STS and Barre Workouts

C

Candice2015

Cathlete
Has anyone combined a full rotation of STS with barre type workouts. I enjoy barre workouts and am trying to figure out if a putting some barre workouts either upper, lower or total body in place of some of the cardio would be beneficial.
 
Candice2015 said:
Has anyone combined a full rotation of STS with barre type workouts. I enjoy barre workouts and am trying to figure out if a putting some barre workouts either upper, lower or total body in place of some of the cardio would be beneficial.
Click to expand...

I have not combined STS with Barre. That said I know You can't really replace cardio with Barre. Barre does not offer enough
metabolic response to burn a lot of fat. It does raise the heart rate to some degree but not enough to significantly improve your
cardio vascular abilities. This is probably not the truth you wanted to hear but I thought I may reply to your question.
All the best. Enjoy STS.

http://cathe.com/barre-workouts-can-they-change-the-shape-of-your-body

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The Downsides of Barre

If you have a substantial amount of weight to lose or you’re trying to greatly improve your functional strength or increase muscle size, barre shouldn’t be your only form of workout. It’s not metabolically challenging enough to burn significant amounts of fat and doesn’t work multiple muscle groups using high resistance, so it won’t give you a bodybuilder’s physique. It also doesn’t get your heart rate up enough to have substantial cardiovascular benefits, although you can increase the aerobic benefits by adding bursts of aerobic activity at intervals throughout the workout. Instead, you get the benefits of more flexibility, greater muscle endurance and will likely notice improvements in posture and the way you carry yourself.

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Thanks. Yeah I know it won't really replace the cardio, but I do enjoy it. I may just throw it in here and there while doing STS. I just didn't know if anyone else had done. I know I am late to the whole STS thing. I need low impact to add with STS. I have been doing the RWH and just go Xtrain and will try to figure out which ones would work best.
 
Since STS is two upper body & one leg workout each week, you could make Monday & Wednesday your upper body days, Friday your leg day & insert barre on Tuesday. Obviously, the days can change around, but I'd just separate your barre from leg day.
 
nckfitheart2009 said:
I have not combined STS with Barre. That said I know You can't really replace cardio with Barre. Barre does not offer enough
metabolic response to burn a lot of fat. It does raise the heart rate to some degree but not enough to significantly improve your
cardio vascular abilities. This is probably not the truth you wanted to hear but I thought I may reply to your question.
All the best. Enjoy STS.

http://cathe.com/barre-workouts-can-they-change-the-shape-of-your-body

=================================================================
The Downsides of Barre

If you have a substantial amount of weight to lose or you’re trying to greatly improve your functional strength or increase muscle size, barre shouldn’t be your only form of workout. It’s not metabolically challenging enough to burn significant amounts of fat and doesn’t work multiple muscle groups using high resistance, so it won’t give you a bodybuilder’s physique. It also doesn’t get your heart rate up enough to have substantial cardiovascular benefits, although you can increase the aerobic benefits by adding bursts of aerobic activity at intervals throughout the workout. Instead, you get the benefits of more flexibility, greater muscle endurance and will likely notice improvements in posture and the way you carry yourself.

=================================================================
Click to expand...
Pre-pandemic, I started doing AM: barre 5x per week (see: ExhaleOnDemand - Live archive classes) followed by 30 minutes of light walking. In the PM, I did hot yoga (Bikram style). In 6 weeks, I had a new body, and never picked up a heavy dumbbell. I like lifting heavy, but my 6 week barre/walking/yoga experiment showed me that I don't always needed it...
 
KatC213 said:
Pre-pandemic, I started doing AM: barre 5x per week (see: ExhaleOnDemand - Live archive classes) followed by 30 minutes of light walking. In the PM, I did hot yoga (Bikram style). In 6 weeks, I had a new body, and never picked up a heavy dumbbell. I like lifting heavy, but my 6 week barre/walking/yoga experiment showed me that I don't always needed it...
Click to expand...
We all have different body type and divers goal to achieve. If barre is the answer to achieving the body you are after, then stick to it.
 
This makes me think of something Cathe says in (I think) HIIT 40/20 "Its all about what works, as long as you're working."

