Push It

[mini-natty]

Happy weekend

I'm getting antsy to start M2 . I've been watching CatheTV on YouTube regarding STS questions/form pointers, ect. For the record, she says we can do any form of cardio during active recovery, just NO weights.

Yesterday's w/o was 4DS Low Intensity Step on an 8inch. This made for a slightly higher intensity workout .
Today I felt very energetic, so I decided to go all out . Hiit Pyramid plus Intensity hi/low hiit. Yup, I was off my rocker .
Good news on the home front, DH joined the gym. I'm really happy he's getting back into it.
Heartymax
I'm sorry to hear about your rough night .
You're going on vacation soon . I'm excited for you! I like to live vicariously through people's vacations . My aunt, uncle and cousins are going on a Caribbean cruise in July for a wedding and then another cousin is going to Aruba in 2 weeks . Next year I hope to visit Cuba again. I need a vaca.......BAD!!

Have a great weekend ladies

 

[TRSTACIE]

Good afternoon everyone! I was so excited to go camping and it just simply didn't work out. I took the car into the shop because it was running poorly and the check engine light was on. It turns out it needs two sensors, a wheel bearing, and a new radiator! I only had the most critical sensor fixed because I know the labor the shop wanted was a lot. A new raditor runs $175 and a new wheel bearing $103.50 on PepBoys.com. The shop wanted over $1000 to install both (parts and labor). My brother-in-law will do it for free although I will probably give him a couple hundred. Due to this, we had to cancel the camping trip and lose out the on the reservation costs. Maybe that's a good thing since it looks like it's about to really pour right now!

I did my first run today! This morning I got up early since I couldn't sleep and the dog and I went for a jog. I tried to keep it light but it felt amazing. I have always like morning jogs -- I just have never kept with it for some reason. There is a 5k coming up at the end of July that I will probably register my son and I for. If we have to walk part of it, I want to be able to say it was because of him and not me!

Toni
Love the workout pictures! You are one lucky lady -- and the flat screen on the wall looks amazing. I always have to move the couch out into the hallway just to do the cardio workouts.

HeartyMax
I was sorry to hear about your sleepless night. I know that those can be awful. Were you able to sleep better last night?

Natty
I have no clue if P90x is as good as Cathe's stuff or not. I know some coworkers did it and loved it. My reasons are almost more scientific. STS has often been compared to P90x. I want to do it just to know which one really is best. I will say that Chalean Extreme interests me more than P90x from a workout perspective because I like the thought for shorter workout for busier times of the year. However, now that I have experienced Pure Strength the interest has greatly decreased. Pure Strength feels like short STS workouts to me.

Btw, you can have Greg as your spotter. That leaves Robert for me!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[atompki1]

Hello everybody. Yesterday was Muscle Endurance and today is a rest day. My legs totally needed the rest. Haven't decided what tomorrow will be. Some type of cardio

Stacie - That is a total bummer about the car repairs and the camping trip. We just found out we need two new tires on the van. They are $170 per tire . I totally need to buy a different type of car..LOL!!

My workout space is fairly small and there is some duct work that lowers the ceiling height to about 7 feet, so I have to do all my cardio in the living room. I also move couches around It's nice when I can do everything in that one room. No lugging stuff back and forth.

I have done P90X. I don't think it will be as good as STS. First thing is just because of the variety of exercises. P90X has ONE leg workout for the entire 12 week program. Same with the plyo and yoga workout. I got very very bored with it. And totally not enough cardio, but that is easily fixed by doing your own thing for cardio. The other thing about the program is that it isn't as 'smart' as STS. You just guess at what you should lift and how many reps you should do. You also are on your own for when and how much to increase your weight for each exercise. With STS you know exactly what to do and when. To me P90X is a beginner program. Really anyone can do it because you just lift the amount of weight that you are able to left. Plyo is hard, but you can modify it and work your way up to it. To me it just gives you the framework for what weight lifting is like and you can branch out from there. The other thing that I totally like about Cathe is her message boards. BeachBody has them, but they are sort of like a cult. The people only every talk about doing the same BeachBody routines over and over again. And you are not allowed to discuss any other type of workout. Here we have the freedom to discuss all kinds of workouts, which I really like. The people there are really nice though.

