Why is the rotation order upper body, upper body, then lower body?

[KathyJ]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and to STS. I did disk 1 on Monday, cardio yesterday, and was planning on doing disk 2 today. I'm sore today, and I didn't think I would be able to do disk 2 to my full potential, so I skipped it and did disk 3. My new plan is to do disk 2 on Friday. So my question is why is the rotation upper, upper, then lower? Should I have tried to do disk 2 even though I'm sore? I know the guide says to do upper, lower, then upper if you aren't skipping days, but I'm thinking that rotation might be better for me even though I am skipping days. Although if there is a reason I should do the uppers one after the other (with a cardio day in between), then I will.

 

[kathryn]

I asked Cathe about this once, and she said more or less that it was for variety or to change things up a bit for more muscle confusion.

I personally don't do it that way, as I know I need more upper-body recovery between workouts (especially my shoulders, which are a weak and previously-injured area).

I do upper-lower-upper, and it works out just fine (IMO, there is enough variety in the workouts as is). I also start my 'week' with back/triceps, as those are two areas I want to be sure to give more attention to.

 

[lisa_la_machina]

I did the same thing as Kathryn with STS--upper, lower, upper. I found upper body soreness to be a problem and felt like I would just be inefficient and phoning it in if I pushed through the soreness by doing the suggested upper, upper, lower approach. I think you will still see results (I know I did).

If you are concerned about following the STS guide, maybe for Meso 1 you can try doing an upper, lower, upper split to get your body used to the intense STS weight work. THEN, for Meso 2 (once you are in the groove of STS), you could try switching back to the upper, upper, lower split. That sounds like muscle confusion to me! Anyway, just a thought. HTH.

 

[SNM Videos]

Exercise Order

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and to STS. I did disk 1 on Monday, cardio yesterday, and was planning on doing disk 2 today. I'm sore today, and I didn't think I would be able to do disk 2 to my full potential, so I skipped it and did disk 3. My new plan is to do disk 2 on Friday. So my question is why is the rotation upper, upper, then lower? Should I have tried to do disk 2 even though I'm sore? I know the guide says to do upper, lower, then upper if you aren't skipping days, but I'm thinking that rotation might be better for me even though I am skipping days. Although if there is a reason I should do the uppers one after the other (with a cardio day in between), then I will.

One of the things we hope to accomplish with STS is getting exercisers to mix up their routines. Too often people do the exact same exercises and or exercise pattern every week. We want you to think differently and vary your intensity, exercises, exercise pattern, reps, sets and exercise sequence as often as possible. In mesocycle #1 you do upper, upper and then finish with lower. In mesocycle #2 you do upper, lower and then upper. In any of the mesocycles feel free to mix up the order anyway you like, just try not get in a rut of always doing the same pattern and make sure to have at least 48 hours rest between workouts using the same muscle groups..