Cathe Fans Part 5

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! We had a nice weekend here. The weather was a little warmer, so we got a nice long walk in on the beach on Saturday as well as a round of golf both days. Felt good to be outside and enjoying the days. We are supposed to be back in the 80s for the next few days, so I am glad we enjoyed the rapid transition from the low 60s to the 80s over the weekend!

Saturday was my day off working out, though at least we did some activity with the walking and golfing. Yesterday I started my XTrain and H&C week with XT Biceps and Triceps, which I just love. Then I did H&C Chisel Cardio, which I also loved. When I first previewed it, I didn't really expect it to feel as tough as it did.....but it is a tough workout. I really enjoyed the moves and the pace. Because I didn't expect it to be very challenging, I had Insanity Max 30 Cardio Challenge already set to play at the end, and during the last ten minutes of Cardio Chisel, I was second-guessing whether I should do that. But I did, and it ended up being a fantastic combo because the workouts are so completely different. Ended up really enjoying it. Today I started with Max Hammer Strength, which is another good workout. For cardio, I did XTrain Cardio Leg Blast into the ICE Chiseled Lower Body Blizzard Blast, which is my favorite Blizzard Blast of the series. That was another fantastic combo!! I think I am really going to enjoy the H&C/XTrain week!

Thelma, great workouts! Happy to hear the E-Z bar is working for you. One of the reasons I would like to work more with a barbell is because of my wrists as well. I know I have a tendency to lose form in my left wrist, and as much as I try to concentrate on it......I don't always catch myself. And then I wonder why my forearm hurts! I am anxious to hear your thoughts on Body Beast Phase 2!!

Laurie, glad you were able to enjoy a relaxing weekend! Doesn't seem like you get those too often. Total Body Hammer isn't Body Beast Total Body. The latter was redone and is included on Hammer Disc 2 as Body Beast Total Body. Highly recommend it, though I haven't done the 'redone' version. But it is a good, solid and short total body workout. I really enjoyed Chisel Cardio. Actually, I really enjoy Autumn and her way of explaining exercises. I wasn't sure what I was going to think of her at first, but I like her. So far, I find her workouts in this series tougher than the Hammer workouts, but I think that is a side effect of doing Body Beast first and having my strength up......but not necessarily my endurance quite as much. But Sagi makes me smile!

Tami, hope you had a good weekend.

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Happy Monday Ladies ~ Sounds like workouts are continuing to go great for everyone. My weekend was good with workouts after taking Friday as a full REST day which I hadn’t done since returning from L.A. Jan. 7th. So Saturday was Chisel Strength followed by Hammer Plyo, fun combo. Yesterday was Chisel Balance followed by ICE Chiseled Upper Body; just to try that one out and get in a little bit more upper body. It felt super easy to me, I went up a lot higher in weight than Cathe and did the push-up portion on my toes instead of knees. I think a lot of the ICE workouts are structured for adding on weight if need be correct? Volleball League was later in the afternoon yesterday and we won 5 out of 6. We are leading the league, which is fun. We only have 2/14 and 2/21 left to play. This a.m. was Max Hammer Strength and tonight I will head to BootCamp.

Laurel: A nice long walk on the beach sounds spectacular about now! We are having some cold temps again (20’s) and snowy/rainy days. Typical Jan/Feb winter for us. Way to WORK! When I read that combo of workouts you did yesterday I felt tired just reading it. Today was another great one as well. I really enjoy the Chisel workouts too and Autumn; I agree that I think they are tougher. Although I am pleasantly surprised when I am done with Sagi that I feel like I worked hard in strength. Obviously the point of the program  I’m going to make a note of that Blizzard Blast being a good one; was thinking of trying some of those out as “add-on’s” for shorter workout days through H&C. Have you done that ICE Chiseled Upper yet? Did you feel the same way I did on the moves? Good stuff, just super light weights there. The XT with H&C sounds like it will be really good, I'm sure you are in for an amazing lineup of workouts this week!

I know you and Laurie are super talented at putting rotations together but I came across a website that I thought I would share if you guys don’t already know it: workoutscheduler.net It has all the Beach Body programs/workouts listed plus some others; I think TapOut is there too. You can pick the program, how long you want the rotation to go, what rest days, etc. It looks so awesome They need to just add in Cathe’s programs too!!

Laurie: Glad to hear you had some warmer temps this weekend; I bet it felt nice. We had our first sunshine on Saturday, which was so nice to see. We have had so many gray and just flat days of no weather change. Awesome workouts with H&C and your add-ons with the X-Factor workouts. I did look on Saturday and I have done all of the H&C workouts now. For some reason the other day I was thinking there was still a couple I haven’t tried. LOL Without a doubt I like every one of them!!!! So good. I started Week #4 yesterday, can’t believe how fast it is going.

Thelma: Yahoo on your VitaMix arriving and loving it!!!! I knew you would. When I got mine I was so thrilled and then when I started using it I was even more happy to have it in my household. It’s amazing the difference on the smoothies and all the veggies you can put into them. Fantastic job with your workouts and I am glad the EZ bar is working so well for you. Yes, I am very happy that my new transmitter/strap are communicating with my FT60 now. Hopefully this lasts a while and in the meantime Polar will figure out the A360 and that will be what I go to next. It sounds like the perfect combo of what the SURGE was supposed to be and the HR monitor all in one. Plus my new transmitter would work perfectly with it.

