Cathe Fans Part 5

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Another good workout today. I started with RUUB Triple Biceps. Then, for cardio, I did F/S Mixed Impact Cardio into Cathe Live 200 episode. Erika mentioned a couple of weeks ago how tough that Live class is, and she wasn’t kidding. Talk about rapid fire! It went so fast there wasn’t any time to even check the clock.....which I am prone to do every now and again during tough workouts. Four rounds of four exercises, each round repeated five times and each combining cardio and compound moves. All done in 44 minutes. So good!

Tami, great plan on your workouts. I hope you get a chance to take the weekend off and enjoy doing something else. But you are right about the real estate market. Busy=good. Not busy.......not good at all.

Thelma, great workout! I was thinking about re-ordering my workouts as well to out shoulder before back instead of after chest. That chest workout uses a lot of shoulders. So I think I will try the order of shoulders, back, biceps, legs, triceps and chest next week.....or something like that. Hope you are enjoying your long weekend!

See you Monday.

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I hope you had a nice weekend! We had a nice one and spent a good part of the weekend talking about living in GA. We are thinking of moving there next spring, and instead of Blue Ridge we're thinking Ellijay which is a little further south but right next door to Blue Ridge. All of a sudden I'm getting scared. That will be a major step in our lives and probably the most adventurous thing we've ever done.

My workouts this weekend were: Friday: Jessica Smith Standing Abs, Low Impact Walk, Fit Split Boxing BC w/u, S&S Ramped Up Upper Body Triple Shoulders, Treadmill, Stretching.
Saturday: Cardio Core Flow and Standing Abs.
Sunday: Fit Split Boxing BC w/u, S&S Ramped Up Upper Body Triple Back, Treadmill, Stretching.

I really liked the shoulder workout and it wasn't hard on my shoulders.

Laurel, great combo on Friday! Great job surviving that live class! Re-ordering the routine so that chest and shoulders are not back-to-back is key! I think I'm going to do shoulders tomorrow to get them out of the way! So for me, it will be: back, shoulders, biceps, legs, triceps, and chest.

Hi Laurie, Tami, and Erika!

Good night ladies and have a wonderful week!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

The drive in the car was HOT, but we made it. We left Lansing about 6:30am our time, so that we could avoid the majority of the heat yesterday. The temps are suppose to go back to normal today at some point. No workout on Saturday and Sunday, when we got home we went to visit DH's parents. His FIL isn't taking his meds, so DH has to deal with that today. His mom is looking really good, and is in rehab. I think that she will be there for a good week or so.

This morning was GHUTV Sweat and Sculpt Circuits. I will be doing GS Chest & Back when I get home from work.

Laurel, Awesome job on all the workouts, and that you could get a chuckle while working hard. That Live 200 class sounds tough, and I do the same thing with workouts that are tough. That clock seems to go slow sometimes, but I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much that you didn't have a chance to look. Dang on the roof not being done yet, hope that you are able to get out of the house for a while. I'm sure there will be lots of hammering with the new roof being put on. I can do 20#, but only with a low amount of reps. Say 6-8, otherwise I have to go down in weight.

Tami, Sounds like some good workouts. Glad to hear that your temp employee is familiar with the title business, that really does help.

Thelma, Great job on the workouts. Nice that you where able to do so well on the shoulder work, you probably did your parts correctly for your body. I thought I didn't do that well this weekend, but came home with no change in weight. So I must have done better with food selections that I thought.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! We enjoyed a nice weekend. The weather was mixed, but mostly dry and warm enough to be outside. Saturday we got in some more golf, and it was so relaxing. It was like taking a dose of happiness and relaxation medicine combined. Yesterday we worked at planting some of our veggies and herbs that have been growing in my workout room since April. Even though our garden boxes are still occupied by the roofers, we decided we had to get the plants outside if we have any chance of getting any vegetables from them. So a few cheap planting boxes later.....and we’ll see what happens. But I feel better that we are at least trying to give them a chance. And it made for another day outside, which was nice.

