What strength series should I start with?

[MSU_gal]

Hi Cathe!

I read a post re: your pregnancy update -- WOW!! You're getting close! Glad to hear you're doing well

I posted a few days ago with a question re: strength rotations. Someone was kind enough to email me 3 volumes (WOW!!) of various strength rotations, some from you and some from others who posted their routines. This was sooooooo helpful!

My question is...should I start with a strength rotation (like PS followed by S&H)? Or should I start with an endurance rotation (CTX series, Power Hour, MIS, Body Max)?

I read rotations (for both strength and endurance) that you suggested to someone in a recent post. These suggestions/rotations look great and they use all of your strength workouts (which I now have). I'm just not sure which rotation to start with, as I would like to improve both my strength and endurance. I have been using weights on and off at the gym for the past 6 months but haven't been consistent with my weight training over the past month or so.

Thanks for any guidance/suggestions you can provide. Best wishes to you and your growing family

Chris

 

[willowe]

Hi Chris,
I'm obviously not Cathe (although I'm sure she will reply if she can), but just wanted to share my experience.
When I started "serious" weight work, I started with the CTX series. I did this for 4 weeks and it gave me a really good base for moving on to the PS series, and then finally S&H, both of which I also did for 4 weeks. I really feel that the endurance based weight segments in CTX gave my muscles a chance to get acclimated to doing weight work, without any risk of injury. I think if I had jumped straight into doing S&H, I may have scared(!) myself off using weights, or caused myself an injury. Not that S&H is unsafe or ineffective - it's a great series, but would have been too intense for me as a first experience with weights. My personal recommendation would be to start with the more endurance based CTX or Power Hour workouts, and then move onto PS and S&H. CTX gave me great results doing the weight segments only one time per week as my muscles responded to this new type of training.
As I say, this was just my personal experience. Hope this helps! Good luck with whatever you decide!
Kaz.


Today Is The Tomorrow We Worried About Yesterday And All Is Well.

 

[jillybean]

Hi Chris! I was the one who emailed you Cathe's suggestions on rotations - I thought it was an awesome list of suggestions! I, like Kaz, started with CTX and then did PS. But instead of doing each for 4 weeks, I did 8 weeks because it usually takes me that long to see results and for my muscles to respond to something new. I also like to do an endurance rotation, then strength, then endurance, then strenght. But everyone is different (thank goodness!) Hope you enjoy which ever path you take!