STS first time!

Ah, so nice to wake up in my own bed!:D

I hope everyone had a great week. I missed you all! I really missed my workouts too! I can not wait to workout today! Unfortunately since we had the mailed stopped all of our mail is at the post office and so I won't be able to get TTM and CF until tomorrow.:( I am soooo stoked to do them both! Now I see Cathe is going to be filming a new 10 disc set similar to STS in concept???:eek::eek: I am IN baby!!

The trip was fun for the kids and sort of fun for me;). Unfortunately, there was some grumpiness and tension amongst the adults at various times. My sister and her husband...I love my them so much but they can sometimes drive us crazy. With them it's all rush rush rush...hurry up and wait. I've never met people who are so intent on rushing to do everything under the sun and yet lollygag as much as they do! I'm like...can we just relax and enjoy what we're doing right now? Lordy. The weather was pretty hot of course, which was fine until the day at Disney. We decided to do just one park, one day (Magic Kingdom) and I'm really glad for that. I've never sweated so much when not working out!:confused: It was fun for the kids though. Lydia got to meet the princessess! That was a highlight;). The other days we just drove to the beaches (Clearwater and Daytona) or else hung out at the house we rented (they had a POOL!!). Here's a pic of Lydia with Cinderella.
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Here's me and the kids with their mouse ears on and the castle in the background

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And the kids with their cousins and Tigger :)
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My other sister (Danielle) was down there too with her boyfriend and his daughter (she got divorced this year...). The blonde little girl with Tigger is her daughter/my niece and the dark haired little boy is my other sister's (Areka) son/my nephew. My niece Gabby (Areka's step daughter) was also with...she's sixteen and was missing her boyfriend so she was getting irritable the last few days we were there:rolleyes:.

I see we have a new check in friend! Hello Meredith! My name is Colleen, 39, 2 kids and hubby, optometrist and humongous Cathe fan:cool:. Nice to have you on here! I'm sure you'll like checking in here even though most of us have already done STS. I plan on doing another round of STS in the fall after I've done some of the new workouts and my newish obsession...Horizontal Conditioning...for awhile. I wanted to suggest one thing with the rubber tubing that worked really well for me. I have the tower now but I didn't through most of my first time with STS. If you have two sets of rubber tubing, just twist them around each other and tie the ends. That will give you a lot more resistance than with just the one. I really felt the lat pull downs a lot more when I did that. I got the idea on here (was it you Mary?).

Oh man, I've written quite the novel here! I'll check in later after I've done my workouts today. I'm thinking of doing Lower Body Blast (standing portion only minus the cool down) and then Volume 3 of HC (minus the warm up). TTYL!
 
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I'm home :) Long drive. So much traffic. Should have taken 3 hours but took 4...ugh! Missing my niece and sis already. Thinking we will do breakfast on Wed before she heads to the airport. Welcome home Colleen. Great pics :) Alright off to relax for me!
 
Good Evening Everyone!!!

Welcome home Colleen! I am so glad you and the family had a nice time. I was worried about the heat and being at Disney!!!! All the pavement and the sun does not go well together! So, I am glad you had fun. As for traveling with others, it is never 100% compatable. Everyone always wants to do something different!!! Can't wait for you to try the new DVD's, so we can hear your reviews. All I can say. is get ready to sweat!!! :eek:

Jean---I am so ready to read tomorrow's newsletter! So excited for info on Xtrain!!

Carolyn---I am so happy your hubby got the entire weekend off. I am sure the kids and you enjoyed having him home. We also had grilled burgers tonight. So, tomorrow we will have to work of the snacks!!!

Any garden updates? I pick cherry tomatos daily, regular tomatoes---several a week, yellow squash--- several a week, cucumbers---all the plants are done, so I have planted more....they are starting to flower now, so within a week or two some should start to grow. (yeah) :p:p YUM YUM!!!!

Okay, off to shower. Have a nice evening!:)
 
Newbee

Hello Cathe Community!

Jean invited me over here. I just started STS today!!! It was a beast, but I absolutely love it and can't wait to get stronger and stronger! Yippee! Anyway, Jean said you all have done STS before and that I could learn a lot from you, so I decided to jump on in. I look forward to chatting with you all. To Health and Strength!
 
Thanks for the welcome home ladies!:D I was really jonesing to try and keep up with the posts but my stupid blackberry is totally difficult for that stuff. Plus I got a little bit of crap for being on my phone doing that. I would be on it while drinking coffee in the morning before we got going and constantly have to retry uploading it as it would constantly freeze up or say server unavailable or whatever. I think Mark was thisclose to throwing the phone in the pool!:eek:;) Hee hee!