Hope you are all having a great day ~ I will talk to you tomorrow, Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tough day at work for me today. I got home late and didn't want to workout but forced myself to do it. I did XT Chest, Back, Shoulders w/u, BB Bulk Chest, 15 minutes of X10. I was told by someone who had time to take time for lunch at work that the temp outside was 63!! We really haven't had a winter season at all. I took a quick looksie at Cathe's February rotation and it looks pretty good. What is the Hiit 30/30 workout? The part I dislike about those rotations is that they don't tell you what the DVD a workout comes from.

Laurie, great job with those workouts! Glad you had a nice weekend. We had some melting here too but it's not like we had much snow to melt though! LOL. Congrats on feeling stronger thanks to those grueling H&C leg workouts! I'm so happy about my smooth smoothies! LOL

Laurel, glad you had such a nice weekend! 80's! Wow! Great workouts too! I'm glad you're continuing to like the H&C program. I highly recommend going to one of those stores that sells resistance training equipment to "test ride" an E-Z curl bar.
I'm glad you told me that I wouldn't be able to lift as heavy as I was lifting on the build phase. When Sagi says choose lite weights I listen! I did go too lite in some cases but since they were different moves I wanted to play it safe. He does the close grip press as a combined exercise with a fly. This one was challenging because not all my dumbbells are hex shaped and that is exactly what you need for this move. Since I had to do lite weights I had a hard time keeping the non hex dumbbells together. I do love that close grip exercise. The chest workout today was about 31-35 minutes so it was perfect because I didn't have a lot of time. My goal is to add more cardio but today was a crazy day at work and had to cut the cardio time short.

Tami, great workouts and congrats on going heavier on weights, on doing those pushups on your toes AND on winning 5 out 6 VB games! I hope your BootCamp class is a good one! I still can't believe how the Vitamix liquefied all the vegetables and fruits I put in it. Let's keep our fingers crossed so that Polar can get their act together and fix all those issues with the A360 soon!

Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

After work I did Hammer Power, and I went heavier on my light and medium weights. That workout really gets my hr up, and then followed that with Ab Hammer. This morning was 30MTF Kickboxing Punch & Kick Premix, that was a nice way to get the body going in the morning.

Laurel, Nice job on the workouts, that whole lot of workouts are impressive! I was wondering how you would like the Chisel Cardio, it is very deceptive at first. You wonder how it can be labeled cardio when you really are not jumping around. Thanks for clarifying what they did with the workouts, so that BB workout is the same, but with different people. I will have to try that one when I have the chance. I have been contemplating getting the additional workouts for H&C, they have been getting some great reviews and would give me other options with my med ball. I have a med ball workout that Tony did with the one on one's, and I really enjoy that one. I have thought the same thing about Autumn's workouts vs Sagi, I think that is why they compliment each other so well.

Tami, Great job on the workouts, and congrats on your volleyball team being in first place. I know how much fun that is, but I usually experienced that in softball. I have seen that scheduler, and at some point would like to use it to create a rotation or use one of the rotations that are on there. They really did a good job with it, and they actually have some Jillian workouts. I would love for them to add on Cathe workouts, it would be awesome to create some rotations with that option. I'm enjoying these workout more than I though I would, so glad that you are having the same feeling. I'm hoping to say that this is one of the few Beachbody systems that I have actually finished the full rotation. I'm hoping that I have this same feeling with Body Beast, because I think that I will be doing that one for my next rotation.

Thelma, Great job getting that workout done even when you were not in a workout frame of mind. The 30/30 is on the Shock Cardio HiiT DVD, it has three HiiT workouts on there. Two of them incorporate the step, and those are 30/30 and 40/20. The other workout is Double Wave Pyramid, this one is my favorite of the three. They all are under 30 min. also. I looked at her Feb rotation yesterday, and it really looked like a good one. Seems to incorporate total body with cardio.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today started with XTrain Chest, Back and Shoulders. I lifted way heavier during this workout than I ever have with it before. I think I am still enjoying the benefits of Body Beast plus all the added endurance from H&C. If this trend continues, I might have to find some heavier weights! Anyhow, for cardio, I started with Chisel Agility, and while this wasn't tough cardio for me, I did enjoy it. But to get that tough factor I love so much, I added Insanity Max 30 Sweat Intervals on at the end. That was a tough combo!!

Tami, sounds like some great workouts this weekend. Thanks for posting the info on that rotation site. It looks really interesting and helpful. They sure have a good variety of workouts! I have done ICE Chiseled Upper Body....twice.....and had exactly the same reaction as you, especially after my first go at it. In fact, I kind of was confused on the purpose of the workout. But this last time, I added it on after Total Body Hammer, and while the Hammer workout hit the bigger upper body muscles, I felt adding Chiseled Upper Body did a nice job 'completing' the workout by hitting smaller muscle groups and the core. But as a stand-alone workout.......even with higher weights I just don't quite understand it. It is the only workout in the ICE program I really feel that way about, so I will keep trying to find a good use for it because I do like a lot of the moves in it. It just doesn't feel very challenging.

