Push It

[mini-natty]

Hi everyone

I'm totally stoked STS is in my collection now! I can't wait for it to arrive! Damn Canada Post takes FOREVER . I'm excited to try a rotation with it; so many good ones. Any suggestions?

Today was a lovely day outside enjoying the weather. Poor Bella was at the park trying to play with another little girl her age and she totally ignored her! The kid's dad felt bad, but I reassured him that my daughter likes to "harass" kids.....and dogs.....and birds......heck anything that moves. She is quite the social butterfly.

I was impatient to try Jillian's kickboxing, so I did it tonight instead of LIC (from LIS). I was expecting a harder workout from Jillian. Perhaps is was hard but I'm just too advanced now . It was fun and I put out a good sweat in 40min. I always had a hard time with kick/punch combo's. My brain takes awhile to register them

Stacie
Your son's karate class sounds so cute. I did Tae-kwon-do in grades 2 & 3. My mother pulled me out because the instructor was never there and his students ended up teaching the class. I got to yellow belt. Had I stayed, I probably would have went to black . I hope Bella wants to get into something like that.

Dana
Welcome back! You are doing the Nov LIS rotation? Afterburn is a killer that's for sure! 5 push-ups is great. I know how hard it is to do even 1 off the toes. LIS will make your UB stronger with all those darn plank exercises.

Susan
When are you starting the STS rotation? I'll do one with you for sure! Let me know.

have a good night everyone

 

[Jenniferlove]

Nat, aw shucks... thank you so much, and I'm pretty sure that you give as many likes as I do, and it's so cool that you really reply to everyone - you're super good at that!

I am only doing Cathe workouts... they're the only ones I enjoy!

I think the reason I lost some strength is because I lost my focus on muscle endurance and was really only doing the circuit-type workouts... we do pushups on those, too, as you know, but I really think I need to concentrate more on the High Reps and other dedicated strength workouts.... like for my shoulders maybe. We'll see, and I'm glad to share my progress with you all!

Since STS is on sale you ought to get it

 

[dmauden]

Good morning!

Cardio Supersets for me last night. I was very relieved that it didn't feel as difficult as AfterBurn - I don't think my legs could have handled that! Tonight is LIC, which I don't have. I was thinking I could sub with Step Moves or maybe 4DS double cardio (step) premix. Or something else. I don't know, any suggestions?

Natty - congrats on your STS purchase! You & Susan will have to keep us posted on your progress. Based on what I've read about it, you'll be doing lots of push-ups! I'm doing the Nov LIS rotation - started Monday. Have you done all of the 4DS workouts yet?

Stacie - hilarious visual of lots of little kids doing "push-ups!" You should go show 'em how it's done!

Kara - I can't wait to try TBT! Lower body is tomorrow & upper body the day after. YAY!

Have a good day everyone!
Dana

 

[TRSTACIE]

Another lazy night last night! I need to get back into it...I have just been soooo tired lately. Tonight is plyo legs again plus a premix for Athletic Training.

Natty
Congrats on the STS purchase! Cathe suggests to always do the program as it's designed first to get a feel for it. Of course, it's up to you though!

Natty & Susan
I wish I could do STS again with you guys but I am planning on doing a 6 week version of P90X after STS is over in April. Cheryl has me interested in the Chalean Extreme too (Natty, I think you said you have that one as well right?). E-bay has it for $40 which seems pretty reasonable. I am planning on doing a pyramid rotation starting in August or September. Maybe we could all doing it then. HeartyMax could maybe join us too! I think Raciela has STS as well.

HeartyMax
Thanks for the advice. I don't blame you for not doing the 1RM test. They take forever. I did up the weight on the One Arm Rows and seem to be doing fine on that. The day I strained my back was an extreme example. I was supposed to do 35lb flat bench presses and instead did 55lb ones (which was the weight I was using for the barbell rows). The crazy thing is that I did the 8 reps just fine even though my 1RM is 42.4lbs.

The only complaint I have about STS Meso #3 is that I would have preferred Cathe to alternate the chest and back exercises with a combo of dumbbells and barbells rather than two barbell exercises in a row and then two dumbbell exercises in a row. It would have greatly reduced the scrambling to change the barbell weights.

