Push It

Toni----I am 43 years old, marred 17 years and have 2 boys. I have been working out to Cathe for almost 10 years and love it. A year ago I couldn't even do one push up on my toes and could barely do 10 on my knees. So, I know that I have come a long ways. My last test was 30 consecutive which was several weeks ago. I am pretty much starting my 5 sets again and trying to work my way back up. I am following the one hundred push ups challenge for the structure of the program. I few others are using the same format as well. The first time I followed the program, I did it on my knees. Then, I did my first round of STS last year and at that point, I could do push ups on my toes and today I am proud of what I have accomplished. Welcome to our group and you will definitely be looking good in that two piece this summer. My family is taking a trip to the Caribbean so I am defintely trying to stay focused on my workouts so I can look good in June too. Athletic Training is a fun workout.

Susan--thanks for sharing your feedback on the Roadtrip. It is an experience that many would love to have as well. I am sure it would be hard for Cathe to mingle for a long period with that number of guests, but it is great that you at least get to say hello and take pics, etc. Meeting fellow Cathletes must have been exciting too.

Today was Imax 2. After all the years, that 9th interval with the plie jumps is still tough. Tomorrow is GS Chest, Tri's.....I guess I will see how I do with all those drop set push ups. My biceps are fried from yesterday's workout.
 
Good morning everyone :)

Just a quick response to Susan and then BBL!

Susan
Thank you so much for sharing your RT experience. I love how you were so honest about your thoughts/feelings. I would assume it would be very difficult for Cathe to mingle with that many people in only 2 days, but I understand your disappointment. I would probably feel the exact same way, somewhat let down by the lack of interaction with her. A RT is on my bucket list for sure! But with airfare and RT fee's (unless I drove) it would cost me well over $500 for only 2 days. I should start saving now ;). Anyway, I'm happy you got to experience it, even if only once. And I'm sure you looked super hot in your workout gear ;). I do have questions, but I won't bombard you with them just yet :).
As far as the 1RM, I'm doing them for STS TB on my rotation, but not for STS. I have 2 weeks to go, and I think my #'s will change by then. I will do my official #'s during week 1. BTW, are you doing plyo legs or squat rack for Meso 3? Do you have a weighted vest? If I'm going to do squat rack, I have to bite the bullet and get the vest. I'm going to check out Play It Again Sports and see what they have. We don't have any cool places like Marshall's, where I can possibly get it for $10.


BBL to report my workout and responses! Have a great day!

**just adding to this, I forgot**
Heartymax
I was looking at rotations yesterday and saw this one, which looks similar to the one you picked but incorporates legs:
http://cathe.com/forum/f100/oct-10-rotation-278549/
It looks rockin'!
 
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Good morning everyone! I had Imax2 on my rotation for last night but I wasn't able to get to it because I had to finish my taxes. Luckily they are all done now except for one piece of information I need regarding my sitter. I dread tax season every year. It feels like no matter what I do I always have to pay. :( I lowered my withholding allowances some more yesterday so hopefully next year I will break even.

With all this road trip talk, I had a crazy idea. What if we planned to go as a group next year? Wouldn't that be so much fun? They are expensive though but I thought it was something to think about it!

Natty
Thanks for the input on the JM Dvds. I didn't realize HeartyMax does them too! I knew Susan did but I didn't ask her because I figured she was still recovering from the road trip. Anyway, yesterday I only did level one because I didn't have a lot of time before work. I have to admit that I used sissy weights because I was pretty sore from Muscle Endurance!

The Lara bars you made sound really good. It's funny to that you happened to mention that because I was at the store, saw apricots, and wondered how they would taste in the Lara bars. Now I know!

Toni
That's so cute that your kids workout with you! My son does do now and then. I got him some baby weights too since I was tired of him bugging me about why I have weights and he didn't. For awhile there to appease him I had given him canned goods to use. It was really cute because he had a special shoe box he stored them all in right next to my weights.

I hope your hubby sticks to the workout plan too! It will add years to his life.

Susan
Thanks for the feedback on the road trip. I personally really appreciate the honesty! I thought you got more time with Cathe too. I think if you had some friends going with you it might be more fun...a mini vacation!

I wish STS used to the information you put into the Workout Manager after an STS workout to adjust your 1RMs. I think it doesn't because someone might just be having an weak day. It would be nice though if it had the option to do that! I did it manually if I was consistent different from the values I started with. The way I did them the first time is I would do whatever 1RM tests I hadn't done yet for that workout before starting it. HTH!

It was JM's Extreme Shred and Shed. It was only an ok workout. I didn't hate it but I definitely didn't like it as much as 30 Day SS. I am looking to get these workouts in order to have some lighter workouts for days I don't feel like being destroyed by Cathe, don't have a lot of time, or to add some cardio to days that I have weights planned. Many of Cathe's timesaver DVDs and premixes still run in the 45-50 minute range. The two JM workouts I did also don't require a lot of equipment which will be good workouts to take when visiting family -- which I do a lot! Of course, now that I have Hiit and CCC, those are easier to get to schedule in as well but holy moly are they tough. I personally find CCC easier the Hiits. I think it's because I just started started doing all the high impact moves without modifications and aren't as used to them. A lot of the jumping moves really tire me out and I think the Hiits have more of them than CCC.


