sleepingmom
Cathlete
I completed Burn Sets and Tabatacise (tabata 1 only).
Burn Sets: overall good workout, but it will take me a few tries to figure out the correct weight to use so that I work to failure by set three of each exercise. I think by now everyone knows the structure of the workout, but just in case:
warmup: thorough, fun, simple
chest: bench press, bench fly, incline bench press, three sets of each with the first two sets including ten reps each and the third set to failure (should happen between rep 6 and rep 10 of the third set). The final chest exercise is push-ups. So, nothing very creative here. Very standard exercises.
back: one arm row, double arm row, one arm rear delt lift. Same three set of each exercise as above. The one arm row and double arm row (even using the two suggested positions) felt like I was working the exact same muscles with each of these two exercise. I am going to try to tweak it a little so I can feel the burn in a slightly different place. I enjoyed the one arm delt lift as I felt I could use heavier weight while working only one arm than I can when doing this exercise with both arms simultaneously. The final back exercise is done prone, using a firewalker around the ankles and resistance tubing in the hands and then lifting both upper and lower body in a slight arc. This felt good, though I am not sure how much the firewalker and band add to the general movement.
shoulders: overhead press, rear delt raise, one arm side lat raise. Again, pretty standard stuff, except for doing the lateral raises one arm at a time. The double arm rear delt squeeze felt like it was the same exercises as the one arm delt rear fly done for back. Maybe I am doing something wrong, or need to change my position to work these muscle groups differently, but I felt like to worked the heck out of my rear delts. Final exercise was a "scarecrow" using the resistance band which targets the rotator cuff. Feels a little awkward, but I got something out of it.
The songs are essentially knockoffs of current popular tunes/ melodies with different, essentially unintelligible lyrics. I really do not like this technique to score these workouts. The music isn't "bad", but in a few years, it is going to sound terribly dated.
I have to say that my main misgiving about this workout is the counting/ managing of the reps. Numerous times Cathe says to ignore the beat of the music, and I always wonder "if we are ignoring the beat of the music, why are we using music in the first place". It just seems like Cathe et al could pick music that supports/ encourages us to do these reps at a defined/ optimum pace. The first two sets should be done to the music, and we should have time to do just the ten reps. If you cannot get ten reps out in the first two sets, you have chosen too heavy. The third (failure) set should have time to do 16 reps. If you get to 16 and you haven't failed yet, that is the sign that you have mastered that weight and need to go heavier next time. In this style workout, it just seems like the the right choice of music could really enhance the effectiveness of the workout.
I really love the form tips that Cathe gives, and the transitions from one exercise to the next do not feel rushed, which I appreciated especially as I tried to figure out which weights I should really be using.
Tabatacise: Tabata 1. I wanted a little cardio today in addition to Burn Sets, so I did Level 1 tabata. I don't have the sturdiest of knees, but I could still do fine in this workout. I think that the high impact segments are short enough that my joints don't freak out too much. After a thorough warm-up, tabata 1 begins with plie squats, then frog squats, then jacks with a tuck jump, then frog squats again, then repeat. She puts in some power 15s as a slight interlude between the tabata cycles. My heart rate definitely got up there, but my joints were okay.
I then walked my two dogs for about an hour, and my legs weren't too fried.
So overall, I enjoyed the "work" of the workout, but the rep counts/ music asynchrony bugged me in Burn Sets.
Happy New Year to everyone. Let's hope for a year full of peace!
Burn Sets: overall good workout, but it will take me a few tries to figure out the correct weight to use so that I work to failure by set three of each exercise. I think by now everyone knows the structure of the workout, but just in case:
warmup: thorough, fun, simple
chest: bench press, bench fly, incline bench press, three sets of each with the first two sets including ten reps each and the third set to failure (should happen between rep 6 and rep 10 of the third set). The final chest exercise is push-ups. So, nothing very creative here. Very standard exercises.
back: one arm row, double arm row, one arm rear delt lift. Same three set of each exercise as above. The one arm row and double arm row (even using the two suggested positions) felt like I was working the exact same muscles with each of these two exercise. I am going to try to tweak it a little so I can feel the burn in a slightly different place. I enjoyed the one arm delt lift as I felt I could use heavier weight while working only one arm than I can when doing this exercise with both arms simultaneously. The final back exercise is done prone, using a firewalker around the ankles and resistance tubing in the hands and then lifting both upper and lower body in a slight arc. This felt good, though I am not sure how much the firewalker and band add to the general movement.
shoulders: overhead press, rear delt raise, one arm side lat raise. Again, pretty standard stuff, except for doing the lateral raises one arm at a time. The double arm rear delt squeeze felt like it was the same exercises as the one arm delt rear fly done for back. Maybe I am doing something wrong, or need to change my position to work these muscle groups differently, but I felt like to worked the heck out of my rear delts. Final exercise was a "scarecrow" using the resistance band which targets the rotator cuff. Feels a little awkward, but I got something out of it.
The songs are essentially knockoffs of current popular tunes/ melodies with different, essentially unintelligible lyrics. I really do not like this technique to score these workouts. The music isn't "bad", but in a few years, it is going to sound terribly dated.
I have to say that my main misgiving about this workout is the counting/ managing of the reps. Numerous times Cathe says to ignore the beat of the music, and I always wonder "if we are ignoring the beat of the music, why are we using music in the first place". It just seems like Cathe et al could pick music that supports/ encourages us to do these reps at a defined/ optimum pace. The first two sets should be done to the music, and we should have time to do just the ten reps. If you cannot get ten reps out in the first two sets, you have chosen too heavy. The third (failure) set should have time to do 16 reps. If you get to 16 and you haven't failed yet, that is the sign that you have mastered that weight and need to go heavier next time. In this style workout, it just seems like the the right choice of music could really enhance the effectiveness of the workout.
I really love the form tips that Cathe gives, and the transitions from one exercise to the next do not feel rushed, which I appreciated especially as I tried to figure out which weights I should really be using.
Tabatacise: Tabata 1. I wanted a little cardio today in addition to Burn Sets, so I did Level 1 tabata. I don't have the sturdiest of knees, but I could still do fine in this workout. I think that the high impact segments are short enough that my joints don't freak out too much. After a thorough warm-up, tabata 1 begins with plie squats, then frog squats, then jacks with a tuck jump, then frog squats again, then repeat. She puts in some power 15s as a slight interlude between the tabata cycles. My heart rate definitely got up there, but my joints were okay.
I then walked my two dogs for about an hour, and my legs weren't too fried.
So overall, I enjoyed the "work" of the workout, but the rep counts/ music asynchrony bugged me in Burn Sets.
Happy New Year to everyone. Let's hope for a year full of peace!
. Love some of those segments! 