Thelma, sorry to hear about the tough day at work. Great job pushing play, especially on that tough Bulk Chest workout (my nemesis of that series!). I understand completely what you are saying about the chest presses into flies. I really had to go with light weights when I started that phases (Sagi is lifting crazy heavy!). And, like you, I wasn't comfortable with my non-hex weights. But as I continued doing it, I got a lot better with that exercise, almost doubling the weight I was using by the end. And my control over the weights got much better so I was more comfortable with my rounder weights. But it did take time and patience! The most important thing, though, is to stay safe, especially since both moves out some stress on your shoulders. But I know, in the end, I loved how that move worked my chest muscles. Laurie's done a great job explaining 30/30......so ditto to what she said!

Laurie, great workouts. I was supposed to do Hammer Power tomorrow but will probably push it to Thursday since I pushed my shoulders quite a bit today. But I previewed it today, and it looks really good! Can't wait to try it. I have heard some good things about the bonus H&C DVDs as well. I am still toying with buying the bonus DVDs for Body Beast as well for some variety the next time I do that rotation. I have a feeling I will end up with the Body Beast set first. But the way I am going with workout purchases right now, I know I will end up both sets of bonus discs in the end.

Enjoy the day!

Laurel

2BLean

HI Ladies ~ I am very happy to report we had that same sub-instructor/trainer for BootCamp last night that I like so much! She did another great class. It was the same format she did before, but not the same exercises. About 5-6 different moves all strength/cardio/ab based and you did either 30, 40, 50 or 20 depending on the move. Then moved to the next station. So great class and I was so happy when I saw she was leading it! LOL
This a.m. was Chisel Cardio - again, such a great workout. Really sneaks up on you in the fact (like you guys were saying) you aren't jumping around but your HR is up during the workout. Love this one. Tonight I will head to Katy's Insane-X class for a little more cardio.

Laurel: Awesome work with XT Ch/Back/Sh today and going heavier. Always a great feeling. Way to go on the added Max 30 Sweat as well. Yowsa! You said it much better than I did on your review of ICE Upper Body. I am with you on liking the moves, but even heavier weights it felt a little bit of a "miss" on challenging compared to so many of her upper body workouts; that was just a surprise for me I suppose. But you are right, after a heavy upper body, this would be a good add-on to just hit those smaller muscles. No criticism towards Cathe at all by the way. LOL I am glad this is the only one you have felt that way about. The few that I have done in ICE have been good; even going heavier. You're welcome on that site - I thought it might prove to be helpful in putting some rotations together.

Laurie: Way to work on the Hammer Power + Abwork last night. Sounds like this a.m. was another good one as well for you. Nothing like a little KB in the a.m. to get moving forsure. Nice job. I thought that was a good site as well; I know you are super good at putting combos together but if ever there is a moment of wanting someone else to do it for you, this is a great way to go. I wonder if they would ever include Cathe's on there?!? I was going to ask you if you were going to go into BB after this rotation. Seems like a good fit! I will most likely do the same thing, since I have been so happy with this rotation and it was a toss up on which one to start first.

Thelma: Sorry to hear about the tough day at work. So good on you to press PLAY despite the day you had. I am sure you were happy you did forsure. Yes, Laurel and Laurie have already answered you on that workout; it is a great DVD for the 3 different HiiT style workouts. Keep enjoying your VitaMix, I found when I first starting using it I didn't want to go a day without one of my "green shakes" they are just so good.

Have a great afternoon ladies, I will talk to you tomorrow ~ Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did X10 warm up, BB Bulk Legs, Treadmill, stretch. This is a hard leg workout but I loved it. I think I'm going to be hurting tomorrow even though I stretched and massaged my legs after the workout. I got to use the E-Z curl bar again with this workout for the straight leg squats and static lunges. So much better for me than with the dumbbells.

Laurie, great workouts. Congrats on going on your lite and medium weights! Thanks for describing the 30/30 workout. I don't think I own that Shock Cardio Hiit workout!

Laurel, another killer combo! Congrats for going heavier than you ever have with that XT workout! The Bulk Chest workout is hard and I could feel something on my shoulder today so I've been babying it. One thing I forgot to mention last night is that the pace is faster. That right there forces you to go lighter. Sagi does lift crazy heavy weights!

Tami, awesome workouts! I'm glad you had a good BootCamp class. I'm sure Katy won't disappoint either. It would be nice if that rotation builder app included Cathe's workouts. If I ever do the Feb 2016 rotation I'd use another Hiit workout.
My green smoothies have been great. I used less fruit because the protein powder is sweet. So far I've been drinking them 6-7 days a week. So glad I decided to try the green smoothies. I have a frozen fruit mix that has kale and the Vitamix did great with it. I think next week I might get a baby spinach/kale mix I've seen in the organic refrigerated section at the supermarket.


Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

I didn't get my pm workout in yesterday, I had a teeth cleaning, and then right afterward a hair appointment. Got home and had dinner, didn't want to workout after that. While I was eating though a portion of a tooth broke off from a filling, so I will need to return to the dentist to get that fixed tomorrow. I just can't win with these dang teeth of mine. At least it doesn't hurt, just has a sharp edge that I can feel with my tongue. This morning I decided that I'm must not be getting enough of Autumn, so I popped in 21DFX Plyo Fix Extreme, that one had me in a puddle of sweat. Loved it.