 

[fargomom]

Hey gals!

I am going to follow Susan's lead and bow out of this check-in group as well.

Hopefully I will still be able to chat a little with all of you on open discussion sometime or maybe I'll even pop back in here from time to time to see how the push-up counts are going. Each of you are so wonderful and I've thoroughly enjoyed meeting each of you in a more in-depth way through this check-in!

Stacie -- my 10k went great! My only goal was to run the whole thing and that's what I did, so yeah for that! I'd love to do another 10k sometime, albeit with a little more training. We'll see ...

Take care everyone!! -KARA-

 

[Jenniferlove]

It's nice to check back in and see what everyone's up to.

Kara and Susan - take care and I hope to run into you on the forum or at a road trip sometime

You all seem to be totally rockin' on your workouts - good deal!

I agree that at least one leg workout per week is necessary for the thighs and bum. I recently did the floor-only section of Gym Style Legs; I feel that it got me right where I need it yet it was gentle on the back.

Upper Body Pyramid was last week - loved it and got the DOMS and think it was just the right amount.

Today was a light day; 2 MMA workouts, Fusion and Boxing. The Fusion doesn't work out for me too well so during the bad-back parts I did my own thing - biceps curls, push ups, mountain climbers, etc. Afterwords I did the Boxing... that one really works the abs.

I am really looking forward to Cathe's new workouts. I haven't really checked out the video clips but plan to do so soon.

Tasha, So sorry to hear about your cousin. I hope the funeral helped give you and your family closure. I was at my uncle's funeral a few weeks ago and it turned in to a big 'ol family reunion with lots of laughing - I hope you found the same comfort
The leisure center sounds amazing!

Stacie, I also get a chuckle when people are over-bidding on an item. I guess they didn't do their research, or maybe it's all about the win
Congratulations on the jog with dog! Hey, that rhymes

Heartymax, what a scary ordeal you and your son had to endure. I'm relieved that he is doing okay now.

Toni, congrats on your squat rack! I didn't see a picture but it sounds like you have a nice flat screen, too - awesome

It might be next weekend before I get back online so have a fantastic week and enjoy your workouts!

 

[atompki1]

Very quick checkin before I head off to bed. Today was Step Blast. Guess who did all moves in every blast...yep that would be me

I went to my nieces grad party today. I had to help set up and take down tables at the hall my sister-in-law rented. I have a bad right wrist, so the easiest(and fastest) thing for me to do was to open the legs of the table and do a quick swing move to get the table up from it's side to a standing position. It was easier on my wrist but required a bit of upper body strength. As my sister-in-laws started to try to set up tables they struggled a bit. And then they just said....we'll let Toni handle this part!! I loved that!! Made all them workouts totally worth it. I love having functional strength to do day to day things

 

[mini-natty]

Good morning ladies

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend .

Yesterday's w/o was CSS but w/slight modifications. I used NO weight, some of the moves were high impact to raise my HR, and I used my arms to punch in the kickboxing moves. I was sweating buckets! Those plank exercises get me every time (even though I hate em', I still do em' ).

Today is my first day of M2!!! Let the butt kicking begin

Kara
I'm so sad to see you go . It was great getting to know you. I wish you and your family much health and happiness. Come back anytime and "visit" . Oh and way to go on the 5k run! I knew you could do it .
Stacie
I'm sorry to hear about your camping trip being cancelled. Car problems are a pain-in-the-a** . It's true what they say about Honda's and reliability though. We bought a 2000 Honda Civic brand new, 10 years, not one problem. Then we had the accident and it was a right off . I believe little old blacky would have still been kickin' today.
Congrats on the jog! All you runners out there seriously make me want to try. My fear comes from insecurity I think...and paranoia about injuries.
I wonder if Robert does house calls? .
Jennifer
I hope your recovery is going well . I see you are still able to do Cathe, which is awesome . I'm sorry to hear about your uncle too . My condolences.
Toni
It's great to have functional fitness. People see me, a 5'ft, small framed girl, and assume I'm a weakling. My dream one day would be to go to a gym and show those gals (even guys!) how it's really done .
I never knew you did P90X. Everyone has experienced a Beach Body program except for me. The only one who interests me is Shaun T. Actually, he scares me a bit .