Have a great day everyone. Don't forget to enjoy all the freebies for tax day!
Tax Day Freebies
 
Welcome, Toni!

My name is Kara. I'm 32 years old. I have 3 kidlets (7, 4 and 1) and I've been married to my hubs for 10 years. I've been working out to Cathe since about 2004. My first DVD of hers, besides the one that came with the step, was Lowmax. At this point, I own most of her DVDs, but there's still a few I haven't done yet. I don't own STS. The last time I did pushups, about a week and a half ago?, I was able to do 20 consecutively. I'd like to get to 30 or maybe 40 pushups one day .... one day! :p My kids also workout with me, too, on occasion. I have 1-pound and 2-pound weights that my 7 year old will use and sometimes my 4 year old. They also use my old pair of lifting gloves. Their favorite thing of mine to use is the "band." Can't blame them there - band work is fun! (fun & tough!)

Today's workout was KILL ME NOW, ..... I mean "Hardcore Extreme." ;) I did the "hi/lo interval" workout which pulls intervals from Lowmax and Imax 3.

And since it's been a few days since I posted, yesterday I did Muscle Endurance (3rd time this month - still loving it!). And on Sunday I did Athletic Step. My Saturday workout, if you recall, was a lazy 20-minute arm workout from BM2, so I made up for it by doing Athletic Step on my rest day. I've only done AS about 2 or 3 times. I like it. Going in, I didn't think it would be too hard, but at the end I was sweating. I can always tell how hard I'm working if I have to take off my tank top and use it to wipe all the sweat off my face!!! :)

Susan -- Thanks for the road trip update. I wonder if you heard any reviews about the New Jersey roadtrips? I heard those are with less people, about 100, so I wonder if that would be more one-on-one time with Cathe? I really appreciate your honesty with your experience. I've never done one, but obviously it's on my bucket list. It's nice to have a realistic review. I think I'd be more inclined to do a midwest road trip so I don't have to travel to New Jersey, but we'll see. Definitely not doing it anytime soon. Maybe in a year or two? We'll see. You'll have to get your pic of you and Cathe mounted on canvas and hung in a special place!!!! PS - Happy Anniversary!!

Stacie -- I like your idea of doing the roadtrip as a group!! The New Jersey one is always in the summer, I think - is that right? Maybe that would be a goal. I shudder to think about what plane tickets would cost, though, from Fargo, ND or Minneapolis, MN. Probably a million bucks. :p

Heartymax -- I hear you on Imax 2 and those plie jumps. That workout is a lot of fun. My favorite part is where she does the toe taps side to side on each side of the step .... can't remember what it's called. AnyHOO. ;) Leave it to Cathe to incorporate some fun into her tough workouts. (that's what I tried to tell myself today as I was doing Hardcore Extreme!)

EEEEKKK! Just noticed the time. I gotta jet and go pick up my daughter from school. I'll finish this up later. Take care everyone!!

KARA
 
Today was CCC with 30 minute steady state run (which for me was Step Moves warmup and first 2 combos, I think I was under the 30 minutes, but just sligthly cuz I did do some rewinding)

I FINALLY feel the love for CCC. It is a great workout. My shoulder is still killing me, so I knew I couldn't do push ups. I was able to keep up with everything except the rollbacks, roll forward into plank (Cathe does a push up) and the roll back roll forward and jump. I figured out I wasn't liking this workout because I felt defeated that I couldn't keep up. Without the pushups it was still super tough, but I felt successful. Pushups really weigh on me. I think my shoulder issues in general contribute to my inability to do them all in Cathe's videos.

The hardest move for me in CCC is the lateral jumps over the mat. I find it hard to make it over every time and end up landing with part of one foot on the mat 50% of the time or more.

I just thought of something from the RT. Someone asked Cathe if the weights in her DVDs are what she uses. She says for endurance workouts she goes about 5 lbs lighter, and for strength it's about 10 lbs lighter. Interesting to know. So when I can't even do chest press with 30 lb dumbbells (Cathe does this in 4DS) I will now be reminded she can do it with 35-40 lb dumbbells. She really is super woman!

Natty Feel free to fire away with the questions! I don't mind

Stacie Thanks for the anniversary wishes. As for JM, it's no wonder I get confused with these titles: Extreme Shred and Shed, 30 day Shred and Shed and Shred it with weights. She needs a new verb to use :) As for the RT, I agree it would be a great girls weekend. How fun is it (for those that love working out) to work out with our favorite instructor. I think if I went into it with those expectations I would have had a better time. Going into it, past road trippers were saying how down to earth she was and how at ease she makes you. I just assumed that would come across during more personal time. Looking back though, I have no regrets. I had to do it, and wouldn't have been able to rest until I did it.

Stacie and/or Heartymax Just curious: Did you do workouts like Afterburn on rest weeks in STS (I am a SUPER planner and getting ready for starting in May) I am a little sad to have to focus on one thing for 3 months. Stacie, I think you said you did circuit workouts during STS, right? During strength weeks? or rest weeks? And if in strength did you make sure they weren't right after an STS workout?

