Question for my "Bud", Aquajock

A

Amadeus

Cathlete
Hey Annette,

Hope you don't mind me asking you this (too late if you do) but,
I know for a fact that you are looking pretty buff. Yes, Ladies and gentlemen, Annette has the coveted "Cathe Arms".

What I'd like to pick your intelligent brain about is this: How much actual time do you spend working out? Has the length of time shortened as you've met your goals? A post by Maribeth, our other bud, got me thinking that maybe more is not necessarily more when comes to exercise. I think she said she does not workout more than 60 minutes a day. Are you in that boat too?

I had been working 90 minutes 3 days a week, and an hour 3 days a week (I don't do math). I'm thinking if I could just train smarter, maybe I could cut down on my overall time spent and still see the same results.

FYI: My goals are to lose these "last ten pounds" and add muscle. I am a hard gainer. Ideally working out (from warm-up to cooldown) NO MORE than 60 minutes daily 6 times a week.

My schedule is changing and I've begun painting again. I just won't have time for everything.

Hoping I can get my aqua butt-kicked again soon!;-)


Julie

PS-I hope like heck you've got pennant fever as bad as I do! I think the Minnesota Twins are the ULTIMATE Cinderella story. It is just SO awesome to see a bunch of kids that nobody gave the time of day come in and play some serious ball. '87 and '91 all over again. I LOVE it!:-jumpy :-jumpy :-jumpy :-jumpy :-jumpy
 
Hey, Miss Amadeus! Good to hear from you again, and thank you for your flattering words! I do hope to see youse again poolside someday soon!

First things first: I am a total ignoramorus when it comes to pro sports of any kind; I just know that all these big Twins games have created massive traffic snarls downtown! That being said, I hope the Twins win, but I don't hope their victory adds fuel to the new stadium fervor, to which I am adamantly opposed.

On to more fun topics:

I work out 5 times per week, and take off Tuesdays and Fridays. My Wed. p.m. workout is my aqua class, the gist of which you've already gotten. My Sat. a.m. workout is also my aqua class, and then I put in another 90 minutes or so in the pool (flutter kick drills, treading water, long-lever leg stuff, another ab set and another upper body set), more to clean the cr@p out of my brain from the workweek than to add to energy expenditure. My waterwork, with the constant submaximal resistance throughout the whole range of motion, is more than sufficient for muscle endurance work; thus I don't have to worry about that piece in my land workouts.

I do land workouts Sun. a.m., Mon. p.m. and Thurs. p.m. I-Max is a given on Sundays, and then I do a leg circuit workout on Mon. nites and I'm into the MIC hi/lo + StepIntervals interval segment on Thurs. nites. After the cardio stuff I do about 10 minutes of barbell squats / lunges (presuming I haven't done a circuit workout), 10 minutes abs (usually a la Cathe), and then upper body. On mon. and Thurs. nites my upper body set takes about 30 minutes; on Sundays I like to add drop sets onto each exercise, which adds about another 20-25 minutes. I like to do a 15-minute stretch at the end of each workout, but i don't really count that as real work time.

I'd estimate that 45 minutes of each workout is cardio time, pool or land. The rest is muscle stuff. I'd also bet that I'm doing more than I truly "need" to develop and maintain muscle mass as well as current lean mass : bodyfat ratio (and yes, I do pay attention to that). I simply enjoy that which I do, and I must say that psychologically as well as physically it helps to have 2 rest days rather than just one.

I hope this answers your question. I don't know if there's any magic formula for scheduling and goal-achievement. I do know that I don't give a hoot what I weigh; I care what I can do, and how much heavier I can do it. Just my $.02, from a former cardio addict who lived to see the light.

Catcha later! Thanks again!

A-jock
 
Hi Julie,
I agree with you about Annette having those Cathe arms. Good question that you posted-I would like to know too.

I watched the game last night from the 7th inning. Very exciting! My husband might go to the game tonight-I wish I could go with.

Joanne
 
Annette:

I always like to read your post for sensible and motivating words of wisdom.

Can I ask you if you would mind getting personal and explaining your last comment in this post about "cardio addict who lived to see the light"?

What did your program used to consist of? What made you see the light? How did you go abut yor transformation? How uch better do you feel now as a result of drpping the "cardio addiction" and how do you notice this improvement?

Not because I intend to follow you slavishly, because as you say in your post, you do what maakes you feel good, and obviously what makes us feel good varies as individuals. But, I am interested in the fitness journey of others and how I might profit from their experience.

Thank you in advance for your time taken to respond, and cheers!

Clare
 
RE: Hi, Clare!

The reason I referred to myself as a "cardio addict" was primarily that before summer 2000, my forays into strength training were exclusively upper body, far more sporadic and only once per week. Four out of my 5 workouts per week were my aqua classes, and as much as I'm a devotee of aqua as a cross-training mode, even I know that the true strength and mass gains achievable in the water are very finite. Aqua is great for cardio and muscle endurance (if you know how to do it right), but it is only minimally effective for strength / mass unless you are totally new to exercise.