Have a great Monday everyone (that's kind of an oxymoron, I know)

 

[heartymax]

Toni---WTG---show off that upper body strength.

Jennifer PUB can definitely give off some good DOMS.

Natty 3 weeks to my vacation.

Stacie Glad you were able to just have the basics done instead of letting them rip you off.

Saturday-----45 minutes on elliptical
Monday --M2W3 STS Legs followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical. I hope I am able to walk up the stairs tomorrow. If not, maybe I can borrow Jennifers legs and she can borrow my arms.

 

[TRSTACIE]

Good morning everyone! Yesterday we went for a walk to the library and then went swimming for a bit afterwards. I also worked on some of my 1RM test for STS round 2. I was disappointed that the workout manager does not update the number of the 1RM when you create a weight workout and then use it later. I am going to try to edit the workout and then save it to see if it picks up the values then. The highlight of the day was doing the close grip bench press. My 1RM max came out to 42.5 per dumbbell! Honestly, I think I could have done a couple more reps but the workout manager stops calculating after 20 reps.

Toni
Thanks for all the feedback about P90x. It was great to hear that! I know a lot of people have said that Cathe's leg workouts are way harder. Cathe is one tough cookie! Interesting about the forums too...cross fitters are like that too. They are extremely passionate about it! My friend absolultely loves it and won't do anything else! She does look a lot thinner. Cross fit scares me though.

I had to smile about your table comment. I had a similiar experience at the school's book fair last year. One of the ladies told me I was scary strong...at first I took that as a compliment and then I thought about it later and wasn't so sure!

That is a total bummer about your van needing such expensive tires! Have you priced them out at Sam's club or Costco? I got mine for a pretty good price last December from Sam's club. Costco sometimes has coupons for them to. Just an idea...


Kara
Fantastic job on the 10k! Way to go!!!!! I am sooo sad to see you leave. I have always enjoyed reading your posts. Hopefully you will stop by and say hi now and then.

Jennifer
It was so nice to hear from you. BTW, I meant to say this in the open discussion thread but those guys who made the comment about you in the gym were probably just jealous that you were lifting more than they could. What a bunch of jerks though!

2 MMA workouts back to back? Totally crazy....I can't believe you did that. It was nice to hear though that you are able to keep up with your exercise despite the recent injury.

I am sorry to hear about your uncle as well.

Natty
Active recovery weeks are awful aren't they? Congrats on starting M2! If you find out that Robert does do house calls please let me know because I would totally sign up for that! Chris Evans (Captain America) is my new love. We went to the drive-in on Saturday night and I forgot to run the car now and then so the battery died and I had to get a jump. I blame it on the fact that we were watching The Avengers again and how could I not be distracted with both Captain America AND Thor in the same movie?

HeartyMax
Wow! That's all I can say about your workouts. I hope the DOMS isn't too bad for you tomorrow!

See ya later everyone!

 

[TRSTACIE]

Good morning everyone! Last night was another dog jog (Jennifer came up with this -- I like it!). Tonight I will continue to work on my 1RM tests. I am getting really excited for STS. I wonder if those new 1.25lb weights will make a huge difference. One things that is for sure is that I will have to get another set of plate weights before Meso #3. My current set goes to 37.5lbs and based on the 1RM tests I did on Sunday, I will make that out by the end of Meso #2.

Have a fantastic day everyone!

 

[mini-natty]

O.M.G. I.CAN'T.WALK . My first disc of M2 was 15 (legs). I have never felt this DOMS in my quads EVER in my life .

Today's w/o will be D14 (back & bi's). Oh no, I hope I can move my arms tomorrow .

I'm waiting for the arrival of my new dumbbell plate set I got on-line for a great price. The plates can be used on my barbell and I get two additional dumbbell handles. I'm happy because they are not threaded like my other ones, they use the spin-lock clips instead. I'm all about get the best bang for my buck .

Stacie
Great job on getting those jogs in . I'm sure it must feel wonderful .
42.5 1RM for close grip bench presses??!!! That is VERY impressive, love it!
I fell in love with Chris Evans from Fantastic Four. He is a hottie most def!
Heartymax
M2 legs is no joke. I'm a weeble wobble right now .