Kara I bet you are right about the RT in NJ. There are only about 100 spots so definitely a bit more intimate. Also, as I understand it, the bus picks you up from your hotel and brings you to the gym so you are there for hours. It gives you a lot more time to meet fellow Cathletes that way and probably spend more time with Cathe. The Chicago RT was right at the hotel, so during all breaks everyone parted ways, ate breakfast or lunch, showered, etc. For those of us introverts, a little "down time" was rejuvinating. I get lost in crowds so if I had to be around a bunch of people all day, I would fade away. I always clam up in a crowd of people. I am so much better one on one.

Have a great night!
 
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Just a quick update for some of Susan's questions...

I am very strict about workouts during the rest weeks. I won't touch a weight at all. For Meso #3, I did try to put in a circuit workout after a STS leg one. It seems to me like most of the circuit DVDs are more upper body intensive. Of course, if I had to rearrange the calendar due to missing a workout, the circuit workouts were usually the first to go. For this next round I am going to try to do both the squat rack discs and plyo legs in so I won't be able to shove a circuit workout into the schedule unless I double up.

HTH!
 
Hello all! Thanks for the intro's from everyone. Greatly appreciated!!

Today was Step Blast. Love this workout! Lots of good step moves and just enough high impact as not to kill my knees!! I was able to finish every blast today. The last thing I need to add will be the arm patterns on the last blast...whoot whoot!!

Im going to change up my rotation next week. This rotation I'm doing now has Athletic Training, TBT, and AfterBurn as my weight w/o. Next week I'd like to do something with more isolation moves. I'm thinking HSC, BootCamp, and either Push Pull or Supersets. I've only done HSC, so having something new will be nice. I also have the GS workouts, but for some reason I can't wrap my head around doing split workouts right now. I always feel like I need to add extra cardio on the upper body days, and I just don't want to spend the extra time right now. Plus I'd like the extra cardio in the weight w/o to help with my last inch goal :)

Ok...is it just me or does anyone else want to reach through the TV and pull JM pants up when you see her on screen?? LOL. at one point I had one of her workouts, but I could not bring myself to do it. The workout looked great, but I was completely distracted by the low riding pants. Yes I know....I have issues...LOL

Susan
I was wondering what all the RT stuff was about. Thanks for the info. I may have to think about one one day.

I really want to try CCC. I don't have that one, but a strong core is always good and that workout looks great.


Kara
Hardcore Extreme is a bit scary...LOL. I own it but haven't done any of them yet. I have to be careful with some of the high impact stuff. Seems that when I work legs every other day my body is not happy with the high impact Plyo moves added in that weeks rotation :)
 
Heartymax, thank you for the upper body weights info - good to know. I'm considering the PUB in the future. How's the DH doing with his workouts? My hubby does the same thing - spurts; I always cheer him on:) Do you two have a pushup challenge going? Yours are totally rockin!

Natty, thanks for the definition for the TTOTM :) I would never have thought of that probably since I haven't had one of those in almost 2 years... in fact, the hysterectomy made me cancel my Road Trip to Woodlands, Texas reservation! I was so bummed. I got back all my money, though, except for the $100 registration fee - could have been worse:) One of these days I will try again:)

Susan, Thank you for sharing your RT experience! I see where you're coming from, and I'm glad you made a connection with another Cathlete. I agree, VERY good to know about the weight difference in endurance versus strength - thank you! It's great that your family was able to be there with you :) So, CCC - I think I huff and puff harder in that one than in Intensity.
It appears a Happy Anniversary is in order so Happy Anniversary!

Stacie, great idea about the RT! Sounds like your son is fun to work out with :)

Kara, great job on the pushups! I did BodyMax2 for the first time today (LOVE it and the music) but I didn't do UB since I did the UB portion of High Reps the day before. I know I'm altering the rotation a little bit but I *think* it's still the same type of workouts by the end of the week.

Toni, good to chat with you, and good for you for doing something about your fitness level. An upcoming cruise sounds great, too!
I never formally introduced myself (sorry) but I have no children - just 3 dogs and a cat, been married for just over 3 years, and I'm 41. I am just striving to do as many pushups as I can and get stronger and stronger:) I used to be able to do 15 but lost a lot of strength and am down to 8. However I'm glad to say that I am feeling stronger and don't get as fatigued as quickly as I did... this group here will definitely help you reach your goals - I know they help motivate me :)

I will check in soon - take care and have a good night!
 
Kara----you are referring to the straddle taps. OMG---I remember when I first got this DVD, I could not do that move. Then, one day I was watching the workout to learn the moves better---and my neighbor's little girl---who may have been about 8jumped on my step and did the straddle taps like it was nothing. I have that move mastered now and laugh everytime I do it thinking about what it was like the first time.

Jennifer---DH is not doing any push ups. The first time I did the challenge last year or so, he and my oldest son started out with me---well that didn't last long. Even though my oldest DS loves to workout, he doesn't do the push ups with me still.

