S&H vs PU

Carmen829

Cathlete
My hubby got me a barbell set for Christmas. Until now I've been only working with dumbbells. I'd like to start muscle development and definition. I have been working with ME and MMax. Of the two I mentioned in the subject line, which should I incorporate once per week with cardio and total body weight work to really start seeing the muscles pop? Thanks.
Carmen
 
When you say PU are you talking about Pyramid Upper Body only and not Pyramid Lower Body? Just curious.
 
PU? You mean PUB? PUB/PLB (the pyramids)?

Are you thinking of upper-body-only workouts? (S&H is a three-day split, with 2 upper body workouts).

If you are looking for an upper body workout to use once per week in addition to a total-body workout, then I'd recommend PUB, mainly because it's the only 2-day split that has all upper body in one workout.

YOu can also use the upper body premixes in MMax.

For muscle size, a range of 10-12 reps per set, with most sets reaching failure, is what it usually recommended. S&H would work welll for strength, but something like PS upper body (though there are two upper body workouts there as well) might be better for size increases.
 
lol kathryn we had the same question!

Carmen if you have a new barbell set you're going to love PLB because Cathe uses only the barbell during the standing section. The floorwork uses a stability ball and no weights. You use both dumbbells and a barbell on PUB but it's mostly dumbbells. As far as the differences between S&H and the pyramids there are tons. S&H is more for strength gains in my opinion and I only use it in short rotations (2-3 weeks). You do three sets of each exercise, the reps are done very slowly, and you rest a full minute after each set. Because the reps are so slow I can lift a bit heavier when I'm doing S&H. The pyramids are endurance based and you do 5 sets of each exercise going up with the weight first (pyramid up) then down and I don't think you rest too much. I think that if you're choosing between these two, getting the pyramids will be a better investment this time, but both of these workouts are good. I hate to say this, but I *really* saw my muscles pop after doing Gym Style with cardio for 4-6 weeks.
 
>What is the difference with gym style? Is it similar to slow
>and heavy?
>
>Carmen

No. S&H is in a class of its own; there are no endurance exercises in S&H. Gym Style combines heavy weight training with endurance exercises (some of them use a dyna-band instead of weights). I was very skeptical with Gym Style, but after reading all the good reviews I got the series and I loved the results. I have to say that every Cathe strength workout I own (the only ones I don't own are the intermediate workouts) is unique. Some of them have similarities, but each workout has its own particular style.
 

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