Have a great day ladies

 

[TRSTACIE]

Good morning ladies! Last night's workout was working on my 1RMs again. I have definitely gotten a lot stronger which feels awesome! Tonight is another dog jog. I have been looking at getting the Nike + Ipod. Anyone ever tired it? It looks pretty awesome. It's a sensor that fits into your Nike shoe (on some models anyway) and then periodically a voice tells you how fast you are going and how far you are traveling. Pretty cool!

Natty
I had DOMS for what felt like three months straight while doing STS. I wasn't sure if that was normal or not until I started reading your posts about it too! Congrats on setting the new dumbbell plates! I am thinking about getting another dumbbell set from Walmart this paycheck.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[mini-natty]

Hello everyone

Yesterday's w/o was D14 (back & bi's). I really love the layout of M2. Very clean and organized. M1 is just so rushed and my room always looked like a hurricane hit it! I have some nice DOMS going, and my legs are still achy from D15. This Meso is no joke Love love STS! I'm excited to see where I'll be in M3. One thing I'm afraid of is using such high weights for chest presses and such, without a spotter. What did you guys do? What if I can lift the barbell up X amount of times, and feel like I can go one more and then get stuck? Any suggestions?

Stacie
Great job on the dog jogs! Love that name!
The Nike ipod sounds pretty cool. You should get it .
The barbell set I got comes with 4x7.5 lbs plates & 4x2.5lbs = 40lbs for $36.99. To me, that's a steal. It's probably cheaper there though, lets get serious. Canadian's get shafted when it comes to retail prices. Book are ridiculous! If you look at the CND prices vs US ones, it's crazy, for the same book! $4.99US -- $7.99CND! Might as well live in Siberia .

Good day everyone

 

[atompki1]

Hello....sorry been busy this week. I did PUB on Monday, Rhythmic Step on Tuesday, and HSC today. Thinking maybe KPC tomorrow and Drill Max on Friday. We will see.....

Natty - I see you have people fired up in the OD forum..he he!! Glad STS is going well for you

 

[atompki1]

New Hair Do

I haven't figured out how to change my Avatar yet, but I wanted to show my new hair do. It's super easy for vacation

 

[mini-natty]

Good morning ladies

No workout for me yesterday, just some walking to let out the tension from my DOMS (which is still here today ). Bella and I went to Tim Horton's and of course I got an Ice Capp w/chocolate milk. Repair my muscles with a nice dose of milk & caffeine .

I've decided for the Summer to probably cut down my cardio to 2 days/week, so I will be doing 5 days of workouts instead of 6. The rest of the time will be walking. I don't want to over-train or get injured during these last 2 Mesocycles.

Today's w/o might be steady state or just walking w/Bella again.

Toni
Love your new 'do! You look so pretty .
My intention was not to fire-up people in OD . There is far too much drama there for my liking. People not contributing to the topic at hand, and just trying to get that or factor. I mean, chill-lax . There a few I'm so glad I do not have the...ummm...pleasure of knowing in real life.


Have a rockin' day ladies

 

[heartymax]

Natty----I am glad that STS is giving you the "kick butt" that you want. It is one awesome program. I have to go back and read OD to see how you got everyone fired up.

Toni---I love your new do. It looks great. I talked to my stylist about getting something easy for vacation as well. Do you mind if I ask you about your hair---it looks great! My hair length is below the shoulder and I am thinking of getting a curly Remy hair weave similar in length for the summer so it will be super easy for vacation. Due to the cost, I will plan to keep it all summer. I have never worn one before, so I hope I like it. My cousin actually recommended it when I told her that I needed something easy to maintain for the trip. She then directed me to her facebook page to see a picture of one of her friends who had the same hairdo and I loved it.

It is 1:00AM and I am wide awake. Thursday was 8th grade promotion and my son is officially ready for high school. It is so hard to believe. My Thursday workout was M2W4 Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. I have 2 more discs to complete and I am all done with M2 which I was doing as a stand alone not doing the entire STS this time. I have 2 weeks before I leave for vacation and I think I will do some total body workouts for that time.

