STS CHECK IN DISC 16

Cathe Friedrich

Cathe Friedrich

Administrator
Congratulations on your weight loss Heather. That is a superb accomplishment. Happy hard working hugs to you! Thank you for bringing this point in my post to my attention. No I wasn't suggestingthat but I can see how it reads that way. I was just trying to stress safety and I can see it now how I could have worded that better. I'll go edit my post but before I do just wanted to tell you to use extra caution when going heavier as to not injure yourself in the load and unload phase. Yes, without a spotter or weight bench, consider a slightly lighter weight (surely still very effective) and if you feel you want to try dumbbells for the reasons you mentioned that will be fine too. We can never be safe enough in our workouts.

Good Night Heather!
 
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STS Mesocycle 2 Questions

Cathe Friedrich said:
If you don't have a weight bench of any kind and you are doing these bench presses free of assistance, PLEASE wait until you have a spotter
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Cathe:

I do not have a spotter or weight bench. I wrapped up Mesocycle 1 yesterday (and lost 14 pounds!), and I am loving STS and looking forward to the rest of the journey. Are you suggesting that I should not start Mesocycle 2 next Sunday after my recovery week? I am disappointed to read this as I did not know when I started STS that a spotter or weight bench would be a requirement. :( What should I do instead? Would dumbbells instead of a barbell be safer (because I could drop them to the side if necessary)? Would I get any benefit out of these workouts with lighter weights?

I hope you enjoy the Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday STS schedule. I do!

Blessings,
Heather B.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).
 
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Congratulations on your weight loss Heather. That is a superb accomplishment. Happy hard working hugs to you! Thank you for bringing this point in my post to my attention. No I wasn't suggestingthat but I can see how it reads that way. I was just trying to stress safety and I can see it now how I could have worded that better. I'll go edit my post but before I do just wanted to tell you to use extra caution when going heavier as to not injure yourself in the load and unload phase. Yes, without a spotter or weight bench, consider a slightly lighter weight (surely still very effective) and if you feel you want to try dumbbells for the reasons you mentioned that will be fine too. We can never be safe enough in our workouts.

Good Night Heather!


BelovedHeather said:
Cathe:

I do not have a spotter or weight bench. I wrapped up Mesocycle 1 yesterday (and lost 14 pounds!), and I am loving STS and looking forward to the rest of the journey. Are you suggesting that I should not start Mesocycle 2 next Sunday after my recovery week? I am disappointed to read this as I did not know when I started STS that a spotter or weight bench would be a requirement. :( What should I do instead? Would dumbbells instead of a barbell be safer (because I could drop them to the side if necessary)? Would I get any benefit out of these workouts with lighter weights?

I hope you enjoy the Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday STS schedule. I do!

Blessings,
Heather B.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).
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Here is the check in for Disc 16. I am going to switch my workout days to Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. I'm finding a lot of time schedule conflicts on Mon, Wed, Friday.

Ok, so that brings me to Disc 16 which I did today. I SO ENJOYED this workout. It got in the muscles DEEPLY and I felt a such a pump after this workout. The pump started at about the second set of incline chest flys and never left until the end of the program.

Btw, if you don't have a weight bench of any kind and you are doing these bench presses free of assistance, consider going slightly lighter as to not risk injuring yourself during the load and unload phase at the start and end of the exercise set. I just thought I would highlight this consideration early so you can prepare accordingly. Nothing like discovering its too heavy when your super fatigued and needing to release that weight immediately.

If you have a weight bench or the option to have a spotter help you with these, take advantage of that as your first choice. But don't worry if you don't. Going a little lighter on these is still going to work you hard.
So how about those Back Off sets....it literally felt like we were flying once that weight was reduced.

Shoulders were tough. I was seeing stars on the front press back off set.

Tricep work felt great too. I felt like popeye when I was finished :D

Let me know how it worked out for you.

