Push It

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday :)

Yesterday I "kitty sat" for my sister while she went to pick up her school report card. She just got a cute 11 week old tabby kitty. SO cute!

My workout was Afterburn :eek:. Just for fun, I decided to replace some of the moves with the ones I saw from Crossfire w/the blue firewalker :eek:. I did plie jacks, jumping jacks and tuck jumps. It was pretty fun actually. I reached a milestone with AB too, completing all the spider mountain climber's to tempo. I believe this has to do with my increased UB strength from STS.

Have a great day!
 
Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a good 4th of July. We were super busy all day long. We made the 9:00am parade, went to breakfast afterwards, did some quick shopping, saw a movie, and then headed down to the festivities at the park next to us.

I did make some fitness purchases yesterday: another set of 40lb plate weights and a body fat scale. I think the scale is defective though. I cannot get it to read my body fat and water weight numbers unless I put it in male mode. :( It displays Error 5 which according to the manual says it is having trouble with my water weight numbers. I read online that body fat scales use different calculations based on the male/female mode so I don't feel comfortable keeping it and just going by the male numbers. I want to start tracking my body fat and weight to see what the effects of doing STS are. There is another calculation you can do based on the body fat numbers to figure out what your ideal weight should be based on the body fat percentage you want to have. I was reading an interesting article yesterday that said that even most Americans with a healthly BMI also have high body fat numbers. To me, that sorta proves that BMI doesn't necessarily give you the total picture of someone's health.
Are Normal-Weight Americans "Over-Fat?" | College of Physicians and Surgeons

Yesterday I took a rest day -- I was beat. Tonight I will do Chest & Biceps with another dog jog. Disc #9 legs is going to move into my recovery week. I am ok with that since it will be the only one and because it is a leg workout. I didn't have much of a choice since we are leaving for cub scout camping on Sunday.

Natty
I hope to try out one of the new workouts very soon! I keep seeing them there and they are calling my name. It might a premix though but I will definitely let you know about it. Fantastic job on Afterburn! You are one tough cookie! I always tell my son since he is on the small side that big things come in small packages -- I think that definitely pertains to you too!

The kitten sound really cute! They are so much fun to play with too. Was Bella there too? I bet she loved it if she was.

Toni
Seeing that muscle build up is awesome isn't it? I find myself doing cheesy things like flexing in the mirror just to see the muscles because my arms have NEVER looked like this. Wait until you hit Meso #2....that's when I started seeing big time changes!

Have a great day everyone!
 
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Hello ladies :)

I'm in shock right now. Cathe is making a 10pk strength training DVD set :eek:. Check out the Ask Cathe forum for details. Who is pre-ordering those babies???? :eek:

Today's workout was Imax2.

I received the new workouts in the mail today, but I can't pick them up at the post office until tomorrow (Canada Post delivers a notice in my mail box because the package won't fit in box. Sucks living in apartments just for that inconvenience with mail packages). Anyhoo, I'm doing To The Max tomorrow. Already decided :D. Thoughts to follow...

Stacie
Very interesting article. I totally agree about BMI not being a good indicator of health/fitness sometimes. I read something about Tom Cruise once, and his BMI was always in the "overweight/higher range" since he is short and very muscular, so he obviously weighs more.
The body fat scale is an excellent idea. I think people sometimes focus too much on "scale weight". Damn, my weight must fluctuate by 5lbs daily depending on PMS, what I ate, water retention, if I worked out, ect.
I hope you have a great time @ cub scouts (and your son too! I love your Avatar pic of him BTW).
Great job on staying so consistence with your dog jogs. Perhaps when Bella gets older, I may take a stab at running...perhaps ;)

Have a great weekend ladies :)
 
Good morning ladies! Today we leave for cub scout camp. There is still a ton to do but somehow I will get it all done! Yesterday I did STS disc#9. In the end, I have fallen about a week behind in STS. So much for the active recovery week. I am not sweating it too much -- I know the dog jogs have been wearing me out pretty good. I am listening to my body and when it says "Rest" that's what I do! The 5k is on July 29th so it's not much longer. After that, I think I will cut the dog jogs down to only two days a week.

Natty
I am so excited that the new DVDs are in Canada! Did you get them? How are they? Thanks for the compliment on the avatar. He is a boy but he sure loves his stuffed animals...especially that one.