For workouts, on Saturday I did Jessica Smith Rise and Shine Yoga. Sunday was RUUB Triple Shoulders and Cathe Live 100 Episode. Today was RUUB Triple Back and, for cardio, a combo of RWH Circuit Lower Body and F/S Shred Cardio. That was tough! I was able to increase the weight in both the back and shoulders workouts which was nice. Next week I may try slowing down the shoulder workout a bit and trying to go even heavier. At its regular pace, I think I am pretty maxed out now.

Thelma, great workouts. Glad the shoulder routine didn’t bother your shoulders. I am so glad you and your DH are exploring options for moving! I know it is scary, but I bet it is also exciting. At least you have already done tons of research in various areas in order to figure out where you want to settle. And you know what you are looking for in a home. Those are two huge hurdles you have gotten over. So now it is figuring out how to make it work. And you have no set deadline for figuring that out and are giving yourself a reasonable time even if you do set a deadline. I am excited for you!

Laurie, glad you had a safe trip. But your temps seem all over the place this summer! Glad they are going back to reasonable though. I am sorry to hear about your FIL and his meds. Hopefully he will start taking them. I am so glad to hear your MIL is on the mend and doing well in rehab. The roofers are driving me crazy, which is not helped by the fact they have parked a huge dumpster across the driveway (without asking us), making it hard to get my car out. At least I had the foresight to get DHs car out or else I don’t know what we would be doing. But they finally delivered new shingles today so, hopefully, they will start making more progress. If not, something is going to have to change because I really would like to leave the house!!!

Tami and Erika, hope you enjoyed your weekends!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ I had a pretty nice weekend, Saturday was a little bit foggy (will explain in a moment) and then yesterday was very nice. My in-laws came over along with my step son and his girlfriend and little 3 year old. Weather was nice and so we BBQ’d, sat outside and enjoyed. I did RUUB Chest + MM Chest & Blizzard Blast yesterday. No workout this a.m. but will go to BootCamp tonight. BACK tomorrow.

Thelma: Fabulous job with your workouts! WOW what a step that would be. Making a decision to move is always huge but if you are both on board and excited for it you will make it happen I am sure. Plus you wouldn’t have to be at your job anymore! BONUS. We have an expert in moving here in our group for support!

Laurie: Glad to hear you made it home safe & sound. I’m sorry to hear about the continued struggles with your in-laws; but good your MIL is looking good.

Laurel: Sounds like a very nice weekend! Fun getting your container garden going forsure. Being outside and a little golf as well. YAY. Excellent job on the workouts! Those cardio workouts sound tough being back-to-back.

So here goes my foggy bit of news (aka: shocking) :

So on Friday my mom was in so much pain in her back she could hardly move. Her heart was racing through the roof and she called my sister who of course came and got her. After spending the entire day in the ER and into the night running x-rays, CT scans, etc. they have found that her back is so sore because she has two cracked vertebrae. She also has a 13 cm tumor in her lung and a smaller one behind her liver. They are not certain what caused the crack in her spine but it could be the pressure from the tumors and/or they are hoping it isn’t lesions from cancer/tumors, etc. The first step is keeping her out of pain so she is on Ibuprophen and has a back brace. Kris called this a.m. to get appts started. First one is to do a biopsy on her tumor in the lung. They said most likely next week will be the earliest. She will also do a Pet Scan maybe later this week and then another biopsy on the tumor behind her liver will be after the lung tumor biopsy.

Kris said due to the pain in her back and the horrible coughing she is going to have zero independence for a while. Luckily Kris was supposed to be on a family trip this week and off work. So mom is there all week. Kris canceled her trip to Australia and Bali in July so she will be available. I am on “standby” right now waiting for what is next. I have no idea what in the world is going to happen but as you of all people can relate I am scared whitless. Of course I will keep you all posted.

Thank you in advance for listening.

Tami

fitzfour

Hi Ladies,

Just a quick check in to say I'm alive! Long weekend of lacrosse in the 90+ temps landed me with some heat stroke I think. Still not feeling the best, so going light on the workouts and lots of sleep (sleeping 9-11 hours the last couple of nights). I should hopefully be feeling better in a couple days!

Great job on the workouts over the last week and a half...you ladies are killing it!

I'll have to read up on all the happenings later, but wanted to at least stop in and say hi! I'll write again later this week when the sports activity calms down for the week!