Nighty Night all...ZZZZZZZZZ[/quote]



Cathe Friedrich said:
Hi Fellow STS'rs!
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I am on Meso 2 starting week 3 and I have found I am not hungry like I was in Meso 1. Anyone else finding that they are not hungry like when they first started. I had cravings and was always looking for food during Meso 1.
Another question is, what do we do if we don't have a rack or a spotter for Meso 2?
Thanks so much,
Colleen
 
Hi Colleen! Please read my edited check in on Disc 16. Thanks :)


feebee said:
I am on Meso 2 starting week 3 and I have found I am not hungry like I was in Meso 1. Anyone else finding that they are not hungry like when they first started. I had cravings and was always looking for food during Meso 1.
Another question is, what do we do if we don't have a rack or a spotter for Meso 2?
Thanks so much,
Colleen
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Thank You, Cathe!!!!

Cathe Friedrich said:
Congratulations on your weight loss Heather. That is a superb accomplishment. Happy hard working hugs to you! Thank you for bringing this point in my post to my attention.
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Cathe:

Thank you for the encouragement and quick response to my questions. I am so glad you edited your message. I was sad when I read it. I obviously love STS! I just looked at my workout cards, and my weights are much lighter than what you use. Even with lighter weights, I have faith that this new-to-me style of training will be a shock! I am pretty sure that none of my friends are interested in coming to my home before sunrise to spot me! *wink* (I am an early bird!) I will keep your safety tips in mind and be extra careful! Hopefully, the Power Tower will be ready before my next rotation of STS!

Have a blessed week! Sweet dreams! Hugs! :)

Blessings,
Heather B.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).
 
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Great workout! I have a weight bench, but am still wishing for a spotter! I was fine on the incline, but when I went to a flat bench I found it very hard to get the weight off the rack, as it was slightly behind me. I'll play around with it, but I think if I slide my bench too far back, the rack will be in my way as I do my chest presses. The weight on my workout card felt impossible to get off the rack, so I dropped down about 5 pounds and was able to get that weight.

I really didn't want to get out of bed at 4:30 this morning, but I'm so glad I did! I feel great, and ready to take on the week. I thought I was done after chest, but then you threw a million shoulder presses at me - ouch! For some reason these always get me good! I used a barbell instead of dumbbells on the flat bench tricep presses, and loved it! I felt like my form was better than it was last week when I used dumbbells.

Thanks for everything, Cathe!
 
Loved, loved, loved this workout! I felt so strong today. Luckily, my hubby was getting ready for work at the same time I was doing chest work so he was there to hand me the weights which meant I could go heavier than normal. I was still feeling great through the shoulder work. I had to slow the reps down for the side leaning extensions but was still able to push through. This was the first workout I was able to do all of my weights listed without dropping down...it was an amazing feeling. Thank you Cathe.
 
I did this workout this morning and my shoulders, triceps and chest still feel pumped. I had a hard time keeping my arms in the air to dry my hair this morning so I guess that's a good sign. Love the back off sets for this week. However, my barbell is the kind that the collar screws on and off and it takes more than a minute to change the weights. So Cathe, is it ok if I used dumbells on my back off set for chest presses instead of wasting the time to lower the weight on my bar??

Thanks for another great start to the week!

Bev
 
Morning everyone!

This was not a good workout for me :(. My chest was more than willing - my arms had a different opinion, though. I had to pyramid down on the flies and flat bench presses because I was so afraid I was going to drop the weights on myself. The tricep and shoulder portion went very well - the chest (normally my strongest output) just wasn't there. I don't even have DOMS in my chest - just in the shoulder joint, probably from struggling so much with the weights. Too bad I didn't read your advice, Cathe, before doing this workout :p. But at least I opted for safety when it came down to it.

Oh well - next time through will be better, right ;)?
 
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Hello! I did disc 16 this morning. I had a little bit of a hard time with the slight weight increase. Most of my sets ended up as 10, 10, and 8 but I figured that still counts as hypertrophy so it's all good. I was loving the back off sets! Feeling pumped right now. I'll definitely be expecting serious DOMS tomorrow! Gotta love it!!!
 
heather, you must live in texas. those are texas bluebonnets on your picture. we did not have any wild flowers this year cuz we have had no rain. :( where do you live? i'm in new braunfels.

i did disc 22 yesterday and i must say i should have gone just a tiny bit heavier on some of the excercises. but, i like the workout. and i was lookin at meso 3 legs, did my 1 rms. think i'm gonna try the squat rack legs, dont know if my old body can take the plyos. but, i know i'm gonna have to try the plyos anyway. is it ok if i do both? or maybe 2 of the plyo workouts along w/the squat rack workouts?
cathy
 
drover said:
heather, you must live in texas. those are texas bluebonnets on your picture. we did not have any wild flowers this year cuz we have had no rain. :( where do you live? i'm in new braunfels.

