lisa,

I am feeling better today – thank you! A couple days of rest and a couple moderately gentle days and some body-mindfulness seem like they will be enough to get me back to 100% shortly.

With respect to the GS-heavy rotation, I really did enjoy it, but by the end I really felt done. I wanted to follow through, but I think three weeks would have sufficed.
Results-wise, I find the feeling of getting stronger to be so gratifying. I really developed a love for barbell squats (do I sound like the kid in class who’s asking the teacher for more homework here?). They give me that I-am-woman-hear-me-roar feeling. Do you use a squat rack at home (or at the gym)? I never have but think I’d love it.
(Let me preface the following by clarifying that I didn’t hear you as asking specifically about physical results/changes/etc. It’s just something I’ve thought about myself.) I try not to get too obsessed with the minutiae of my body. I’m happy with it, I feel fit and strong inside and outside, and I really don’t need to lose weight (nor should I, given the real ‘result’ I wish for in the coming year or two!). That said, I have noticed more ‘cut’ in my obliques, a little more definition in my quads, and more definition in my biceps. The first two I have mixed feelings about, as they could indicate a loss of body fat, which is not my goal. But I’ll take more defined biceps any day! ;)

I haven’t done a ton of the Live weight workouts, but from what I’ve observed, yes, she does announce her weights. (Though you may find that you need a slightly different metric to adjust her Live weights than to adjust her DVD weights – except for rear delts, etc., I have found I almost always go heavier than Cathe in the Live workouts) Oh, she doesn’t announce her barbell load in pounds. But there was a thread about that, so you can calculate her weight:
http://cathe.com/forum/threads/plate-weights-in-cathe-live.297279/

I did the Live total body weights with stability ball this morning. I thought the ball would provide some nice back support (it did). It was a great pick for the day. Not too crazy (um, except for endless hamstring roll-ins! yowza!) but just enough. All the leg work was just body weight or ball weight. Really like this one. Another pregnancy winner (except perhaps a segment at the end with legs elevated on the ball – roll-ins and such – might need modification after a certain point in pregnancy). No deadlifts! No pikes in the core work! ;)
And the best part of Live: built-in water breaks.

Nice work on PUB – I don’t blame you for picking favorites! And I agree, that one’s a winner (though I’ve only done it once). The positioning on those chest flys (flies? flyes?) really got me.

Oh, and I totally share your kitchen OCD. Luckily, my sisters and I share our kitchen compulsions, so we can happily coexist there. When my mother enters the kitchen, though, that’s another story… she’s got a totally different, clashing kitchen style (love her though we do).
Like you, when people ask how they can help, the first thing I delegate is baby duty. Free hands can be such a novelty! ;)

Oh my, I go on…
Must run! Busy day ahead. Happy day to you.
Roz
 
Roz,

Thank you for sharing your GS results with me. I appreciate your honesty and detail, and you can always share whatever aspect you would like about your fitness journey, be it the outward or inward. No judgments here. We've never met but in my mind I picture you as being a very strong and fit person, so your description of "woman-hear-me-roar" totally fit the bill! I am questioning your sanity with loving squats, however. :p Just kidding. Truth be told, the first time I did STS, I opted to do the squat rack leg routine over Plyo Legs. I love the powerful feeling of strong legs as well. We do have Cathe's push/pull tower which can technically be used as a squat rack, or so I've heard, but I use a weighted vest at home. If our home gym were bigger we'd probably invest in a squat rack but until then the vest will have to suffice.

Great workout today! As I wait for my Cathe Live Christmas gift I look forward to reading your reviews on the various workouts. I'm glad you found something that felt good on your back and that you are on the road to recovery.

Today was Amy Bento's Kickbox Xtreme. Mostly I followed the low impact modifier (who happens to be like 8 months pregnant) because I have had terrible terrible nausea since last night. I hit 15 weeks today and my body is celebrating by getting sicker, I guess? Go figure!

Be well.

Lisa
 
Oh no, Lisa! I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve been more nauseous. It’s funny/annoying how pregnancy is glorified as this immaculate, glowing era of supreme bliss is a woman’s life – some days it’s just totally crummy! I shared your desire to punch those loved-every-second-of-pregnancy boasters in the face. Though honestly, I imagine the passing of time and the dampening effects of mommy-brain on the memory have smoothed out some of the rough patches that they actually did experience in their pregnancies. I remember, in addition to feeling lousy physically on a fairly regular basis, just melting into an oozing puddle of hormonal emotion at the slightest nudge from the outside world on plenty of occasions. I guess I felt (and was!) particularly vulnerable during that time.
So yeah – hugs to you and I hope you’re feeling better very soon!

I’ve never tried an Amy Bento workout, but I think she was one of the step instructors with intricate choreography you mentioned. I’ll have to try something from her someday. So many workouts, so little time! ;)

Today I finally got to try Athletic Training. It was great! Loved a lot of the compound moves, and loved that there was some really new (to me) material in there. I did skip the minute of reverse crunches as they felt bad on my back, and stuck with regular crunches.