Toni---I know what you mean about JM. I never understood the low pants either.

Stacie----I only own 2 JM workouts. I have 30 day shred ad 6 week 6 pack. I like the way JM works the abs but I can never see myself doing her workouts daily. To be honest with you, I didn't read up on the 6 week 6 pack ab workout. I heard about it and wanted it and a co-worker got it for me in the gift exchange at work. It is a great workout but I thought it was just abs and not cardio spurts. I like the way she worked the abs in shred so when I heard of the 6 week 6 pack, I thought---hey I want that. I use the 6 week 6 pack but I don't do the entire segment. I just go through it once as an add on to my other workouts. I couldn't see myself doing JM rotation or as a main source of workouts for me. There is just no way that I would be motivated to get out of bed at 4:30 AM to have a workout date with JM. I wish she would actually do the workouts instead of just talking so much and walking all around saying "bad ass". Meanwhile, I suck it up and do her ab workout as an add on to my Cathe some days. I know her workouts are cheap, but I wish they were nicely chaptered like Cathe so I can just do her ab portions mostly and the other if I wanted to. I know Cathe workouts cost more but they definitley offer more options and a better value than many others.

Susan---Have all the love you want for CCC :D My rest weeks varied when I was doing STS. I know it says not to do any weights, but I usually did weights once during the week. Mainly, because I missed doing my other workouts and it was a great chance to do something and keep me motivated. For example, I may have done cardio 4 days and 1 day a total body like Muscle Max. To be honest, if I wanted to do After Burn----I would --but in the middle of the week and I would only do it once and no other weights at all that week.


Okay---to my workout today! I surived GS Chest and Triceps. I did all 72 push ups. I was so happy to hear Cathe say "take a longer break if you need it". I felt like she said that just for me:D cause I definitely needed. Either way, I managed to push them all out even if I did need about 20 extra seconds. So today's push ups were 16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2 . I was so tired at the end I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. Then, to go on to do chest presses---I was thinking Cathe had lost her mind to expect me to lift a weight for 12 reps after that. Sometimes I had to opt for 10 reps and I had to skip the last set of incline chest flys. Those moves work the shoulders and after all those push ups, I couldn't do anymore. My triceps are also fried. I think my entire body will be singing to me the rest of the week.

Have a great day everyone! Oh yeah! I forgot to say that I also did Butts and Gutts stability ball abs.
 
Good morning ladies :)

Yesterday was a nice outing at the mall to buy Izabella some new summer clothes. She's growing like a weed! I had a very sentimental moment when I realized I had to leave the "toddler" section and buy her shirts at the "big kid" section :(. It's true, they grow up way too fast.

The mall that I frequent has a food court with a really great variety from all over the world. Thai, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, Lebanese and of course Tim Hortons, KFC and New York Fries. A new place opened up called Cultures and they feature healthy fare like wraps, smoothies, assorted salads, ect. I had a delish brie and turkey pesto wrap w/beans and feta cucumber salad :p.

I'm changing my rotation a bit this week in terms of strength. I am supposed to do 2 w/o's of High Reps since it's an endurance week, and next week is supposed to be strength with STS TB 2 days. I decided to do STS TB this week instead because......ok I'm going to admit this.....I want to play around with my tower :eek:. I'm happy to report that I have increased my #'s in STS TB! I am definitely getting stronger in the chest/shoulder/back. I even matched Cathe in the shoulder tri-set section YAY!
Today's w/o will be 30min steady state (Imax 3-no blasts) + hiit 40/20.

Heartymax
I'm not sure you are human. I think you may perhaps be a robot. Great job!!! GS UB will be my next purchase for sure!
Susan
Question #1-how tall is Cathe? I heard she's about 5'2.
I'm sorry to hear about your shoulder. It sucks when you have limitations with injuries/pain/soreness. With me it's my lower back.
Oh and happy anniversary!!!
I hate those mat jumps in CCC too. I'm short and use my little legs as an excuse, although in reality I'm just jealous of Cathe.
Are you excited for STS yet? I am :eek:. I want to use my tower some more. This week I'm doing TB instead of LBB so I can test it out :D.
Stacie
Hopefully you don't have to pay too much w/your taxes this year :(.
I would love to do a RT next year! I'm trying to get someone to drive with me instead of paying air fare. I've always wanted to go driving through the States. I've only been to Buffalo :(.
Jennifer
I am so sorry to hear about your hysterectomy. I hope your recovery went well. You have such a positive spirit that it's hard to believe you went through something like that. My mother had to have one at 41 and she is still very upset and bitter about it.....14 years later.
Kara
You go girl with your Hardcore Extreme! Kill me now is right! 70min of sweaty brutality. I'm proud of ya ;)
Toni
Welcome here!
I just did Step Blast last week and of course I love it. I hated complex step about 1 year ago, I almost gave up thinking it just was not for me. I'm glad I kept on practicing. Nothing is funner than some of Cathe's complex step workouts. Do you have 4DS? Her high/low step choreo has been the hardest for me so far, but I'm gonna nail it one day.
I always though the same about JM and her pants lol. I have secretly wanted her to do a tuck jump and have them fall off :D. But of course, Jillian does not jump in her video's.