Have a great couple of days everyone. I won't check in again until Tuesday or Wednesday.
 
Happy Sunday everyone :)

Yesterday workout was To The Max, and today I did Crossfire :eek:. LOVE both those workouts! Cathe really outdid herself this time. Fun, no dread, I was sweating buckets and my HR was sky high. I was looking forward to this challenge, to get out of my comfort zone, and I'm SO happy Cathe delivered. I can do both with little/no modifications which I really love :D. My knee's have been feeling pretty achy these past few days, so I'm going to lay off them until later next week. To truly get the full blown Tabata intensity out of those workouts, you have to do them high impact (IMO). The low impact Tabata is still very intense though because of the plank exercises. Two thumbs up!

Tomorrow I start M3 :D. I'm looking forward to lifting again and giving the cardio a break. I can't believe in 1 month I'm done STS :(. I'm going to take a break from rotations for awhile. I need the break!!!!

Stacie
Have a safe and fun trip at Cub Scouts!

Heartymax, Jennifer & Toni
Hope you are all having lots of Summer fun :cool:
 
Has anyone seen Magic Mike?
I think it will be fun to go with some girlfriends; maybe next weekend.

We went to a Cajun festival yesterday at a winery; it was pretty fun! I don't care much for jambalaya or gumbo but I like red beans and rice... and cheese and crackers and wine :)

Since Cycle Max on Tuesday I've done GS Legs, Intensity, To the Max (wow - fabulous!), and then today was Muscle Max and the floor work only of B&G.

I will also mention that I spent 2 HOURS washing our cars Friday night. I was soaked in sweat. True, it's been in the triple digits here for a couple weeks straight now, but even so it was a lot of work!

Natty, what is a splash pad? How fun - being a new Kitty Auntie! And thank you wishing us Southerners a happy 4th:)

SO glad you've received and completed the new workouts - they are fantastic! I also was sweating buckets and sucking wind like no tomorrow! and I agree, I can't imagine that anyone wouldn't like them but I certainly wouldn't jump on someone's case if they posted negative things about it.

Congratulations on the spider man mountain climbers! What a good feeling! I honestly cannot do them on the discs; the position in my hips just feel too wrong so I do them like the way Cathe does them in Circuit Max (I believe)... lifting the leg and pulling the knee to the elbow.

How creative (and it sounds fun) to switch from the AB exercises to the new Crossfire ones.

Toni, glad you checked in :) Congrats on the tris! What a good feeling. I saw a super pumped up guy at the winery yesterday and I thought about how much work that it takes to get muscles like that. I gave him a high five:) I like my muscle definition but seriously, I would love to have more of it and be stronger... a work in progress, right?!

Stacie, By the time you read this you'll be back from camp; how did it go?
We have an InnerScan scale; I believe that it is pretty accurate.

Guess I'm going reload my iPod and get back to reading Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell.
Have a good night!
 
I saw magic mike! Wanted to see even more dancing! And wanted to seem more of alot of them lol. Im glad they finally had a movie for women! Because I get sick sick of every movie and even commercials have half naked women or at movies boobs and butt. Lol
 
Natty---flex your muscles all you want!! You deserve it. STS will do that to you. I didn't purchase the new workouts. I may put it on the wish list for my birthday in August. I am hearing very good things about it. I hesitated to preorder because I was afraid it would be one of those dreadfactor workouts like CCC that just collect dust.

Toni---I have never done the 6 month rotation but I bet your results are going to be amazing.

jennifer---can you walk???? OMG----a week of intense cardio and strength workouts that are leg killers.

Stacie---not long before the 5K. Disc 9 ;)will definitely help keep those legs in shape and ready for the 5K challenge.


The results of STS is one of the reasons I am starting to think I am addicted to the workouts. I do the 3.5 month rotation and move on to something else and then find myself just wanting to go back to at least one of the Mesos after about a month. I have been getting a lot of compliments on my arms too.

Last week I did STS total body and Muscle Max for Strenght training and Elliptical for 3 days of cardio.