Erika

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did Fit Split Boxing BC w/u, S&S Ramped Up Upper Body Triple Biceps, Treadmill, Stretching. I had planned to do shoulders but my shoulders were a little tight this morning.

Laurie, nice combo today!! We've had warm temps here too. Not loving it! The office was super hot today. I felt like I was having hot flashes all day long.
Sorry about your FIL not taking his meds.
I think it was a good move to leave the shoulder workout till the end of the week. Good job with your food choices over the weekend!

Laurel, glad you two had such nice weekend! You definitely need to get those plants acclimated. We've decided not to do our usual annuals this summer. It feels so wrong not to have our usual annuals in the front of the house but DH is already in that 'we're moving' mode. He ends up watering the plants because I get home so late from work so I won't push the issue. I did convince him to buy 3 plants for my hummingbirds which we put on the deck.

Awesome workouts! Was the rise and shine yoga workout a long workout? I discovered her Cardio Core Flow and that was a lot of fun.

OMG Laurel, now that the move seems imminent I am scared. It's such a big step! I always say that I won't have a hard time getting used to not working but now I'm scared. I know DH will keep working if he needs to as long as possible. I do wonder if that will be enough financially. I wonder if this is the right place for our forever home. All of a sudden I'm having all these doubts. I'm driving myself nuts! You're right though in the fact that we don't have a set deadline for figuring out what our move date will be. I hope my employer allows me to work remotely as they have done with another person in the past.

I can't remember if you did your own packing when you moved to Alaska? You have a lot of experience packing and I hope you give me a lot of packing/moving out of state advice when the time comes.

I was really excited about the shoulder workout not bothering my shoulders. On Friday my shoulders felt well rested prior to the workout.

Tami, glad you had a nice weekend too! Awesome job on that killer chest workout!!

OMG Tami, I'm sorry about your mom! I can just imagine how scared you are for her. Thank God your sister was in town and was able to help your mom! Sending lots of prayers to all of you and healing energy your mom's way. Please keep us posted.

Moving out of state without jobs is a very big and scary move. I would feel much better if DH had a job before we moved.
How wonderful that you have an expert at moving! If you can get any advice for me from that expert I will appreciate it very much!

Hi Erika! OMG, take good care of yourself! Definitely take it easy with your workouts for now.

Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

After work I did get in the Chest & Back work, so I'm all caught up. This morning I did KCM 30MTF Bootcamp #1, will do GS Legs after work.

Laurel, Great job on the workouts, and getting in some golf. I can't imagine not being able to get to your car. Someone wasn't thinking when they placed that dumpster that way. Glad you where able to get your veggie plants into the planters, I'm sure they will grow fast with having so much daylight. Yes our temps are up and down, it is quite crazy, and then add to that the amount of rain we are getting. My parents area has flooding again, one town in upper MI had torn up streets.

Tami, I'm so sorry to hear about your mother, and will be sending prayers. I don't blame you for being in a foggy frame of mind, I'm sure that she will be upper most in your mind for quite a while. I'm glad to hear that your sister was there to be with her at the hospital, it had to be a comfort. With all that I'm glad to see that you got your workouts in, it does help so keep trying to get those done. But if you have one of those days, just know that we are here to listen.

Erika, Heat stroke is not fun, so do take care of yourself. One of the best things to take along with you on hot days like that is V8. That is the one thing that would save me on hot days during the fair season.

Thelma, Love the workouts! I'm glad to hear that you have a set time frame for moving, I'm sure that you will do just fine. It is scary now, but I bet that you both will handle it. Now finding a new job is different, but it can do wonders for your frame of mind. I don't have hardly any moving advice, I have only moved a few times. Just use movers is the only advise that I can give.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Another good workout today. I started with RUUB Triple Biceps. I put on my 1# wrist weights and used them throughout (including with the band). It felt great! Next week I may try to add 2#! For cardio, I did my last ‘new’ spin workout, which was Cathe Live Spin Those Wheels. Another really fun one. But now I have done all the spin workouts available to me at least once....until Cathe films more. But I love that it took me six months to get to where I start repeating!