Jennifer
I only do Cathe as well! She has so many DVDs and premixes that she more than keeps me occupied! The other ladies have talked a bit about other programs that they have gotten me interested in at least trying a couple of other instructors. The one person I will never go back to is Denise Austin. I know a lot of people love her and I admit that actual programs are good for toning but her personality is not for me. Half the the time I was thinking "Shut up Denise!" Lol.

Dana
I will have to do that some day! The instructor said that to another mom as well and the other mom said "I already did my pushups today Mrs. S." in a kinda snotty way. I just about jumped up and did them to just to show everyone how a Cathlete gets it done!

Have a good day everyone!

 

[susanzabo]

Hi everyone,

I feel as if I have a bit of catching up to do. First off, I did pushups on Tuesday, 26-10-8-8-8-7. My rep count is completely random. My first set I do as many as possible and I continue with that mindset as I do the various sets. I just wing it when it comes to the number of sets and try to stick to 30 second rest. I really maxed out on Tuesday because I was feeling it yesterday, and even a bit today.

Today was MuscleMax. Everyone seems to love it on the forum. It was definitely tough, but I didn't feel it lived up to the expecations. Probably because I thought it was a bit lax on lower body work. It really had a lot of shoulder work, which I always find tough, so I know that was good for me. Natty - I know you did this a couple of days ago. I wonder if the premix is different than the full workout. I believe the pushups in the full workout were 12 and then 12, with a little rest between. Followed by 2 sets of chest flies (Cathe used 15 lb dumbells for that) and then the bonus burn (which killed me as well, I think I did 2 sets on my toes, and dropped to my knees). The full workout didn't have the chest press you mention.. Weird...

Natty - you mentioned the plies in Intensity, I agree that is tough. I didn't do the last set of them, my legs were screaming! So happy for you that you got STS. I was thinking of starting in May or June as I want to do the following rotation and maybe do another round of Feb 2012. It's been amazing.

http://cathe.com/forum/f100/jan-11-rotation-280427/

I was planning to do the STS/Shock Cardio rotation.
http://cathe.com/forum/f100/sts-strength-sts-shock-cardio-rotation%85-three-month-rotation-271387/

Stacie - I remember reading you are supposed to do it one time through before changing it up. I wish I had adjustable dumbbells. My barbell has 2.5 lb plates so I am good there.

Heartymax - great idea on the wrist weights... may need to go that route as I can't even justify to myself the need for adjustable dumbbells... but let's wait until I start STS

Stacie - funny about the pushups in your son's karate class. When my girls had to do pushups in gymnastics they didn't bend their arms either, but rather bobbed their heads like birds. I am proud to say my 4th grader can now do some pretty awesome full body pushups on her toes thanks to the fitness tests in school. When I was in school, I couldn't do any, even into highschool (I was a heavy non-athletic kid), so I am happy to see my kids having the ability to succeed physically in P.E. class (so they can escape the ridicule). Of course their academics is my first priority, this is just an added bonus. As for the Appreciation month, I hear ya!!!! I just bought the last of my Cathe DVDs last month with the presale discount. I am sure I overpaid, but am trying not look too often. I paid just over $130 for STS in December of January (it was on sale for 199 and I got 30% off), but that doesn't have the 4 squat rack DVDs, so I guess it's not too far off from Natty's price.

Jennifer - welcome to the group! Congrats on the pushups. Any number is great! On your toes on your knees ... as long as we are pushing ourselves.

Jennifer/Natty - In my defense I usually read the forum on my phone and there is no way to "like" a message. I like them all

Dana- glad to see you back. I agree afterburn is TOUGH, and CSS is much easier. I like TBT a lot, my only complaint is the ab work in the upper body section... and the fact that LB is kind of short (OK, I guess that's 2 complaints.) I added on the blasts from Lowmax and found that to be perfect.

Back to STS... Stacie, I'd be willing to wait until August to start. Not sure if we can convince Natty, I think she is anxious to start.