Well, I did LBB and HC volume 3 today. Ho boy, I've never gotten nauseous during a workout before but today I actually did about 20 minutes into HC. I had to pause the dvd for about 5 minutes and drink lots of my cherry juice to rehydrate and let the feeling pass. It was totally my fault...I got so busy unpacking and trying to get everything done today (plus get my workout in) that I didn't eat too much before I worked out. I pretty much just had a bowl of oatmeal and a small protein shake before I worked out at 3:30 this afternoon. I was feeling the low blood sugar! Plus I think not working out for 9 days had something to do with my stamina too!:eek:

I'm so bummed I won't be able to do the new workouts tomorrow either! They are still waiting at the post office:(. Hopefully by Tuesday morning I'll be able to do one of them...now just to decide which one to do first!

Missy- I'm so jealous of all your garden veggies! I actually think we're going to have an early harvest though. The heat has really caused the vegetables to take off. As long as we keep it watered it seems to be going bananas!

Carolyn- that's so great you had an awesome weekend with DH! I know how that is having a tense hubby!;) At one point this week Mark looked so relaxed I was looking at him and thinking "Who are you???!" lol

Marie- I love Duluth! Was it hot up there too? Every time I've gone there it's been wicked cold! Even in the dead of summer it seems it's fairly cool there. I'm so sorry you had to deal with traffic..that's the WORST! That's one thing I don't miss about the cities, although I do love Minneapolis/St. Paul area. We had the choice to fly out of Milwaukee too but I just can't stand that city. I always feel so much more comfortable with the twin cities for some reason.

Jean- how's STS going this round? I bet you're totally excited about a new strength series from Cathe!:eek: It sounds like they are going to be a little bit shorter than STS which is an idea I love. I bet she'll make them super efficient, too. I love getting more bang for my buck time wise!

Okay, better get the kiddos bathed. Night ladies!
 
Omg! New workouts! That's unbelievable! Guess I'll be spending waaay too much time stalking those news posts!:eek:!

I swear I'll have to start exercising more days of the week to do all of Cathe's workouts!

Hi ladies! No time for forums this weekend at all! Great to catch up on your posts!! Let me see if I can remember what y'all wrote! Sorry, don't have previous screen feature on my little gadget.

Hi Colleen! Welcome back! It is tough to travel with other adults. I especially dislike the bossy ones, or the ones who are super slow in starting the day (& we're not early risers!). Can't wait for you to try the new workouts!

Marie, cherish that family time. You must feel so sad to have to separate from your sis and niece. It's a huge withdrawal! I'm still missing mine from my CA trip!

Jean, great going on legs. Keep it up! I know how you feel! What does your hubby do? It's so sweet to look forward to your retirement place in DE.

Missy, the races sounds like fun. My guys watch NASCAR sometimes. Don't sweat enjoying ice cream. You deserve it so. (I had one too:confused:.) I know what you mean about the obesity everywhere you look. So many people are not interested in healthy and fit.

Carolyn, how wonderful hubby had an extra day off!!! To get back to you on your Thurs post, I feel we could be best of friends too!:) Great minds think alike! All of us!!!!

Mary, your Cape getaway sounds fantastic, esp meeting up with your college roommate! And what a place for it! Had no wifi this weekend so now I know what you mean about sharks!:D

Welcome, Meredith & Sisam! You'll love STS! Ask us anything! We have been on this thread since end of Nov and have become great buddies! I never had to print out any STS cards, and used my computer directly.

Betty (Boston, 48, 2 boys, finished STS 4 wks ago, no turbo tower or interlocking mats)
 
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Hi Sisam! Welcome! Glad to have you :) My name is Marie and I'm 33 years old. Live in Mpls with my hubby. We have a baby boy on the way....due Oct 10th :)
 
Hello Everyone! I'm trying to catch up on posts before I head out to work. We had a great time at the Cape, but it was so hot. On Sat. it was so humid it was difficult to even walk, so I gave up on the idea of actually working out. But we got some swimming in and went out in my brother's boat (didn't see any sharks either!). And my college roommate was home visiting her Mom while we were there so got to see her too. She moved to Pittsburgh after college so I don't get to see her too often. All in all, a very good weekend.

