Upper/Lower Body Strength

[Kristina36]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Apr-20-02 AT 04:58PM (Est)[/font][p]I have a question in regard to upper body strength. I notice that Cathe uses a 35 lb. barbell in MIS for upper and lower body exercises (and have heard that she uses lighter weights for her videos than what she would normally because in production they have to do a number of repeats, which would make the number of reps higher - so it makes sense that she would have to go lower in the weights). I seem to really lack strength in my upper body as opposed to my lower body where I can perform the exercises with a 36 lb. barbell (I know that's not that heavy, but I've only been working out with Cathe's strength tapes for a couple of months). I find my form suffering just using a 26 lb. barbell for the upper body segments in most of Cathe's tapes. I know that it takes time to progress strengthwise, and I'm not trying to be impatient, but I feel like this is an area that I've always been much weaker.

Is this variation in lower/upper body strength because of frequent stepping (since I do mostly step for my cardio, which would make my lower body stronger)? Should I add some extra upper body work in addition to my MIS/cardio rotation? Any suggestions on how to increase my upper body strength would be appreciated.

 

[jgoycoolea]

Women's lower body strength is naturally greater than upper body strength. (Probably men's too, but the difference would be less marked.). Just think about how large the legs muscles are compared to those in the arms.

36 pounds is respectable. And if it weren't, we all had to start with little or no weight! Stepping probably added some strength and endurance to your legs. Many people have to drop the weight that they use for lower body when they move to upper body.

To gain upper body streggth, I suggest you pick one Cathe routine and stick with for a good 6 weeks. Use weight which challenges you, but that you can maintain good form with. You may have to increase weight after a few weeks. Give a muscle 2 days of rest before working it again. Building muscle and strenght is a two step process: 1. you break down the muscle fibers by lifting weights, and 2. they rebuild themselves. They rebuild themselves when you rest--but only if they have enough quality calories, including protein to do so. So eat good foods too.

Is MIS the only tape you have? Have you already been doing it for a good 6 weeks? Have you allowed your muscles recovery time? If the answer to all of these are yes, maybe you are ready for a new tape. If you can't get one now, maybe we could help you vary MIS for a new challenge.

Jeanne

 

[Kristina36]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Apr-20-02 AT 08:35PM (Est)[/font][p]Jeanne, thanks for your reply. I have all of Cathe's tapes except the S&H series. I've been on this MIS rotation for 2 weeks so far, doing MIS 2x a week (split 1 week, and total the next) rotated with cardio on alternate days, or if split, cardio on the same day. I plan on doing this for another 4-6 weeks, like you suggested. Before this rotation I'm on, I did the CTX series (as is) for 3 weeks. Before the CTX rotation, I had no real rotation, I just did a combo of FIRM and Cathe. I've been working out consistently for about 3.5 years, and used the FIRM almost exclusively during this time period.

I'm finding with Cathe that I'm much more challenged, and also able to really concentrate with the weights. I think the FIRM is fine to do to break up the monotony and to alternate for crosstraining purposes, but I'm definitely not using them for my strength gains or to increase my cardio endurance anymore because of the results I've seen with Cathe.

I'm planning on doing an 8 week PS series rotation after I'm finished with MIS, then maybe a BodyMax or MIS/PH rotation for another 6-8 weeks, etc. alternated with varying cardio, i.e. kickbox, step, running, hi/lo.

You've given great advice, and I'll make sure that I stick with this for 6 weeks - I'm finding that I'm able to increase the weights after 2 weeks a couple of lb.'s on the upper and more on the lower, but if I can do this routine for a longer period, i.e. 6 weeks, I should be able (hopefully!) to continue seeing gains, like you said. Thanks again!