Today was Upper Body Split from LIC. I have only done this workout maybe once or twice so I was totally caught off guard when Cathe started out with soilder push ups. OMG---what was she thinking to start a program with those things. It also made me realized that I have not been focusing on my push ups lately and I have lost the gains. I really need to get back to focusing on why we started this check in the beginning. How do the rest of you feel. Are you still doing your pushups? I usually do well----feel proud----then slack off----and have to start all over again. I hate myself for doing that.

I have lost the 4 pounds that I gained on vacation so Yippee!!!!
 
Heartymax
I knew you would lose the vaca lbs. You are so dedicated to making health/fitness a priority in your life. Women like you inspire me so :D.
NO DREAD WITH THE NEW WORKOUTS. NONE. It's not like CCC (trust me).
I thought initially, how the heck is Cathe going to make hiit and Tabata fun and without dread? Well, she somehow succeeded. Of course, they won't be as fun as weight training (no cardio is IMO), but they are worth getting. I had a wonderful runner's high afterwards :D.
My last disc of M2, I did the 30 push-ups off my toes. Mind you, there is a 10sec rest in between the sets of 10, but I did em'! If my DOMS is not that bad during M3, I will try to focus more on my push-up count. I've just been too darn sore with STS!! After the bazillion push-ups in M1, I liked the break in M2 :D.
Oh, and congrats on your arms! I'm sure you look smokin'! ;)

Jennifer
Nope, did not see Magic Mike. I rarely see movies anymore :eek:. I should go though, I think my aunt is dying to see a strip show :eek:.
Your Cajun Festival sounded lovely...and yummy. I love southern cuisine like Jambalaya.
Congrats on your workouts too! You're picking some pretty intense workouts there! I LOVE gym style legs!!! It's my fav :eek:.
A splash pad is kind of like a big area with huge sprinkler's and water (no pools) for the kids to run around and get wet. I should attach a pic of Bella to show you guys.
The kitty is so sweet. If I lived on a farm, I would surround myself with all types of dogs, cats, horses, whatever! I love animals :)

Have a wonderful day ladies!
 
Hello everyone!! Back from Chicago...boy I'm tired!! No workout for me. I got to bed late last night and I was not getting up early this morning!! I'll start back tomorrow with something. My workout for the week is all screwed up now though. I'm thinking of starting STS over on the 22nd. I will be out of town again this weekend and I won't be able to work out on Sunday. I really don't like working out on Saturdays, so I may just wait a week until I can get back on my regular schedule. I'll think I may just have to do DrillMax :eek: for a couple weeks. Haven't done that one yet. And it will be a good fat burner for my Chicago eating...hehe!!

My NCY trip is cancelled. Honestly, I'm relieved...LOL!! I can totally spend that money on something else and I can save the vacation days for Christmas time. Plus it won't mess with my STS schedule. I may just do a 3.5 month rotation now that I see Cathe is coming out with a new series...oh dear I think I'm gonna have to get that one!! Maybe I should stick with the 6 month, so I can keep my money in my pocket!! I'll see how I'm feeling on the 22nd. I really like the two week thing.

Anyone do the downloads? I'm going to be buying a new iPad and possibly an Apple TV and I'm thinking of taking the download leap. They will take up less space and I should be able to move the Apple TV to any place in my house that I want.

Natty - I was glad to see you say there was no dread with the new workouts. I'm kind of afraid of them...LOL I may have to pick them up now.

Jennifer - I haven't seen Magic Mike, but it looks fun. Let us know what you think!!

Stacie - Have fun at cub scout camp!! That sounds really fun!! Vacation is throwing my workouts off as well. Hoping to get back on track today.
 
Hello gals :)

Yesterday I completed my first M3 disc back & chest. Yup, I loved it. I knew I would like heavy weights/low reps. What I found to catch me off guard, is that I was lifting WAY heavier then I did for M2 @ 80% (I struggle my last M2 disc). The way it's sequenced (chest, back, chest, back, alternating) ensures you are not completely fatiguing the one muscle group, so you can lift that 80% each and every set. The rest times were not too long IMO. By the time I prepared my weights for the next set, the break was up. I actually had to up my weight lbs, to make sure I was struggling with my final rep. Only doing 8 reps, you can go pretty heavy, and it feels so darn good!