Tami, I really don’t know what to say. Your year is reminding me so much of the one I had two years ago, and that makes me wish I could take away all the pain and fear. I am so glad your sister is with your mom. I won’t even say ‘don’t worry’ because I know that is impossible. But I will say this.....take care of yourself. You have been and are going through a lot. So if you need a break from something—anything!—give yourself permission to take it. And hold on dearly to anything that gives you stability (you all know how workouts have played that role in my life). I am so glad you got to spend some time relaxing this weekend. I will be praying for the absolute best news to come from the tests. Huge hugs my friend.

Erika, so sorry to hear about the heat stroke. Thanks for checking in because I was wondering about you yesterday. Sounds like you are taking care of yourself in the right way.

Thelma, great workout. That Rise and Shine workout was less than 30 minutes. It surprised me because I expected it to be slow moving, and it wasn’t. But I was really sore before starting (which is why I was looking for something gentle), but when I finished....I felt great. Hence the 18 holes of golf that followed. So I do recommend it, but not if you are looking for something really gentle. Anyhow, I so understand all your concerns about both your job and moving. I gave up a nearly 20 year career....because of moving too much! So I really do hear you. But I suppose I can also say there is life on the other side of all the disruptive changes. The hardest thing about giving up my job was figuring out who I was without a job. The hardest part about moving is, well, actually doing the moving! We packed and moved ourselves from Colorado to Florida and then, also, within Florida when we moved into our new house. So I do have some tips and pointers for packing when you need them. I will suggest this.....try to focus as much as you can on the ‘why’ behind your change. Of course, the ‘how’ is important.....like how will we finance this, and how will we pack and how will we live once there. Those details often overwhelm and take away from focusing on the ‘why’. For instance, a ‘why’ may be ‘so when it comes to watering our flowers, DH and I can do it together and I won’t be stuck at work’. My biggest issue with moving to Alaska (no question about this at all) is there was no compelling reason for me to do it. In other words, I had no ‘why’ outside of something DH wanted for his career. But in terms of the quality of our life outside of his job.....it just wasn’t and isn’t there. But I have found when I have a good reason, I can adapt to and learn to love anything. Just some thoughts.....

Laurie, great workouts! The good news is they moved the dumpster yesterday, so I am free to roam around Alaska again. The bad news is.....this roof is taking forever. I hope your weather calms down a bit. I am sorry to hear about the flooding. Hope that stops soon.

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Good BC Class last night. We did another “slower movements/endurance” a lot of Shoulders and Chest. Which of course included push-ups, planks, burpees. We also did a lot of Tricep work. This a.m. was BACK (RUUB x3 pre-mix).

Thelma: Great job with your RUUB Workout along with treadie and stretching. I’m definitely separating my SHOULDERS portion after last night’s BC class.

Laurie: Way to get Chest & Back done and caught up on your rotation. Since I tend to keep missing my Monday a.m. workouts I doubled up at the end of the week for Bis/Tri’s. Thank you so much for your prayers and wonderful thoughts. Its going to be quite a ride I know. Scary right now with the unknown and trying to think the best but no matter what it will be a super hard time for my mom. I absolutely love that I have you ladies to chat with and get support encouragement. THANK YOU

Laurel: I have thought so much of you and what you went through with your mom. Thinking yesterday as I was telling you all that this is like “déjà vu” for you. I absolutely know you can relate and know exactly what I am going through. Thank you so much for your support. I am so thankful as well that my sister is there with her. She and I talked last night (sis and I) and she totally gets I have to wait and see what is next and then I will pick my trips accordingly. Just can’t afford to be going back and forth all the time unfortunately. She did get the Pet Scan scheduled for next Thursday and the Biopsy for Sat or vice versa but both are next week. Again, hoping for the best of course. Her spine is a huge worry as well because she can’t afford to crack anymore vertebrae. Another fabulous combo with the Bi’s and Spinning. That’s amazing she has that many classes.

I will talk to you ladies tomorrow ~ Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did Fit Split Boxing BC w/u, S&S Ramped Up Upper Body Triple Chest, Treadmill, Stretching. I was really tired so I took long breaks between sets.

Laurie, great job catching up with your workouts! WTG!
I think that moving timeframe is too soon. Two jobless household members is not an option as far as I'm concerned. We will use movers for sure.