Have a rockin' day ladies :)
 
Good morning! Last night I did Muscle Max for the first time. I did as many pushups as I could on my toes and then switched to my knees. I believe I did 8 consecutive, took a quick break, and then did some more. I am not sure at what point I switched to knees since I was trying to keep up. I did use the Cathe Worksheets though and they helped me plan for the workout. I am going to add some more information to them or else create weight workouts in the workout manager that will use my 1RM values to figure out which weights I need to use. I am thinking Muscle Endurance should be 60-65% and Muscle Max 70-75%. The reps in Muscle Endurance kinda match the reps in Meso #1 and the reps in Muscle Max match Meso #2 which is how I came up with those values.

The comments about JM are too funny. I wish she would do the workouts too. I never really paid much attention but not that you all mention it her workout pants are low! It's more for show though since she mostly just walks around and talks.

By the way, I came across some web postings from people were finding the 90 Day Supreme workout system super cheap at Ross. I looked at one and struck out. However, the one by Kumon had it! $6.99 for the entire set...not a bad deal at all!

Toni
I wasn't able to do a lot of the high impact moves either without my knees killing me until recently. I took the plunge and bought some knee braces from Target and now I can do almost everything without having any knee pain. It's been super nice! Maybe they would help you too? I used to have some knee pain even from doing the step workouts. It's been sooooo much better now.

Kara
I think you are right that the road trips to NJ are in the summer. I think they have the workouts in the health club where Cathe teaches classes as well. Maybe a ticket from the Cities to Newark, NJ wouldn't be that expensive with the new agreement between United and Continental. I am not exactly sure though where in NJ the road trip takes places at so maybe Newark wouldn't be the best airport.

Hardcore Extreme is...well...hardcore! Good for you for tackling it!

HeartyMax
I have only done a couple JM workouts but I agree with you -- there is no way I could do her stuff for an entire rotation. I couldn't even bring myself to break away from Cathe to do P90x!

GS is on the docket for next week...I am looking forward to it. I am going to do every single one of those pushups on my toes even if I have to pause the DVD player for an hour to get them done. Once again, your pushup counts are amazing!

Jennifer
Sorry to hear about your hysterectomy. I hope you are feeling much better now and that the reason for it wasn't too serious.

Natty
Road trip!!!!! I am not sure which part of Canda you are in but maybe you could pick up Kara along the way? Just kidding! I used to love road trips -- they are not as enjoyable any more with my son. It's just too hard for little kids to sit that long. Maybe you could take the train though? The train is such a nice ride if you are in first class. You get a bed, hot showers, free juice, water, & coffee, and all the meals are included. Plus you get to see the countryside. It's a lot slower though and takes a lot more time.

It is sad when they get bigger and then you realize they aren't a baby any more. Although, to be honest, I still think of my son kinda like a baby. He still as the chubby cheeks and baby hands. Some days I want him to stay little forever.


See ya later everyone!
 
Hey everybody!!

Today was Muscle Endurance. I was supposed to do TBT the total body premix, but I wanted to go for something a bit shorter. This was my first time with Muscle Endurance. That workout is a beast!! I did good with the leg segments, but the biceps segment just about killed my forearms, which I found to be most odd! I definitely need to do this one for a couple weeks to get the hang of it and improve in several areas.

Mini-Natty
We just finished up summer shopping for my daughter. Still need a few things for my son. Yes they do grow fast. And the bigger they get the higher the bill for the clothes...Ha! And I'm a sucker for buying my daughter too many shoes. Thank goodness for Payless!!

HeartyMax
How do you like the GS UB workouts? Do you know how many calories you burn with those? I need to justbteybthem out to get over my mental block!

Trstacie
I love MM. That band is what does it for me! I've thought about the knee brace, but every time I look at getting one I feel so OLD..LOL! I will pick one up this weekend. I LOVE IMAX3, but it's difficult to fit in at times because of the knee issues.
 
Good evening everyone :)

Today's w/o was Imax 3 (step, no blasts) + hiit 30/30 = 60min of sweat here, there and everywhere! I've tried to do steady state cardio after hiit and it never worked, I was just too fatigued by that point. Imax 3 step portion was great, not too hard (cardio-wise) and my legs were spared for the high intensity to follow. (BTW, I was going to do 40/20 but I just couldn't bring myself to press play. I wussed out big time).

Stacie
You know what, I really love Muscle Max. I always feel so worked and accomplished after it. STS TB has not made me feel that way unfortunately. My lower back is always sore the day after it. Something (or some exercise) is aggravating it but I'm not sure what.
I have Supreme 90-Day and really like it! I was alternating between those workouts and Cathe's during rotations where I did not have a particular Cathe workout. No nonsense, simple, effective, strength and cardio w/o's. I like Tom Holland too, he is super cool. Tabata Inferno is no joke! Tough, tough, like 40/20 or CCC tough. Actually I think it may be a bit more intense. You get no rest, just 10 sec between exercises during the circuits.
I would love to pick up Kara for the RT if it was along the way. I'm closer to Buffalo though, 1 1/2hr drive and I think she's more west :(
Toni
You can call me Natasha, Natty, Nat , Tash, whatever!
Payless is awesome. I just bought my daughter (and myself ha ha) a pair of shoes BOGO.
Muscle Endurance is a beast. The bicep section is no joke. Although for me every bicep section is tough, that's my weak spot :(. Sore forearms are normal, especially with barbell curls.