On another topic, I was listening to a podcast yesterday talking about weight training (Robb Wolff's podcast, he's the author of the Paleo Solution). He spent a lot of time talking about maxing out at 3 reps to build strength. He also said higher reps (8-15) add bulk/muscle mass more so than the super heavy weights at 3 reps. Anybody hear anything similar to it? (and for those of you curious, no I am not paleo. I am intrigued by it but am not ready to give up wheat, rice or beans and especially not my ice cream)

Tomorrow is Kickmax. I haven't done that one in about 2 years. I am anxious to see how I do with the leg conditioning drills as that used to kill me...And Saturday is CCC We all know how much I liked that the first time around. It's short, and falls on a Saturday when I can work out more. I am going to pull out an Amy Bento Step DVD (Advanced Step Challeng 1 or 2, which I got from the library) and start learning it. Her moves are complex and it takes me quite a few reviews to get the steps down. I only like learning after my workout as my heart rate doesn't stay elevated especially when I am standing still staring at the t.v. with my mouth gaping open going "What the h--- is she doing???????)

Sorry so long ladies, I had so much to say to everyone!

 

[mini-natty]

Good afternoon everyone

Another beauty up here . I had my tank top on and I was still sweating like crazy . I'm glad I kept up with my UB workouts this winter. No jiggly arms for this gal . Took a nice long walk to the park and then to our local Tim Horton's (a very popular coffee shop in Canada) for my very first Ice Cap of the season!!!!! Here is a pic: Tim Hortons - Cold Beverages. It's a tradition for Canadians.
Ice Caps=Summer!!

Susan
Regarding Muscle Max, I agree the lower body lacks a bit. I find when you have a total body workout, either the UB or the LB work is never evenly worked. I guess that's why I like to work the LB/UB separately so I can really focus on those area's. When I did push-ups during Muscle Max, I did them at my own pace and ignored Cathe's reps/rest. I know I can do more than 12, so I just pushed through. I didn't do chest flies, I did chest presses with my barbell instead (I can lift heavier with it and it gives me an excuse to use it more often ). I love the shoulder work! Shoulder's are my fav part to work and I can go heavy. Regarding Paleo, hey to each his own. For me personally, that way of living is too restrictive. And I love beans. Give them up? No way. I think whatever works for you and makes you happy, you should do. No one should judge that. But asking me to give up grains is like asking a child not to play. A very interesting health topic nonetheless. I love reading health/fitness topics too. I've never heard about the 3 rep max. I wonder if he's right...
Wait until May or June for STS?? Ha ha, I'm not sure about that. I'm pretty easy with stuff though and don't mind stopping my rotation at that time to start another. Let me know and I'll do it with you.
If you dread CCC, do Imax3 instead, or AB. To be honest, I never did the last CCC on the rotation. I opted for MIC instead and had no guilt.
Stacie
What do you mean do STS as is? You mean all weights and no cardio? I am gonna be honest, that does not sit well with me. I need at least 2 days of cardio in the summer. Gotta burn off all the BBQ!!
I don't have Chalean Extreme. Is she that chick from Turbo Jam? If so, nope, she does not interest me unfortunately. But hey if you like her stuff, then go for it! P90X looks cool though. I don't mind doing the STS Pyramid rotation in Aug or Sep. I should be pretty familiar with the program by then.
Dana
CSS is my fav! No dread, just fun. I love so many of the moves. Sure, you can sub LIC for any steady state cardio step. Step Moves is a great alternative. I really like Step Moves! I know it does not have a very big fan base, but I never found it to be that difficult.
Jennifer
Have you ever done a Cathe rotation? It really pushes you and motivates you to do things that you might not have necessarily done on your own. If you are looking to build strength and focus more on the UB, there are so many rotations that might interest you. There is one with High-Reps and STS TB that I really wanted to jump into. That rotation looks very effective for both the UB/LB:http://cathe.com/forum/f100/dec-10-rotation-279800/.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day

 

[TRSTACIE]

Susan
I think if you and Natty started STS soon after she got it, you guys would finish STS before I would start the pyramid rotation. We will maybe just have to see how things work out!