Did you guys see the details on the new workouts? I'm on the fence about pre-ordering to be honest. The one thing that is enticing me is the option for shorter strength workouts. I think I have to prioritize my needs here. I kinda want more equipment and don't really need another kickboxing, hiit, tabata. What about you guys?

Toni
Glad you had a good time in Chicago. It looks like an awesome city to visit.
85% of my Cathe's are downloads. My only grip is that it's a pain to make the premixes on the blender (more so with older workouts :mad:). There are far too many glitches in the program. Forget about trying to make your own combo of 2 workouts :rolleyes:.
It's so hard to stick to a rotation in the Summer. Too many things going on. I'm planning to take a small 2-day trip to Niagara Falls soon, and I'm always trying to work my Summer outings around STS :mad:. It's a pain, but Summer's here are so short. Gotta enjoy it while it lasts :D.

Have a good one folks!
 
Yesterday my workout was 2 hours of cleaning up the tree limbs that fell into our yard after a severe storm. Luckily no damage at our house.

Today was Afterburn and it felt fantastic, really.

Not sure what I'll do tomorrow... I think I might do one of Cathe's rotations next month (or start late on one this month) so that I don't have to decide for myself which workout to do. The July 2012 roation looks good but I have a few other rotations that I printed out so I'll make my decision after I review them again.

I'm sure I will buy the upcoming DVDs because I like a lot of variety and I figure I will end up buying them eventually anyway; I'm a total fan now so it's hard for me to pass up a presale:)

Natty, 30 pushups with only a 10-second rest; that is awesome!
Congrats on increasing your lifting weight, too - you're inspiring. I'm glad M3 has been a nice change.
I agree with Heartymax, Flex 'em if you got 'em!
Seeing results make us want to work harder in my opinion.

The splash pad sounds great; you live in an awesome community.

Heartymax, LOL - yes, I can walk just fine. I used light weights on GS Legs because my back was bothering me and I had only done 35-40 minutes of Cycle Max. Plus I had a couple rest days during the week.

Your workouts sound good. If I had an elliptical I might prefer to do that over spinning.

I am still working on my pushups. I'm stuck at 12 but keep trying to increase the number. Sometimes I just hold a low-end with wide arms - some day I'll get to 20, or 50 :) When I started this check in I was at 8 but previously I had been able to do 15; so I'm working extra hard to get my count up.
Thank you for holding us accountable!


Toni, glad you had a great time in Chicago.
I agree with Natty on the lack of dread factor for Crossfire and To The Max - strange as it sounds they really are fun and they are butt-kickers.
I don't do the downloads just because I have no need to change from DVDs.

I'm at work so I best get back to it.
Have a great day and work hard!
 
Natty - thanks for the info on the downloads. I think I'm going to stick to DVDs based on what you said. The workout blender was really the draw for me and downloads. I was going to get an Apple TV do play the downloads wirelessly, but I think I'll just stick to the DVDs instead if the workout blender is going to be a mess. Now I can spend that money on the new series Cathe has coming out!! I really need to work on my muscle endurance, so I'm glad to see some focus on that. And there's another KickBox style workout and another low impact high intensity workout. These are the things I must have...LOL!! Oh and I can get a deal on the CrossFire and TTM DVDs also. I just can't go wrong here...hehe!!
 
Jennifer
I'm sorry you had to do all that crappy yard work :(. I'm glad there was no damage to your house.
Did you end up seeing Magic Mike BTW? Funny story about Channing Tatum. I was telling my DH how hot he was, and he told me that he saw him at that Toronto Airport last week (he works there). A girl who works with him got inside info that he would be passing by the terminal, and so of course my DH had to check it out. He said that he was "nothing special" (keep in mind he thinks Vin Diesel is the hottest man around ;)). Apparently he was an A-hole too. I still think he's hot though ;).

Toni
I'm not sure what's wrong with the Blender program. I've installed/uninstalled it numerous times. My computer is updated with all the recent software and it's a good computer (my DH is a computer geek). The newer downloads like the LIS, making a premix with 1 workout is pretty easy, but I cannot for the life of me, merge 2 or more workouts together! It just freezes, boots me out, or stops at 80% completed :mad:. I'm not complaining though, I appreciate the program. Stick with the DVD's IMO.

Good evening gals!
 
