Strange combos

[Braille]

Restarting my fitness journey forced me to explore Cathe's timesaver premixes. Wow! The amount of time and effort that goes into making them is amazing. When I first started, I felt like I would be "cheating", because I wasn't doing the "whole" workout. Now, though, I'm loving it. I'm finally strong enough to work out for a bit longer on the upper body, but lower body often affects my heartrate and breathing to rise in a way that causes me to panic (it's a psychological thing that I'm hoping to eventually overcome). Anyways, I often do a 1 set of everything type of premix for lower body, taking breaks or even splitting it between 2 or 3 days. But I'm getting where I can do a full upper body workout. So, last week, I had some fun with this and did all of the Stacked Set Upper Body and added the lower body/core premix from total body bands, because I CAN do floor and band work (lower bod) without that panicked feeling. So, I did a total body workout with premixes! I did other workouts as well, but I thought that was a strange but satisfying workout. This week, amongst my other workouts, I'm going to reverse that combo by having a day that I do the total body bad upper premix and I'm going see what premixes Stacked Set Lower Body has to offer.

I've always enjoyed Cathe's add-ons/bonuses, but after decades of working out with her, I'm just now discovering the variety that her premixes offer. I've been using her timesavers to EXTEND my workout, while still staying within my abilities. lol And I found it unique to use bands for half my body and weights for the other half and then turn around and reverse that.

Just wondering about how others that use premixes use them and if you've created any weird combos that ended up being just perfect for you? It's so fun to explore the possibilities!

 

[Kellyro77]

I use premixes maybe 20-30% of the time. Either it's to use a timesaver to, say, eliminate weight work from a circuit workout so I just get the cardio, or to shorten a workout if I'm feeling extra tired, or, I do other "basic" premixes that add on bonus core work, etc.

I sometimes feel like I'm missing a whole new experience with Cathe workouts because I don't use the premixes more.

Maybe one day I should try to throw together a month-long premix-only rotation just to try out some premixes I don't typically gravitate to.

Like, I am roughly thinking of trying to throw together a rotation that's similar to STS 2's where instead of STS 2's body part workouts, I use ICE's Muscle Meltdowns instead. And then with the UB/LB workouts, use the full UB premix from XTrain Burn Sets… I have to think more on what would make a great premix to use for LB given I'd prefer to stick with heavy weights and not cardio-centered leg work or endurance leg work. Could just do the LB only from Pyramid Pump, for example.

Lots to consider, for sure.

Definitely no excuse, ever, to feel like I'm stuck in a rut when it comes to Cathe's workouts, considering I've got probably 80% of her titles.

 

[Braille]

@Braille , I used to use the "add-on" premixes only in the past to lengthen my workouts. But priorities change over time. I now prioritize strength workouts & usually do the whole thing plus any bonus Cathe added. Then, because I need it, I'll add on an extended stretch or a shortened mobility. So I use timesavers for cardio so I can add-on core, balance training and mobility/stretching work. I'm hoping Cathe has lots of shorter timesavers to use as add-ons in LMR2. The timesavers in the original LMR are too long to do this so I have to chapter skip to make them work for me - thankfully Cathe's dvds are well chaptered! Thank goodness for both premixes and well-chaptered dvds! Gotta love Cathe's dvds!

Your strategy is what I'm hoping to be able to do in the future. I've been slowly but surely trying to lengthen my workouts just to get my strength up and to make up for the fact that my body needs 2 days of recovery, rather than the 1 it's always needed. Hoping my recovery time reduces, and that I'll need less rest time (lower body), then I can "work harder", rather than longer. Once I can work harder, I'd like to spend that extra time with mobility or stretching. Right now... I'm just doing whatever stretch is at the end of a workout. I really miss doing Cathe's extended stretches. Currently, I only focus on mobility/stretching on one of my active recovery day, so I don't use premixes for that. If Cathe gave some shorter premix options on LMR2, though, that would be incredible, because I would love to be able to add on, once I get my strength to the point where it doesn't take so much time. My body has so many needs, and shorter premixes on LMR2 would definitely help with that.

 

[Braille]

I use premixes maybe 20-30% of the time. Either it's to use a timesaver to, say, eliminate weight work from a circuit workout so I just get the cardio, or to shorten a workout if I'm feeling extra tired, or, I do other "basic" premixes that add on bonus core work, etc.

I sometimes feel like I'm missing a whole new experience with Cathe workouts because I don't use the premixes more.

Maybe one day I should try to throw together a month-long premix-only rotation just to try out some premixes I don't typically gravitate to.

Like, I am roughly thinking of trying to throw together a rotation that's similar to STS 2's where instead of STS 2's body part workouts, I use ICE's Muscle Meltdowns instead. And then with the UB/LB workouts, use the full UB premix from XTrain Burn Sets… I have to think more on what would make a great premix to use for LB given I'd prefer to stick with heavy weights and not cardio-centered leg work or endurance leg work. Could just do the LB only from Pyramid Pump, for example.

Lots to consider, for sure.

Definitely no excuse, ever, to feel like I'm stuck in a rut when it comes to Cathe's workouts, considering I've got probably 80% of her titles.