In the summer 2000 my club had to close the pool where I taught my evening classes for about 6 weeks, and that hiatus brought me to doing far more land workouts and bringing in lifting in each of those workouts, INCLUDING leg stuff. Stark, fast progress. I then decided to change to another club to instruct, and then only one evening class, which gave me more time to do land and total body strengthening. That, BTW, is the era in which I discovered La Cathe.

And prior even to my becoming an aqua-phile (pre 1997), I did power walking, swimming, Nordic Track, and cardio-based vids; again, very little strength training.

Since 1997, the changes in my physique all over have been profound, AND I've noticed a distinct change in my appetite since I've plastered on some good solid lean meat - I have far less of a craving for sugar, I let my bod tell me what it wants (including consciously increasing bioavailable proteins more often) and how much of it it wants . . . thus I'm far less apt to eat out of habit or emotion and far more apt to eat out of a need for fuel and specific substrates.

I must say, too, that as I've increased my strength training in terms of frequency, duration and intensity, my LOVE of strength training, the practice of it, has increased as has my psychological comfort level. That's a blessing, because strength training used to scare me even as I was doing it.

I hope that answers your question, and thank you for your flattering words!

Annette Q. Aquajock
 
Another ?

Are your upper body workouts splits, or do you work all upper body muscles each time? It sounds like you do this on your own (no vid). For some reason I can't seem to push myself during weight training when I do it on my own. Are you working out at home or a gym?

Andrea
 
RE: Another ?

Ok, I really had to laugh Julie when you said "Yes, ladies and gentlemen, our very own Annette has Cathe arms"..............AS IF we didn't already KNOW that!!!! Really it comes as no suprise to me!!

All I can say Annette is that I would KILL to come to one of your water aerobics classes. I think the low impact intensity sounds like it is right up my alley. I am just thousands of miles away!!:(

I love hearing the workout routines for those who I know really know what they are talking about. And finally, someone advocating 2 days of rest. AMEN!!

Janice
 
RE: Another answer

Hi, Andrea! One of the ways I'm a little goofy is that I hate splits; I have to do the whole taco or nothing. And I do all my weightlifting at home with free weights (dumbbells and Troy Lite barbell system); I tried to do some lifting at the club where I instruct and lasted maybe four sessions before I thought "this is for the birds".

You're correct: I do not use any vids for strength training, fine though Cathe's might be. I find I'm a Cathe slave when it comes to cardio; her creativity and challenge is exactly the external stimulus I need for good kick-butt aerobic work. My leg strengthening I do to some of my slower step-tempo aerobics music, whatever I feel like listening to that day; and I love doing my upper body stuff in total silence {well, not TOTAL silence; at least once per session I "quack the duck", as it were :) }.

I like to do all of the muscle groups each session; I feel unbalanced physically if I don't, and complete physically if I do. I like to do at least 3 single sets of exercises for each muscle group during the week, and then add drop sets onto each of these exercises on Sunday when I have more time and fresh caffeine in the system.

I trust I've overanswered your question! :)

Annette Q. Aquajock
 
RE: Janice!

How are you, my friend? How is I-Max treating you?

You know, plane tickets to Minnesota are always cheap on account of no one ever wants to come here. Just a thought . . .

Annette Q. Aquajock
 
Thanks!

Overanswering brings more questions, but I'm quiet for now :)

Andrea
 
RE: Thanks!

Ya, good gosh dere Annette. Looks like I really opened you up for a "brain-picking". Hope you don't mind, but I DO wonder what a truly "advanced excerciser's" schedule ends up looking like. I see you've gleaned a lot on your journey.

Thanks again ;-)

Julie
 
RE: Thanks!

One more little thang before I leave you alone: How much weight do you use on Circuit Max? (I remember it was an incredible amount, but I can't recall what.)
 
RE: Hi, Clare!

thank you Annette, I appreciate your posting so patiently!

Weight lifting still intimidates me a little, too, but I keep at it because as you advised me last February, it does great things for my endurance.

Clare
 
RE: Thanks!

Speaking of people with Cathe arms, I was watching Larry King interview Madonna and her director husband, Guy Ritchie a little while ago. Didn't catch all of it, but they were showing scenes from their new movie and throughout the movie, Madonna was showing off a really buffed body. So my DH came in to watch a little of it after some work in the basement. After watching this scene with Madonna and that guy on the deserted island he said, "Remind me never to pick a fight with that woman. She would kick my butt in a heartbeat."

I then said, "Don't worry honey, before long I'll be able to protect you." He then laughed and complimented me on how great I look and how far I've come in just a few months. I'm going to give him a special treat tonight. ;-)
 
RE: Amadeus -

Sorry this is so late in getting to you - I was out Friday and all weekend.

I use a 45-lb barbell for Circuit Max. I'm working toward using a 50-lb'er, and that actually is more dependent on how safe it feels to hike that over my shoulders over and over again rather that what my legs can handle.

I also like to do my own little circuit mish-mosh: Rhythmic Step warm-up, Body Max circuit segment (with 20-lb dumbbells and 45-lb barbell) then Power Circuit circuit segment (barbell only). That is a FUN little combo platter!

Later -

A-jock
 
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