I do sometimes get confused with workout sequencing when it comes to high rep/metabolic weight training. I felt up to picking up some (not heavy) weights today after yesterday’s high rep total body workout so I did. But I waffled for a bit first. It felt fine, not like I was overtraining, but I wish I knew the ‘rules’ surrounding these kinds of workouts better. Harumph.

OK, off I go to face the (very cold!) day.
Hugs and ginger ale,
Roz
 
Roz,

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm feeling somewhat better today but am still anxiously awaiting that second trimester bliss everyone talks about! And, yes, I think it is God's/Mother Nature's gift (or curse?) to women that we are able to forget or at least gloss over some of the truly awful things about pregnancy and childbirth. Otherwise, why would anybody do this more than once?! :eek: I just keep reminding myself of that sweet baby waiting for me on the other side of all of this, like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

So glad you liked AT! I, too, feel that Cathe is incredibly innovative in that workout and that she has some of the best metabolic stuff out there. I know the whole question of how to incorporate MWT into a rotation has been debated on the forums, so you might do a search for it, but if I recall correctly Cathe says to view it as cardio since MWT does not really lead to strength gains. That being said, I just have to listen to my body which usually tells me that I need at least 48 hours between a heavy weight workout and an MWT workout. It's not the upper body aspect so much as it is the legs. I really really feel it in my legs (if done too soon after a total body weight or leg workout) and so my form suffers.

Yes, Amy Bento has truly fantastic step work. I also like her KB videos because they tend to be a blend of hi/lo and KB. I guess I'm still kind of an old schooler in the sense that I do enjoy some good old fashioned hi/lo.

Do you have a spin bike? I saw that Cathe Live today was a spin class. I need to get a bike...one of the many things on my "I want" fitness wish list.

Today was KCM's 30 Mins to Fitness: Weights. This is a high reps total body workout that includes active core work as "rests" in between sets. One of my faves.

Stay warm and take care of your back! I've been drinking Sprite like it's my job (ginger ale doesn't do it for me).

Lisa
 
Roz,

Hope you're having a good day. How's your back treating you? I imagine things are getting rather busy for you with the upcoming holidays. At least that's how I feel! Time is going to just whoosh by for the remainder of 2014, no doubt.

Today I did the Low Intensity Step cardio only from 4DS + the first combo from Step Heat for almost an hour of cardio. Low Intensity Step from 4DS is definitely amongst my least favorite Cathe cardios but for some reason it spoke to me today. I used a 6 inch step for that segment and then an 8 inch step for Step Heat combo #1. I rarely use an 8 inch step but that first combo from Step Heat is pretty low impact so I went for it. Felt an increased cardio factor for sure. Then later I decided to do Stretch Max segment 1. Just because I can! ;)

Looking forward to my active recovery week. Not sure if I will do a workout tomorrow or not, but definitely not on Sunday since that's my designated rest day. I'll pop in to say hi but probably won't have much exciting news on the workout front next week.

TGIF!

Lisa
 
TGIF indeed! ;)
Yes, things really are getting crazy before the holidays. Yikes!

Nice work on your cardio day, and the stretching! I've never done any of the 4DS workouts, nor have I done Step Heat. So much to do!

Actually, yesterday (though I'd done AT in the morning), I was just so stressed that I ran downstairs and queued up Step Blast during DD's nap. It's really too cold to walk now, otherwise I would have gone outside for a walk with her later. I really needed to move! Maybe I'm crazy...

So this morning I just felt like it was time for a day off. I did start up Yoga Max because I'm supposed to be doing LIS and I'm OCD about checking things off the list (and I feel like I need to try all of LIS in these 2 weeks). I just can't dig Cathe's yoga. I end up doing my own thing at my own pace. DD woke up halfway through and I don't care to finish the DVD, OCD or no.

So I guess today was a rest day. Glad I took it when I felt it.
We'll see what moves me tomorrow.
I'm so excited that RWH will be available just as I'm finishing my 2 weeks of LIS (and Live and whatever else)!

Good for you for taking an active recovery week. Wise woman!
Hope you're nausea's at bay...
Roz
 
Hi Lisa,

Ugh, my back is still feeling a bit tender. Not too bad, but I was hoping I’d be back to almost 100% by now.

Today I did LIS UB Trisets. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I appreciate that there’s a significant cardio factor. Not sure it will be a go-to but I thought it was great. But oh man, you’re right, the music is AWFUL! I imagine them in the back room, Cathe on the synth, Brenda on slide guitar, Jai on marimba, making some muzak themselves. I know a lot of people on the forums have strong opinions about the music in all the videos – I’m not one of them. I don’t care too much. But this music crossed my personal threshold for badness and started to interfere with my enjoyment of the workout. I didn’t care much for the AT music, either. Are they just really bad sound-alikes? I don’t know enough pop tunes to make all the connections.