Laurel, fabulous combo and congrats for having done all the spinning workouts Cathe Live has to offer!!!

I am starting to think we're thinking with our hearts and not our heads about this move. So I agree with you that we need to focus on the 'why' first. Is it the right time and the right place?
DH is very good about tracking our expenses so he has asked our Financial advisor to see if this is possible or not. Thanks so much for those words of wisdom!
We will be doing our own packing but not the move. We will hire someone to move us. We know we will buy a house in GA before moving and we hope our house will sell quickly. We live in a town with a good school system. People come here to reproduce, put their kids through the school system and move the moment the kids graduate from high school.
We definitely love the idea of spending more time together as opposed to being dedicated to our jobs.
I can understand the huge sacrifice you made by moving to Alaska knowing that there wasn't much there for you. I hope you're still thinking about moving next year or the very least taking a vacation outside of Alaska!

Tami, OMG BC included shoulders and chest after the killer chest workout you id on Sunday! You must be hurting! You should do shoulders on Friday! Great job!
I am glad your mom has her procedure appointments already scheduled for next week. Keeping your mom, you and your sister in my prayers and hoping for the very best. Definitely take good care of yourself. I know you already do but sometimes during difficult moments, we don't feel like doing anything.

Hi Erika! I hope you're feeling better!

Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

After work was GS Legs, but I did the longer premix. This morning was KCM's 30MTF Cardio Quick Fix 2 and RAW Shoulders & Arms Finisher. Will be adding on GS Shoulders after work.

Kelly filmed her two new workouts, so I'm guessing that Cathe probably isn't far behind with her filming. They usually film around the same time frame. It sounds like Kelly made a new Step Boxing workout and one she called Sculpting RX, I'm excited to have them both. I feel like I'm obsessed with her right now.

Laurel, Nice job with the weight work (adding the 1#) and of course doing all of the Cathe spin classes (great name for that class )! I love how you are increasing the weight, I only did a half pound. Funny how you can feel the difference, or that muscle was tired. Glad to hear the dumpster got moved. We are in a cloud cover with rain still, but it is suppose to get better later today. Hopefully it dries up so that our lawn can get mowed.

Tami, Love the workout and the class! One nice thing about doing single body parts, it is a lot easier to double up and not be doing a really long workout. I'm glad we are here for you, even though we have never met in person.

Thelma, Great job on the workout, and making it work for you. Taking breaks means that you must be pumping some heavier weights. You and your DH will have to do a checklist of all the pros/cons. This will help with deciding when it is the right time to move and look for different jobs. It will all work out in the end.

Have a wonderful day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! I did a pretty tough workout today. I decided to reach back to an old Cathe Live lower body workout (from June 2014) that I have wanted to try for some time but just haven’t. It was Cardio Leg Blast with High Step. This workout was tough!! Think Cathe’s toughest lower body workout.....and add a segment of cardio on the high step. That’s pretty much what this was. After the warm-up, it was cardio on the high step, followed by metabolic lower body work, followed by loads of squats and lunges, followed by floor work. All with little to no breaks for nearly an hour. Tough, tough stuff. So I took a good break after that and then opted for what I hoped would be a lighter cardio, which was Cathe Live Cardio Kickboxing and Cardio Barre. This was about 35 minutes of kickboxing-ish moves (part of it was more hi/lo cardio than actual kickboxing, though), which was fairly moderate. This was followed by high intensity drills (15 minutes) of cardio using the barre for stability. I absolutely loved this section! It was intense, but I loved the use of the barre. So while the workout was a little more intense than I hoped going into it, I ended up enjoying it. Now I am wishing for a Cardio Barre DVD in the future though.

Tami, great workouts. I bet your upper body was feeling that BC class, though. I am glad your mom has her tests scheduled. This has got to be a very scary time for her, so it is good she will get some answers soon. I so completely understand about needing to choose when to go visit. I know for the last year my mother was with us, I was in a constant state of uncertainty about when to go and when not to go. If I could recommend something else, it is to not feel guilty for the decisions you make with this. I have no doubt your sister and your mother know the depth of your love and dedication, even from a distance. So don’t beat yourself up for being further away. Easier said than done......I know. Again, huge hugs and all my prayers headed your way right now. I am here for you if you ever need anything.