Natty
The original STS plan is a 3.5 month rotation. STS is only weights and people are supposed to add in their own cardio. I have read in the forums that some people just walked. I did a of bunch other Cathe DVDs plus the dog walking. It's just a little tricky to get the scheduling right so that body parts aren't over trained. For me, this meant that any weight circuit workouts could only be scheduled once a week. I usually did 3 days of STS, 3 days of cardio, and 1 rest day. During the rest weeks (the meso cycles are each 4 weeks), I did all cardio with no weights at all for 5-6 days. Hope this helps!

I think Chalean is the same lady as from Turbo Jam. What didn't you like about her?

 

[susanzabo]

Stacie
When you did STS you also included a circuit workout each week? In place of cardio right? Is this your first round of STS? What was your physical condition when you started and what results are you seeing??

Natty
Check out the link I posted with the STS/Shock Cardio rotation. That's how it's supposed to be used first, versus something like the November STS/LIS 3 month rotation which completely randomizes the order of the disks. Although I totally love the look of that rotation, and will likely do it after I complete STS in it's entirety straight through.

I think I need to really do STS with someone. The soonest I can start is mid April though because I have the road trip. Let me know if you can wait that long. I know you are super anxious

Susan

 

[TRSTACIE]

Hi Susan,

I just started that in Meso #3 but I think I could have worked into the first Meso cycles. In Meso #3 the order is Chest & Back, Legs, then Biceps (and the rest). So, I put Chest&Back on Sunday, Legs on Tuesday, then a circuit workout on Wednesday (most of the circuit workouts I have seem to have a focus on the upper body and have a cardio portion too), then Biceps on Friday. Before starting STS I had been fairly active for about four months. I was doing Low Impact Circuit, Butts and Guts, Step Blast, and 4DS Low Intensity Step (including the weights and Abs) all the way though. Of course I also have the dog walks too. My dog is an Australian Shephard so he needs a lot of exercise. I walk him for about 2miles a day.

The first meso cycle did cut down my cardio endurance a bit. Part of that may have been a big cut down in the workouts from mid-November to the end of December. I struggled during that time...the holidays were coming up, there were some financial concerns (what I thought was going to be a major car repaired loomed -- my brother-in-law actually was able to fix my car for only $100 vs $1600 the other shops wanted), tons of bad notes from the teacher, the finalization of my annulment, and a few other things were all during that time. My six day a week routine tumbled to about 3 or 4 days a week.

Since starting STS I have become a lot stronger and look a lot leaner. The big notice is in my back, shoulders, and biceps. I have lost a little over 10 pounds and based on my belt about 2 inches around my waist....most of it during Meso #2. However, that was also when I increased my cardio workouts again. I am curious to do my 1RM tests again just so see what the increases are. I do know that I can exceed many of my 1RMs right now which is pretty awesome. I kinda think that the way I did my 1RM tests may have helped with that.

Throughout the whole program I have been lifting heavier that what I would have if I had done all the 1RMs at the beginning. By doing some of the tests during Meso #2, I was already stronger due to Meso #1. Therefore, I would have had a higher 1RM than if I had done them before Meso #1. Yet, I still stuck with the lifting at the 1RM percentage specified by that workout. I hope I explained that well enough. I also tried to round up on my weights through out the program if I thought I could handle it. For instance, if the workout card said 16lb I would do 17.5lb.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any other questions you may have!
Stacie

 

[susanzabo]

Thanks Stacie! I appreciate all of the information. That is great about your strenght gains! You must be so proud. And to accomplish that with all of those stressors in your life is quite remarkable!

I know everyone has different strength capabilities. How do your weight loads typically compare to Cathe in her workouts (Such as butts and guts?) And what is the largest weight in dumbells you used for STS? And barbell?

Sorry for all of the questions, I don't know when I became so crazy, but I feel the need to know everything I can up front, because 3.5 months is a long time to commit and I want to do it right! I did get the pleasure of doing plyo legs as part of the Feb 2012 rotation, and I loved it. I pretty much guessed on the weights, used mostly 20lb dumbells, I think I threw in some 25s and 30s. I know I didn't nail the weights for every exercise.

Heartymax
How did you pull off STS without the 1RM tests? Are you in the middle of doing STS for the 2nd time? Or even more than that? What changes did you experience after round 1?

