Rotation

[wonderwoman]

Hey

Just wondering if there is anybody who is not following the rotations in the book? I don't think I will be. I normally don't work out 6 days a week or I usually do yoga on the 6th day. I've come to realize I don't do well with rotations. I can't follow them. I wish I could something mental I guess.

 

[mini-natty]

I have decided not to follow any of the official Xtrain rotations. I found that some days asked for 70-80min w/o's, and right now this is not feasible with my schedule. I have made my own rotation using Xtrain, which suits my needs better.

Good luck!

Natasha

 

[wonderwoman]

Yes that goes for me as well. When I don't follow Cathie's rotations I feel guilty. When in fact I shouldn't because working 5 days a week for30-40 minutes is great! Happy New Years!

 

[Trixoo]

I'm not following the rotations, either. I like studying the rotations Cathe puts together, because it helps me to see which workouts she places back to back and which she places before a rest day, and I make decisions about my workouts from there, factoring in how I feel, what my current goals are, etc.

I know a lot of people find rotations motivating and like that they don't have to think about which workout to do. I've come to realize that for me, rotations become a form of pressure, another obligation, another thing I'd better not fail at (yes, real type A here). I have enough of that in my life, and since working out is a joyful part of my life, I don't want to mess with that. Oddly, I probably push myself as a rotation might, maybe even harder sometimes, but if I'm doing the choosing/pushing, it feels fun, not like a burden...go figure!

I think this is very personality driven and can understand how others would love rotations and find them highly motivating. It's just not for me, at least not at this point in my life.

 

[Gibbee]

Are any of you going to develop your own rotation? I'd like to try the undulating rotation (90 day) but I really kind of want to do more of a traditional weight training rotation. I don't know. Any suggestions?

 

[mini-natty]

Are any of you going to develop your own rotation? I'd like to try the undulating rotation (90 day) but I really kind of want to do more of a traditional weight training rotation. I don't know. Any suggestions?

This is my rotation for this month. The cardio will be a mix of Xtrain and other Cathe cardio. I also walk miles almost every day, but don't put that on my rotations. I have included legs 2X (personal preference and LB slimming down goal of mine ).

D1 - Cardio
D2 - Xtrain Legs* (standing only) + rear delts bonus
D3 - Xtrain Bi's & Tri's + 100RC tri's or bi's*
D4 - Cardio
D5 - Xtrain legs (floor only) + barre + 100RC hip thrusts.
D6 - Xtrain Chest, Back, Shoulder's + 100RC lateral raises or scarecrows*
D7 - YOGA + Xtrain core 1 or 2

every week I will alternate:
* Legs & Cardio Leg Blast
*100RC Bi's & Tri's
*100RC Lateral Raises & Scarecrows

My goal is to keep workouts under 1hr.

Good luck & Happy New Year!

Natasha

 

[fox2star]

Hi,

I too have a problem following a rotation, especially when the workouts are longer than 45 minutes. I only have 4 days to work out each week.

WONDERWOMAN: would you let me know how you are going to set up your workouts using these? 5 days could be doable for me and 30-40 minutes is perfect!

 

[Lee Jones]

I use Cathe's rotations as a guide. I never follow them to the letter. I'm using her 90 day XTrain and LIS rotation as the guide and throwing in different cardio. I love TTM and CF and they are not listed in there. Plus, Cardio Supersets and Total Body Tri-sets are two of my least favorites of Cathe's DVD's...lol. So I'm incorporting some of the LIS, TTM and CF, Intensity (one of my all time fav's...wish she would do another) and a few from the Shock Cardio series.

So really, I make my own rotation. Usually as follows:
Monday: Chest, Back, Shoulders
Tuesday: Cardio
Wednesday: Bi's and Tri's
Thursday: Cardio
Friday: Legs
Saturday: Cardio
Sunday: Off

 

[KDSL]

I typically don't follow rotations as they are written because I run. Right now I am running a lot less since I don't like running in the dark. Here's how I plan on doing the weight work. For cardio, I'll be running on the weekends (weather permitting), should have a spin bike in the next few days and I will throw in cardio dvds as needed. I'll have to fit in core work to this as well.

