YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED 12/5 at Noon EST

[mjd]

Hi Elizabeth!

You are not alone in your quest to find out what the heck is happening and why am I not getting the same results I once did. It is very common yet can be very complicated at the same time. Main reason being, not only does our body slow down as we age, our priorities shift and we don't have the time to just focus on just ourselves now. Many are mom's which pretty much demands your time anywhere form being a diaper changing service to being a taxi cab service for our kids... We have our full family to focus on,

Another thing that starts to happen as we get older is our bodies shift to pre menopausal state and then extend further in to full menopause which can go on for years. At this point our bodies aren't producing the same hormones we once had so therefore our metabolism will shift and our waistlines thicken.

Also the aging process itself is a whole reason for us not getting the same results. Our cell turnover slows down and our muscles atrophy and aren't capable of building the way they once were, our bones get brittle, our ligaments and joints weaken, etc. Our metabolism is effected not only by our workouts but by our foods. As we get older our body is less capable of metabolizing carbs and filtering the "yuck" that comes with processed foods. We expose ourselves to possibly develop rashes, inflammation, food allergies, and other conditions that result from the body's inability to process foods and release toxins adequately. All of these things add up to slow us down.


Depressing huh? Well let me tell you, knowing all that, it is not time to throw in the towel. Exercise offsets the aging process so you must continue but just with a wiser approach. Doing doubles or going longer and harder might only invite injury and further set backs. You'll have better results with longer warmups, longer cooldowns, longer recovery between workouts, include stretch workouts weekly, and eat clean, super clean!!!! You must respect daily aches and pains and modify all workouts accordingly. You must respect injuries and let them heal while doing physical therapy to build your foundation back up slowly and gradually.

When I was younger my warmups ranged from 3 to 5 minutes. Now I love a good 12 minute warm up. Incorporating yoga twice a week has really kept my joints stretched and limber and helped to reduce stiffness around my joints. I need two full days between weight workouts after a particularly DOMS related workout. Enjoying the post workout cooldown/stretch verses flipping from stretch to stretch has made a world of difference too.

Hope this helps you

Great to read your response to Elizabeth - I'm the same age as you Cathe and also have had to change my workouts to include a long warm-up (Drill Max warmup is my fave - goes for ten minutes and hits all muscle groups, although can't say I'm pleased with those pushups at the end - ya just couldn't help yourself there could ya??) Also need to do at least a 10 minute stretch at the end of each workout - love Total Body Stretch segments for this. Idea for your next series (after a well-earned long break of course) - MenoMax!!! - workouts especially for those of us in that stage of life where it's harder to shift those pesky pounds - that include a long warm-up, long stretch, low impact but intense cardio and none of those pesky burpees which are harder to do the older I get (make me dizzy). Can't wait for Xtrain - what's happening with the t-shirt?

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Thank you for you very kind words. There really isnt a set formula to help
me with what you listed. The best way to get better at a specific thing is to do that thing over and over until it becomes easier.

So do an extra weekly hiit workout here and there to build up your lactate threshold.

Do 20 pushups 3 times a day for two weeks.

For pull ups, you will benefit greatly from an assisted pull up unit. That way your body develops the proper mechanics & form with lots of assistance and eventually work your way towards less & less resistance. Once you have that along with training chest, shoulders & back, your pull up(s) will start to come around with time, strength & patience.

I hope that helps you





QUOTE=pianodors;2175992]Hi Cathe,

First of all thank you for all you have done to improve my physical fitness. I look forward to working out with you every day. My aim is to get as fit as you are i.e to be so cardiovascularly conditioned that I can talk during very intense exercise like Hiit 40/20, to have the muscular endurance to do as much push ups with proper form on my toes as in STS meso 1, to be strong enough to do a pull up and still be flexible like you are in Yoga Relax! A tall order I know.

I would like to know what your workout routine is to able to do these feats. Also how should I structure my routine to be able to work up to it? A little background on me :

Cardiovascular- I can do 40/20 and Imax3 blast only premix without

Endurance- 20 good push ups on my toes

Flexibility – can touch the floor in a forward bend with the very tops of my fingers.