I did To The Max when we got home yesterday. I think that is my favorite of the 2 new workouts. And I can't believe Cathe is coming out with a new series so soon! I can't wait to read more about it. I'm excited for the new weight workouts and seeing that they'll be shorter than STS.

Colleen, welcome back! Travelling with others is difficult, its hard to get people on the same schedule. But it sounds like you had a great time and had a chance to relax. Your pictures are so cute!

Missy, our garden is so far behind yours. We also have a woodchuck who lives under the shed in our back yard, and lately we've seen a baby woodchuck as well, so I'm not sure how much of our veggies we'll get to see. My husband built an elaborate fence around everything but they still manage to find a way in.

Marie, sounds like you had a great visit. Is your sister able to go back to her home?

Welcome to the new people, and I hope everyone has a great workout today!

Carolyn, glad hubby got the whole weekend off. The kids must have loved it too.
 
I did it!

Disk 1 - CHECK! :)

Okay... some questions:

1. Sometimes the suggested weight was just too much, and sometimes I felt I could go higher. Sometimes I did (in the beginning) and sometimes not (at the end :)). (I think I was off on some because when I did my 1RM test, I didn't realize that 20 reps was the max the calculator would do and I should have re-tested at a higher weight, but just didn't :) ). So... when you are modifying the workout manager and you want it to reflect a higher weight for next time, how do you do that? (i.e. Say it suggested 10lb. dumbbells for an exercise, I did with 10, but know I could go higher next time. Do I enter 10? Do I enter 12?

2. I can do some on-the-toes push-ups, but could never keep up with Cathe's pace. Is it better to do less on-the-toes push-ups at my own speed, or stay on the knees and go with Cathe? Today, I did on the knees. Towards the end tho, my form got pretty laughable even on the knees.

3. I did the extended stretch today and that felt good. I had planned to do abs, but ran out of time, so I think I'll do abs on the cardio days. How often do you all do abs? Every day? Every other?

Some observations:

At the end, it looked like a tornado had hit my workout room. There are SO many equipment changes! Holy cow!

I like having the male exercisers to look at :)

I took my measurements and some photos today. Not sure if I'll be sharing these or not, but it's good to know where you started.

I think I'm going to do Step Blast for cardio tomorrow. And abs.

Okay, I'll come back later and read through everyone else's post. I just wanted to say that

Marie, my son will be 2 on October 10, so pulling for you on that great birthday!
 
Good Morning ladies! Got up on time this morning, and did an hour on the elliptical. Started my day well. I then went to work :(

Been crazy busy!!!!!

Welcome Sisam! If you have questions, one of us will have an answer!!! Glad you joined us!!!:)

Carolyn---What did you decide to do for a workout today? That's too cute...(lettace and your little one) :D

Meredith---Congrats on finishing Disc1. I too felt like a tornado hit my exercise room when doing some of the STS workouts. But well worth it!!! Just think extra calories are burned cleaning up!!! As for abs, we all are slackers on that. But were trying. I normally try to hit them several times a week.

Colleen--I think the heat is making the garden grow faster!!! I take a big bowl out there daily and most day come back with it 1/2 to 3/4 full. I have so many cherry tomatoes I have been giving some of them to the inlaws and co workers!!! I just can't eat them fast enough!!! But thats a good thing. Means, I am not buying muvh produce at the store!!! Saving my money for the new DVD's!!! hehehe :eek:

Mary---I am glad you had a nice time. It think it is hot everywhere. Today's high is 99 degrees. Again, blistering hot!!!

Betty---I think several of us endulged in ice cream this weekend. Gotta get busy with Cathe to burn it off!!!! So excited for the new DVD's to come.

Can't wait for the newsletter to learn more about the new series!!!

Okay, back to work! BBL! :p
 
Just finishing my oatmeal. Slept in late today. When I work evening shift I can't get up too early or I will be dead by the end of the shift. Mary- My sis is able to go back to her home :) So happy for that although I wish she could stay longer. She has some smoke damage but most things are savable. Meredith- Congrats on completing disc 1. Gotta love Libras :) It would also be fun to go on Oct 13th....my hubby's bday! Afterburn for me today....headest to the basement very soon. I feel like a cow right now. My eating was out of control this weekend. Speaking of ice cream.....I too induldged. DQ on the way home. We also had an super tasty ice cream dessert this weekend. Ugh! I always eat too much when I go to my mom's. Swear I gained 10lbs. Ok enough about that. I need to get to the basement and get back on track today!!!
 
Good Afternoon! I got my newsletter....and I am so excited!

