Workout Ideas

T

toastythemosty

Cathlete
I have to be honest, I don't have a rotation schedule. I have been just doing PUB and either PLB or Legs and Glutes. That pretty much covers all the body parts and I usually do one workout a day. I still throw in some cardio and ab work throughout the week.
I just don't feel the need for any other workouts since I have my lower and upper covered. I want my legs to be leaner and my upper body stronger. So am I wrong? Any other ideas? I would love some workout suggestions.

Charlotte~~
 
Well, most people get bored doing that, but if you don't, then the only issue is that your body will adapt eventually to that same workout, and, or so I hear, your results will slow down. At least slow down from where they would have been if you had used more variety. So, with that in mind, you could switch to a Gym Style workout for a while, or S/H, or PS.
 
Hi Charlotte! Rotations differ w/everyone depending on how they want to train, their schedules & if they have any goals. Then you have people that workout to whatever strikes their fancy on that particular day. No rotation is wrong as long as your exercising. My rotation, for instance, is very similar to a P90X (Beachbody) rotation. I like to train w/split routines for my weight training hitting hard for 3 intense weeks, then I take a recovery week, then hit it hard again for another 3 weeks but using different DVDs. I like variety so I'll usually substitute a cardio DVD that isn't a Cathe workout (gasp!). LOL

As far as rotation suggestions, instead of total upper you could split it this way:

Day 1: Chest/Back/Abs/Stretch
Day 2: cardio of your choice
Day 3: Shoulders/Bis/Tris/Stretch
Day 4: cardio
Day 5: Legs & Abs
Day 6: cardio or yoga or pilates or any 2 if time permits
Day 7: Rest of course

Or you could get some FAB ideas from Cathe herself & some others from the Rotation section. HTH, Kathy:D
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I am taking note. The same workouts never bore me as I already remember what is coming and prepare, but I don't want to keep doing the same things if my body stops responding so all the ideas everyone has posted are great! Keep them coming!
Charlotte~~
 
If your body stops responding, cant you just up the weights for more of a challenge? I usually do PUB/PLB the most to. I think these challenge me more.

Joanna
 
Charlotte-You already have some good suggestions above, but I thought I'd add mine. Actually, it's what I am doing to my own workouts starting today.

How about combining the wokrouts you do most regularly in a different way? For instance...

PLB in its entirity followed by abs
PUB in its entirity
cardio
PUB/PLB premix and abs
cardio
PLB standing work only, 2x thru, with lighter weights for more reps

something like that. I am not sure if I am explaining it properly for you. For instance, for me, today I did the standing leg work of PLB followed directly by the standing leg work of Gym Style Legs.

Man, I hope I didn't confuse you.

Gayle
 
Gayle- Confusion was what I was looking for...at least for my body. I am starting to get the idea so I will toss some things around and see how it goes.

Charlotte~~
 
Hi Charlotte. I really like PLB and PUB too. But I think the best results come from mixing up the workout styles. I am having a great time with the Gym Styles. I don't know what DVD's you have?. I have never been great about doing any rotation because of my running. But there are certain body parts I want to work specific times weekly...:)...Carole
 
Hi, Charlotte:

Cathe's rotation this month does some interesting mixing of workouts. I especially like how she put the standing work for PLB and GS Legs together, and then the floor work another day. I LOVE the floor work in both but generally feel pretty fried by the time I get there, so I thought this was a good way to really use those parts of the workout.

You have L&G... do you have GS Legs? (If not, let me recommend this one, it is an AWESOME LB workout.)

Good luck!

Marie
 
Kathy,
Do you use Cathe workouts to hit the muscles hard or do you work out at the gym or both? TIA.
Angela:7
 
Adding more weights to the same ol' workouts doesn't really do much to "switch things up". You're still doing the same workout, working the same muscle fibers, and you'll not really accomplish anything more.

Have you ever read the comments on here where someone says, "I haven't done such-and-such a workout in months, and I did it last night and you wouldn't believe the DOMS I'm feeling today!"? I mean, they may have been doing PLB twice a week for two months, and the DOMS stopped hitting them. Then they put in Leaner Legs or Legs & Glutes one day and BAM! The DOMS hits 'em hard! It's because Leaner Legs and Legs & Glutes hit the muscles differently than PLB does. And THAT is the key!

I used to bodybuild and something I learned was that it's good to mix things up. You find a "rotation" or set of exercises that you want to work with, and you do them for a few weeks. In the beginning, you're muscles are firing and you get DOMS and all that jazz. After a while, the DOMS isn't as pronounced and maybe you just feel like you're not getting enough out of your workouts, anymore. So, you switch to a different set of exercises. Maybe you switch up the order, too. Switching up the order helps shock your muscles even more, because they have gotten used to being trained in a certain order every week. So, once you switch up your workouts, all of a sudden the DOMS hits you again full-force.

Here's an example of how to switch up your workouts:

Weeks 1-4
Monday: Legs - PLB + abs (abs last)
Tuesday: Cardio
Wed: Upper body - PUB
Thurs: Cardio + abs (abs last)
Fri: off
Sat: Legs - PLB + cardio
Sun: Cardio + PUB

Weeks 5-8
Mon: off
Tues: Cardio+abs (abs first)
Wed: Legs - Leaner Legs + 2 exercises from S&H Legs
Thurs: Chest & Tris & Shoulders - Use appropriate segments from PUB + GS: Supersets premix or S&H Chest & Tris (add S&H Shoulders)
Fri: Cardio+abs (abs first)
Sat: Back & Biceps (S&H + GS)+ cardio
Sun: Cardio + Abs + Legs & Glutes (cardio first, abs last)

I love mixing and matching workouts to switch things up. I seem to get good results this way. I especially like breaking chest, tris, and shoulders out from back and biceps so I can focus extra attention on each muscle group.
 
you can also sub exercise's to get a variety but still do the same dvd like on pub instead of flys and press I do press and push up's.That will add a different twist and you can also switch the order sometimes I'll start with shoulders-biceps or triceps than chest and back. you can also change the order on legs.I love the pyramids and sometimes do it as laid out or use my heaviest wt all the way thru so by the time she is on the last set of 12 I may be only doing 4 reps .with cathe dvd's you can make many workouts from one dvd.Have fun.
 
Catwoman- Thanks for explaining things so well. It really opened my eyes about the DOMS. I love DOMS! You know, I started not to feel DOMS when doing PLB because I have done it for so long. I even started lifting heavier and still NO DOMS and was wondering what was going on! I still feel DOMS in the upper body for now so I know it is working, but know I will have to switch to another workout now. I like to wait until all the new Cathe workouts come out on FitTv as I only have one of her DVD's...the High Step Circuit one which I got with my stepper. I just did Coremax 3 last night for the first time and loved it!
Thanks again.

Charlotte~~
 
Hi Charlotte,
I agree that you should mix things up and not just add weights which is important too. I don't follow a prescribed rotation but I make certain that I work each body part 1-2x/week and that I get a mixture of cardio in 4-6x week (mix of interval and steady state). I like Pyramids, Gym Style Upper and the Slow and Heavy Workouts. You can do alot with these. I feel the Pyramid Upper Workouts are good for when you are short on time but I also feel like they need to be kicked up a notch as each body part is only worked out for a short tome and so I like to add CTX (specific body part ) to the same body part of PUB. PUB can also be used as is for maintenance for those weeks when you can't workout each upper part thoroughly 1-2x/week
As far as total body workouts, I don't typically do these as IMHO these don't effectively work each body part and should only be used in addition to working each body part 1-2 x/week or rarely as maintenance for when you are running short in time. Have fun selecting some new workouts!
 
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