Put on the muscle?

Hey, that sounds great to me! I felt guilty doing two weeks heavy, two weeks light when so many others seemed to think several weeks of the same workouts was the best way to go.

When I first got into Cathe's workouts, I got the PS series and used them constantly for several months. I really got burned out on them. Now, I have a hard time sticking with one series for a long time. Rotating heavy and light within the same week (or week and a half...) will be great for keeping the workouts fresh and interesting. Time to do some planning!

By the way, Maribeth, I read a study was conducted that showed women saw better muscle gains when they did two 30 minute weight training sessions in a day instead of one 60 minute session. Why do you think that is?

Thanks,

Angela
 
Hi Maribeth:

And I thought you were a Cathe expert! :) Don't worry about my question if the answer isn't immediately clear.

Basically, by endurance I imagine you mean higher reps and lower weights, right? Looking through the Cathe site, I think I've figured out that Power Hour or Circuit Max might be a better endurance workout for me -- not to mention the new tape that's coming out.

Thanks again for your help. I'm looking forward to trying out this new approach.

- Jennifer
 
Hey everyone,

This has turned into a thread I could easily hijack here, so I'll try to be considerate! Although I consider myself pretty well educated on the basics, the specificity of designing workouts based on an individuals slow twitch/fast twitch fibers is pretty new to me and I am fascinated.

Maribeth, I really like your description of the meso-endo hybrid. I go back and forth as to whether I'm more one than the other. When I'm on the low end of my weight range I think I'm almost textbook meso but when I put on a few pounds (which I easily do if I'm not vigilent) it all goes to the butt/thighs/lower abs. Think Denise Austin with saddlebags!

Since you know I've been playing around with the whole periodization concept lately, can you give me an idea of how this heavy/light in the same week split would be incorporated into a micro/meso/macrocycle? Also, I wasn't exactly sure whether you were talking about a total body routine, an upper/lower body split, 3-day split, etc.... If I wanted to continue to use a 3-day split would I just make my microcycle like 9 or 10 days to accomodate 3 heavy, 3 light and a rest day or two?

I absolutely love this kind of information!! It totally feeds my inner control freak :).

FitnessRN
 
Kirkland is my married name. Most folks associate it with the "Kirklands" home interiors store, but unfortunately, there's no relation. :)
 
Maribeth
I am a Mesomorph and have a fairly good base already but want to get bigger and toned.
I have finished 12 wks on the T-top rotation and now 2nd week on slow & heavy.
I am trying to figure out what type of schedule I should be on.
I have the Power Hour,MIS,S&H and just got CTX.
Thank you
Lorene
 
Maribeth
I am a Mesomorph and have a fairly good base already but want to get bigger and toned.
I have finished 12 wks on the T-top rotation and now 2nd week on slow & heavy.
I am trying to figure out what type of schedule I should be on.
I have the Power Hour,MIS,S&H and just got CTX.
Thank you
Lorene
 
Sorry to butt in here, but I have a quick question about the first post. There isn't a rest day in her schedule. Shouldn't there be at least one day off from exercise so her body and mind can recover?

Seems like she's headed for a burnout if she tries to keep that pace for an extended period of time.

Just my 2 cents. Laura
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-18-02 AT 02:03AM (Est)[/font][p]Maribeth,

Thanks so much for the response. Here's a bit more info. on my body type... as I said I think I am a meso w/some endo tendancies but not absolutely positive. I tend to carry the wt. on my butt, belly and thighs. Anytime I lose weight I lose it in upper body first and then it slowly slides down to the rest. My butt and legs are always the last.

I have always had problems looking cut. Even when I have lost wt. before I always have problems with muscle tone!!!!!!!!! I tend to still be a bit soft regardless of the small size in inches :( When I get thin even though I am soft I tend to look a bit bony because of my petite bone size?? My collar bones stick out etc..... I really want to find a way to have cut muscles. I wuold rather have nice tone and muscles than be rail thin!!!!!!!!! Right now I am not close to either!!!!!! I just feel like a sausage - hee hee

I have extra fat all over after giving birth to my son. However, have more on my mid-section and butt/thighs. You are right in that I carry most fat over the large muscle groups. I haven't had cut, toned legs in soooo long I forget what they look like :( I have lots of fat around belly, thighs and of course booty.

I have been doing a S&H rotation (am in 3rd wk) and have already noticed a reduction in terms of inches in even my legs as well as my arms etc.. I have seen tremendous strength gains and have had to up my wts. I am also starting to see increase in definition and mass. I am even starting to get a nice bulge in my bicep. My shoulders are looking and feeling stronger too and definitely are getting more mass.

I think part of my problem is also diet. I need to find a way to really stick to a clean diet full of protein. I tend to not eat meat enough and know I eat to many carbs unless I really work on it. I really notice that when I am true to my diet the wt. seems to fall off rather quickly:)

I love cardio and do it at least 5 times a week:)

Do you think I should do S&H for 3 or 4 weeks? I am currently getting ready to start the 3rd. Do you have any recommendations for what rotation to do after S&H? I have almost ALL CAthe vids.

I appreciate your advice sooooooo much as I am getting so frustrated because I am working so hard on this but just feel I am not doing the RIGHT things.

Would it help if I sent you a couple pics of my ugly bod?

-Pammer http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/sport/sport001.gif
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-13-02 AT 12:51PM (Est)[/font][p]Maribeth, I'm confused. I'm posting under Pammer, cuz I'm her opposite. I'm an ecto/endo who has weight to lose. For Pammer, you recommend..."a strength program that optimizes the size of your slow twitch fibers and relies a bit more on cardio to burn off excess fat vs a program that will maximize the size of both slow and fast twitch fibers in these regions."

So, should I do the opposite? Concentrate mostly on cardio and fast twitch fibers (slow/heavy reps)?

Thanks in advance for your time.

Robin http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_klein_1/flower.gif
 
Hey, Robin,
Clarify for me--when you say you are an ecto/endo, do you mean that you tend to have long thin limbs and a heavier trunk? Then tell me what your goals are and we can see what might work best for you.
Maribeth
 
Hi, Maribeth, I appreciate your quick response.:-jumpy

Yes, after 3 kids, I have a couple of sizes worth of extra fat on my trunk. Before kids I was always very thin, with long skinny limbs, but untoned.

I've been lifting wts. (Firm/Cathe/misc. tapes) for 1.5 yrs. New muscle does not come easily for me. I'd just like to drop this extra 15 or so lbs and would love to really build up some muscles that you can actually see!

Thanks again.:D

Robin http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_klein_1/flower.gif
 
Robin,
Since gaining muscle is hard for you, what you will want to concentrate on is maximizing the size of all your muscle fibers. This will mean doing sets of 6-8 reps and sets of 12-15 reps, all with a resistance level high enough that the last rep of the set is the final one you could do and still maintain strict form.

You will also want to spend the bulk of your exercising time on resistance training. Your hard earned muscle mass increases will be well worth the work, especially in terms of elevating your metabolic rate, which will make big differences in losing any excess storage fat.

This isn't to say don't do cardio at all, but prioritize resistance work. I think you'll be pleased with the results!
Maribeth
 
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