Rotation for Gym Style series (and/or Muscle Max)?

[fitgoddess]

I tried posting this on the rotation forum, but it did not pop up, so I'm bringing it here.

I am a long-time FIRMer...would say I am at the inter/adv fitness level. Not looking to lose any weight, but wanting to kick it up a notch and really drop more on body fat and sculpt lean muscle.

I am not so much into complicated, high impact stepping, so I am happy to get my cardio in other ways, but I've got Cathe's stretch and Ab routines, and would like to exclusively use her weight routines as well.

I thought to start out with the Gym Style series---for legs, back/bicep, and chest/tricep. I may also get Muscle Max as well.

Any suggestions on how to rotate these in and alternate with a couple days of cardio? For example, I can't imagine how I am going to cover all my muscle groups in one workout, as that would mean doing 3 hours of the Gym style series! (Again, unless I just get Muscle Max, which covers all in a reasonable hour). I suppose I could do Gym biceps on Day 1, Legs Day 2, etc., and alternate days with upper and lower, but I feel like that is just too much exercising. I'd rather hit all the groups in 1 hr on 1 day, then have to spread it over 2-3 hours and 2-3 days. ANy thoughts?

 

[allwildgirl]

When the Hardcore series came out, Cathe put together 3 rotations. Here are two of them, using the GS workouts and Musclemax. You can just sub the cardio and core workouts with whatever you might have.

ROTATION ONE: Building Strength

Weeks 1 & 2

Mon: GS Chest/Tri
Tues: Imax 3
Wed: GS Legs plus 1 Coremax segment of choice
Thurs: GS Back/Should/Bi
Fri: Kickmax
Sat: 20 min. light run PLUS one Coremax segment PLUS one Stretmax segment.
Sun: Off (or a segment of Stretchmax)


Weeks 3 & 4

Mon: GS Back/Should/Bi
Tues: Low Max
Wed: 2 Coremax Seg PLUS one Stretchmax segment
Thurs: GS Chest Tri PLUS 20 minute light run
Fri: GS Legs
Sat: 1 Coremax segment PLUS 1 Stretchmax segment
Sun: Kickmax


ROTATION TWO: Muscle Endurance

Weeks 1 & 2

Mon: Musclemax
Tues: Low MAx
Wed: Imax 3 PLUS one Stretchmax segment
Thurs: Musclemax
Fri: Kickmax
Sat: 2 seg Coremax PLUS one segment Stretchmax
Sun: Off or one segment Stretchmax


Weeks 3 & 4

Mon: Musclemax
Tues: Imax 3
Wed: High Step Challenge (HSC)
Thurs: OFF
Fri: GS Chest (Drop set push ups only) PLUS GS Legs (leg floorwork only) PLUS 1 Coremax seg PLUS one Stretchmax seg.
Sat: 1 Hardcore Extreme Workout of choice
Sun: Kickmax

 

[nancy324]

fitgoddess, if you want to hit all the muscle groups in one hour in one day, then GS is not your best choice. Muscle Max or Power Hour or Push Pull or Supersets or Muscle Endurance or any of the other full body workouts are going to fit the bill a lot better. Just curious though as to why you don't want to spread your strength training out over the course of a week? It's a very effective way to train.

 

[fitgoddess]

THanks for the rotation and suggestion. And to answer the question about not wanting to spread out workouts over a few days:

I thought that you had to work ALL muscle groups 2-3x week. I see from the rotation that you are only working biceps/back 1x week, triceps/chest 1x week, and legs 1x week. How does that work with only working a muscle group 1x per week? I believe you all and Cathe that it does work, so I am just wondering how it works, as I always thought you had to works all muscle groups 2-3x per week.

 

[kathryn]

>I thought that you had to work ALL muscle groups 2-3x week. I
>see from the rotation that you are only working biceps/back 1x
>week, triceps/chest 1x week, and legs 1x week. How does that
>work with only working a muscle group 1x per week? I believe
>you all and Cathe that it does work, so I am just wondering
>how it works, as I always thought you had to works all muscle
>groups 2-3x per week.

If you are just beginnning weight training, then doing 2-3 full-body workouts a week is great, as it allows your body to get used to the stresses of weight training. But as you progress, you'll want to spend more time on each muscle, as well as allow more recovery for each muscle, and that's where splits come in (splitting the workouts into several body parts).