Have a great night ladies :)
 
Hi everyone,

I've been trying to catch up on all the updates. Sounds like everybody is doing well. Heartymax, you are a push-up rock star. And an inspiration. All of you ladies are! I don't know how you do it.

Susan - happy anniversary! And congrats on the road trip. I'm so happy that you got to attend even though you didn't get much time with Cathe. And as a fellow introvert, I know how exhausting those types of things can be. It's always worth it, but man is it draining! Does Cathe only lead workouts that don't involve equipment? (Steps, weights, bands, etc.) Or do people bring their own stuff or does Cathe supply some equipment? I've always thought it would be an awesome experience.

Toni - Welcome to the group! Your starting point is fantastic. I think I'm the most push-up-challenged member of the group coming in at a whopping 5 consecutive push-ups off my toes. But I'm almost to 6 & I started at 3. So it's progress. The ladies here are very supportive & I'm sure you will reach your goals before you know it!

Well, I finished the Nov LIS rotation on Sun. I really enjoyed that one but I'm also excited to start the Feb 12 LB rotation on Mon. And guess what? I got body max 2!!! It kicks off the rotation & I can't wait. This week I've mostly been doing some stretching & walking outside. The weather has been beautiful here. Tonight I did a workout from "Rockin' Body" - a beachbody DVD that my friend gave me. OH MY. It was pretty cheesy. But it's a dance-based workout so I had some fun with it. My husband peeked his head into the room after I started it & asked, "What are you doing?! That doesn't sound like Cathe!" Ha.

Keep up the good work everyone!
Dana
 
Howdy people. :D

Today's workout was horrendous. You know how you have a plan for which workout to do and then that plan gets blown out of the water? Yup. That's what happened to me. I have been itching to do "The Viper" from the Terminator DVD for a while now. So today was the day. I was super excited about doing a circuit workout with ME's upper body weights. Well, the description on the back of the DVD box is wrong. Maybe it's just my box?! So I got 15 mins into the workout and then Cathe begins doing the leg exercises from ME. ARGGGGHHHH! It was all I could do not to take my shoe off and throw it at the screen. I was in no mood to do a leg circuit workout what-so-ever. So rather than suffering through the rest of it, I just took the DVD out and popped in LIC instead. I skipped the warmup and did 30 mins of that workout. So 15 mins of The Viper and 30 mins of LIC. Total of 45 mins. Note to self: put a little post-it note on the back of my Terminator box so I don't make this mistake again!! :confused::eek: On the upside I love-love-love LIC. One of my fave's. So my "horrendous" workout ended on a happy note.

Sorry to cut you all short yesterday. Time sure flies when I'm on the forums. One minute it's such-and-so time and the next time I look at the clock 10 hours have flown by. :p It's all because of you gals, though, and other nice people whose posts I've read. You sure make the forums fun!

To keep current, I'll try to just comment on the most recent posts:

Dana -- Good questions to Susan about the equipment needed at the roadtrip (steps, weights, etc). I was wondering the exact same thing. Great minds think alike! I hope Susan answers your questions and thus can answer mine, too! :p So happy you are now the proud owner of BM2! Yay! The arm workout in that DVD is magical, as are the premixes. You'll love it! PS - great job on your pushups!

Toni -- I, too, love ME! I've been doing it a lot this month. Once a week for the past 3 weeks. I'm doing my own rotation right now based off of fitnessfreak's "get ready for summer rotation" where I do one TB workout, one circuit, 3 cardio, one legs and a rest day. I have some extra body fat to lose, so that's why I went with that type of rotation. I agree with you on the bicep work on ME - it is killer! My forearms always burn during and after the rowing exercises in ME. Cathe says "your weight is too heavy if your forearms are burning," but I use the same weight she does. Clearly, I have more work to do! :p I've had great results with ME for the 3 times I've done it as of late, so you might want to give it a try. I feel like queen of the world when I can plow through all those bicep curls!

Stacie -- I'm so glad you brought up the worksheets. I used to use those in the past when I did my own little GS rotation, but haven't for quite a while. Plum forgot about them, I guess. I'll have to bring them out again though. Always nice to know what's coming next, what weight to use, etc. How did you like MM? That was my first "weight" workout by Cathe and so it will always have a happy place in my heart. It is a toughie and since I've done it enough times I always zone out and think about other stuff. I even say what Cathe is going to say before she even says it. Ha! :) Good job on the pushups. She does 2 sets of 12 in MM, I believe. I always feel if I can do them all on my toes, I'm doing something right. It's been a while since I have though as the last few times I've done MM, I wasn't "feeling it."