Strength- I bench press 85 lbs for 8 reps. I cannot do a pull up!

I know I have a long way to go and any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you again for your wonderful workouts and for being such an inspiration. You are the gold standard of fitness![/QUOTE]

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi All! I answered about three more questions and I will do the rest tomorrow afternoon. Going to get some shut eye now. Sleep well everyone

 

[Bubachick]

Hi Cathe,

Hope it's not too late to say hi, I was out shopping all day yesterday.

All I did yesterday was ShopMax, will pick back up today with a total body today. Muscle Max or High Reps I love them both.

Thank you for all you do, and LOL.... as a previous poster asked would you ever consider Meno Max? I thought that was brilliant .

Happy Holidays to you!!! Looking forward to XTrain.....hope you can relax soon, again thank you for all you do!!!! Love you and your work outs

Brigitte

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Natasha!

I'm glad to hear that you didn't injure yourself. Pullovers are pretty demanding exercises where flexibility and range of motion are concerned. So if you are feeling tight, stiff or lacking flexibility in your chest, back and triceps area and your shoulders are tight this exercise could make you feel vunerable when you attempt to do it.

The first thing I suggest is that if you are truly feeling uncomfortable or too nervous to do a pullover (or a tricep extension), don't do it. There are less compromising substitute exercises you can do.

If you do want to give it another go, I suggest first making sure that you are warmed up and completely stretched out before doing this exercise. Never open up a lifting routine with a pullover, that's asking for trouble.

Areas to focus stretching on are chest, back, triceps and shoulders. Do deep stretches and hold them for about 15 seconds each.

A great chest/shoulder stretch is placing your straightened arm along a wall or doorway and turning your body away from the stretched back arm and looking over the opposite shoulder.

For back, face a fixed object like a beam or pole in the house and wrap your hands around it. With your feet toward the beam and your weight in your arms, sink your hips down and stretch your arms and back.

Tricep stretch is the classic stretch I do in my workouts.

After your stretched out I suggest using a dumbbell in place of a barbell. With that said though, I do want to say that those long olympic sized barbells vs the small troy lite barbells are too long and awkward to maneuver for a pullover. They can through off your balance as your try to get into your start position. This in itself could possibly have caused your shoulder too pop. Ok, back to using a dumbbell...A dumbbell gives you more freedom of hand placement, stable grip, comfortable & desirable range of motion, plus its much easier to get in and out of this exercises start and finish position.

I suggest using a vertical grip (thick end of weight faces floor and ceiling) verses a horizontal grip on the dumbbell since the vertical grip puts your arms in their natural anatomical position. That equates to less stress on shoulder.

I would also suggest using light weight until you have mastered the technique and form of this exercise.

Start with shallow and conservative range of motion for the first few workouts and eventually you can increase your range of motion and perhaps your weight too. That's totally up to you...

Good Luck!

PS..You can substitute a lying tricep extension for a seated one and a pullover with a assisted overhand grip pull up. If you can't even do one pull up, get your self into the top of the pull up position with a chair and lift your feet and hang in this pulled up position for as long as you can and lower yourself down slowly.

Hi Cathe,

Firstly, I just wanted to say that I struck gold when I found you. I appreciate everything you do and continue to do . EXCITED for Xtrain too .

My dilemma is about barbell pull-overs. A few months ago while doing STS, I was in the middle of a barbell pull-over when my right shoulder popped. I thought my shoulder had temporarily dislocated from my socket! This was my first time doing one, and I totally freaked out! Thankfully I was not injured and was able to resume the program without difficulty. My right shoulder is perfectly fine. I have to admit though, I am scared as heck to do it again . I'm really not sure what I did wrong . I thought my form was good and I think my weight # was spot-on. So my question to you would be: what do you think I could have done wrong? Did I perhaps reach too far back or have my hands placed too close together? I also have a big barbell (not a troy lite), which is longer and heavier than the one you use, about 15lbs (no weight added). I am also scared of lying tricep barbell extensions, as I'm afraid of the same thing . Please help! I would like to be able to get the benefit of doing both.