i did disc 22 yesterday and i must say i should have gone just a tiny bit heavier on some of the excercises. but, i like the workout. and i was lookin at meso 3 legs, did my 1 rms. think i'm gonna try the squat rack legs, dont know if my old body can take the plyos. but, i know i'm gonna have to try the plyos anyway. is it ok if i do both? or maybe 2 of the plyo workouts along w/the squat rack workouts?
cathy
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Hi, Cathy. I have family in Dallas, one of the years I visited (I live in Ohio), the fields of bluebonnets were incredibly beautiful. Sorry you don't have any this year.

I did disc 22 today. Could not believe pushups were back! :( Did better than I expected. Noticed wall squats are back for this week's leg workout :)

Also have previewed mesocycle 3 legs. I've decided to do the squat rack version--I KNOW my poor hips and feet would not survive all those plyo jumps, though I sure wish I could try them. I might as a future "modified" cardio workout just for a fun challenge. Don't want to mess up the progress I'm making with STS!

Janie
 
Greetings All!

What a difference the 75% weights made! The increase really added a challenge, but I loved it. It was really hard, but I was able to complete all the reps during the chest exercises & able to get to 10 on the backoff sets. Shoulders were the same. Triceps--some exercises I was able to do 10-12 on the backoff sets, but the side leaning extension, my arm gave out after 6-8 even on the last lighter set.
I did indeed feel so pumped after I was finished! I'm already am looking forward to next week's chest workout. :)

I just have to add this: I complained about not feeling DOMS after during Disc 14 (legs). Well, Sunday AM I was sitting in my PJ shorts, eating breakfast & all the sudden my hand felt something firm. I looked down & my hand was resting on my thigh. I did a double-take because my legs have never felt that toned! I guess I hadn't noticed because I had not really felt my legs (usually just look in the mirror & groan at the saddlebags :O But once I felt that firmed up muscle, then I braved looking in the mirror & they actually look smaller & more toned! The saddlebags are even becoming less prominent! Needless to say, I spent the rest of day, looking at my legs, smiling, looking more at my legs, grinning, looking more & then thinking, how soon before I get to work my legs again???? I'm really motivated now! :) :) :) So, I'm looking forward to Disc 17 & hopefully having more reason to smile (that is after I get done grimacing during the actual workout!)

STS IS WORKING!!!!
 
This work out was great but really hard! After taking my chest to that amazing level my shoulders were very afraid!:eek: Had to lower my weights to keep good form which starts to feel like a let-down, so I just need to forget that and move on. I so want to keep pace with the wts on my work out card for some reason.:p
I finished strong with triceps today which was exactly what I needed to end this workout!
 
Good Monday, everyone,

16 down, and 20 to go! My goodness, we're almost half way done!

I did this disc yesterday afternoon. Funny, but I went to total failure with chest a number of times, and couldn't finish all my reps sometimes, and did really well with both shoulders & triceps. But today I'm not even sore or tight in the chest, or tricep area. My medial delts are very, very sore. So sore I don't like lifting my arms up. I truly don't understand why THAT's the muscle group to be complaining, given how hard I felt to be working in the chest & tricep sequences. Ah well. Life is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma...

This morning I did Cathe's suggested cardio workout: CTX Kickbox cardio & the Cardio Quick Fix. That was a nice workout. My arms weren't terribly excited about the workout, though (see paragraph above!). That's a lot of punching when you have sore shoulders!

I looked at next week's chest, shoulder, tricep workout and can hardly believe what I'm seeing. 7 sets!! Really?!?! That's got to be a typo!

Tomorrow is leg day. Thankfully.
Sandra
 
Tomorrow's cardio

Cathe-on tomorrow's cardio workout should we do the arm drills that come after the kickbox segment???

Bev
 
Like a previous poster, I had a HARD time with those bench presses, I dropped a could of reps. I dragged my husband out of bed early to spot me... Maybe he will buy me a rack so he can sleep;)
 
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