Please offer some adive....

goldenrun358

goldenrun358

Cathlete
First of all, thank you so much for your wonderful workouts. Before discovering your videos, I never realized that such effective, intense home-workouts existed. I love every workout that I have ever purchased. And let's just say that I preorder before I even know what the workout is going to be like! You are that good!

Because of your videos (and a lot of my sweat and sometimes curse words ;-) ) I am in the best shape of my life. I have worked out consistently since I was 15 years old (I am now 23). However, I am getting frustrated because although I know that I'm in great shape, I don't feel that my body is accurately reflecting how hard I'm working.

I know that genetics have a great deal to do with this, but I am optimistic that the best is still yet to come.

So, my question is, how do I get a more defined look. I try not to compare myself to others, but I want to be able to achieve MY full potential and personal best. Have you ever worked with women who had to push extra hard, were not genetically gifted in achieving a defined look, but did it anyway? What works for those who are putting their guts into workouts, but are not seeing the results? Do I need to lift even heavier? Cut calories (BMR and activities included equal about 1,900 per day)? Add more cardio, more weights?

Basically, I've heard you say how you know your body and what it needs. I can't seem to find that sweet spot...where diet, exercise, and life are balanced leaving me looking my best and feeling great.

If I never look defined, I will continue to work out with you because you are that great. I know that you have a lot of knowledge in this field...more than anyone I could possibly think of and that is why I am asking you. Any hints/pointers/tips would be greatly appreciated.

PS...sorry this is so long!

Jen
 
Not Cathe, but how are your eating habits? Do you eat small, frequent, healthy meals? Clean eating has a lot to do with definition. What types of workouts are you doing and how often? Have you switched up your routine lately? Have you increased your weights? Are you doing circuits or emphasizing your muscles separately? BTW, the upcoming workouts may be just what you are looking for to shock your body. Also, you may want to post this in the open discussion forum as you may receive some more advice from other fitness enthusists! Take care:)
 
I have recently increased the amount of weight that I lift. I am usually using the same amount of weight as Cathe or heavier depending on the exercise. I am working on increasing muscle mass and trying to work to exhaustion. I workout really consistently and mix it up a lot. I vary cardio and weights, circuits and interval style workouts. In the past two weeks, I have done the Gym Style series with the lower body day in the middle. I do a total body, muscle max style workout at the gym one day per week followed by an hour long pilates mat class. I try to do two days of cardio in addition to this. This isn't set in stone, but right now, I just want to get stronger so I'm focused more on weights. Sometimes, I do a lot more cardio. It all depends on my mood :)

I do Cathe's videos for most of my workouts. I love them all. My two favorites of the moment for cardio are KPC and DrillMax.

Eating habits are not bad. Of course they could always be better. I know that I should/could eat more clean, but as long as the calories are not out of whack, is the clean eating going to make that big of difference?

I eat a lot of whole grain/high fiber, usually shoot for low sugar, fresh fruit, low fat/sugar yogurt, only drink water/sparkling water, no red mead (personal pref), no fast food, do not like to eat out (seriously), light soymilk, lowfat cheese, prefer grilled or baked to fried anything. Overall, I try to limit or eliminate the junk.

Is it supposed to be this hard and take this much thought? Is this not enough? Is there a flaw in the equation?
 
Hi, not Cathe, But want to share a thought...

Using heavier weights adds more muscle mass. If your looking for more definition like sharpened body tone, try using lower weight with slow concentrated movement in your reps. Count 4 instead of 2, maintain a solid form, increase your reps per set. You can also try Cathe's pyramid workouts. They're intense & defined.
 
Hi Jen,
I'm only popping in here, not to answer your question, but to sympathize. I could have written your post!!!

I am always a little curious about whether or not I am just expecting too much out of myself or am I really missing some important "link" that will bring the whole thing together and give me the results I want. I am pretty darn fit for my age and stage of life but don't really feel like I look as fit as I am. Although, I'm a wee bit older than you...I'm 40 yrs. old and have 4 kids.

I have been working out for years and have always been active and athletic. I am kind of at the point where I think I would have to diet like a fitness contestant to get the look I want. Unfortunately, I can't commit myself to that kind of discipline for the rest of my life. It isn't realistic for me and I'm almost afraid to actually acheive my goal only to have to let it go because a certain amount of indulgence is more important to me than having a certain look.

However, I could do one or two things to tweak my eating. I'm just not ready to give up my chocolate cake and wine! Oh, I have a weakness for Nachos (real ones, not those stadium nachos with plastic cheese!

I have just started working on a one body part a day routine right now, I haven't tried the pyramid or the slow and heavy routines yet, but will get around to that.I'm just going to keep experimenting to see what kinds of results I get from different types of rotations.