Thanks for your help. I feel a great sense of urgency to get my act together. Natty is getting STS and I need to be ready to GO! LOL

Susan

 

[TRSTACIE]

I usually do the same weights as Cathe does in Butts and Guts with the exception of the ankle weights. I only have a light pair -- I think 1.5 lbs per leg.

I only have a vague idea of what Cathe uses in STS. She never says. My highest dumbbell weight used is 30lbs right now for 7-9 reps. The highest barbell weight is 60lbs for deadlifts for 7 or 8 reps. Barbell rows are close behind coming in at 55lbs for 7-9 reps.

P.S. I think you are right about Natty being ready to start as soon as she gets it! She has been wanting STS for a looooonnnnng time! I am glad she has it now!

 

[mini-natty]

Good morning ladies

Today's workout is Turbo Barre. There are push-ups in that, we'll see how I do

I was reading all your comments about STS, and it has me somewhat overwhelmed and confused . There seems to be SO much equipment, and I'm going to be working with a bare minimum; up to 20 lbs dumbbells' and a barbell with up to 45 lbs. Ankle weights, wrist weights, weighted vest, slanted risers . Unfortunately I have to work up to my collection, so I'll try to do my best and hardest with what I have. I know this is a program I can grow with, no regrets of course. I'm just afraid I won't get optimal benefits from not having all the equipment.

Stacie
Congrats on your strength gains and health/fitness accomplishments while going through such a difficult time in your life. You should be VERY proud. What won't kill you will just make you stronger right? I was going through a very tough time a few years ago with multiple miscarriages and then the very difficult pregnancy/birth of my daughter. Life is hard and giving up on it is very easy, but only we can decide to sink or swim.
Regarding Chalean (is that her name?), she never jived well with me during Turbo Jam. I gave all my DVD's to the library. I am always open to try new things, but once a trainer/workout does not "do it for me", I'm out. But so many people love her, and her program looks good, she just ain't my thang
Susan
Man, I never knew you were going on the RT???!!!!! I'm so happy for you!! Lucky duck
The STS/Shock cardio looks great. I might start dabbling with it in April (YES I'M ANXIOUS!!), but I can wait til' May 1st to do an official rotation. I can still use some of the discs for another April rotation. It will give me a chance to get familiar with it and perhaps buy some more equipment (I'm gonna see what I can get used but in decent shape).

Have a good day everyone

 

[Jenniferlove]

Hi everyone,

I feel as if I have a bit of catching up to do. First off, I did pushups on Tuesday, 26-10-8-8-8-7. My rep count is completely random. My first set I do as many as possible and I continue with that mindset as I do the various sets. I just wing it when it comes to the number of sets and try to stick to 30 second rest. I really maxed out on Tuesday because I was feeling it yesterday, and even a bit today.


Jennifer - welcome to the group! Congrats on the pushups. Any number is great! On your toes on your knees ... as long as we are pushing ourselves.

Jennifer/Natty - In my defense I usually read the forum on my phone and there is no way to "like" a message. I like them all


On another topic, I was listening to a podcast yesterday talking about weight training (Robb Wolff's podcast, he's the author of the Paleo Solution). He spent a lot of time talking about maxing out at 3 reps to build strength. He also said higher reps (8-15) add bulk/muscle mass more so than the super heavy weights at 3 reps. Anybody hear anything similar to it? (and for those of you curious, no I am not paleo. I am intrigued by it but am not ready to give up wheat, rice or beans and especially not my ice cream)

Tomorrow is Kickmax. I haven't done that one in about 2 years. I am anxious to see how I do with the leg conditioning drills as that used to kill me...And Saturday is CCC We all know how much I liked that the first time around. It's short, and falls on a Saturday when I can work out more. I am going to pull out an Amy Bento Step DVD (Advanced Step Challeng 1 or 2, which I got from the library) and start learning it. Her moves are complex and it takes me quite a few reviews to get the steps down. I only like learning after my workout as my heart rate doesn't stay elevated especially when I am standing still staring at the t.v. with my mouth gaping open going "What the h--- is she doing???????)

Sorry so long ladies, I had so much to say to everyone!

Hi Susanzabo,
Thank you, I'm excited to push myself now that I have my new forum friends
Your push up skills are fantastic!