Laurel, Nice workouts, and wonderful that you still have that strength. I know that I'm feeling stronger with these workouts, but it probably has a lot to do with my core. These workouts are really making that area stronger, so I'm able to do the exercises better. Realized that with the 21DFX workout this morning, it was tough, but my form was so much better than when I had previously tried the workout. Great choice to hold off on the Power workout, it really does use the shoulders. I have Kelly Coffey Meyers LIFT workout, that is very similar to the H&C Power workout, but she uses a barbell. Now I wonder if it would be better for me to use dumbbells for that workout, because I just can't get my hands in the correct position with the bar. I really hope that you like that one, it is probably my favorite of Sagi's workouts. LOL about the DVD purchases, it is super hard not to get them right now. I still have some money on a gift card!

Tami, Glad to hear that the Boot Camp class was a good one! I will be more than happy to have your support while doing the BB workouts, it should be fun. I'm encouraged with the fact that I'm enjoying Sagi as an instructor, so the BB workouts shouldn't be to much of surprise with his personality. I love making up rotations, but I'm having a difficult time with my morning workouts. There are so many short workouts that I want to get in, but others are looking so much more fun. I now know what all the H&C workouts are like, so I should just incorporate some of the favorites of mine and see how it goes.

Thelma, Have to love a leg day, and it sounds like Sagi really knows how to torture them good. Glad to hear that your Vitamix made the kale smooth. I have put frozen spinach in my blender, and that wasn't a good thing. I can only use fresh, the frozen just didn't mix very well. I'm sure that the spinach/kale blend will do great in your Vitamix!

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! I was having one of those 'I don't want to workout' mornings, so after procrastinating for too long, I finally said 'just do something that sounds good and move on'. That finally got me into my workout room, and the first workout I chose was Hammer Power. I had decided not to do it today (though it was called for in the rotation) because I worked my shoulders yesterday. But I figured I might want to keep it light for the first try (which I did) and pressed play. And I loved it! Can't wait to try heavier weights, but I am happy I went light to get the moves down. But I love how this workout keeps building and building. Good stuff. Then I did Hammer Abs because they are so good. For cardio, I again reached for 'fun' and did a cardio combo of Turbo Fire 45 EZ followed by Turbo Fire 45. Exactly what I needed today.

Tami, sounds like a great BC class!! Wish that sub was the permanent instructor! Agree with everything you said about Chiseled Upper Body. It is a good workout.....just doesn't feel the same way most Cathe upper body workouts feel. But maybe if any of us were true intermediate exercises and new to upper body work.......it might be perfect, especially for building up to the Muscle Meltdown workouts.

Thelma, that is a tough leg workout, though, for me, it is a little easier then Build Legs since it doesn't use the tall step. I completely agree about the pace of the Bulk Chest workout and I think that is the only workout in the series where I wish he had slowed the whole thing down a bit. There are some sets of exercises in some of the other Bulk workouts (triceps kickbacks come to mind in the Bicep/Tricep) workout where his rep speed is super fast, but the other workouts, as a whole, are better paced than the Bulk Chest workout. I think I mentioned before that Sagi has a tendency to go faster with heavier weight because he uses more explosive power with his reps. I have a tendency to go slower for safety/control reasons. So when I learned the workouts, I pretty much went at my own pace throughout (I do that with most Cathe weight workouts as well) just to keep it safe for me.

Laurie, bummer on the tooth!! That has to be so frustrating since you were just at the dentist that day! Well, I didn't take my own advice (which you agreed with) and did Hammer Power today. But I didn't have any issues with my shoulders. Sagi really did a great job instructing this one. I completely agree about how these workouts are impacting the core. I found the same to be true of Body Beast, oddly enough, simply because of moving all that heavy weight around and the fact he includes core exercises in all the workouts. I think you and Tami would have great fun with a Body Beast rotation next!! My plan was to do BB again after H&C, but now I am thinking about going for 12 weeks of some rotation of STS and then returning to Sagi. I don't want to go into Sagi overload! But all of that, as always, is changeable by the minute.

See you all tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Last night's Insane X class was great, it was her "Abs" class which she is now incorporating into once a month on her rotation. So every First Tuesday of the month we will do abs .... It is definitely Insane Abs, not just crunches on the floor. Lots of Burpees included in every round as well, of course! LOL The class was very full, which was great for her to see as always. This a.m. was a "rest" day from H&C on my calendar so I went with ICE Total Body Metabolic, which was my 2nd time through on this one and I really like it. Tonight I will head to Spinning after work.

Laurel: Great job hitting play and then getting in a seriously long workout! Sounds like you got some good strength work and then lots of fun for you. Perfect. Is there a pre-mix on the ICE dvd's that has more than one Muscle Meltdown included? Or are they spread out throughout the series? Just curious, they would be great for a back-to-back Muscle Meltdown on a couple parts.

Laurie: Sorry to hear about the tooth, but I am sure it will be an easy fix. Hopefully they didn't charge you since you were just there?! That would be nice. Fantastic work with Xtreme Plyo!! I'm glad we can both continue on together in BB and share our thoughts again Always here to help support throughout and its nice when a couple of us our doing the same thing.

