Pamela (?):
total body workouts are great, but often their focus is endurance rather than strength gaining, and each has its place in your workouts schedules.
Total body workouts are also great timesavers or calorie burners when you are trying to focus on not over-tiring the muscles and getting as many workouts in per week as possible, or when you are pushed for time and can't dedicate 3 days a week to split weight training because you only have 3 or 4 days each week to workout and want some time for cardio.
I have done Slow & Heavy in the past for longer periods than the 3 weeks Cathe recommends. At the time, I could maintain the mental focus, it was what I wanted to do, I was heavily motivated and seeing great results. I used these DVDS consistently for about 3 months. I saw the best results ever with any weight system. I have never been stronger in terms of total poundage hoisted. I actually did all 3 workouts straight through each time. Sure, it took a while, but I had the time and the ability to focus and it suits my personality to workout long, but for fewer days each week (3 or 4 workout days only). That's just how I am. I am not a 6 workout days per week person, never have been. So, it is do-able. It just depends on you.
You'll probably get the results you are looking for by maintaining the 3 workouts as they were designed to be done, and as Cathe recommends, as backed by Justine here! Keep them as 3 separate workouts. I prefer to always begin with at least 20-30 mins of cardio to thoroughly warm the body, before I begin lifting real heavy with splits. Partly this is a desire to avoid injury by making sure I am completely warmed up, partly this is because I do not believe articles that tell me I "should" never do my cardio before my weights (blasphemous, in some circles!), partly because this is the system that works for me and partly because a session that is just 40 mins of weight training (chest, back, shoulders for example) is not a complete workout for me (remember: I only workout 3 or 4 days per week, so I am always doubling up and working for about 2 hours each time).
You have to experiment with each workout set to find out what works for you: how many days do you want to workout or can you workout? What kind of intensity do you prefer or can you handle? What are your time constraints? Personality constraints or requirements? What is your desire? What motivates you? Experimentation will tell you whether you want to double up, and maybe do the S&H legs and also chest and back in one day and leave shoulders, bis and tris for a second day (I suggest this because chest work requires so much input from shoulders muscles that I personally find it hard to put max effort into shoulder work after chest work, as performed by Cathe), or whether you want to leave them as 3 separate days as designed. Whether you want to do cardio before or after each weights session, or if you want/need each day to just comprise the weights work and that is it.
You decide. Have fun with your experimentation, and take your time deciding what works for you.
Clare
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