Oooh! I enabled! Awesome!
Sorry I didn't see your question before. I hope you like them - which ones did you get?
The Low Intensity Experiment: Preliminary Results (Longish)
- Thread starter Afreet
- Start date
Oooh! I enabled! Awesome!
Sorry I didn't see your question before. I hope you like them - which ones did you get?
the arms/core/buns toning one. do you have both of them? how is the athlete one? i was going to get both but thought i better just start with one first. do you just do half of it per day or all of it? I ask b/c you said that you did it for like 40 minutes but the length of the workouts stated on the website is 60 minutes. I like to get in at least 30 min of cardio but don't have 90 minutes to workout so i was thinking of splinting the workout into 30 min segments.
Hi, Kariev and PhyllisG!
OK. Classical Stretch is the ballet/yoga/tai chi/pilates/rehabilitative stretching/toning workout created by Miranda Esmonde-White. She has been doing short programs on PBS for years – these average about 20 minutes apiece, and I sometimes do one of these as an add-on after other workouts. You can buy whole seasons of the show on DVD. I’m REALLY loving the 2009 series right now, BTW!
In the last few years, Miranda and her daughter, Sahra, have been working on a new series that will have broader appeal for younger audiences. This is called Essentrics, which is very similar to Classical Stretch, but a bit more strenuous, and has some different moves and sequences.
Miranda’s Classical Stretch “Arms & Abs + Legs & Butt” workout is REALLY different from the Essentrics “Upper + Abs and Lower+ Abs” DVD led by Miranda. The Essentrics DVD with the 2 workouts guided by Sahra is also different, and is AWESOME – and much harder. I like doing them both back-to-back or as stand-alone workouts.
The Essentrics Athlete’s workout is also terrific. It really is a very intense, hour-long stretch workout with some mild resistance work. I would say that the two newest Essentrics workouts featuring Sahra Esmonde-White would be a really good combination to have.
On days when I want less than an hour but more than 30 minutes, I’ll do a 30-minute Essentrics/Classical Stretch routine followed by a portion of one of the TV shows, or maybe part of the Athlete’s Intense Stretch workout. The 2 Sahra DVDs are chaptered, so you can choose “Standing”, “Floorwork”, “Barrework”, etc.
Wow – this is confusing. I hope this helped answer your questions!
OK. Classical Stretch is the ballet/yoga/tai chi/pilates/rehabilitative stretching/toning workout created by Miranda Esmonde-White. She has been doing short programs on PBS for years – these average about 20 minutes apiece, and I sometimes do one of these as an add-on after other workouts. You can buy whole seasons of the show on DVD. I’m REALLY loving the 2009 series right now, BTW!
In the last few years, Miranda and her daughter, Sahra, have been working on a new series that will have broader appeal for younger audiences. This is called Essentrics, which is very similar to Classical Stretch, but a bit more strenuous, and has some different moves and sequences.
Miranda’s Classical Stretch “Arms & Abs + Legs & Butt” workout is REALLY different from the Essentrics “Upper + Abs and Lower+ Abs” DVD led by Miranda. The Essentrics DVD with the 2 workouts guided by Sahra is also different, and is AWESOME – and much harder. I like doing them both back-to-back or as stand-alone workouts.
The Essentrics Athlete’s workout is also terrific. It really is a very intense, hour-long stretch workout with some mild resistance work. I would say that the two newest Essentrics workouts featuring Sahra Esmonde-White would be a really good combination to have.
On days when I want less than an hour but more than 30 minutes, I’ll do a 30-minute Essentrics/Classical Stretch routine followed by a portion of one of the TV shows, or maybe part of the Athlete’s Intense Stretch workout. The 2 Sahra DVDs are chaptered, so you can choose “Standing”, “Floorwork”, “Barrework”, etc.
Wow – this is confusing. I hope this helped answer your questions!
Miranda's "Essentrics" DVD (featuring 4 workouts on 2 DVDs) is filmed outdoors. Both of Sahra's DVD's are filmed indoors in a studio.
OK, sorry for going on for so long, but I felt compelled to add: the first time I did Classical Stretch, I thought Miranda was a crazy person. Her cueing isn't perfect, and she's sort of quirky, and sometimes she says things like "force your arm back behind you" or "pull your arm right out of its socket", and she always talks about how stretching will make you thinner, which I'm still pretty sure I don't believe.
If you haven't done her workouts before, you may find yourself thinking, "What is wrong with this woman???"