Week 1
Burn Sets Chest, Back & Shoulders
Legs (probably standing and floorwork)
Burn Sets Bi's and Tris, rear delt bonus
Cardio Legs (might add barre)

Week 2
Chest, Back & Shoulders
Legs (standing & floorwork)
Bi's & Tris
Cardio Legs

Week 3
Chest, Back & Shoulders
Legs
Burn Set Bis and Tris and rear delt bonus
Legs
(will probably do barre bonus one leg day & floor work the other)

Week 4
Burn Sets Chest, Back & Shoulders
Cardio Legs
Bis and Tris and rear delt bonus
Cardio Legs
(probably will throw in the floorwork)

 

[wonderwoman]

Hi Fox

I am doing legs twice a week. So my rotation this week is going to start today. I usually do Mon-Fri but I wanted to start Jan 1.
Leg Cardio Blast-any premix under 35 min.
Chest Back Shoulders -any premix under 35 min.
Hard Strikes-premix no cond drill
Bi's & tri's-premix
Legs-premix. HTH
I go on a week to week basis
And yoga on the weekends

 

[fox2star]

Thanks!

 

[lainiefig]

Like nccjones, I'm doing my own variation on the 90 day XTrain and LIS rotation. I'll follow the strength workouts pretty closely, though sometimes I'll need to do shorter premixes depending on the day, but my cardio will mostly be running outside and karate/kickboxing at my local dojo. I figure on days when I can't do my usual cardio I'll go ahead and do some Xtrain cardio or another DVD workout I like. I'm a strong believer in careful planning but altering the plan as the need arises.

 

[jengollf]

I'm running into "rotation issues" that I guess I should have expected. I had planned to do the 90 Day Undulating rotation, and knowing from past experience that I get burned out when doing long rotations, I thought that halfway through I would swap over the the 90 combo rotation with LIS and then the last few weeks throw in some other workouts like CF and TTM. That was the plan at least.

Week 1 is going well, but then as I looked forward at the first 4 weeks, I realized it would be a MONTH before I get to do Supercuts or Tabatacise! This is unexceptable! So starting week 2, I have already decided to deviate. These are two of the workouts I was most looking forward to--so they are in the rotation for week 2 for me! I swapped them with All Out Low Impact HIIT and Hard Strikes.

I cannot follow the rotation to the letter anyway. I do all of the workouts that she recommends during a given week, but I only have an hour to workout in the mornings, so the 81 minute Legs premix has to be moved to Saturday whether I like it or not! Which means I have to shuffle things around anyway. Plus, I do not like to workout less than an hour in the mornings, so I am not doing the exact same workouts she recommends--I'm going to pick premixes that bring the workout time closer to an hour. (and tack on 100 Rep Challenges of course!)

Anyway, we'll see how this plan goes.

 

[tralaiven]

I generally don't do well with rotations either. For one thing, I am wayy too intense and it becomes a stresser for me if I don't do them. However, this time I am starting the 30 rotation because I think I will be able to handle a short rotation. Also, I am not a 6-day-a-week exerciser too simply because I work, have a family and am just too busy. So I am giving myself permission to take a day off the rotation and just do 5 days a week.

 

[Dela]

I am loosely following the 90 day rotation. I will follow it as written mostly for the UB and Legs workouts, but I will be subbing out some cardio days with other instructors to make sure I keep it varied and don't burn out too soon. I will probably sub the LI HIIT, and some weeks of Hard Strikes, and Tabatacize.

I don't know if Tabatacize is for me, so I may not do that one, but I do know I need to check out Super Cuts sooner than a month! But I'm guessing they put that one in later as some may need to work up to that one from what I am hearing.

 

[fox2star]

Tracy,

I also cannot do 6 days a week, and really can only do 4 unless I have a way to squeeze another one in. I was looking at doing the 30 day one with RIDE, but leaving RIDE out, since I didn't get that DVD anyway.

 

[wookiemouse]

I just posted this in Ask Cathe. I actually love rotations and have seen my best results with them, but the 90-day schedule just does not mesh with MY schedule at all. I'm not planning on starting until Monday, so I'll play around with it a bit this weekend and see what I can come up with. I just don't want to vary too much on the strength/cardio/core mix. But 9 straight weeks of Hard Strikes premix 16? I think I need to mix that up a little, considering the variety we're given!

Stacy