Cool that you're in forums on your phone... a couple of us have been debating on joining the techies. Any recommendations? I guess it might depend on the carrier, too... humm...

I'm not familiar with Rob Wolff but it's an interesting concept on weight lifting. I'm not into cutting out food groups, either, BTW.

I don't have children - only the furry kind - but I can imagine how cool it is to see yours excelling in fitness

As for me and Kick Max, I've only done it a few times but it was in the Feb '12 rotation... I still have a long ways to go but at least this time around I didn't quit; I kept my leg lower and kept going the best I could.

Amy Bento - I tried a kickboxing DVD of hers and I laughed when you said "what the h - is she doing" becuase I can totally relate! I only have patience to slow down and learn when I'm on a "rest" day or when I have a couple hours on my hands.

Everybody - have a fantastic day!

 

[Jenniferlove]

Good afternoon everyone

Another beauty up here . I had my tank top on and I was still sweating like crazy . I'm glad I kept up with my UB workouts this winter. No jiggly arms for this gal . Took a nice long walk to the park and then to our local Tim Horton's (a very popular coffee shop in Canada) for my very first Ice Cap of the season!!!!! Here is a pic: Tim Hortons - Cold Beverages. It's a tradition for Canadians.
Ice Caps=Summer!!

Regarding Paleo, hey to each his own. For me personally, that way of living is too restrictive. And I love beans. Give them up? No way. I think whatever works for you and makes you happy, you should do. No one should judge that.

I don't have Chalean Extreme. Is she that chick from Turbo Jam? If so, nope, she does not interest me unfortunately. But hey if you like her stuff, then go for it! P90X looks cool though.

Have you ever done a Cathe rotation? It really pushes you and motivates you to do things that you might not have necessarily done on your own. If you are looking to build strength and focus more on the UB, there are so many rotations that might interest you. There is one with High-Reps and STS TB that I really wanted to jump into. That rotation looks very effective for both the UB/LB:http://cathe.com/forum/f100/dec-10-rotation-279800/.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day

Hi Natty,
Awesome job lookin' tough in tanks

Tim Hortons looks great - 1% chocolate milk in coffee? That's a great idea! I noticed they also are into giving back with the charities they support, as well as the enviromnent - what a great place to enjoy some coffee!

Chalene in Turbo Fire and Turbo Jam is not for me, either; I used to take a group exercise class at a local gym and these were the workouts we did. They were so fun! But then I quit the gym and got the DVDs; just not the same. In my opinion Chalene just isn't up to par. Tony Horton in P90X seems cool but honestly I have only done the Yoga... my husband has the DVD set and I'm too involved with my TONS of Cathe DVDs to really give them a shot, especially now that I need to stick with mainly low impact.

I agree with your opinion about Paleo, live and let live. Give up beans? no way - I even add them to spaghetti!

Thank you SO much for the Dec '10 rotation - I will give it a try next month. The February rotation is the first one I've ever tried, and I just started it the beginning of March.

I've always just done my own thing, what I felt like I wanted or needed on that particular day, but now that I'm in the forums (only took me years!!) and seeing everyone's successes I'm paying more attention to the benefits of Cathe's rotations.

Plus, I will admit that these last few weeks have been nice - I don't have to think about which workout to do because it's already been determined

You're so encouraging, your trials of life and choosing to swim instead of sink - Amen to that!

Everyone, have a super fantastic day!

 

[Jenniferlove]

Hi Dana,
You will love Total Body Trisets! How did it go??
If you have Low Max that would be a good sub for LIC.

By the way, your profile picture of your dogs look like greyhounds?? They sure are behaving like greys, being snuggly with each other

 

[Jenniferlove]

Ok, my official count:

23 off my toes (no rest)

As part of my w/o (Slim&Lean) I also did:

3 more off my toes (3 count down/1 count up)
10 on my knee's thereafter (3 count down/1 count up)
2 triceps push-up on toes, 6 triceps push-up on my knee's

This was all done during today's w/o.

If you have never done Jari Love, she is great. Her push-ups, like Cathe's, are very challenging.

Have a great day everyone

Wow - that is great - that is a lot of pushups is all I can say.