 

[mini-natty]

Good morning

Yesterday Bella and I had a nice 3 hour outing at the park. She made a little friend . They played in the sand and chased each other around the park. My little one is such a social butterfly. She goes right up to the kids and says "hi, my name is Izabella. Nice to meet you" . Sometimes the kids are responsive and friendly, other times they are not very accepting of strange kids just trying to be their friend (which is totally understandable. I'm like that myself ). Turns out this little girl's dad was a marathoner . I could tell right off the bat, this guy was IN SHAPE. We talked about all the active and fun things we like to do with the kids. It was a lovely day.

In the evening I did Low Impact Challenge. I love that one .

Heartymax
Speaking of hair-do's, the one I just got is very easy to maintain. I've never been the type to want to style and fuss with my hair. Just a quick brush and I'm out the door. The cut is shorter than my shoulder's, a little past my chin. If you are interested, ask your hairdresser for a razor cut bob, thinned, minimal-no layers (layers are harder to maintain).
All those milestones the kids go through are hard aren't they? I'm close with my aunt, and I remember her being up all night when the kids graduated (from both HS and College). She was a wreck when her son went backpacking in Australia for 2 months with his girlfriend. She would call me and cry and I had to be her pillar of strength and tell her it was ok, her son was a good kid and just growing up. He recently moved into a condo with his fiancee and is getting married in 1 1/2 months. Both times, the engagement and him leaving the nest, caused much anxiety for her. My point is I guess, we as parents will always worry about our children. Parenthood is a never-ending journey .


Gotta run! Have a great day everyone

 

[TRSTACIE]

Good morning everyone! Last night I feel asleep super early again which of course means I was wide awake at 2am. At 4:00am I finally just got up and at 5:00am I went for a jog. I wasn't able to go for one on Wednesday night either we had a crazy hail storm that went on for hours on and off. I did go ahead and get the Nike + Ipod. I have to say, it is really cool. It tracks my running workouts and it speaks through my Ipod at intervals to tell me how far I have gone and how much longer I have. Pretty neat!

Toni
The new hairdo looks good! Of course I thought the one on your Avatar was nice too. No fuss is a great way of thinking for vacation.

Heartymax
The kids grow up fast don't they? I can't believe my little guy is already going to be in second grade with a new teacher. On the last day of school, we all saw a video of different pictures of the kids throughout the school year and a lot of the parents (and the teacher) were crying.

Natty
Great job on keeping up with STS workouts. I love walking to the park too. We even walk to the library as well. Colorado has a ton of bike paths and trails too. This summer I would like to get on more. My sitter wants to help teacher my son how to ride his bike without training wheels which is awesome. She treats him like one of her own kids which makes me happy. I am happy I found her and that we have become friends.

See ya later everyone!

 

[atompki1]

Hello all....yesterday was KPC and today was Drill Max....sort of. Only did 1/2 hour of Drill Max. My body was tired...just an off day. Next week will be all low impact and week after that is total rest for the entire week. I can't wait. I just feel really tired.

Natty - Bella sounds just like my daughter Jasmine(9). She will walk up to anyone and make a friend. During her brothers basketball games she gets bored. She will look around the crowd for girls her age and then she will announce that she is going to go play with them. Doesn't know them from Adam, but when I look up in about five minutes they are all giggling and playing together. No idea where she gets it...I'm totally not like that. But I"m glad she is

HeartyMax - No problem asking about my hair. My own hair is short and I want to grow it out because the workouts are hard with short hair(I'm NOT good with hair so it's a lot for me). And my hair grows VERY slowly, so I wanted something to help me during the grow out process also. My hair is braided(singles or some call them micros). I'm using a Wet and Wavy hair product. It has a natural wave and when you wet it, it waves up. It's super easy. I've worn weaves before, but the braids are nice because the hair is attached with braids. So it doesn't loosen and constantly need to be tightened like a weave. Plus it's more versital to style because I don't have to worry about hiding the sew in pieces. The down side is that a weave is so much easier to have put in and taken out. The braids take about 8 hours to do and I don't even want to discuss how long it will take me to take them out...LOL!! The style will last for three months also. I will most likely wear some type of braids/weave style for the next year until my hair grows all the way out. And also because I feel much better with the long hair...it just looks so much better. Doesn't look like a mess all the time.