Morning! Today I'm back to my early morning workout and it felt great! I did AfterBurn. Today I was able to do the whole thing without pausing. Still have to modify the burpees and mountain climbers a bit, but I can at least make it through them. During the last series I pulled something in my lower back I think. It still feels a bit tight. I'll have to stretch it out continuously for the next couple days I think. But I should be good by the time my next STS back disc comes up :)

Hope everyone is doing well and having a great summer!
 
Good Morning! Today was lower body blast (minus the floor work) for a 45 minute workout.

Toni---glad you are back on your normal routine. It sure makes things better. WTG on pushing through AfterBurn. I don't think I can get through that workout without PAUSING and MODIFYING something. I love AfterBurn but it is tough---in a fun way:rolleyes:

Natty--thanks for sharing some input about the downloads. I have never purchased a download and was reading about the Apple TV after Toni mentioned it. I am not that tech savvy but my 14 year old knew all about the Apple TV. Technology is changing so much----I wonder if everything will eventually be digital.

Jennifer--glad to hear there was no major damage from the storm. Cleaning up tree limbs is no fun but I agree---a great workout. Glad your push up count is increasing. Have you tried the 100 hundred push up challenge? That is the program that I follow when I am focusing on push ups. I just can't do it when I am doing STS. I like the way it is sent up and it allows you to increase your push ups slowly. Google 100 push ups and check it out. I like have the longer rest periods. I have never done the entire 6 weeks nor have I ever done 100 push ups but I improved beyond my imagination. I think I am going to start the challenge again no later than next week.
 
Good morning everyone! It sounds like you have all been super busy while I was gone. I read through the threads but to be honest I am so tired that not much sunk in. I will try to do individual posts later. We had a blast though but I didn't sleep well at all. My favorite part was taking the boats on the lake. One guy even gave my a compliment because I had the arm strength to do the row boats. The canoes were the most fun. Tyler liked all the shooting sports a lot. It was fun trip overall. We finally did get rain all throughout Colorado. Everyone was really happy about that!
 
Hello ladies :)

Here is my disappointing experience with Squat Rack. I hate to back out of a workout, and I rarely do, but that's what I did 20min in :(. Firstly, my lower back has been feeling a bit of strain these past few days. As soon as I put on my weighted vest, I could feel my lower back starting to ache. I tried a suggestion from a girl on another STS forum who uses the Turbo Tower as a squat rack, and placed the barbell on the highest hooks while sitting on the pull-up bar (to retrieve the barbell). I was just too scared I was going to lose my form and trip and fall :confused:. I always have this fear of not being secure with my barbell (it's an Olympic size, not Troy Lite). Ok so there was that dilemma. I lowered my barbell weight and proceeded to do the first set of squats. I could not go down to my furthest range of motion because of the pain in my back. Secondly, the weight is far too light for me to get the full benefit of the program :(. Even with my back feeling ok, I would need at least 90lbs to reach my 80%1RM, and I'm stuck at 70lbs. I don't even think my back could handle that weight load, come to think of it. No worries though, I have decided to go with plyo-legs and a 2nd leg workout (DOMS permitting :D), Gym Style or LIS Tri-Sets. Unless I have a spotter or an actual squat rack, I'm not risking it with that amount of weight. Safety is my first concern.

Long day today visiting the park and splash pad. I'm pooped :(

Jennifer
I LOVE your new Avatar!!!! You look so very pretty and youthful :). Lovin' the hat too ;)
Heartymax
I think eventually everything will turn to digital -- it's the wave of the future. But I still like old technology like land-line telephones, books instead of Kindle, that sort of stuff :D.
Stacie
Glad to hear you had a nice little vacation. Rest up, relax, and get some much needed sleep. You deserve it.
Toni
Great job on Afterburn! That workout is no joke. I hope your lower back is feeling better.

Have a good night ladies :)
 
Natty---Better to be safe when lifting heavy weights. Using my weighted vest, I still don't lift more than 75 lbs for squats. I don't have a squat rack and my knees bother me toward the end of STS from all the heavy weights. I do believe that STS slims my thighs in combination with making sure that I continue to do on leg workout a week. STS gives them more shape.

Today was the 43 minute timesaver cardio premix from Body Max 2 followed by Jillian 6pack abs.

Stacie---love the compliment! Show off your strength. :D
 
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