I am really looking forward to this new series. As you all know I love Cathe!!!! :p At least we can enjoy To the Max and Crossfire while waiting on them!!!!

I was planning on doing Athletic Training tonight, but I just received High Step Training in the mail. So I am thinking I need to do it???? :eek:

Jean---Isn't it so neat to pick your own veggies? I just love it. I actually planted several more plants (cucumbers, squash and tomatos) so I would have veggies into the fall. Just love fresh veggies!!! :eek: Also, you are doing so good with STS. Keep up the good work with those legs!!! I know it is hard to work on parts you do not like to train. But in the end, it is always worth it!!! :)

Marie---After you do Afterburn you will feel good again. I felt like a cow after eating my ice cream on Saturday. But, sunday after I worked out I felt better. Just remember, you are a Sexy Mom!!!

Okay, Back to work I go!!! BBL!
 
Hello Everyone! Thanks for your warm welcome! Ok about me... I just turned 29 yrs old and have been happily married for 8.5 yrs! I have a dog named Lola who is the other love of my life (she's a bichapoo, bichon frise and toy poodle hybrid). I'm from Long Island, NY, lived in Boulder CO for 11 years and then moved to WA state to pursue my dreams. I have a Bachelor's of science in Nutrition and a minor in culinary arts from Bastyr University, a leading school in natural medicine with a rigorous science curriculum. They specialize in Whole Foods Nutrition and i also decided to get my masters of science in Nutrition and Dietetics at Bastyr. I just completed my first year of that program and have one more year and then an internship.

I'm currently a Whole Foods Chef and Nutrition Educator and specialize in pantry makeovers, private cooking clAsses, group cooking classes, food shopping tours, seaweed harvesting trips, etc. I have a food, health and cooking blog called Thyme to Spice It Up (just type that in with no spaces and put .com if you're interested). I've taken Sorts nutrition classes on the graduate level and am excited to apply my knowledge to my routine! I think a part of not being 100% successful with muscle gain/definition was because although my diet was superb I needed some extra Sports Nutrition knowledge and not just what I've read about it from books, magazines etc. I also had quite the medical history that with my diet, meditation, etc I have been able to COMPLETELY recover from, but different meds and such were working against me from building lean mass at the time.

Let me see if I can remember some of your questions. I don't have a tower, I have the videos on my laptop and phone and workout at the gym! Man those pushups were a BEAST! Hardly got through modified ones! I also found some weights were too light, some too heavy and some just right. Meredith, I'm doing abs 2xs a week with cardio, doing extended stretch after each STS and doing yoga video 1x week to round it out. That's my plan!

I think that's all for now!!! Excited to learn from your experiences with STD and keep in touch!

Enjoy your day! I'm off to do my cardio and abs.
 
Oh and for the gardeners out there, I love to garden! I'm involved in a community Pea Patch and have a 1000 sq foot plot where I've planted all heirlooms. Different types of kale, rainbow chard, peas, purple carrots, beets, turnips, watermelon radish, lavender, chamomile, lettuces, fennel, chives, basil, tomatoes, squash, arugula, etc! :) yummy!!!
 
Omg I posted a really long reply about me etc and I don't see it here!!! I really hope it appears because I typed it out on my phone and it took forever!!!
 
Oh man Sisam, I feel your pain! I did the same thing...typing out a longish post on my phone (which is such a pain) and then lost it all just as I went to submit the reply. It took me forever and I was just in shock staring at my phone going "NOOOOOOO!!!":confused: Your garden plot sounds lovely! I just adore lavendar. I'm always buying lavendar scented lotions, bath gels and oils. I've often thought about just planting a bunch around my house so I could smell it all the time!:)

Missy- have fun with High Step Training! I'm totally stoked for the new workouts too. They sound right up my alley! The only one I wouldn't be interested in is the spin dvd since I don't have a bike. Do you guys think she'll do a separate package without that one like she did with LIS?

Marie- every time I do AB I swear I literally feel slimmer afterwards!:D I don't know what it is about that work out, but it's true. I even posted a thread on VF about it:p. No worries about indulging when your pregnant though! Baby loves some ice cream.;) You'll have plenty of time to lose the weight after baby is here so don't worry too much right now. Just enjoy the ride!:D Are you planning on breast feeding? It is crazy how the metabolism furnace burns over time when you do that. I lost most of the pounds very quickly from doing that but there are always those last 5-8 lbs that refuse to leave easily. Those are the pounds that Cathe will burn off for ya!