Her workouts are also gentle and graceful, and I initially felt they were too easy. As I got used to them, though, I was able to put more into them, and discovered that they are actually hard! And they make me feel good. They improve my flexibility and are great by themselves or as a follow-up to a cardio workout.
These are really "get out of it what you put into it" workouts. I often feel really sore after some of them - especially the newer Essentrics workouts.
If you haven't done her workouts before, you may find yourself thinking, "What is wrong with this woman???"
Her workouts are also gentle and graceful, and I initially felt they were too easy. As I got used to them, though, I was able to put more into them, and discovered that they are actually hard! And they make me feel good. They improve my flexibility and are great by themselves or as a follow-up to a cardio workout.
These are really "get out of it what you put into it" workouts. I often feel really sore after some of them - especially the newer Essentrics workouts.
what dietary changes did you do afleet during this exercise experiment? curious since you said you were going to focus on your diet. i just binged (first time in 6 weeks) and i'm pissed off at myself. I know its due to the high intensity of my workouts making my hunger insatiable. i do much better with a stricter diet and less exercise than more exercise b/c i have the tendency not to compesate my workouts by increasing my cals. Its funny b/c for the past few weeks i have been doing light cardio and yoga with no binge urges. this week i decided i wanted to lift some and did M1W1 chest, shoulders and triceps and yesterday i did plyo legs week 3 and out of nohwere the binge feelings started to appear. Sucks!
Hi again -
I posted about that here - there's a pretty detailed sample day of food there. Basically, I am shooting for around 1500 calories a day, and focusing on lean veggie proteins and vegetables with some healthy fats, smaller amounts of complex carbs and fruits, and NO refined sugar stuff. It's way easier now that I've cut back on the murderous cardio.
Actually, the first day was kinda hard, now that I think about it. But after that, it's been pretty easy!
dr.mel_PT
Cathlete
this is such a great post!! i am going to try and tone down my workouts. i tend to have an all-or-nothing attitude when it comes to working out. i kill myself for 6 days and i even feel guilty giving myself a rest day! i know that is crazy but my mind thinks if i take a day off, im going to gain the 20 pounds back. i have to literally give myself a pep talk to not workout.
speaking of mentality, do you think we're actually hungrier when we do higher-intensity routines, or it's all in our minds? for me, i feel so strong after a tough workout that sometimes i dont care what i eat. im on that endorphin high and i dont feel guilty if i have a slice of pizza or pasta aftwards. then on rest days, my willpower is a lot stronger; i pay attention to what im eating and resist high-calorie/high-fat foods. i think i still have the same level of hunger, i'm just more aware of what i choose to fuel my body with.
speaking of mentality, do you think we're actually hungrier when we do higher-intensity routines, or it's all in our minds? for me, i feel so strong after a tough workout that sometimes i dont care what i eat. im on that endorphin high and i dont feel guilty if i have a slice of pizza or pasta aftwards. then on rest days, my willpower is a lot stronger; i pay attention to what im eating and resist high-calorie/high-fat foods. i think i still have the same level of hunger, i'm just more aware of what i choose to fuel my body with.
Hmmm...for me, I think it's a little of both - I do feel like a super-intense workout OUGHT to buy me a few extra calories here and there - even though experience has shown me that they DON'T!
But the reason I'm still sticking to my experiment is that my appetite really is under WAY better control than it has been in, like, years. I think it's a combination of my body not freaking out about yet another super-punishing workout AND saving some willpower for my diet, instead of blowing it all keeping up with my exercise regime. One of my interesting new discoveries about myself is that I have a finite amount of willpower. Even though I enjoy exercise, it really does take some mental energy on my part to get it done.
Again, I definitely believe that some people can lose weight with exercise alone - I've seen it happen! And some folks experience appetite suppression as a result of exercise (lucky ducks!). Others can workout like mad and keep their diet in check (super lucky!). And still others (like me) really have to watch the diet, no matter what kind of workout we do.
This is the first time I've stepped back from my workouts, so it was kinda scary. I also wasn't at all sure that I'd be able to get a grip on my eating habits! And I hope I haven't given the impression that I'm being super-restrictive with my diet, either - I don't want to go around feeling deprived for the rest of my life! Like I said, I was really seeing my attitude toward food spin out of control - I could keep it in check for a couple of days, and I'd even see minor weight loss, even after just a few days of successful clean eating - but then I'd just totally lose it at the slightest temptation.