Thank you greatly!

Natasha

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Your recollection is correct. Too the Max and Crossfire do not count as strength training workouts and more like overall fitness conditioners. Initially you may get very sore and need to put a day in between to rest from those workout but unless you are THAT they don't count as a solid weight training day.

I would say that the same holds true for Athletic Training but maybe not so much for Lower Body Blast since that is definitely more focused on legs, legs and more legs...lol Even though the weights are light, the reps are specifically focused on one area of the body. I would do upper body or solid cardio on a day following Lower Body Blast. But you CAN still do another solid leg workout that week if you prefer, just don't do them back to back .

Hi Cathe,

I just discovered your workouts only 2 months ago and have been so impressed with the intensity, professionalism, effectiveness and just the overall quality of your workout DVDs!

I am trying to come up with rotations using Athletic Training and Lower Body Blast, but I'm not sure how to use them. In other words, in a week when I do Athletic Training or Lower Body Blast should I do 2 other strength training workouts (total body), or would they count for some strength training?

The reason I am asking is because I recall you indicating during your Crossfire and To the Max rotations that the weights used in those workouts were not enough to count against strength training for those weeks.

Thanks!

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

I have your suggestions noted Soapmaker. Thank you for your feedback and support

Hi Cathe,

Just wanted to say hello and a big thank you for the great DVDs you continue to produce for people like me who exercise at home. I very much appreciate the fact that you did not go the easier, more lucrative routes and maintained a level of professionalism that is unseen in today's market.

I have 2 requests for the next project:
-Please consider adding an audio track with music and your voice only (without vocals.) I workout late night right before going to sleep. I find myself reaching for workouts without vocals more often. I would pay more to have that option.
-Please consider selling the music as a package with the dvd/download package. I would buy both the music only and music+vocals options.

I can't wait to get Xtrain!

Thank you again. Have a joyous holiday season!
Soapmaker

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi

We do not have a rotation using 100 rep challenges. These 100 rep challenges are designed to add more intensity to the tail end of one of your workouts or to help strengthen a weak link in your muscle groups.

Hard strikes has high impact mixed with low impact throughout the cardio portion. It is more high impact than MMA Boxing.

.

Hi Cathe, I was just wondering if the 100 rep challenge was going to be part of the Xtrain rotation or if it is just something that we do during our own spare time? Also is the majority of Heavy Strikes going to be low impact similar to MMA boxing where only some of the leg drills were high impact?

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Thank you so much Mare! Happy Holidays!

Cathe,
Thank you for taking questions today! That was the first time I was able to participate and it was awesome! You have so much knowledge and you don't hide anything I discovered you back in 2006 on Fit TV (while laying in bed one morning feeling sorry for myself and stuffing pop-tarts in my face, lol). I took the plunge with 1 DVD and since then you have taken over my shelf. I tell all my friends about you too. This year was another first, my first road trip to NJ and I'm hooked again! Can't wait for another one.....hoping you will have one in a different state so I can have all of the Cathlete experiences You are an amazing woman and athlete!!!

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Brigitte

So fun to hear from you today. I hope you put a big dent in your shopping. Miss you and happy holidays to you!

Hi Cathe,

Hope it's not too late to say hi, I was out shopping all day yesterday.

All I did yesterday was ShopMax, will pick back up today with a total body today. Muscle Max or High Reps I love them both.

Thank you for all you do, and LOL.... as a previous poster asked would you ever consider Meno Max? I thought that was brilliant .

Happy Holidays to you!!! Looking forward to XTrain.....hope you can relax soon, again thank you for all you do!!!! Love you and your work outs

Brigitte

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

OMGosh MDJ...that is just too funny! Love the title and its actually not a bad idea. Can't make any promises on doing it but I do love the suggestion. One thing I can promise you is that I made every effort to not put one mountain climber or burbee in the XTRAIN series and I believe I nailed it by 99%.

