Question about barbells and weights used

kathydaffy

kathydaffy

Cathlete
Hi!

First off, I apologize for having to ask these questions but I'm pretty new to Cathe (4 months) and just bought a barbell because a lot of the DVDs of hers use one and I wanted to make sure I was getting the most benefit.

My problem is that my barbell weighs 14 pounds and I can't begin to gauge what Cathe and the group are using in a lot of the workouts, especially High Reps and Lift it Hiit it. It looks like their barbells weight a LOT less then 14 pounds! I can adjust since my boyfriend has plates of differing weights but I would appreciate ANY advice or help.

I'll be starting STS mesocycle 1 once I have a full month available and would greatly welcome suggestions! Thank you from a new Cathe fan, albeit one that is a bit clueless! :)
 
We've used several different types of barbells through the years, but they usually weigh around 4 to 5 lbs.
 
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I must have the same type barbell as you Daffy because mine weighs 15#. I suggest doing the one rep max to determine the weight you can lift. I never did the one rep max and just put on weight I could lift until I felt it was too much or I couldn't lift it, pretty much listening to my body.
 
dbclark said:
I must have the same type barbell as you Daffy because mine weighs 15#. I suggest doing the one rep max to determine the weight you can lift. I never did the one rep max and just put on weight I could lift until I felt it was too much or I couldn't lift it, pretty much listening to my body.
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LOL @ Daffy! The barbell I bought was a CAP and yeah it's a bit heavy... not much weight is needed to find my 1 rep max! I wish I had something lighter for High Reps, though. I can use the barbell for the lower body but have to use dumbbells for the upper part. I'm doing the same thing as you for everything else. :)
 
kathydaffy said:
LOL @ Daffy! The barbell I bought was a CAP and yeah it's a bit heavy... not much weight is needed to find my 1 rep max! I wish I had something lighter for High Reps, though. I can use the barbell for the lower body but have to use dumbbells for the upper part. I'm doing the same thing as you for everything else. :)
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I did however, break down and buy a few body bars to use when I just don't feel like messing with the barbell. I bought a 10-12-15# body bar and find them a lot more convenient to use sometimes than that barbell.
 
I should do the same but will stick to dumbbells for now - not strong enough yet! My boyfriend has a two curling bars... wondering if those would be helpful? :p
 
@kathydaffy

I suggest you do your one rep max fully before starting meso 1. Rest time is 30 second and it goes fast.
Too many pause could defeat the purpose the program was made for.:);)

Regardless of your barbell weight just select the weight you could lift safely holding a good form.
Just as many reps as you can while testing your rep max and select the rep at the failure rep.
When you are doing 10 reps for example, your last 2-3 reps should be a struggle while keeping the tension!:)
ATB
 
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Thanks for the question, I was wondering the same thing - especially for the High Reps workout which I really love to do.
However even with the answer the admin gave you about the weight of the bar itself it still isn't clear how much weight Cathe is adding on to the bar in this workout. It's strange because the dumbbell weight she uses is posted but not the barbell weight. I find that having that info is really helpful to gauge where I should start(less than Cathe!).
 
AlanaE, I wondered that exact thing. I just got High Reps, and as always, I watch it once before I do the workout. It'd be helpful to see where to start. I even tried pausing the video to see if I could read the weight on the plates, but no luck.
 
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