Thelma: Hopefully your legs are feeling it today but not in a painful way! I know I have been feeling the affects of my H&C workouts later in the day and/or the next day after I have been sitting a while. But not painful, just aware that I have been working them GOOD! That Feb rotation does look like a good one. I printed it out to save with many others I have when I am searching for a good one. I think I will be busy for quite a while with all my new ones however! LOL

Until tomorrow ladies, have a great evening!
Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I did XT chest, back, shoulders warm up, BB Bulk arms. This is another killer workout and I liked it. I was able to use the EZ-curl bar for wide grip bicep curls. In the beginning of this exercise I didn't notice that it was a wide grip and was doing the narrow grip and my wrist felt like I was doing something wrong. That is when I looked at the TV and noticed the "wide" part and it made a huge difference! Sagi also uses the EZ bar for skull crushers but I used dumbbells because I was afraid to hurt myself with the bar. I had 3 1/2 hours worth of meetings this afternoon and a 1 hour commute home so I didn't have time for cardio.
My legs and butt were totally feeling the leg workout! My plantar fasciitis is acting up as a result of doing calves yesterday. Now that I remember I dropped the weight on the 40th rep because my calves were in fi-ya. Great leg workout. I haven't felt DOMS from my butt down in a long time. LOL
I increased my calories by 30 calories today because I've been hungrier. I'm at 1250 calories from 1200. That is probably where I'll stay for a while.

Laurie, bummer about your broken tooth! Great job on the plyo workout! Sagi does know how to work legs! I think the reason why the Vitamix handles kale so well is its high speed.

Laurel, great job for hitting that play button! Sounds like another killer combo! WTG!!
I agree that Sagi should've slowed down his Bulk chest workout. I can't remember if this multi disk player allows me to slow the DVD down or it if was my old player. If I can slow it down I will. The arm workout has some high reps! I kept falling behind them and had to rewind to start a new set with the boys. The only one I could keep up with was the tricep kickbacks but that is because there were so many reps I couldn't go heavy. I was worried about doing arms since I did chest on Monday and my shoulder felt funny. Thankfully things calmed down and I was OK doing arms.

Tami, is the insane Abs class the one you used to take during your lunch time? What a great idea Katy had to add such a nice spin to her evening class! Great job with the total body metabolic workout!
If I hadn't massaged my legs yesterday I would've been in pain but I was just a little stiff and I could feel it on my butt. I felt fine when I got up this morning but as the morning went on I felt the good workout they got the night before. Good stuff. At some point during the early morning I dropped something under my desk and had to squat down to get and I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get back up! LOL

Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Will be going to the dentist today to get the tooth fixed, or at least not annoying me with it's sharp edges. After work I did Total Body Chisel, but didn't have enough time to get in the ab workout. Again I can avoid anything, but I'm planning on adding it onto my next Autumn workout. This morning was Turbo Fire HiiT 15, that is always a great short workout.

Laurel, You inspired me to do a TF workout this morning, and have to say that was a fun thing to do. She is so fast, but gets the job done. Great job on trying out that workout, and yes it will be fairly easy to go up in weights. I used light weights when I first did the workouts, and then with this second time I upped them and I think that really made the sweat pour and the hr go up. So this one is going to be put into my rotations often, because I love it a lot and it will probably be a huge benefit for increasing strength. I'm getting excited to try out the BB workouts, do you suggest the lean or huge beast. I'm guessing that lean has more cardio effect vs the huge beast. I'm planning on doing short cardio in the morning, and then the beast workouts after work. Kind of thinking if I do that, then doing the Huge Beast rotation wouldn't be so bad, but that one does have an extra week during the bulk stage. I'm leaning toward that one though. I like your idea of STS and the another round of BB, that sounds like a solid plan, and a way to get some Cathe love. Subject to change is a good thing, because you never know where your exercise frame of mind will be at that point.

Tami, Always enjoy hearing that Katy kicked your butt or abs in this case! Great ICE workout to incorporate into the rotation. I'm sure that they will be charging me, since I'm going to be seeing the actual dentist this time. I'm hoping that the appointment isn't to long, and that he doesn't even have to give me anything to numb the area. Just kind of buff it and I can get out of there. Which rotation of BB are you planning on trying?

Thelma, Great job on the workout, and I to had to cut short my planned workout because of time restraints. I don't like eating after 7pm, and it was fast approaching where I wouldn't be able to get something cooked and eating before that time. I'm getting excited to find out about that leg workout, both you and Laurel have given it a good review.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! I felt much more like myself this morning so no long procrastination before the workout!! I started with Chisel Balance. It absolutely flew by. Now I remember why I was able to stick with P90X2 as much as I did--I absolutely love balance work. I most especially love feeling the improvements each workout, and today was like that. Loved this one today....though I think I will always say bad things to Autumn during those last row/pistol squat moves. Killer. Anyhow, I followed it with XTrain Supercuts. Talk about a tough combo! It didn't sound like it would be in my mind when I decided to do it, but in practice........yowza. Felt great!

Tami, sounds like a good Katy class. I think it is fantastic she is focusing one workout a month on abs/core. They are so important for overall fitness and just in daily life. One of the big pluses for this H&C program is the focus on core throughout in my book. There is no premix combining the ICE Muscle Meltdowns, unfortunately. It is kind of pain to do them back-to-back having to switch DVDs, but they are worth doing that way if you can. They are surprisingly tough when putting 2 or 3 together and going heavy. I was feeling them for days after when I did that the week after finishing Body Beast.