If you DO happen to strike that balance, I would love to hear what ends up working for you!!!!

Kerry
 
Jen,
At 23, your body is ready and has the horomones to prepare you for having kids. Most women under 30 will be a little less defined and muscular because of this, which by the way, makes you look young. UNLESS you diet and work out like a fitness competitor or Olympic athlete, you're going to be a little less defined in your 20's. So relish in being fit, young, and sexy. Just keep trying to eat healthy and get enough protein. Stay away from sugar, bread, and everthing not whole grain. Gravity hasn't even looked your way yet you lucky girl!!!

(I'm in my 40's)
 
Thanks for the response ladies! It is something new for me to think that perhaps my body/hormones are doing what they are supposed to be and that I shouldn't despair that I'm missing some crucial piece to the puzzle

Did anyone else notice a trend of with age coming the ability to become more defined and muscular? I've often thought that perhaps I haven't been doing this long enough to get the results I want to see. I've only started to really lift weights in the past year or two. Most muscle pump classes at the gym are not enough, which is all the weight work I would have done prior to Cathe.

I find so many of the women who workout with Cathe and post on this forum very inspiring. They look great, are healthy and fit, and take care of their bodies! A lot of you could probably wipe the floor with me, but it gives me something to aspire to! I guess we all weren't born "advanced" exercisers and it takes time to get there! Hopefully, the best is yet to come!
 
I am 46 (still feel 23 though :)) and I definitely had a softer look in my 20s than I do now - my face was rounder and I didn't have any "cuts" anywhere. Now I have cheekbones, and I also am able to get definition in my arms, shoulders, back and legs just by being consistent with my weight workouts. I have worked out with weights (fairly heavy) since I was 18, and I remember trying to get a sculpted look in my 20s and just couldn't. I started teaching fitness classes when I was 23; some of my fellow instructors were genetically gifted hardbodies (as well as being former gymnasts and dancers, which is what most fitness instructors were in those days) and I was so frustrated that no matter how hard I worked, I didn't look like them and felt I looked unfit in comparison. The hormones thing never occurred to me, but that makes perfect sense.

By the way, my "ideal weight" now is 20 lb heavier than it was then; when I'm at my best weight I can still get into my clothes from 20 years ago quite easily. So I do think it becomes easier to put on muscle mass as you age, even with the same training frequency and amount of weight being lifted (I recently found one of my old training cards from the gym; I was doing weights 3X per week and was lifting pretty much the same amount of weight as I do now). Maybe we have more testosterone as we get older?

Sounds to me as if you are already an advanced exerciser. Enjoy being fit and strong. You will probably notice your body's appearance changing gradually over the years.
 
The best thing? Keep this up and you're going to be wicked hot in your 40's. Do you ever watch that show The Age of Love? It's winding down now but if you'd seen it before all the eliminations, all the 20-somethings were cute but the 40-somethings were all fit and AWESOME!
 
I love it!!! This is the encouragement I was needing! Seriously, this is giving me hope that the best is yet to come and that I am doing the right things. I have always believed that good things come to those who wait...maybe this is one of those things. And believe me, being "wicked hot" in my forties sounds great! Glad to here the best really is yet to come! Off to GS Chest and Tri!!! Thanks ladies!
 
Please forgive me in advance for what I'm about to tell you. I'm 46 and have no kids so I tend to get very mommy-ish with young women. I just see young ladies like you and think 'I'm going to tell them what I wish someone had told me in my 20's.' I just can't resist so here goes; two things I wish I knew at your age:

1) Don't let yourself go. Get fit and make proper diet, health and fitness a priority in your life FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. You're starting early and that's very wise because once you've let go it's very hard to get your fitness back. I was fat for 15 years so I'm playing catch-up, looking and feeling better than I ever have in my life. Still, I wasted years. Once you allow yourself to become sedentary and fat your health starts to deteriorate and you don't even realize how many of your little health crises could vanish if you just changed your evil ways. In my case, I'm amazed at how the tension headaches, back pain and skin rashes I used to get no longer occur. But I'm lucky because I turned the truck around just in the nick of time. Best not to drive down the wrong road to begin with. I know lots of women here will agree with me. And something that has nothing to do with physical fitness...

2) ...Do what you have to do (education, etc.) to get the best-paying job you can and INVEST all you can AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. At your age compound interest will make you very rich - rich enough to retire early and really live it up. So many young women blow off those early investment years because they don't understand how very much they're losing. A good book for a 23-year old woman: Jean Chatzky's MAKE MONEY NOT EXCUSES.
Though 40 isn't old any more it will be here sooner than you think and you'll want to have a plan (and a big pile of $ so you can do what you want to do). One day you're going to be so glad someone told you this. I apologize if you already know all this. So many young women don't.
 
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