SLOW & HEAVY FOR THE FIRST TIME.........................

[dukechick]

Hi Ladies,

Well, I finished the August Bootcamp Rotation last Sunday--how amazing was that rotation!!! I lost a few pounds, everything fit me loose, and mentally I felt I ould accomplish anything after finishing that month.

So, now I am starting my first ever Slow & Heavy Rotation. Here's what I have done so far:

Monday--6:30 am--S&H Chest only; noon--Lowmax
Tuesday--6:30am--S&H Back and Biceps; noon--1 hour run
Wednesday--6:30am--S&H Triceps; noon--S&H Shoulders plus Kick, Punch, & Crunch plus tack on HighStep Challenge Abs Only at the end
Thursday--6:30am--S&H Chest; and plan on doing Lowmax again after I finish this post.

Here's the problem--I don't feel as good as I did while doing the Bootcamp Rotation last month. Did anyone feel a "letdown" after they finished that rotation and started a different rotation? Also, b/c the weight training in Slow and Heavy is so ........SLOW........I don't feel like I am burning nearly as many calories as when I do PUB or Circuit training, so I am worried that if I eat the same amount of calories, I am going to start gaining weight and feeling bulky, even with that 1 hour of cardio later in the day.

Am I crazy?? Any thoughts?? HELP>>>>>>>>>>>!!!!!

Melissa

 

[kathryn]

Melissa,
Looking at your schedule, I would be very concerned about overworking the shoulder, which is a touchy joint. ON Monday, you do chest, which also works the shoulder (mostly anterior). On Tuesday, you do back, with also uses the shoulder (mostly rear). And on Wednesday, you do shoulder. On Thursday,, it's back to chest. That's working the shoulder 4 DAYS IN A ROW! This poses a risk for overuse injury, as well as being conterproductive to strength gains.

First, I would say do each S&H workout only ONCE per week, to allow for recovery. For example: monday: chest/back, wednesday: legs and shoulders, friday: arms, and put cardio and stretch on alternate days.

Though it may seem conterintuitive, allowing longer recovery from intense weight training is the way to go for strength and muscle gains.

As for calorie burn, if you are lifting the heaviest weight you can with good form in S&H, then you will be burning calories (it's the effort, not the speed of movement, that will burn the calories). Also,, heavy weight workouts have a higher "after burn" (number of calories burned in the 24 hours or so after the workout) than lighter weight workouts.

 

[dukechick]

Dear Kathryn,

Thank you so much for your insight and advice. I never looked at it that way as far my shoulder being overworked--what if I want to do only 1 body part a day--than, how does this look:

Mon--Chest
Tues--Back
Wed--Biceps
Thursday-Triceps
Friday--Shoulders

Should I switch Triceps and Shoulders, so thatI don't have Chest again after Triceps??? I didn't put legs in there b/c I like to do low weight legs so I am not doing Slow & Heavy Legs--I will either run, do Lowmax, do KPC, or do Leaner Legs each day in addition to the one S& H body part.

Thanks for your help,

Melissa

 

[kathryn]

Melissa,

I'm pretty good at spotting muscle overlaps, and at avoiding too much shoulder stress. I've had problems in the past, but my shoulders feel great now because of this.

You could do S&H in several ways.

In the rotation you posted, I'd switch around biceps and triceps (biceps are worked with back, and triceps and shoulders overlap some, so switching bis and tris will separate the "overlap"). You could also put a cardio day or leg day between chest and back days to reduce shoulder overlap. Or anywhere in the rotation where you think you need a break. Doing chest and back one day after the other has you doing big muscles groups two days in a row. A break between there would allow more recovery time and most likely be beneficial.

Another way of doing on body part a day is something like:

Mon--Chest (or Back)
Tues: cardio
Wednesday: back (or chest!)
Thursday: cardio
Friday:shoulders
Saturday:arms (I'd do bis and tri together, because they are small muscle groups and don't require as many sets to work)
Sundayff

That's probably a conservative rotation by some people's standards, but it will give your shoulders the best rest.

You could also do a two-body-parts per day routine (though I don't like the chest/back set-up in SH as much as other two-body-part combos, since they are both large muscle groups and could benefit from their own day.) Something like:

mon: back/biceps
tues: cardio or legs
wed: chest/triceps
th: cardio or legs
fri: shoulders
sat: cardio or legs
sun: off

That would work the "pull" muscles (back and biceps) on the same day, and the "push" muscles (chest and triceps) on the same day.

Another option:
mon: back (or chest: I prefer to do back first, because I like to give it more attention than chest, which gets more work in day-to-day activities than the back does).
tues: cardio/legs
wed: chest (or back)
th: cardio or legs
Fri: shoulders and arms (though I prefer P90X shoulders and arms here)
Sat: cardio
Sun: off

(Of course, the "days" are just guidelines. "Monday" just means any "day 1").

 

[dukechick]

Thanks, Kathryn, so much for all your advice.

I am feeling better about this rotation already!

Melissa

 

[CathydsRNA]

I do want to point out that your total calorie burn will still be much less with a weight workout than with a circuit or aerobic workout. Older studies have shown that afterburn was greater with a weight workout than with a cardio workout. This was based on heart rate during and after a workout.If you factor this with the data showing that calorie burn is higher during a cardio or circuit workout, the total calorie burn (workout plus afterburn)was much higher for the cardio workout. A new study however is disputing the afterburn of a weight workout being greater. The older studies estimated this based on heart rate after a workout. Heart rate was more elevated after a weight workout for a longer period of time and this was extrapolated to mean that there were more calories being burned. A newer controlled study looking at oxygen consumed ( a more accurate measure of calories burned) has showed just the opposite...while your heart rate is more elevated after a weight workout, you are actually burning less oxygen after a weight workout than cardio workout. The elevated heart rate after a workout therefore was misleading and likened to your heart rate going up after a fright...it goes up but your metabolosim doesn't. Moral of the story..if you are after calorie expenditure, stick to cardio or circuits. If you want to bulid muscle, slow and heavy plus extra calories in your diet is the way to go. I will get you the study citation when I come home from work.

 

[dukechick]

Thanks for the insight. My thought was that doing Slow and Heavy--1/2 body parts--first thing in the morning, coupled with a one hour cardio workout in the early afternoon, would get me a desired calorie expenditure. I don't know --I've never worked out like this before--but I wanted to try one rotation of Slow and Heavy (I am planning to do this for three weeks), and I do like being able to focus soley on weights with 1 or 1 body parts, and then focus solely on aerobics/cardio a few hours later. Yesterday, for example, I was able to do S&H Chest at 6:30 am, and then go for 1 65 minute nice-paced run at 1pm.

I think after the 3 weeks is up I will reevaluate, and then probably go back to a circuit-based rotation.

Thanks again,

Melissa