Thelma, another great workout! Now you understand why I thought doing one Beast leg workout was enough!!! They really get into the muscles, don't they? That was one of my biggest surprises with the program because I am inclined to want to work my legs a few times a week (because they need it!). But during BB, once was enough. And those 50 calf raises are a burner, aren't they? Completely understand dropping the weight on those. Glad to hear your upper body is recovering okay between workouts. Also, great job listening to your body and increasing calories a bit. Your body will appreciate that as you recover between these tough Bulk workouts.

Laurie, great workouts and glad you enjoyed Turbo Fire. Those HiiT workouts are so good because they fly by, but, as you said, get the job done too. I did the Lean Beast rotation. As you said, the only real difference between the two is you spend more time in the Bulk phase with the Huge rotation and there are more cardio days in the Lean rotation. I thought I might get bored with six straight weeks of the same workouts as called for in the Huge Beast rotation, so that is why I opted for Lean. Next time.....it will be a Huge rotation. Absolutely loved everything about the Bulk phase, and since I do my own cardio, the fact that there aren't 'cardio' days in that rotation is a non-issue for me, and it won't be for you either. So I recommend Huge. And as I said while I was doing the program, I did 'bulk' a bit during the bulk phase, but nothing that would have been noticeable to anybody but me. But, boy, I am really realizing right now how strong this program made me, so the benefits far outweighed that little bit. Hope you and Tami enjoy it as much as I did and it sounds like Thelma is!

Until tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Happy Thursday Ladies ~ Last night's Spin class was fabulous and packed full, so lots of good energy there! This a.m. was ISO Speed Hammer and I followed it up with Autumn's Dirty 30 Xtreme, which felt like a nice compliment to the lifting since this is more endurance and balance (of course) DH is gone fishing for a couple days so I may get in something tonight when I get home.

Laurel: Great job with Chisel Balance this a.m. and then to follow it up with Supercuts ~ On FIYA!! Way to go. I agree, those row/pistol squats at the end are tough. I agree a million % on how great the core work is for overall strength and balance. Even Tues night doing Katy's tough Insane Abs class I could feel a difference in so many moves. Thanks for the info on the Muscle Meltdowns, from reading through my printed booklet, that is what I figured but just wondered. Thank you for your answer on the LEAN or BULK phase of BB. I was definitely going to go for the LEAN but from what you recommended I will try BULK; between my p.m. workouts at the gym which are basically all cardio I should be fine, plus add-ons during the week/weekend. If not, I could always change it up.

Laurie: So Laurel helped me answer that on the BB rotation. I was definitely all in on the LEAN rotation but will give BULK a try. If I feel like I am needing more cardio factor I will re-vamp slightly to add it in. Hope your dentist apt went smooth .. thinking positive thoughts for you! Great job getting in Total Body Chisel and TF-15 this a.m., sounds like it was just perfect for you getting in that quick & fun workout

Thelma: You are doing such an amazing job with this BB rotation! I know your strength has to be improving and your body is hanging right in there for you ~ so great! I am happy for you. Yes, the class Katy did on Tues night would have been the same kind of format she used to do on the abs class I used to attend at lunch on Thurs. She doesn't teach it anymore (due to her full time job) so I don't feel quite as bad missing such a good class and now that she is incorporating it in once a month that will be perfect.

I will talk to you ladies tomorrow ~ can't believe it is already Friday tomorrow.
Saturday I made an apt for both Emma and Bernie to get their vet check-up, including shots. Will be interesting having them both but luckily I will have help from the vet techs and maybe DH will be able to come with too.

Any fun plans for your Super Bowl Sunday ladies?? DH let me know we were invited to a friends house. Which is great, he usually invites people over to our house. Will be nice to go and come home no mess! LOL

Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, Rockout Knockout tonight. I had to force myself to do this because I was exhausted but I did it. Didn't use gloves because I didn't want to push my upper body given that I'm doing back tomorrow.
I lost 1.4 lbs which I think was a lot. This puts me at 3 oz from meeting the goal that I set for myself of 22 lbs two years ago. The good thing is that I'm where I was last May weight wise. I had graduated to bigger pants and now some of them are huge. Great feeling! I have been seriously hungry though. I definitely need to eat more because I noticed on my fitness tracker that 90% of my workouts (now that I do BB) have been going to fat burning. I can't believe how hungry I've been! I'm not sure that 50 calories extra a day are going to cut it but I'm still following Laurel's advice to do small increments just to make sure I don't gain weight.
A co-worker saw me drinking my green smoothie today and he asked if I was drinking pesto!!! Is that funny or what? LOL
We're finally expecting a real snow storm! I've heard 5-7 inches. That will be our biggest snow fall so far this winter. I didn't bring my laptop home so I'm going to the office tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

Laurie, great workouts! I hope you got your tooth fixed! You're so brave for going with the BB Huge Beast rotation first! I highly recommend getting the E-Z curl bar. I got mine from amazon.com free shipping and got my little 5, 2 1/2, and 1 1/4 lbs plates at Walmart. I had other 5lb plates at home. What I finding with this bar is that I can lift heavier with it. You are going to love BB too just remember that when Sagi says to use lite weights you do it.