I have heard of Jari Love (obviously no relation to me) so thanks for letting everybody know that she's up to par.

 

[Jenniferlove]

Hi!!

I'll be starting this tomorrow - boy will tomorrow be a busy day!! I am currently doing CLX, Weider X-Factor ST, running and pilates NOT all on the same days - CLX on M, W, TH, F & SAT, X-Factor on SUN, T & TH, Running 5/6 x's a week and Pilates on M, W & F so I'll just add the 100 push up challenge to my list!!

My husband works out like a fiend - he either runs 10 miles, spins, elliptical or Nordic Trac for 65 minutes before work - "we" get up at 4:00am, although I'm usually not out of bed until 4:30 - this is when I do my Pilates or Stretching with Cathe LOVE LOVE LOVE Stretch Max w/the Band. Then when he comes home from work he goes on his Total Gym on T,W,TH,SAT & SUN along with foam rolling 5 days a week he has a IT Band issue and he is in great shape!!

A little bit about myself, my name is Cheryl, I'm 51 years old (although I really feel more like 30 (Thank God!!!) and I'm a Homemaker so I do have all day to workout if I choose to. I live in Westland MI with my husband and 2 daughters, Stacey is 21 works and goes to College & Megan is 17 and is a High School Senior who works for Game Stop definately alot on her plate as well!

I AM going to complete this challenge because I can do things during Lent that for some reason I fail at during the rest of the year.

...Cheryl

What a great family; your kids get to see mom and dad working out and taking care of themselves

Foam rollers are great; I always roll out my back. I recently got a Rumble Roller for my upper back... it is really hard and I can only lean against it and the wall to use it, whereas the foam rollers I can be on the floor and have my entire body weight on it.

I'm an early riser, too; my husband's job makes it so... one of our 3 dogs turns into a squeaky toy when it's supposed to be time to get up. That's okay because usually I just get up with everyone so I can do my workout and get ready for work.

Have a super day!

 

[TRSTACIE]

Good morning ladies! Last night was STS squat rack legs. Good stuff! I thought it was interesting that only the guys actually used a squat rack. Cathe herself just used the barbell with a weighted vest. I thought when I first got STS that I wouldn't be able to use those discs without the rack until other people post on the forums that a weighted vest would work fine. I also did pushups...5-4-4-5-5. I couldn't get above 5. No clue why my count is going down. It has been a week since last doing them. Today is a new day though!

Btw, it was sweet of you guys to say such nice things. It was a hard time...and I am sure that there will be more. It's just the way life is sometimes. The biggest struggle right now is maintaining a sleep schedule and working on moving forward.

Susan
No worries about the questions. Please, please, please ask whatever you want. I can't promise you that I will always have the right answer but I will at least try to help if I can! HeartyMax is a good source of info too! I think she said this is her third or fourth time doing STS.

Natty
I was sad to hear about the difficult time that you had with your pregnancies. That would be awful! It was one of my biggest fears when I was pregnant that something would happen to my son. I guess something did in a way -- complications during delivery but it turned out ok. I am glad that you were able to have your daughter and such a cute one as well!

Btw, you should be fine to start STS with what you have! Based on an earlier post, you will probably need higher dumbbell weights at some point in time. After I maxed out mine at the end of Meso #2, I bought 2 nice adjustable plate weight sets from Walmart. Each set has two dumbbell bars and 34 lbs of plate weights. So, I can put all the plates on just one dumbbell, I have a 37lbs one. The market it as a 40lb weight because the plate weights are 34lbs and each bar with it's spinlocks is another 3lbs. It's only $30USD and I have been very pleased with it so far. I plan to get a third set soon and that should hold me for awhile.

Jennifer
Thanks for all the likes! I think I can speak for everyone that we are all very happy to have you as part of our group!

Btw, you might not need to get a smart phone to be able to surf the internet from your phone. I have just a Samsung Alias 2 with a cheap $10 data package and can go to almost any website by using the mobile browser Opera Mini. It is fantastic. Posting is more difficult just because it's via the small keypad but I could do it if I really wanted to! If you are not ready to upgrade yet (or not ready to pay the extra data plan fees -- my hangup!) then you might want to see if Opera Mini is available as one your phone application downloads.