Great to read your response to Elizabeth - I'm the same age as you Cathe and also have had to change my workouts to include a long warm-up (Drill Max warmup is my fave - goes for ten minutes and hits all muscle groups, although can't say I'm pleased with those pushups at the end - ya just couldn't help yourself there could ya??) Also need to do at least a 10 minute stretch at the end of each workout - love Total Body Stretch segments for this. Idea for your next series (after a well-earned long break of course) - MenoMax!!! - workouts especially for those of us in that stage of life where it's harder to shift those pesky pounds - that include a long warm-up, long stretch, low impact but intense cardio and none of those pesky burpees which are harder to do the older I get (make me dizzy). Can't wait for Xtrain - what's happening with the t-shirt?

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Elizabeth!

Great question and the answer is if you get DOMS you KNOW you had a good workout. The evidence is obvious.

But if you don't get DOMS this does not mean you didn't get a good workout? Well, it could mean that if you didn't challenge yourself to a level that you are capable of (and you know when that's the case. We have all had those kinds of workout days). But if you did a TOTALLY PUSH YOURSELF WORKOUT and you didn't get DOMS, sometimes its just that your body has acclimated to a specific workout or exercise order or weight selection. You still felt the intensity as you exercised, got a great sweat, felt very challenged, and a good burn in the muscle while doing the workout, but the DOMS just didn't follow. Its totally ok, especially if its a cardio based or enduranced based workout (since the body acclimates to those workouts faster). But this could be a sign that you are ready to change things up so that your fitness gains stay on their game. So if you have no DOMS on a regular basis, try changing things totally around and experience the DOMS difference






so the DOMS isn't knocking on the door anymore

Cathe,

You may regret your offer to answer more questions!! But, if you have time, I have a question that is 'sort of' an offshoot of my prior one regarding aging and exercise.

I do tons and tons of reading online and in magazines regarding fitness, and amongst the more "hardcore" lifting crowd - fitness models and the like, there is this idea that if you do not get DOMS you are not getting a good workout.

I get that DOMS means you got a good workout, but if you don't get it, are you not making gains on your fitness and muscle-building?

Thanks,

Elizabeth

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Beth....

You are not alone. The winter blues are a very real thing and some people even have seasonal depression at this time. I'm not saying that you do but it is very common. Heck, I definitely have lack luster workout days too. If I really feel unmotivated, I take a couple of days off (not from teaching though) and look at my diet. Sometimes a diet high in carbs can make you cranky, sleepy, and unmotivated. Speaking of sleep, I also try to make sure I get 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night or I will definitely become Miss Cranky Pants. I went through a bout of insomnia last year and cranky pants was putting it mildly, lol.

Other things I do to stay upbeat are to watch inspiring and uplifting shows, or help out with community service and do volunteer work to get me feeling good and motivated. I get involved with helping out the kids teams or help out at church. If my overall mood is good I have much more motivation to lift and do other things.

And yes, I definitely have friends that I go to when I need a good kick in the pants to get out of a funk. They always have a way of putting it straight for me and I feel better instantly

Okay...so I was wondering something. I know on dreary, rainy days or days that I just lack some oommph I have to dig deep sometimes for inspiration and my accountabilty workout buddy is a huge motivating factor for me BUT I wondered...where do you get your inspiration on those blah days? Do you have an accountability friend that wants to know what workout you have done. I know you are regular gal just like the rest of us (obviously way more in shape than me) and wondered what you do when hit a slump. Winter is when I struggle the most, hubby says I go into hibernation. Bright sunny days are wonderful.

Thanks for humoring me with this question. Just curious. Have a great day and rest of your week.

Beth

 

[maddiesmum]

Beth:

please also bear in mind that serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in lifting moods, is formed from trytophan which comes from carbs break down, so don't skip carbs! Your mood will plummet even more. Proof? Body building women who skip carbs to streamline physiques before contest report being as irritable as hell. Eat the healthy carbs.

If you find you are reaching for carbs more than ususal, this can be due to a lack of sleep which can send us straight to the sugar, so get enough sleep. If you need more in winter, so be it. I do too. A degree of hibernation is also normal and part of human circadian rhythms.

Clare