Laurel, what tough combo but of course it was just the way you like it! Had to check out in youtube what those row pistol squats were. They make them look so easy but I love the balancing part. Sagi sure knows how to work legs! I am happy about my body recovering between workouts. The big test will be tomorrow and Saturday because I'm doing back on Friday and shoulders on Saturday. The one arm rows seem to get my shoulder upset but I think it's because the lats gets tight.

Tami, awesome workouts lady! So glad you had a good spinning class and that Katy will do that awesome ab class you like so much at night!! I almost did spinning tonight because I didn't want to jump around but went for kickboxing because I needed to move around given I sit all day long! Thanks so much for being happy for me for being able to do this BB rotation. As long as I'm careful and my body has time to recover between workouts. I hope the kids have good vet visits on Saturday. No Super Bowl plans for us. DH will watch the game but I am not into sports. I hope you have fun with your friends! So happy this week went by so quickly!

Good night ladies and have a wonderful weekend!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

I was in that funky mood after work yesterday, was trying to tell myself not to workout! The motivating factor was that my schedule said Hammer Power, just love that workout so I went downstairs and did it. I'm so happy that I did, it sure does make your mood better after getting all sweaty! I went up in my medium weights, and boy was I surprised that I felt stronger that just two days ago. Must have been something I ate! This morning I got in Chisel Balance, so I will not workout tonight. As I'm sitting here I sure do feel the muscles from that last move, dang pistol squats they sure do get that booty good.

Laurel, Great job on the workouts, I bet that was tough! You explained it really well, I think that I'm improving every time I do a workout. I can do the exercise better, or I'm not falling over while on one leg. Helps a lot that I'm seeing those changes, and that I'm actually improving instead of feeling like I'm going through the motions. Thanks for confirming that doing the Huge rotation would be the best option. This weekend I will review what workouts I would like to do for the short cardio in the mornings. I'm going to include at least 1-2 days of HiiT, and I know that I have a lot of options for that. Oh my brain is probably going to go into overload with all the options.

Tami, Great job on adding in the Dirty 30, still another one of my favorites. Nice that the spin class was full of energy. It will be good to have you with me on the Huge rotation. I looked at them both, and thought they where very similar, just added in some more cardio. The appointment with the dentist was probably 20 min. long. The tooth was one that had a root canal done on it quite a few years ago, so my tooth itself has lasted longer than I thought it would. I will have to go back and get a crown put on sometime this spring, but at least that cost was put off for a good length of time. No special Super Bowl plans for us, we usually just watch it at our house. We will be going to my sisters on Saturday for my nieces birthday.

Thelma, WTG getting in that workout when you where exhausted. That was not my problem, so I give you huge kudos. Congrats on being that close to your goal weight, that is awesome! They always say that if you are hungry to add in more protein, so adding in that might be a good option. Have fun with your snow, I'm about done with it. We don't really have a lot left, but I don't want to have to deal with it anymore. Thanks for the info on the bar, will have to check it out. It probably would be a lot better than the current straight bar that I have.

Have a great weekend!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! I ended the week with some good workouts. I started with Hammer Conditioning. I really enjoyed this workout and the complex moves in it. Seemed a great complement to yesterday's Chisel Balance. But I felt like I wanted to work my biceps and triceps more, so I added on Body Beast Bulk Arms. So good!! After a much-needed break, for cardio I did Cathe's Intensity. That felt so good today.

Tami, sounds like a good class! Glad I was able to help with the rotation decision. Honestly, I don't think you could go wrong with either. I ordered the Body Beast Tempo workouts today, so maybe I will give those a try before you and Laurie move on to Body Beast to see if you all need to be 'enabled' into those. No Super Bowl plans here. As you know, I grew up in Denver. Sadly, we were overseas for the two Super Bowls the Broncos won, so all of my memories of the Broncos in the Super Bowl are of them getting crushed. I don't mind them losing......but I at least would like to think they could play a good game. I am not counting on that this year either though. Carolina looks so good. So I have placed my annual bet with DH (I chose Carolina by more than 10), will try to watch the first half, and if the game is as bad as I think it will, will probably retire to the bedroom with a good book after that! If it is a good game, I will of course watch to the end. But my poor DH hasn't won a Super Bowl bet with me for years......so expect Carolina to win big!!

Thelma, great news on the weight loss!!!! That is so incredible! Good for you, especially given the injuries and surgery you have had in the past year. Truly amazing stuff. I completely understand that ravenous feeling with Body Beast, especially in the Bulk stage. Like Laurie said, the best thing to do is eat protein because it will help repair those muscles. But listen to your body and don't starve it. For me, the hunger did get better as the weeks went on, but it is a great sign that you are challenging yourself and your body is making some serious changes. I have learned to love that hunger because I take it as a sign of hard work! Hope your shoulders handle the back-to-back upper body work. If not, don't think twice about taking a day in between.

Laurie, you caught my funky mood from Wednesday! I completely understand. And how funny that Hammer Power was the workout to knock it out of both of us. And, like you, I am feeling those moves in my legs from yesterday's Chisel Balance. My first step on my step with that Intensity workout was like 'oh, hello legs!' Luckily they loosened up as the workout went on! Like I said to Tami, I caved and bought the Body Beast Tempo workouts today. I know I will want to incorporate them into my next Body Beast routine and figured I could probably give them a try right now while doing H&C.....just to see what they are like. I will keep you posted on them. They are ridiculously expensive for 2 workouts, so I hope they are worth it.