That seemed unhealthy to me - so that was the motivation behind my experiment. I wanted to have a healthy, normal relationship with food AND exercise. By really reflecting on my day-to-day activities, I realized I was pushing the workouts harder than I needed to, and that was (evidently) the reason for my constant, obsessive thoughts about cake.
i think my hunger is both physical and mental. I get more hungry with intense workouts b/c my body is trying to recover from such an intense demand but its also mental. As i say "geez, i had a super hard workout so it won't hurt to eat this *insert food here* since i burned so many cals. I find that when i go on vacation or when i'm taking week off from working out, i naturally watch my diet more and i notice a decrease in hunger. I'm going to do 30 min of cardio now and 30 min of yoga. In my head i want to go balls to the walls for the next hour since i just binged on 2000cals worth of carbs but i'm trying to break this habit of overexercise/under and over eating. I think we all are different in what triggers us to eat or how we like to workout. I'm done running myself into the ground and not getting anywhere. When i first lost 35lbs 10 years ago, i did it with 30 min of cardio 6 days a week and about 3 days of light weight training on a total gym. I just cut out the junk in my diet and i was fine. I also, need to get rid of all this diet crap i keep eating. In the end, it makes me more hungry and leaves me feeling satisfied. I'm better off having a little of the real stuff.
Afleet: thanks for reposting your diet, i must have missed it the first time through.
RapidBreath
Cathlete
Focus on getting your calories from good fats, that should help. I measure out my olive oil not because I'm trying to limit it but because otherwise I don't eat enough. I hope that helps.
RapidBreath
Cathlete
Sounds like a binge is your bodies way of saying I need calories. Have you ever had any success stopping a binge with protien/fats? I read somewhere that most binges start with a carbohydrate and end with a combination of protein/fats, is that true for you? just curious. (I hope you don't mind me asking)
pinkquinn
Cathlete
you all might have seen my frustrated posting recently because of my 2month plateau
I went on vacation during my recovery week (on meso three now). I had some cheats....no real sugar tho
I lost FIVE pounds in 6 days!!!!!!
dont know if it was water or what but my stomach is flatter. Should I stop working out?
I went on vacation during my recovery week (on meso three now). I had some cheats....no real sugar tho
I lost FIVE pounds in 6 days!!!!!!
dont know if it was water or what but my stomach is flatter. Should I stop working out?
I think this is just another testament to the value of taking needed rest and not necessarily having to work your body into the ground to lose weight - sleep, relaxation and diet are just as important to weight loss as exercise! But I wouldn't give up exercise altogether! You need fitness as much as you need a trim figure!
WOW! You hit the nail on the head (and no i don't mind you asking; i'm very open about my binges) Anyway, my binges are ALWAYS carbs in the beginning and are protein and fats at the end. Today started with a huge french toast bagel and a chocolate chip cookie and finished with fage yogurt and half a jar of peanut butter. There were many bowls of cereal, crackers, and luna bars in between the beginning and the end. I've never tried stopping a binge by starting with a protein/fat combo. I've just sat down and analyzed my diet and i definately think i need to step away from diet foods (diet coke, diet protein bars, diet dressing, etc.) All of these things trigger me. I've even been thinking of giving up bread and replacing it with fruit instead. I've been noticing that bread makes me crave more carbs and i feel kindof bloated after i eat it. I do believe my body was saying "give me more food". Thats why I think i will do better with cutting back my workout intensity. I decided to do 30 min on the elliptical and then 30 min of power yoga. It was hard not beating myself up with cardio to try and compensate for the binge but when you think about it, if i at 2000cals during my binge, then doing cardio for an hour may only burn up 500 of that but it will make me feel exhausted and i don't want to punish myself like that. I'm just going to drink lots of water today and get back on my healthy eating plan when i get hungry. Seems like this thread got a bit side tracked b/c of my binge comment. Sorry to the original poster.
No worries - I like it when threads end up sparking new ideas and conversations.
so today kicked off my lower intensity plan. I did half of the tear it up workout from BB slim series and 30 min of cardio on the elliptical. I plan on spliting the SS workouts into 2 30 min workouts each day with 30 min of steady state cardio after. I may do 2 days of SS and then on the 3rd day do 30 min of power yoga and 30 min or cardio then continue with 2 more days of SS repeat. This will also change when i get the phsyique 57 workouts as i will do the same with the hour long of that one (divide it into 2 30 min workouts) and then same will go for when i get my Essentrics workout. So basically i will be working the whole body lightly everyday so its like a total body freestyle rotation. I'm excited to do this as i have NEVER done a rotation like this before.