I love the Muscle Meltdowns! I used them a lot (by themselves) to transition from Cathe's beginner DVD into something more challenging, but not too advanced for me. They were my stepping stone into Burn Sets and then into upper body premixes, and now I can finally do a full length upper body workout (still not lifting very heavy, but I've made progress).

A premix only rotation would be fun! I enjoy the planning part of fitness as much as the workouts. lol Total body barbell has a lower body only premix that I used the other day. It was fairly short, but it was just perfect for me ( my bar weighs about 8 lbs., so I didn't have put any weights on it - in order to keep my heart rate from going up too much lol). I thought when I did that workout that it would be an incredible premix to add to something once I am ready to use weights. I'm not ready yet for all 5 in the PPs, but I use the PP up or down at least once a week. You have my mind going now - a rotation of premixes would be fun and awesome and one could really focus on areas they want to improve on.

 

[Braille]

@Kellyro77 , I did similar to this this summer. I was enjoying doing STS2.0 Parts workouts in early summer, so I decided to use Cathe's older workouts where she had them separated by muscle groups, and did new Parts! Many of her older weight workouts are endurance-based though, so it was different than STS2.0 but I got to use some older workouts I'd hadn't used in awhile. I had to sometimes combine two series to get a little longer workout - like MIS & LITE's PP. October/November I'm planning to do an 8-week variation of STS2.0, similiar to 2Lazy4theGym's.

That sounds like a fun and powerful combo. I haven't got back into most of the older workouts yet, but it's on my list of things to do. I always enjoyed them. I use 2 Lazy 4 the Gym a LOT in my planning. I didn't realize she had rotations posted too - cool!

 

[FitSaxe]

Just wondering about how others that use premixes use them and if you've created any weird combos that ended up being just perfect for you? It's so fun to explore the possibilities!

Up to now I have used few premixes solely for cardio and circuits workout DVDs. My rotation and fitness regimen is in the process for a change to evolve. I never use premixes for lifting workout, expect the one adding bonus body part. I do not do timesaver because i like to work within an hour. Most of Cathe dvd last an hour.

Yes I may venture myself into creating "strange combos/PREMIXES". Abs and mobility premixes.The first step is setting myself for downloads properly, filing my downloads properly cause they are in these computers I am trying to get rid of.

As I mentioned in the other thread, It is time to part with these old computers. I now realise I kept them because of the dvd drive. I just need to close dvd chapter!

 

[allemania]

I like to do Cathe's premixes sometimes, because I don't always have the energy or the time for a really long workout. Also, I like to mix and match premixes--maybe a shorter strength training premix and then a short cardio premix or add-on or a good long extended stretch. One other thing, don't feel bad about taking breaks during the workout, especially with weight training. I have been trying to up the poundage on my weights, but I find it hard to do that whenever Cathe does several sets with several reps for each body part, one right after the other. After two or three sets I feel my stamina decreasing, and then so does the weight poundage and reps. I just start running out of steam. Today for example, I did Ramped Up Upper Body, which has several sets per body part plus repeats. I found myself doing two or three sets, and then taking a short break for a minute or so while doing some stretching on that particular body part. Then I went back to the next sets and reps. I did this all the way through the workout, taking rests and stretch breaks. I was able to keep my weight poundage up and also do most of the reps as well without my heart rate being sky high.

 

[Braille]

I like to do Cathe's premixes sometimes, because I don't always have the energy or the time for a really long workout. Also, I like to mix and match premixes--maybe a shorter strength training premix and then a short cardio premix or add-on or a good long extended stretch. One other thing, don't feel bad about taking breaks during the workout, especially with weight training. I have been trying to up the poundage on my weights, but I find it hard to do that whenever Cathe does several sets with several reps for each body part, one right after the other. After two or three sets I feel my stamina decreasing, and then so does the weight poundage and reps. I just start running out of steam. Today for example, I did Ramped Up Upper Body, which has several sets per body part plus repeats. I found myself doing two or three sets, and then taking a short break for a minute or so while doing some stretching on that particular body part. Then I went back to the next sets and reps. I did this all the way through the workout, taking rests and stretch breaks. I was able to keep my weight poundage up and also do most of the reps as well without my heart rate being sky high.

That's what I do - especially with lower body. Depending on the workout, I'm finally able to keep up with Cathe's pace for some upper body workouts when she has a short rest period, but not all of them. I'm still lifting substantially lighter than her on most things, but I'm making progress. Those lower body workouts, though, I change loads of laundry in the middle to give myself a break. lol I was having to discontinue the lower body workouts and pick them up the next day, but now... as long as they are a shorter premix and I take breaks... I'm getting them done they just take me longer than I'd like. For upper body, I've gotten in the habit of doing a shorter premix when I first do it (haven't done a lot of the workouts for over 2 years). If I handled it okay, then I put a sticky note on it letting me know I can try the whole thing next time. It's very hit and miss with me. I thought for sure I could do all of LITE's stacked upper sets... I'd forgotten how quickly she moves from one exercise to the next. lol It turns out I should have done a premix for that one instead of relying on my not-so-great memory. lol