No, I don’t have a spin bike. I would love a bike to try the spin workouts, but I bet in the long run I wouldn’t use it much. I’d pick a squat rack over a bike any day ;)

I hope you have a great active recovery week. Sounds like a smart idea!
This week I haven’t been quite as driven to add stuff onto the main workout. I usually want to add and add until baby wakes up, but I’ve been feeling – not lazy – but just not quite up for so much. Guess I’ll just listen. Even if I didn’t do a single workout from now till the new workouts are released, that would be fine. (Like that will happen!) I just wish it were warm enough to walk outside…

Hope you’re well and enjoying the weekend with your growing family!
Roz
 
Aw, Roz. Your back = :(. I would put a crying emoji but I don't think the forums offer that. Sounds like we are both in need of some rest and downtime. I have to remind myself that I will come back feeling so much stronger.

Way to go on LIS UB trisets! It really is a great workout, especially with those push-up variations to keep the HR up. Your image of Cathe and crew creating the muzak had me laughing hysterically! I am 100% with you--usually the music is the last thing on my mind because I'm just focused on moving and keeping up with Cathe. I've never been one to complain about the music, but some of the LIS music just slaps you in the face with it's awfulness! I always tell myself I'll play my own music in the background instead, but it's hard to match the beat and in the end it's just easier to play the DVD and suffer through it!

I have a hard time with yoga. Period. I do better with quasi-yoga/stretch DVDs but I am just simply not calm enough for yoga. I think I forced myself to do Yoga Relax one time and just barely made it through. There is a premix on there that is about 20 mins and that is doable. But 50+ mins? No way! Have you ever done P90X Yoga X? 90 minutes of pure torture to me, LOL!

Today was my last workout. I decided to do a Firm DVD I found while at the library with DD. It was The Firm: Pump, Jump, and Jab. It was only 30 mins so I did it twice, and it felt a lot like a low impact MWT workout. I liked it. Don't know if my non-pregnant self would, but it was free and I enjoyed it for today.

IMO the worst thing about winter is no walks outside! I feel you on that one. Hope we both get a burst of sunshine that allows us to go outside.

I'll be back on Monday to say hi. Hope you and yours have a wonderful weekend as well.

Lisa
 
Hi Lisa,

Nice work on Pump, Jump, & Jab Extreme! It’s never occurred to me to look in the library for workouts – but that’s a great idea. I’ve started taking DD to the library more for playgroups, etc. – I think in part because we can’t get outside for walks but I need to get out of the house! ;) Although today it’s supposed to get up near 50 degrees, so fingers crossed…

I did Afterburn today. Hadn’t done this one in a while, and forgot how intense the cardio effect is! I found this to be some of the most intense cardio in any of Cathe’s workouts, including HiiT stuff – is it just me?
I actually think the low impact stuff tends to be less back-friendly. Bending replaces jumping in many places. It’s OK, I can engage my core to protect my back or modify when necessary, so I didn’t feel like my back was irritated by the workout, but I have been noting that low impact isn’t universally gentler for all bodies.
On a side note, in order to protect my back when I pick up DD, I just squat really low and keep my back vertical – I imagine I look ridiculous! ;) At least I’m not injuring myself…

I’ve never done any P90X stuff, yoga included. (I have some DVDs by male instructors, but frankly, I prefer to workout to women instructors. That said, I have little patience for the women instructors who act like they’re your BFF. I’m talking to you, Tracy.) My issue with many yoga DVDs is that I’ve done a lot of yoga in my day, and I’m fairly advanced. So just going slowly through warriors, even if they’re held for a while and are a challenge, is really boring to me. The yoga I used to practice in a studio when it was my main workout was very cardio-, strength-, and flexibility-intensive. I just miss the flexibility aspect! Not just going from point 1 to 2 to 3 to 2 to 1, but hitting every position on the spectrum in between. If that makes sense. And the balance challenge. I preordered both new Body Fit 360 DVDs (first only vol 3 but then I caved on vol 2 – the active stretching looks sooooooo good!) and I’m really looking forward to them. I hope they arrive before RWH to get me limbered up and give me a bit of a change.

Tomorrow’s my day off, then I’ll see what next week brings. Not sure I’ll fill the week with LIS – I need a break from that music! Maybe I’ll work through some of the Live stuff. I’ve been avoiding straight lower body workouts due to my back, but maybe in a couple days I’ll be ready. Maybe some cardio. Maybe a sampling of some metabolic/high rep stuff. I’ll hold off on planning and see how my body feels.

Random question: Do you use protein powder? I do sometimes, but just organic, unflavored whey protein. None of that Cadmium-Cookie Blast stuff.

Good on you for following through on your active recovery week. I hope it’s wonderful and restorative! I look forward to hearing how it goes.

Are you still snowed in? Hope not!

Happy Resting,
Roz
 
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