Question about Rotations

[RBurke]

Ladies,
I have been neglecting to set up any type of rotation for myself for a while. I am afraid that I will get bored if I force myself to stick to some kind of set schedule. But, I have seen very little improvement (body fat is exactly the same, clothes fit the same, same weight). Typically, I do the following schedule

Monday - A.M. Cardio. Either 30 min elliptical trainer or a Cathe tape (Not PS Series)
Tuesday - A.M. Cardio (different from Monday like walking or taebo), P.M. strength training (gym or PS Back, Biceps and Abs)
Wednesday - A.M. Cardio
Thursday - P.M. strength (PS or gym Shoulders, Chest, Tris)
Friday - usually off but sometimes A.M. cardio
Saturday - A.M. Cardio, A.M. Strength (legs)
Sunday - off

So, what is wrong? Should I try to make a rotation? I am not happy with my progress. However, my arms are getting much bigger but aren't defined. Just bigger. Will the definition come later?

My diet looks like this on a typical day:

Breakfast - Once package of instant oatmeal with water and green tea (150 cal)
Snack - 1/2 meso tech bar or luna bar (170 cal)
Lunch - Left overs from night before of frozen dinner (300-350 calories)
Snack - popcorn (low fat smart snack) and a piece of fruit
Snack again - 1/2 meso tech bar or Luna
Dinner - Fish, Chicken, Lean red meat with some kind of carb like sweet potato, brown rice, red potato, with veggies like asparagus, broccoli, carrots, squash. I have a glass of sweet tea as well (I am Southern what can I say) 300-400 cal.
Snack - if I am starving, I have a piece of toast or a glass of milk (skim)

My typical day is about 1500 to 1800 calories. I am sedentary at work. I get about 50-75 grams of protein per day as well. I try to get enough fiber but I often fail. I drink lots of water.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would like rotation suggestions. I squat about 50-60 pounds, I do 15 pound preacher curls for biceps and 10 lb hammer curls, I bench press 20 lb dumbells for chest and about 50-60 barbell press, I do 20 lb dumbells for back rows, I do 10 lb dumbells for tricep kickback and 30 lbs for the press. I do 15 lb dumbells for shoulder press. I do other stuff but this might give you an idea of where I am. Thanks for the help.

 

[RBurke]

Moving up.

 

[KathyH]

Hi RBurke! From what I see of your rotation now you really need to shake things up a bit in order for your clothes to get looser. You have the nutrition down pat so that's not it. Cathe gave someone else 3 really good rotations which I'm going to implement myself. Stay on these rotations for only 5 weeks. Measure yourself BEFORE you start these rotations. After the 5th week measure yourself again and compare. See if there's been any difference. I just betcha there will be. Here they are:

Rotation #1:
Mon: Step Works
Tues: Body Max
Wed: Step Max
Thurs: OFF
Fri: MIS
Sat: MIC
Sun: Circuit Max

Rotation #2:
Mon: Cardio Kicks
Tues: PS BBA
Wed: Interval Max
Thurs: OFF
Fri: PS Legs and Abs
Sat: PS CST plust 30 min. walk/run
Sun: CTX 10-10-10 (cardio only)

Rotation #3:
Mon: CTX (your choice)
Tues: CTX (")
Wed: CTX Power Circuit
Thurs: OFF
Fri: CTX (your choice)
Sat: CTX (")
Sun: CTX Leaner Legs

See what you think of these. I don't know what tapes you have but try this. Let us know of your progress. Good luck! Kathy

 

[RBurke]

Hi. Thanks for the response!
I only have the pure strength series minus MIS, step fit, step max, stepworks, cardio kicks, step jam, step heat, bodymax, IMAX and MIC. I have several taebo tapes. I can do weight training at the gym and at home. I have several dumbells and a barbell. I hope to get the CTX series for Christmas. I have been told not to order any more Cathe tapes. I don't know if I am getting some or if I have been cut off because I am running out of places to put them. My husband counted them and asked me how much they cost. He was shocked that I had spent so much on video tapes. I told him to get over it. He wants a fit wife right? I will try these rotations and modify where necessary for the missing tapes. Hopefully, by time I finish the first rotation, I will have the CTX series. Thanks again. Any more suggestions are welcome!

 

[debmac]

Hi Kathy H,

I started using these 3 rotations this week. (well, I mean, I started the FIRST of the 3 rotations, )

I had a question about them and was wondering if you might be able to help me out.

In the 1st rotation, Cathe mentioned which specific cardio tapes to do (i.e. StepMax, StepWorks, and MIC). Do you think it'd be OK to substitute others such as StepFit, PowerMax, and any of the other step tapes? I was thinking of maybe switching back and forth between more intense cardios (i.e., StepWorks) and less intense cardios (i.e., StepMax) on the days that a cardio workout is called for.

Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Debbie

 

[Lex411]

Your eating schedule and plan seem pretty good, very clean and healthy. What I see that could be changed and make a tremendous difference is the order in which you do your cardio and weight training.

I used to work at a gym and I was knocking myself out doing cardio and then weight training about 5 times per week and I wasn't seeing much of a change in my body, even eating very healthy myself. One of the trainers, a female personal trainer/step intructor/amatuer bodybuilder (so she wasn't big, just really toned and buff) talked to me about nutrition and how the body accesses fuel during a workout. The first fuel your body will access is carbs stored as glycogen in the muscles, which is why long distance runners and triathletes will carbo load the day before a race. They want to load their muscles up with as much fuel as possible to keep energy consistent. After glycogen is depleted your body will tap into the protein stores, which isn't as efficient a fuel as carbs, it takes excreting water to make use of protein and it makes for a better building block for muscles and tissues than a fuel for energy. The last thing your body will tap into is fat stores. So when you do cardio first, you are depleting your carb and protein stores first and chances are by the time you get to accessing stored bodyfat you are almost done with you cardio. Then you go to weight training and there's no proper fuel left, just bodyfat, which is of no use to your muscles in terms of repairing and rebuilding muscles, which is the goal in weight training and how you get shape and size.

What most professional athletes tend to do nowadays is to train with weights first and then do cardio last. That way when you are lifting, your body has carbs and protein to use for fuel AND to repair and rebuild those muscles. And when they do cardio later, they have nothing left but bodyfat to burn. I followed that advice and within a month a saw a huge difference in my body. I study Kinesiology and sports nutrition and I can tell you that even if you do weights in the morning and then cardio hours later, at night, you still reap the same benefits in terms of accessing the proper fuel at the best time possible. This isn't to say you get no benefit out of doing it in the reverse order, just that you make the best use of your training time the way I described. It could also be that since most tapes, for over a decade, have done cardio and then weights, so your body adapts to that routine and shaking that order up aids in muscle confusion as well.

Most people find it difficult to switch the order if they're doing them back to back without break time in between. After you lift your muscles are fatigued and it's hard to jump around and do cardio, so it's perfectly acceptable to do the morning/evening split you seem to be doing already. I actually put my husband on this kind of rotation and his body changes have been pretty impressive already.

So that's one suggestion for you, take it or leave it. But at least now you know another way to go and change is always beneficial when trying to get results.

Keep up the good work, you are definitely on the right track, all it takes is a little fine tuning, diligence and willingness to change routines often.

Take care!

 

[samanthaeve10]

i wonder then, why there is always the cardio section at the beginning of fitness videos, as opposed to beginning with the weight training session, then cardio after. I have often wondered about this, and wonder if I should be doing cathes tapes (cxt series) backwards???-

 

[DebbieH]

I'm not sure...

...but I THINK this may be a fairly new concept?? Maybe Cathe will consider it in her new vids. I have been using this method on days when I am home & I can do my weight work 1st. & have started to see some good results. (Of course, it's probably a combo of that and the tapes being sooo good.) That is one great bonus of having DVD's. It is so easy to skip around. I also find that I feel energized when I go to do the cardio knowing my weight work is done. Must be those endorphins!! Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH

 

[Lex411]

I couldn't tell you honestly why most fitness pros don't put weights before cardio, a lot of people don't believe it makes a difference and it is a relatively new training technique. But if you look bakc at the first fitness videos, like Jane Fonda and Kathy Smith, they did some stretching (on cold muscles, no less) some kind of cardio, if any at all, and then to floorwork, which was like the precursot of weight training. Back in the late 70s/early 80s it wasn't mainstream or common at all for women to weight train and videos were aimed (marketing wise) at women. Even most men didn't weight train back then. So a type of formula was set in motion, warm up/cardio/cool down/floorwork/stretch. For the most part, the formula has kind of stuck.

I think the idea of training with weights before cardio has to become more mainstream and widely accepted before you'll see a change in the order of videos, since it's been that way for about 20 years. But I often look to what the top athletic trainers, working with the top pro teams, are doing because they are usually among the first to experiment and implement new tecnhiques. They have to constantly find new angles for training their athletes because they are in such incredible shape, their bodies adapt so quickly to routines they have to change up what they do all the time. Which means always exploring new ideas in sports nutrition and athletic training to stay a step ahead. Sort of the same way race cars tend to have the latest advances that will someday be standard in all cars, like antilock brakes, etc. So I tend to read a lot of books and materials aimed at athletes and their trainers.

Just as an additional bit of info to share, I also have found that drinking half a liter or so of water about 30 minutes before a workout, sipping water throughout (not guzzling) and drinking about a half to a full liter right after a workout, seems to keep me well hydrated, less fatigued and recover more quickly. Also having some carbs immediately after an intense workout, even if that's just a small glass of juice or some applesauce or half a Powerbar. So that's another tip I got from a pro trainer that really helped me out even as a home exerciser.

Take care everyone!