Jean- I totally agree about close grip push ups doing nothing for my triceps.:( I don't know if I just do them wrong or what but I always feel them in my chest and shoulders instead. I really prefer tricep dips or kickbacks. Cathe does some amazing tricep exercises with the band, too, especially in High Reps and Travel Fit, that I love.

Carolyn- how are the knees feeling? Have you attempted running again yet? Are you going to get an MRI still?

Meredith- As far as push ups I tend to start on my toes but only make it to about 8-10 like that and then I sink to my knees and try to finish by keeping up with Cathe but I always fall behind anyway:eek: I just figure I'll do my best and let the rest go. I used to have a big aversion to push ups but I'm getting better at doing them. As far as ab work I really slacked during STS but now that I'm into these new workouts called Horizontal Conditioning I'm getting my core strong again. They aren't by Cathe though. It's alot of plank and core work mixed in with some cardio and legs. I'm actually curious if it's okay to do body weight exercise while doing STS...anyone know the answer to that? I know I had to stay away from kettlebells, that's for sure! The tornado is unavoidable in Meso 1:eek:! Meso 2 it gets alot better!

Okay, gotta run!

Oh yeah, I ended up taking my usual Monday rest day. Big time DOMS today!! Yay!
 
Jean- you should totally look into Kelly Coffey-Meyer. She is a total board favorite over on VF. I tend to click with Cathe better but KCM has some really serious fans, almost on the level of Cathe fans! Kelley has two new workouts coming out that you could look into as well. One of them is a pure cardio workout and the other is a metabolic conditioning one. I'm actually interested in them as well. They aren't out yet though.
CoffeyFit

Oh and yes, gotta love Libra's Marie!:p My birthday's October 4!
 
Oh no, Sisam! I don't see your bio post. Hope you can re-send, because we want to know all about you! I see you're on your way to becoming a nutritionist/RD. I love that! I'd love to pursue that, if it weren't for the fact that I'd need to do additional schooling:confused:! I don't have the time or energy to go to school for 2 more years!:( Your garden sounds incredible!!! I'll be picking your brain for advice on both fronts, I'm sure.

OMG, the new workouts sound awesome! I am ecstatic, like a kid at Christmas! Some boxing stuff, and spin, as Jean says! (Even though I haven't purchased a bike, I had changed my LIS order to buy Cycle Max too.) And I don't have CTX, so I'm even more excited!

Jean, your poor husband in the heat! My Sunday paper says the heat will be less intense this week. I hope that's the case for you and Missy! It's gorgeously dry here today! But I still remember Saturday, just as Mary described it! Grossly humid!:confused:

Colleen, speaking of which, I don't know how you survived the FL heat! I had a daily heat and stiff neck (from wearing a hat) headache when we also went in early July! That was your workout for the week, the walking and sweating:p! Have you picked up your mail yet?? I would plant lavender except that my younger son is so afraid of the bees it attracts!

Sisam and Meredith, congrats on finishing Disc 1. Only 35 more to go!:D I dislike pushups intensely, but I am proud I can do some on my toes now, considering I am such a lightweight!:eek: Seriously, the chaos is less in Meso 2 and 3, which are a lot more orderly. My 19 y.o. is going through STS right now, disc 19 today.

Us Geminis get along very well with Libras!

I did STS TB today. Was mentally and physically unprepared for it! A lot of the weights felt too heavy (from being away from STS for a month, and having erratic workouts in the summer!). Oh well, I'll feel some DOMS tomorrow. This workout had abs, but it's hard for me to incorporate it if it's not already in the workout.
 
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Just a quick 1rm question...

I did this today and am unclear of the results... When the workout manager tells your 1rm results, is that For EACH dumbbell? I can't imagine doing concentration curls at the 1rm amount they gave me, 19.6
... And what is 19.6?? I need different weights, obviously
 
I've been neglecting my weights lately so did GS B-Sh-Bis. I matched Cathe on weights but it was tough! I feel like I've lost alot of strength gains from STS. I did much better when following STS, but now I feel like I'm all over the place with my workouts.

msperkey, that is the weight for each dumbbell. When I had weird numbers for weights, I would just round up or down. So if it says 19.6, you could go to a 20lb dumbbell. Try it at that weight, and if you can't finish, drop down in weight and then record that number in the workout mgr.

The new workouts sound great! I will definitely pre-order. I don't have a bike though so hope she does an option without the cycle dvd.
 
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