Natty -- Ok. I'm officially hungry now and it's 11:30pm. Thanks!! :rolleyes: I read what you said about your food court - love! We've gotten 3 new food places in our mall as of late, but nothing as wonderful as that "cultures" place you spoke of. Sounds awesome! Good job on increasing your poundage for STS TB! So proud of you! I hear you on buying kids bigger clothes and them outgrowing the "toddler" section. Been there, done that. Oh, yeah. I've been meaning to ask you how you like Target? I think you mentioned a while back about you getting one near you. Did it open yet? I love our "bullseye boutique." :D I was just there tonight in fact.

Susan -- Thanks for the info about the NJ roadtrip. I don't know which I would prefer - the more intimate setting and more time to chat up fellow roadtrippers or the bigger crowd and more personal downtime (like what you experienced in Chicago). I tend to get overwhelmed if I have to talk and talk and talk to people all weekend. That totally makes me sound like a crazy person, but I do cherish my alone time. I dunno though. If I ever go on a roadtrip - and mark my words I will! - I think I will just throw caution to the wind and just talk to everyone and be the life of the party! Ahem ....... :p;) (haha-groan). I think about my most beloved, closest friends in real life and if I make a list in my head they number about 7 or 8. Quality friends versus quantity friends. That's how I've always felt.

One final shopping-related tidbit. I've been looking and looking and looking (and looking some more) for a pair of comfortable, cute, stappy, black heels for my brother's wedding coming up in June. Not too high. And the heel not too skinny. I bought a pair of black peep toe pumps (Nine West brand) because I could not find anything and these were the next best thing, but definitely not "summery" or as summery as I had hoped. I had all but given up on finding anything that met my stringent criteria. But lo and behold, when you stop looking, that's when you find what you want. Squee! So now the heels I bought yesterday match the image I had in my head and I couldn't be happier. Funny how it works like that!! :)

Have a great day everyone!
KARA
 
Toni----I don't own Muscle Endurance but you definitely make it sound enticing! Got my wallet on hold for the rest of the year since I purchased a Sole elliptical in February and we have a vacation in June. I do love Muscle Max----it is a great workout. I love the leg presses with the band. GS fries your biceps so if anyone has both can you tell me if you get more DOMS from ME or GS? I don't know how many calories GS burns, but my body has been sore this week---in a good way;)

Natty--loved your mix and match workout yesterday.

Dana You are making good progress with your push ups. Like you said, you are practically at 6 which means you have increased 50%. Increasing the total number is our common goal. You are rocking right now. Keep it up. Trust me----it wasn't that long ago that I couldn't do a single push up on my toes. Like you, I committed to improving---got dedicated and stayed focused.

Stacie I too try to figure out how to use the 1RM percentages for the other workouts. GS seems to have 3 sets of 12 reps and with little break in between. I am trying to keep my weights at about 70%. I find that I am able to lift heavier than what Cathe is doing for some of them, the same for some of the exercises and struggle to do the same as she does for others so it really varies for me. I think my muscles get exhausted because it moves so fast and exhaust each muscle group before moving on.

This morning was the Step Only Premix from Cardio Fusion (48 minutes).
 
Hi everyone,
Yesterday was my rest day, and my shoulder was feeling so much better. Today was Lower Body Blast, which I thought was perfect in light of my shoulder issue. I did fine in the workout (that is the most fun LB workout I have, probably means it’s too easy). Then I went on to do some 1RM tests, and picking up two 20 lb dumbbells irritated my shoulder. Then it seemed fine. I went upstairs and took of my socks. I don’t know what I did, but my shoulder is killing me. If I had to guess, it seems my shoulder is popping in and out of the socket. Is that possible? Anybody know what that means? I have got to take it easy, which is going to be very hard, especially following this intense rotation, but I am guessing I am not going to finish it as planned. I will need to stay away from upper body, so there goes BodyMax (the original) for Saturday. Not sure if I can even do any of the MMAs on the schedule . :(

Natty – I would say Cathe is 5’2” at best. She is quite petite. And it is amazing how she nails those lateral jumps in CCC. I am 5’7” so I can’t even attempt to blame my height, but I totally would if I could! Great job on increasing your weights in STS TB, that is awesome in such a short time! I completely relate to your disappointment moving to the big kid section. I felt the exact same way. It was even worse when they moved out of the 4-6x section. It reminded me they were growing up, while at the same time making me buy clothes that weren’t so cute. Where are the princesses?????

Dana – congrats on the pushups. You have nearly doubled your count, that is an accomplishment to be proud of for sure! For the RT, Cathe and crew bring the gear. There was no step, but I believe at past destination RTs there were. There was an uproar before the RT as people were very vocal about their disappointment. I was disappointed as well, since step is my favorite Cathe thing to do, but I kept quiet, it wasn’t going to change anything. So at the RT, she brought disks, 5lb dumbbells, resistance tubing and firewalker loops.