Strange as it seems, working each muscle group 1x a week can be very effective, especially for those who have been working with weights for a while (as long as you don't try to do it in just one workout a week, that doesn't give the body enough stimulation to grow). This is because muscle only grows (getting both bigger and stronger) while it is repairing during rest. So while it's important to provide the stress to muscles that create microtrauma (microscopic tears), the repairing of those tears is what creates more muscle.

Also, while you only work each muscle group directly once a week, anytime you work the larger muscle groups (legs, back, chest), it causes an increase of growth hormone secretion in the body, which promotes muscle growth (which is why, for best results, you want to spread out the legs, chest and back work throughout the week rather than just doing one workout a week).

Try it for yourself:
Start with 2 weeks of doing MM three times a week (if you're new to weight training, then do 2-3 weeks at 2x/week, then 2-3 weeks of three times a week), then do 2-3 weeks of GS, each workout once a week (ie: back/shoulders/biceps on day 1, legs on day 3, chest/triceps on day 5).

 

[Stacy]

You could just keep alternating the workouts, not really trying to work them into a "weekly" rotation per se....

--GS Chest/Triceps
--Cardio + abs
--GS Legs
--Cardio + abs
--GS Back/Shoulder/Biceps
--Cardio + abs
--Muscle Max
--Cardio + abs or Yoga

Then start over with GS Chest/Triceps, inserting rest days whenever you need to.

 

[fitgoddess]

This is such great info! I had NO idea! BUT, this explains a LOT...as I have been working out for several years, and more intensely and consistently in the past 8 months. And I tell you, I will do a straight sculpting workout, and my bodies and muscles honestly feel like they want more than just 1-2 days of rest in between. I always thought I was messing up my progress by allowing that much rest, but perhaps that really was the best and most effective thing to do. So now it makes sense that you can work one set of muscle groups just 1x per week....but as you are all saying, that is not the ONLY sculpting workout you do that week.

Can I ask then how this "split" GS-type training (did I get the term correct?) is different than the Muscle Max type training? Is it because you spend less time on each muscle group in Muscle Max that you can do it 2-3 times per week, with the 1-2 days of rest period in between?

 

[kathryn]

>Can I ask then how this "split" GS-type training (did I get
>the term correct?) is different than the Muscle Max type
>training? Is it because you spend less time on each muscle
>group in Muscle Max that you can do it 2-3 times per week,
>with the 1-2 days of rest period in between?

A split workout like GS (which is a three-day split: the body split into three parts) allows you to spend more time on each muscle group, and allows more rest for each muscle group. A full-body workout like MM is good for a fat-burning program because it uses a lot of muscle during one workout, but you are spending less time per body part. The 1-2 days of rest between working the same body part is a general guideline, and YMMV. If you feel like you need more rest, maybe you do, and would have better results. I've found that as an ecto-endo (neither of which gains muscle easily) my body works better with longer rest periods, both between workouts and within workouts. A mesomorph (builds muscle easily) might get similar results with less rest.

 

[morris]

sorry to jump on this thread, but my question after reading this is what do you do after say 1 month of gym styles? do you go back to endurance for a few weeks? do you stay on gym styles? what is the reasoning?

thanks!

 

[SandraC]

You could still use the Gym Styles, but change the body parts worked. Such as working chest and back one day, legs and shoulders another day, and then biceps and triceps later in the week.

Afterwards, you could use another series or continue with Gym Styles, changing the body parts again. It does make a difference in how I feel it.

Look through some of the rotations Cathe has made to find one that suits you to try. The possiblities are endless.

HTH,
Sandra

 

[kathryn]

>sorry to jump on this thread, but my question after reading
>this is what do you do after say 1 month of gym styles? do you
>go back to endurance for a few weeks? do you stay on gym
>styles? what is the reasoning?

You reassess and see where you are and what you need. If your GS rotation gave you the muscle you want, and you just want to maintain, or maybe lose some fat, the ngoing to a more endurance-based workout might be the best choice.

If you like the results you got with GS, but want more strength, then going to S&H for a few weeks might be a good idea.

Staying with GS might work, but the more advanced you are (as in the longer you have been working out with weights), the less time it usually takes before you reach a plateau and have slowed or no further results using the same program. Beginners could go maybe 8 weeks or more on the same program and still not plateau, while some advanced trainers have to change every 2 weeks to not plateau.

As Sandra mentioned, you could keep doing GS, but would have to change it up in some way, like doing premixes that combine the exercises in different ways.