Pros ~ poll: who lifts like Cathe?

[kathryn]

>Kathryn,
>
> Pls. explain your position when sitting with your back
>against the ball. Are you sitting on the floor with your legs
>outstretched? I too have trouble with overhead presses due to
>some arthritis in my neck.
>
>Thanks
>
>Mar
>
>"Normal" is merely a setting on a dryer.


Mar, I position the ball in front of an immovable object (my sofa, which is up against the wall), and sit in front of it, with legs bent and feet flat on floor(otherwise there is not enough stability and you could strain your back). As you push up for the o.h. press, you can push into the ball for stability. For safety, before you sit down, place the weights on the floor near the ball so that they will be at your side when you sit, and you can grab them without reaching and straining, and get them into position by doing an curl and press

Another way of doing o.h. presses that puts less strain on the spine and neck is to do alternating presses.

 

[Mar]

Thanks Kathryn,

I will give that technique a try!

Mar

"Normal" is merely a setting on a dryer.;-)

 

[fab40]

I am not even close to lifting like Cathe, but of course, I am not even trying. I keep in mind that this is her living and she has devoted a lot of time to it. I, on the otherhand, with my meager 8lb and 10lb weights, have really toned and sculpted my muscles over the years and I guess that works for me. I know I have a long way to go, but I really don't have the desire to curl 20lb dumbells. Now a tough cardio workout...bring it on!!!

 

[JAFitMama]

I match or exceed Cathe's weights.

Sometimes I find bicep work hard on endurance workouts but I still match her. On S&H I exceed her barbell bicep weight by 5-10 pounds.

One exception is shoulder - overhead presses- I have to lower my weight.

Abs- pikes on SB I match her pike for pike.:7

 

[jillybean]

I tend to go a bit slower than Cathe, which allows me to go a bit heavier. I find, however, that I typically don't go much heavier than her for endurance based workouts, such as Power Hour. For S&H or PS, I do go heavier.

 

[Mckmain]

My lower body is strongest and I lift the same or usually higher there. The upper body is mostly the same except for biceps! I am working on that though......Carole

 

[kimmie2191]

I can lift just as heavy when doing legs and back but have to go slightly lighter with the rest of the workouts. I still can only do the "basic v-pikes" and have to stop earlier than Cathe. BUT I am working on it.

Kim

 

[nancy324]

I'm like Kristi, usually about one level behind Cathe, although it varies. It seems to depend more on the exercise than the muscle group. For example, I can usually match Cathe on squats, but use very little weight for lunges, and I still reach muscle failure on lunges before the set is over.

Also, I'm usually about one level below Cathe for most tricep exercises, except for french presses, where I am MUCH weaker. Yet it's the same muscle group. It's all rather curious, but I don't pay too much attention. As long as I am reaching muscle failure by the end of the set I know I'm at the right weight for me. We're all built differently.

And don't forget that for exercises that involve lifting your own body weight, such as leg presses, push-ups and lunges Cathe has a lot less body weight to lift than many of us!

 

[WD]

I lift heavier than Cathe on most exercises. Legs I usually go quite a bit heavier if it is slower. Otherwise it is usually around 10 lbs heavier on endurance work.
Diane Sue

 

[briee]

I too am anxious to try Cathe's workouts after doing the P90X. I can usually match her weights except for her endurance leg routines - these are REALLY hard for me for some reason and I just can't keep up with her weight. BUT I go much heavier for slow and heavy lifting. I'm just not an endurance person.

What Ajock failed to tell you is that she does her dips with her feet on a 6 (or 8?) inch step WITH A BARBELL on her lap.....try a few of those - MAJOR MAJOR difference. I believe her bicep vein takes over when her muscles are fried }( }( }( .

Briee

 

[Aquajock]

Briee - I forgot about that one. Yes, elevating and elongating the legs for triceps dips makes a huge difference, as does having a barbell (by now 32.5 lbs) across hips. Also makes a big difference to do the dips off a chair rather than the bench, because you can dip down lower.

Actually it's the sphincter muscle that takes over when the triceps fry - thankfully DH is usually in another area of the house when that happens.

A-Jock
Openly Bicepsual

 

[Annabelle2]

I lift what she lifts and heavier on some things. My challenge area is biceps and it depends on the workout the high rep workouts I have a bit of difficulty matching the weight on biceps but I am working on it.

 

[skatie0569]

For those of you that can lift as heavy or heavier than Cathe on your workouts , do you have good results?
Is everyone happy with the results you have.. are you looking more "cathe Like" ?
Kelly

 

[Annabelle2]

I have had excellent results - my DH says I look like her but NOT. My upper body is clean and cut but not too much, unpumped it looks very toned.

My lower body is another story, my calves look great as do my legs up to about mid thigh. From mid thigh to just below the waist is my problem area, I am experimenting with different things to tighten this up to my liking and slim my upper thighs. I have recently lowered the weight I work my lower body with and do more reps and have started running. I had a bit of a problem with overtraining after implementing the running so I had to slow down for a couple of weeks. We will see how it goes. Some people have excellent results going really heavy on the leg work, it varies with each person I guess. If you are wanting to up your weights and are curious about the results I will tell you what was suggested to me: Experiment, take your measurements and do a 4 to 6 week heavy rotation and measure again, record your results. Then do a 4 to 6 week high rep low weight rotation and take your measurements - see what direction your body is taking, learn how it responds to different kinds of workouts and plan from there. Whatever you do you need to change your routine up every 4 to 6 weeks. Also, keep in mind that what works for your upper body may not work for your lower body. Hope I haven't rambled too much!

 

[dsmiller]

Match or exceed--mostly exceed depending on how I'm feeling.

 

[candi]

Lifting what Cathe is working for me, but the improvements did not occur overnight...it was over the course of several months.

Edited to say you need to be sure your eating enought protein also. When I started adding more protein is when I really started noticing a difference.