Strong Curves- full body lifting 4x a week

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Raegold
Raegold Posts: 191 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
The Strong Curves program suggests a full body lifting program 4x per week, his rationale being that women are able to recover quicker. I also do a Pilates reformer class one day per week that I'm going to keep doing. I'm just wondering how to fit these 4 days in... I'm assuming I shouldn't do more than 2 days in a row, right? Trying to fit in the 4 days plus Pilates and rest days, making sure I have enough time to recover.

Any thoughts? Any women who have done the program, what did you find to work the best?

Replies

  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    edited July 2017
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    The program is designed to be able to do two workouts in a row. He outlines this in the book.

    Day1: Workout A
    Day 2: Workout B
    Day 3: Active rest
    Day 4: Workout A (or workout D.. in the FB group he added an additional workout)
    Day 5:Workout C
    Day 6: Active rest
    Day 7: rest

    I am doing a similar program and I usually do two workouts in a row, and separate the other two.

    Day1: Workout A; yoga
    Day 2: Rest
    Day 3: Workout B
    Day 4: Cardio
    Day 5: Workout C
    Day 6: Cardio
    Day 7: Workout D
  • Raegold
    Raegold Posts: 191 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    The program is designed to be able to do two workouts in a row. He outlines this in the book.

    Day1: Workout A
    Day 2: Workout B
    Day 3: Active rest
    Day 4: Workout A (or workout D.. in the FB group he added an additional workout)
    Day 5:Workout C
    Day 6: Active rest
    Day 7: rest

    I am doing a similar program and I usually do two workouts in a row, and separate the other two.

    Day1: Workout A; yoga
    Day 2: Rest
    Day 3: Workout B
    Day 4: Cardio
    Day 5: Workout C
    Day 6: Cardio
    Day 7: Workout D

    Thanks! I'm not really on Facebook much, but do you think the workout D is worth doing?

  • Raegold
    Raegold Posts: 191 Member
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    Also how can I find the Facebook group?
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    OK for some reason I can't find it in the group? Maybe he took it down.. But here is what he recommended.

    "For the fourth workout of the week, I prefer that you do the following: 3 sets of hip thrusts (6-20 rep range), 2 sets of any single leg exercise (8-12 rep range), and 2-3 sets of any lateral band exercise (20-30 reps). An example would be hip thrusts 3 sets of 10, deficit reverse lunge 2 sets of 8, band seated hip abduction 2 sets of 30. "

    To be honest, I just repeated A and never bothered with D. But totally up to you what you want to do.
    The group is called SC Ladies. Also you can join a fantastic SC group on here as well, community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/113531-strong-curves-by-bret-contreras-and-kellie-davis-ladies-only
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
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    He also says in the book that 4x a week isn't necessary. You can just do the 3 workouts he lays out, ABC. I did the 4x my first round. Been doing 3x for the last few weeks doing advanced program
  • Niki_Fitz
    Niki_Fitz Posts: 945 Member
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    capaul42 wrote: »
    He also says in the book that 4x a week isn't necessary. You can just do the 3 workouts he lays out, ABC. I did the 4x my first round. Been doing 3x for the last few weeks doing advanced program

    Giving this a bump because I'm starting SC and would prefer 3x a week. I do Pilates once a week too and have bodyweight training things I like to do that I want to continue. Any thoughts welcome!
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    wellnesschaser wrote: »
    capaul42 wrote: »
    He also says in the book that 4x a week isn't necessary. You can just do the 3 workouts he lays out, ABC. I did the 4x my first round. Been doing 3x for the last few weeks doing advanced program

    Giving this a bump because I'm starting SC and would prefer 3x a week. I do Pilates once a week too and have bodyweight training things I like to do that I want to continue. Any thoughts welcome!

    I have done similar programming 3-4x per week with glute circuits and yoga in between with no problem. Just listen to your body.. if you have issues recovering or find your lifting suffering because of the bodyweight stuff, you can always adjust
  • danelutza19
    danelutza19 Posts: 2,025 Member
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    Hi, I run this program last year and I have mixed feelings about it. I found it to be challenging in regards to recovery. Heavy squats and deadlifts coupled with new movements for me (hip thrusts, barbell bridges and new ab exercises) left me completely sore M-Saturday. Sunday was the only day when my body felt somewhat normal and I was able to enjoy the benefits of being fit. The program is well structured but I find it to be difficult. The biggest bonus from this program is learning new movement patterns and lots of cool routines. Definitely pay close attention to what your body responds better too. We are all different and different movements activate our glutes to different degrees.
    After I finished it up, I did the other program in the book, the lower body one and I loved it. That was by far my favorite program and I combined it with my personal preferences for upper body.

    I will say this: Bret is a genius and thanks to him I actually feel my glutes now and understand how my body should work. I was completely quad dominant and now I feel balanced :)

    If you have Instagram, follow Bret because he has amazing tips almost daily, he posts lots of drills and suggestions, not to mention he actually answers questions in the comments. He is seriously the best!

    Have fun with the program and watch you behind change :)

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