Kara – The Terminator box is wrong everywhere, but there are only a few leg segments in the Viper. I haven’t done the viper in a while, but I would always do it following a leg workout and skip the leg segments. It is still a very long workout. Sometimes I would repeat some of the upper body exercises if I was in the mood. Don’t give up on it, it’s a great cardio UB workout. Don’t let that leg section make you discard it! I think I preferred the downtime at this RT too. I work much better one on one, and have very few close friends. I would say 2 very good friends, 4-5 not so close friends.

I am supposed to do a 30 minute steady state run at lunch (but I will do some step DVD to replace it). Not sure if I will do it or not. I may try to see my chiropractor today. He has a long history in Sports Medicine so I have a feeling he will be able to help me with this shoulder.

Have a great day everyone!
 
Good morning everyone :)

It's DH's birthday today and so Bella and I are going to make him a cake (Betty Crocker lol. I can't bake :eek:). She loves mixing and eating the batter and icing (ha ha so do I of course) and it's fun, even if it ends up looking and tasting like crap :eek:.

Today's w/o is Turbo Barre, or should I call it Turbo Fire Thighs & Buns. Good stuff!

Susan
Oh man, I had no idea your shoulder injury was that serious :(. I'm SO sorry. Here I was talking about STS :eek:. It is possible the shoulder is popping in/out of the socket, but only a doctor can confirm that. Don't get discouraged, time and therapy will help tremendously. I was in a car accident about 2 years ago and with lots of Physical Therapy, Acupuncture and Massage, my back, neck and shoulders recovered almost to 100%. Take it easy (I know it's frustrating). Let us know what your chiropractor says.
Kara
I loved reading about your "bad" workout turned "good". Everyone has a story like that.
Target is coming this year, not sure exactly when though. I'm excited!
Your shoe dilemma sounds way too familiar. That's me, all the time, looking for something that is damn near impossible or does not exist (of course this only happens when you are looking to buy). I'm glad you got your happy ending. Shoe shopping can really pi$$ you off if you can't find the perfect pair.
Dana
Great job in finishing the LIS rotation! You must feel so awesome.
You are going to LOVE Feb '12 rotation. Everyone that has done it, has loved their results.
I'm jealous of you and BM2. I have the original but everyone has so much love for 2. Let me know how much you enjoy it.
I enjoyed your story about the cheesy dancing w/o. Too funny :)

Have a great day everyone :)
 
Good morning everyone! Last night was Susan's all time favorite workout Intensity ;). I had planned to do the entire thing but decided to cut out part of the high impact Hiit. I just didn't feel like jumping around any more. I liked the low impact Hiit -- I wish she had more DVDs like this.

Toni
I had to smile about your comment on the knee braces. I felt the same way about it! I just finally got tired of having to make modifications everywhere and have the knee pain even after simple step workouts. I wanted to do the the Hiits as well and so I finally just bit the bullet. Btw, I actually have two pairs -- one has an open knee and one has a closed knee. I would prefer to use the open knee one but it doesn't have straps and it slides down constantly during the cardio workouts. The other one has straps and it stays in place much better. I think Sports Authority has some open knee ones with straps but then can get pretty expensive.

Kara
Hooray for getting new strappy shoes! I am a strappy shoe kinda girl too!

Sorry to hear about your annoying workout. I too hate when I have to change the workout in the middle of it! I am glad you were able to turn it around!

BTW, the worksheets I downloaded only included the Cathe workouts up to 2007. Do you know if there is a new version out there somewhere? I might check through the forum and see if anyone has updated them with the new workouts.


Susan
I think you are wise to go get your shoulder checked out if you can today...especially with STS coming up. I would hate to see you get injured. I know it's hard to make the time with kids and work and etc but it might be worth it in the long run. I hope it feels better soon!

HeartyMax
I think it would be awesome if Cathe's team would set up all the weight workouts in the Workout Manager like they do in STS. It's so nice to have that grid where you can see all the reps, the weights to use, the actual reps performed and the actual weights used. I am going to try to do something like that by creating my own weight workout just to use for tracking stuff like that. Thanks for the info about GS. I will keep your 70% rule in mind when I start the series which is actually in 2 weeks (not 1 week like I said in earlier post).

Natty
I liked Muscle Max. The only part that kinda bothered me was doing the leg presses with the band. It actually made my back hurt while doing them. Maybe I wasn't standing upright enough. I think next time I will just do those with dumbbells. The rest of it was fine. I liked Muscle Endurance too but she moved really quickly through weight changes. I felt I had to pause the DVD quite a bit.

I remembered you talking about the Supreme 90 Day workout some time ago. I had forgotten all about it until it popped up when I was looking at the JM workouts on Amazon. Have you ever done the entire program? On the reviews I was read, they said the workouts were pretty short. Do you know how long they are?

Have fun making the cake! My son loves to bake and cook! He gets crazy with the mixer though and sometimes batter is flying everywhere but it's worth it to see the happy smile on his face. If he hears the mixer, he will come running into the kitchen to see what I am making.

Dana
That was pretty funny about your husband commenting on not doing a Cathe video! My son was really weirded out when I put the first JM DVD in. He asked a ton of questions about who she was and why I wasn't doing a Cathe video! LOL. Congrats on getting BM2! I love the step portions and music in that workout!

Have a good day everyone!
 
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