Hi everyone, I am back and looking for a little guidance. I'm exactly halfway through Meso 2 (I switched to the full 6 month STS program after 2 weeks of Meso 1) and am liking the results for the most part. I have added 4 pounds of weight, most of which is clearly muscle. As of the last week or so, however, I am seeing more body fat in the form of some cellulite where there was none (eek!). I am currently eating 2000 calories and doing STS 3 times per week and Hiit/other high-intensity cardio for 45 min-1 hour on the days I don't do STS. I take Sunday off and just do yoga. I LOVE the muscle weight but am NOT ok with the fat. My diet is a clean as clean can be so it's not a diet thing. Is it possible that I am working out TOO much and that's causing my body to add fat? Is it a normal part of STS to see this happen? I'm not freaking out too badly yet but my old eating disorder is trying to rear its obnoxious head and I'm fighting back hard. Help? Advice?
Christin
I can only speak for myself and - full disclosure - I have not done STS, but cellulite has been the bane of my existence since I was in elementary school. No kidding. I can say that too much cardio, as in more than three times a week, tends to cost me muscle and decrease my recovery levels to where my weight-training will suffer. If I'm doing serious split training three to four times a week, I'm not yet at the level where I can do three days a week of Cathe's more challenging cardio. I was used to training six days a week, 45-70 minutes a day when I did The FIRM. However, that training was almost exclusively based on higher-rep, lower-weight, total-body weight-training workouts three times a week. It was
really hard for me to accept that four or five days a week of training might be best. In my mind: A Daily Sweatfest = Better Results. But people on the forums here convinced me through their own experience this isn't always so...and they were right. When I lift heavy for more than one day a week, I have to take at least one more rest day to feel better, recover more quickly, and prevent muscle loss (especially in the hamstrings and glutes). Whether you are doing too much cardio depends entirely on your body type, fitness levels, and some other factors. I guess the only way to know for sure is to experiment!
When I do a week of Gym Style or something else concentrated, I may only end up doing one day of cardio a week. It depends on how I feel, my schedule, how well I slept the night before, etc. This was my rotation recently, and I LOVED the results. Three inches off my waist, two off my hips in about a month's time. I train legs twice a week because they are my weak area. I admit there were a few times when I was stressed and added in Basic Step or another one of Cathe's easier routines to calm myself via endorphin rush.
You are probably so much more advanced than me that this rotation will seem absurdly light, but here it is:
M: GS Back, Shoulders & Biceps + Core Max (no equipment segment)
Tu: Low Impact Step + Core Max (medicine ball segment)
W: GS Legs
Th: Rest
F: GS Chest & Triceps + Core Max (stability ball segment)
Sa: Rest (although this is the day I clean house every week, which takes 3 hours or so)
Su: Legs and Glutes
I also do Stretch Max nightly, the resistance band segment being my favorite. My kitty loves my yoga mat and imitating my stretching, so she plops down and takes up a 1/3 of my mat while enjoying Cathe's soothing voice and music. Very fun!
I apologize for not being more familiar with STS, but could you possibly be taking too much of a focus away from the particular exercises that your own body needs a lot of? I hear some women say they hate floorwork for example, avoiding it at all costs. If I avoid it I lose firmness in a nanosecond. Too little concentrated glute work can be problematic. Squats and stuff are great, but I personally need some glute and hamstring isolation exercises at least two to three times a week to stay firm there. I'm a big believer in doing a few daily, weighted hip thrusts or bridges. Even on my rest days I will do a few (just one set of 4-10 reps each) bodyweight hip thrusts, leg lifts, deep squats, split squats, lateral squats and something like fire hydrants to keep up the pump in my legs/glutes. Not everyone needs to do that, I just have pathetic legs and glutes that turn to mush overnight (or so it seems). I'm a big girl, so bodyweight is plenty for me to get a pump, LOL.
Too little protein and calories in general are my worst enemies when trying to muscle up a bit and stay firm. I know you said your diet is clean, and I believe you. How many grams of protein do you eat out of the 2000 calories, if you count them? Some people do well with up to 40% of their calories from protein (200 grams, or 800 calories out of the 2000 daily) when they're training heavy with weights regularly, but I think it varies for everyone. I aim for about 150 grams a day myself on average. (About 1 to 1.2 grams per pound, based on my goal weight of 150 lbs.) I also added a coconut oil supplement when I began training heavy again a few months ago. I think the additional fat helps my joints, and it's good for cosmetic reasons. I consume plenty of extra-virgin olive oil, too. I had a hard time letting myself eat more after months of strict dieting to lose a lot of weight, but if I was working out as hard as you do, I'd probably have to up my calories yet again.
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/how-much-protein-per-day/
Could it also be (temporary) water weight your muscles are holding onto? I believe it was on Bret Contreras blog that I read heavy lifting brings on water weight. After a short period of time, the body adjusts itself and the water disappears. Then any "bulkiness" (and perhaps cellulite?) disappears. Sorry, I read so much on fitness that I might be wrong about the source.
I am currently in a "water-shedding" week myself, LOL. That tends to happen after several sessions of Gym Styles.
-Liz