Hope you enjoy the weekend!

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies! Happy Friday I am doing my workouts this evening which will most likely be Spinning and then home for my "missed" a.m. workout of Chisel Agility, DH is coming back from fishing in the a.m. so I will have the house one more evening

Laurel: What a great combination you did this a.m. Very nice. I love it that your ordered that DVD and you can let us know if it is worth it. Since you mentioned it I have read the reviews and everybody says it is well worth the $$ if you are incorporating it into BB or even as an add-on to other programs. So enable away! LOL Thanks again on the thoughts for doing BULK or LEAN; I don't like the name BULK of course but I completely understand I will not get "bulky" and can add on cardio throughout. I think it is hilarious that you have bet him on the Super Bowl for years and keep winning. OK, I will look for Carolina to win big.

Laurie: Way to push play and even better that you were so glad you did!! Always feels awesome. I'm glad your dentist apt was quick and painless. Sorry about the future crown this Spring however. But it will go great since you have already had the root canal done. I am going to start looking into the rotation for BB BULK as well and time frames to get organized for what I want to do as well for add-ons/cardio.

Thelma: Great job with your KB workout last night! I know what you mean about wanting to just move around and get the blood pumping after sitting. Huge congrats on your weight loss as well, that is SO awesome!!! The hunger is definitely a sign of your body working hard and building muscle. The ladies already addressed the protein but so important to feed those muscles! Way to go. Progress galore.

Hope you ladies have a great weekend! Talk to you Monday
Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I think I figured out why I've been so hungry and lost all that weight last week. I think I blended my smoothie too much with the Vitamix and the smoothies have been very airy so I'm not getting the same amount I was getting with the Ninja smoothies. I am think my weight loss was due to the fact that I might not have been consuming all my calories. On Friday I did XT Chest, Back and Shoulders warm up, BB Bulk Back and Slide 'n Glide. I had done the slide n glide workout in very long time and it felt like such a great workout! Saturday I did my XT Chest, Back and Shoulders warm up, BB Bulk Shoulders, Turbo Fire Low Hiit 20 which was included in one of those PiYo workouts. I was fine doing shoulders today. Not sure if it was because I didn't go too heavy on back. My upper back didn't tighten up after the shoulder workout though. I hope things relax by Monday for the next upper body workout. On Sunday I did my usual spinning. I start my 5th week on this program this week.
We may be getting more snow on Monday. DH drove me to my job on Sunday night to get my laptop so I can work from home.

Laurie, great workouts! Awesome job lady! Congrats on upping your weights. Thanks on the kudos for getting a workout in when I was exhausted. I am convinced that I was hungry last week because I wasn't drinking airy smoothies. I hope you end up getting that EZ bar Laurie.

Laurel, sounds like you did another awesome workout on Friday! Thanks so much on the weight loss congrats. I am going to eat protein when I get hungry. I can't tell you how happy I am to have been able to do the back-to-back upper body workout!

Tami, awesome workouts! WTG!!! I'm so glad you and Laurie will be doing Body Beast too! I really hope my hunger last week was because I was working out hard! The interesting part is that it happened the week I started drinking Vitamix smoothies. Do your smoothies end up full of air bubbles? I am probably blending them too much but I add so much to that container. I had to use the tamper to push things down today.

Good night ladies and have a wonderful week!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

On Saturday I did ISO Speed Hammer, Ab Hammer and then Jillian's Kickbox Fastfix Workout 1. That was a really good combo. Such a busy day yesterday, was waiting for our new chairs to be delivered, so by the time that happened I just didn't feel like a workout. I did get out and run around with Rocket. He likes to be chased around the yard, and that really is a workout all by itself. I think that I did that three times yesterday, it probably was because we had such nice weather. I was trying to teach him to fetch, and it was working pretty good, until he was distracted. Kind of like that squirrel think in the movie UP. This morning I did 30MTF Cardio Quick Fix Workout 2. Was slow progress into work this morning, we are getting more snow than they indicated.

Laurel, Great job on the workouts, and of course getting in that Intensity workout too. Sounds like you are doing a lot of your favorites in this rotation. I have heard many positives on those Tempo workout, so will be waiting to hear what you think of them. Guess your Super Bowl pic didn't workout so well, but it really was a very good defensive game. Neither offense played really well. I wonder why BB sell those add on workouts for such an outrageous price.

Tami, Sounds like a great combo of workouts for your evening. I love when I'm alone and able to just do what I want to. I like getting my cardio over with in the morning, and I think just doing the short cardio workouts will probably work well with the BB workouts. I read in Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, that it was okay to get in at least 30 min of cardio while doing heavy lifting. So that is what my thought process is going to for the next rotation.

Thelma, Nice job getting in those workouts, I don't know if my PiYo workouts have that Hiit workout on them. I will have to look now that you mentioned it. I know that I don't have the EZ Hiit's in the Turbo Fire set that I have, but would love to have one of hers that isn't crazy fast. I'm glad that you where able to pinpoint that you were not getting enough calories. Your rotation is flying by also, I'm at the end of my 5th week, so I'm only have about three weeks left.

Have a great day!
Laurie