Total Body Weight Workouts

I read on another thread that High Reps DVD should be done no more than twice a week by cathe. So now I wondering too. It's a rotation I would like to do because I've read here on the forums that some people have had great results doing 3 total body workouts per week.

I've also noticed that cathe will only put in 2 full body workouts in a week. (July 2012)
 
Maybe there is a difference depending on the type of f/b work out...Putting three high rep endurance work outs in one week could be a bit much....I recall back in the day doing 3 Jari Love work outs in a week and it wasted me! Could also be a bit of Cathe's personal preference as well....Just a thought. :)
 
From what i read on that thread i got the gest of what she said was two high reps and one heavey lifting lower reps. So i think you can do a light weight wo, high reps and one heavey weight low reps. I may be wrong.
 
From everything I have read and remember, you can do three total body a week, skipping at least a day of lifting in between workouts for your body to recover.

In light of this, I am loving the XTrain 30 day rotation, but it does bug me that I am not concentrating on specific muscles at least 2x per week.

I am thinking about throwing in a total body workout just one day per week.
 
tralaiven said:
From everything I have read and remember, you can do three total body a week, skipping at least a day of lifting in between workouts for your body to recover.

In light of this, I am loving the XTrain 30 day rotation, but it does bug me that I am not concentrating on specific muscles at least 2x per week.

I am thinking about throwing in a total body workout just one day per week.
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This has always bothered me too about some rotations--however, if you are lifting heavy enough, Cathe is doing it right. I subscribe to a lot of weight lifting magazines and buy the books, too, and that is what most of them recommend--working each muscle group once per week. When I initially hoarded all of Cathe's strength DVDs, I did her split workouts, one after other, one split routine a week. So I was working each muscle group once a week and I got great results. So far, just from doing Xtrain (I'm on week two) I feel like the strength workouts are going to work my muscles better than anything I've done prior. But we will see, won't we?

BTW--isn't that how STS is set up? Each muscle group worked only once per week? I have STS, but haven't done it yet. I have it slated for April, when I finish my Xtrain rotation.
 
wonderwoman said:
Why is it recommended that only 2 be done a week?
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With current research it is said that 2 days is now optimal bc not only do you work each muscle group twice per week (the same as a 3 day split x2) but it allows the body more time to heal, repair, and grow. It's especially true when you do other activities like cardio, Hiit, and so forth as the body can only repair the muscle and grow when in rest.
 
mrsprincess07 said:
With current research it is said that 2 days is now optimal bc not only do you work each muscle group twice per week (the same as a 3 day split x2) but it allows the body more time to heal, repair, and grow. It's especially true when you do other activities like cardio, Hiit, and so forth as the body can only repair the muscle and grow when in rest.
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I am really liking this idea of doing total body weights twice per week. It really takes some of the " workout" pressure off .... That is if anyone else out there is concerned about doing it right as am I .
 
tralaiven said:
I am really liking this idea of doing total body weights twice per week. It really takes some of the " workout" pressure off .... That is if anyone else out there is concerned about doing it right as am I .
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This is what I have been doing- this week was the except as I did UB from BM2 and Lower Body Premix from Trisets (for mental variety). Other than that I've been sticking to Trisets exclusively since the beginning of this month. My goal is to do 2 TB workouts per week. Since Cathe has so many great ones, I know I can get optimal muscle recruitment and still makes both muscle and strength gains. I know for me, it takes a lot of stress out of planning my workout times since Baby Girl is not so keen on napping; she much prefers to be a Wakey-Baby with mom's full attention. 1 less day I have to squeeze in a workout during the Mon-Fri schedule, the better!
 
reddyme said:
How many times per week do they suggest you do cardio?
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depending on the resource if you are also doing other forms of exercise (including strength) 2-4 days per week for 20-60 minutes. 2 Days allows for heart, joint, and mental health regardless of duration and 3-4 days for the average person allows for weight loss benefits. Again, these are statistical averages. I can lose weight with strength alone for example, so don't plan your workouts around an "average". Instead find something that works for you and allows you to have balance in all areas of life, as well as, allows you to feel BOTH energized and relax. If you feel tired, over trained, or just noticing you lack motivation and energy for working out or it takes longer to recover- you know you need to cut back.
 
So interesting to hear what works for different people. The 90 day Xtrain rotation is my first experience lifting each upper body part once a week (only rear delts twice) and I never thought I'd think it was "enough" but 2 weeks in, I think I'm going to see results and certainly feeling DOMS.

I do miss the full body workouts and will go back to them eventually (gotta keep switching things up!) I do love that Xtrain has the burn set and 100 rep bonuses so if it's a week where I'm doing full body workouts and can only get 2 in, I now have an easy way to add in a body part if something is feeling like it needs a little extra love.
 
I love doing total body weight workouts. I find they are efficient and my body responds best to them. Often times I will do 2 total body workouts and 1 leg workout as I like to focus on my legs a bit more. I've never done well with splits unless its an upper/lower split. I plan on creating a total body workout from the Xtrain weight workouts (not the burnset oens) by doing 20 minutes from Chest, Back Shoulders, 20 minutes from Bis and tris and 20 minutes from Legs. I hope Cathe comes out with another total body workout in the near future.
 
kariev said:
I love doing total body weight workouts. I find they are efficient and my body responds best to them. Often times I will do 2 total body workouts and 1 leg workout as I like to focus on my legs a bit more. I've never done well with splits unless its an upper/lower split. I plan on creating a total body workout from the Xtrain weight workouts (not the burnset oens) by doing 20 minutes from Chest, Back Shoulders, 20 minutes from Bis and tris and 20 minutes from Legs. I hope Cathe comes out with another total body workout in the near future.
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I've really enjoyed her recent TB workouts! I too and hoping she dives more into those bc they are great and you do get some nice premix options from them too.
 
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