Sorry for the nerd rant...it's bound to happen from time to time.

 

[susanzabo]

Hi everyone,

As planned today, I did Kickmax. That one doesn't get my heart rate up for the first 3 combos. The 4th one did the trick and the drills really elevated it. I like the format of KPC better since you start with the drills. When you start with that, my heart rate is able to stay elevated even through the easier combos. I should write that down so next time I can maybe start with combo 1, then do combo 4, the drills, and then circle back to combos 2&3. I did wear 1 lb weighted gloves. Maybe if I upped it to 2lbs it would have worked better.

The drills in Kickmax didn't seem much easier despite my lower body improvement over the last 2 years. My hip flexors have improved as they were able to endure the front kicks, but the beginning drill with your leg out to the side, drawing circles OWWWWWW. I think I may need to just work in that couple minute segment on a regular basis. Add that to my things to do.

No pushups today as I am still a bit sore from Muscle Max.

Stacie
Thanks again for your help. Your weights help me guage what I need. Although I will never be able to go that heavy for deadlifts, or do any double arm rows. Stupid back. It really irks me that every time there is a double arm row, I have to first row with 1 arm, rewind and repeat for the other arm. I just wanna do what everyone else can do

Natty
Believe me, I am the same with being overwhelmed. That's why I haven't started it yet! I don't think I will be getting the weighted vest, I think the added weight, even in the form of a vest will mess up my back. I don't have the squat rack DVDs, so I will do plyo legs. Once you start calculating your 1 rep maxes, you will know if you need more equipment. I am guessing you will need 25s and 30s in dumbbells and some extra plates based on what you have posted lifting in the past.

As for CCC, that is a good idea to replace it with MIC. I actually have never done that one (always do Rhythmic Step and IMAX). But it will still have to wait, I want to conquer CCC, it made me mad that it kicked my butt! I am gonna win one of these days LOL

Jennifer
I am doing the Feb rotation too. I had to shift things around, so I am actually starting the last week, which starts with CCC tomorrow. I have only done 2 of Cathe's rotations: this one and November LIS. I too like the fact I don't have to think about it. Also, I like that it makes me do workouts that I would likely not pick. That has to be good for cross-training! As for phones, my husband works for Motorola, so only Motorola devices are allowed in this house. We caved for the girls, getting them iPods, but not for us. I have a Droid razr (I think that's what it's called). It's the newer one and is very big, but skinny. Works well for the aging eyes LOL

Tomorrow is CCC, I might start doing some 1RM tests after instead of Amy Bento... we'll see how I feel. I have the sheets printed out for workouts 1-6

 

[fargomom]

Welcome Jennifer!

Sorry I have been MIA this week - lots going on. The only time I've had to post is in the evenings, and good or bad, I've chosen sleep over the forums. I don't regret it, but I do feel I've missed a lot! Family is in town this wknd so I probably won't officially be checking in again until Sunday or Monday, but I just wanted to pop in and say a quick hey!

Today's workout was Legs & Glutes for me. I was supposed to do TBT-lower, per my rotation, but felt like subbing something I haven't done in a long time. Fun w/o! Yesterday I again subbed BM2 double upper body for what should have been TBT-upper. Glad I did, too, as I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the upper body portion in BM2. My arms are really feeling it today - major doms (which is a good thing, or so I keep telling myself). Oh, yeah, and yesterday I did consecutive pushups to a total count of 20, matching what I did last Saturday, so I'm holding steady. Feeling good about that.

Congrats Natty on your STS purchase! I know you've been crushing on it for a while. For those that are STS-fluent, is this something you do once you've reached your weight goals? Or is it for anyone, even if they still have weight to lose? I'm in the latter category and obviously I don't own STS (yet anyway). Just curious I guess.

Susan, I love how you keep hinting that Natty needs to purchase certain DVDs. What an enabler you are! Love it!

Dana - thanks for all the encouraging words!

The rest of the gang - great job!

Sorry again that I haven't been on board. I'll get back in here in a few days. I hope everyone has a GREAT wknd! I just finished L&G, so I'm off to shower (my favorite thing to do, post-workout).

Kara