For me, my fitness routine has evolved throughout my life. I was an avid runner until a knee problem forced me to quit back in 2007. At that time, I was able to get an elliptical, so my workouts were 45 minutes a day on the elliptical and Jari Love Get Ripped dvd's 3x per week. Then around 2009-2010, I started doing Cathe's dvds and got hooked. I think I've done 3 or 4 full rotations of STS and 2 or 3 full rotations of XTrain. In between those years, I also did Beachbody workouts like Brazil Butt Lift and I probably did 2 or 3 full rotations of Chalean Extreme. Then I got hooked on Turbo Fire and Turbo Jam. I did the full Turbo Fire calendar at least once and then would make my own routines using Turbo Fire and Turbo Jam for cardio and throw in some Cathe circuit dvds. In 2019, I discovered Pure Barre DVD's and got hooked on those. I did Pure Barre workouts 3x per week for about 2 years. Then I went back to Cathe cardio, circuits, weights all mixed up. Near the end of 2021, I got serious about weight training and got on this kick of not wanting to do the same workout twice in a month. I bought a ton of Cathe dvd's and would follow a week long rotation of something she published. I also did a week of ICE several times, a week of Strong & Sweaty several times. I was combing through her monthly rotations and picking a week of something here and there. I was crushing this until June 11 when I did something to my knee doing the low impact sprinters on Cardio Slam. So, after taking a week of, I had to totally revamp my routine. During the pandemic, I bought the entire P.Volve series but had never used it. Well, now I finally had a use for it and I'm about to finish the 21 Day Butt Lift series. I've mixed in Cathe's upper body weight training dvds because for now, I want to keep lifting heavy like I had been doing before the knee problem. This week consists of 3 P.Volve butt lift workouts, two Cathe STS upper body workouts and Saturday, I'm going to do ICE Metabolic Total Body. I haven't really done any cardio since June 11, except for doing Fit Split's Low Impact Cardio a few times. What has surprised me is that I seem to have lost 2 pounds since I changed things up. When I bought all the P.Volve equipment, I got a free 90 day streaming membership and I'm still trying to figure out how to stream the workouts from the P.Volve app on my iPhone to my Roku hooked up to a large TV. The P.Volve method is like nothing I've ever done before because the lower body workouts I've done (and so far I've only done their lower body stuff because I didn't want to do lunges and squats with heavy weights until I'd given my knee a month of rest) is all about functional movement. It reminds me of barre and pilates, but with different movement patterns. A lot of it is rooted in physical therapy. If I can get the streaming thing to work, I just might activate my free trial of P.Volve and venture further into those workouts because the equipment is interesting - a slant board, the p.band, which is basically a pair of fingerless gloves attached together with a resistance tube, the p.3 trainer which is similar but has a velcro band that attaches to the ankle and you can attach a resistance tube with a handle or a resistance tube with a small ball to hold onto. Some workouts use light handweights, light and heavy ankle weights, light and heavy ankle bands and the p.ball, which is a small ball attached to a wide elastic fabric strap, similar to Cathe's Boss loop, which you put around your legs at the top of your inner thighs and do various squeezes. Its supposed to activate more butt muscles. So that's my fitness journey in a nutshell. I also think changing things up is key.
 
Candice2015 said:
IMG_2570.jpegHas anyone combined a full rotation of STS with barre type workouts. I enjoy barre workouts and am trying to figure out if a putting some barre workouts either upper, lower or total body in place of some of the cardio would be beneficial.
Click to expand...
Candice2015,
Did you try this? I’m currently working on a STS that will replace most if not all leg days with progressive barre, possibly resistive barre. I won’t be embarking upon it for quite a while but working on it is definitely showing me what I need to work on to get ready.

Naysayers please note that barre is body weight resistance. If you want to feel the kind of strength it can provide hold a 90 degree wall sit for a full 4 minutes. Yes, very different than heavy weights but challenging and beneficial.
 
I stumbled upon this older posting. I'm adding a link to the Cathe Blog article that discusses the pros and cons of Barre (not just the downside as quoted above).

cathe.com

Barre Workouts: Can They Change the Shape of Your Body?

Ballet-inspired barre workouts that use a ballet barre are growing in popularity. What kind of benefits does this type of workout offer?
cathe.com cathe.com

Wanted to add that I did do an STS rotation using barre and pilates workouts for the lower body after suffering a knee injury that prohibited the use of heavy weights for LB. It was fine, no real strength gains for LB, but no problems either. It depends on your goals, needs & preferences. I think an ideal solution if one wanted to do a full STS rotation but also include a Barre workout would be a 4 day split: LB (weights)/UB1, rest/recovery or cardio, then another LB (Barre)/UB2. One could do the Phase 2 of STS2.0 this way also.
 
I‘ve wanted to update this thread for a while but have been crazy busy with family responsibilities.
I ended up putting together and following a plan to use Cathe workouts work up to being strong enough to do the original STS.

The results were stellar in one way and a deal breaker in another. I definitely got stronger in a traditional weight training way. By the end of my plan I was able to do 87 push-ups on my toes during a single workout. I was using dumbbells as heavy as 35 pounds. I know that’s small potatoes for the heavy lifters here but I’ll be 71 next mont, have it a history of a pretty serious neck injury and am very petite. so that was the good.

For me the deal breaker was that I didn’t gain much muscle despite my effort. I went into this with a body comp defined as athletic with adequate muscle.

What I did gain is inflammation, not injury just general signs of inflammation. My body looked puffy and just frumpy. When I’m in shape my body is the same size and shape as when I was in my early 30s. Don’t get me wrong. My face and skin do not look 30 but my arms are defined and cut, legs too and even my abs are cut. This all disappeared. My body didn’t feel like my body. I didn’t have pain per se just vague aches. I’m sure most 71 year olds might experience better aesthetics but I didn’t.

Even though I did Barre for my LB I produced enough cortisol that it too was puffy and frumpy.

I decided that as ready as I was I would not proceed and do STS.

I went back to Essentrics, Barre and Ballet along with walking and wood stacking - we stack between 8 and 12 tons, yes tons of hardwood wood yearly.
(4-5 cords)

I’m very quickly regain the body I recognize as mine.
I saw the link Debi posted concerning Cathe’s barre. I really enjoy Cathe’s barre but consider it more athletic than the barre I use regularly. I want to post a link to the bar method (one of three barre techniques I use.)
Is Barre Strength Training

I wasn’t always like this. When I was younger heavy weights made me cut and muscular. Sadly this is no longer true. Thankfully I can get similar results with lighter weights, barre and ballet and still maintain my muscle mass. It’s just tighter and denser.

So those are my geriatric results to my grand experiment of STS prep with Barre for LB.
 
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