Thelma, great workout. I mentioned earlier on the shoulder workout that next week I may take it slower so I can go heavier, and what I am thinking about is doing just what you did.....adding longer breaks between sets. I think I will do that next week on all the workouts, focusing more on heavier weights, and then going back to normal pace the last week.....just to shock things a little bit. Again, thank you for recommending we do this segment in four week increments because I am absolutely loving playing around with these workouts right now. Anyhow, about moving. I definitely agree with the decision to do your packing and let somebody else do the moving. Hopefully you can find a company that will allow you to follow the truck from one house to the next. I wouldn’t do it any other way, to be honest. I know you want to make the right, logical decision on this. (In fact, your decision making thoughts sound so much like the constant dialog in my head, it is amazing). But don’t discount what the heart wants totally because it matters as well. My DH still asks me what I loved so much about Florida. Well......nothing really about the actual place. But what I loved was how I felt in my life there. It wasn’t about Florida. It was the life I was living there that made me happy. Again, just some thoughts. I’m definitely not trying to push you into moving if you are not ready......just trying to give you some food for thought. And, yes, we are still hoping to move next year. And we have a vacation to Hawaii booked for September!!! Since we chose not to move there, we decided we could at least visit. So time for me to work on getting a beach body!

Laurie, great workouts. I was thinking about that GS Legs workout today doing that Cathe Live workout. I was playing ‘which one is tougher?’ in my head, and was comparing the Live workout with GS Legs, Leaner Legs, Legs and Glutes. I’m not sure which one of all those is tougher, but they are all tough enough!! Wow, I am happy to hear Kelly has already filmed!! Love the sound of the Step Boxing workout. I will definitely be looking into that. I am so surprised every time we switch things up a bit how my body reacts to the changes. This past nine months of changing workout focus every month or so has really been eye opening for me. Again, so glad we are all doing this together. It has really broadened my workout horizons, that’s for sure.

Erika, hope you are feeling better.

Until tomorrow.

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, no workout for me tonight. I've been staying late at work all week because today was the last day of our sprint and I had to finish my tasks and now I have to create tasks for the next sprint for my team. Taking this Friday off is not helping but I want my day off so I have to kill myself so I can relax. I hope to catch up over the weekend.

Laurie, great combo!! How exciting about Kelly's new workouts! I love her step boxing workout I have so I imagine this one will be a lot of fun too!
I've been trying to stick with my heaviest weights for at least 2 of the sets and the fact that I was tired forced me to take the longer breaks. It worked because I was able to finish the workout.
We definitely need to do a pros/cons list about this potential move. Thanks for that brilliant idea!

Laurel, what a combo! Great job. A Cardio Barre workout sounds like a great suggestion for Cathe!
Longer breaks really help me get through heavy weight workouts. I am really loving this month's routine and the entire routine. I don't even know what month we're on at this point given we've extended many monthly rotations. It's really been a fabulous, long rotation. I love the variety.
Great idea to find a moving company that will allow us to follow the truck. We are hoping to do the drive in one day. I wonder if the moving truck would do the trip in one day? DH wants to ask his brother to drive one of our cars down when we move. This way DH and I can ride in the same car which is my preference. I honestly thought we'd each drive our own cars so I welcomed his idea!

Glad you made the comment of not discounting what the heart wants because I was thinking of totally discounting it! I think the most important benefit of the move is leaving the work stress behind. Today I was so stressed at work that all I wanted was for us to move now! That kind of emotional thinking I do sometimes worries me. I don't want the move decision to be made during an emotional moment. I know we will be OK as long as we are together.

So happy you finally booked your well deserved Hawaii vacation!!! OMG, September is just around the corner!

Hi Tami!

Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Got in the shoulder work after work, so glad those are short. This morning was KCM's 30MTF Plateau Buster and then I added on the additional stretch from that DVD. I felt that I was needing that.

Laurel, WOW on that first workout, it does sound like a tough one. Cathe really does know how to torture with that high step. Nice that you enjoyed that barre type workout, guess you need to suggest that one for a future DVD. I too am really glad that we are doing this variety, I'm actually loving this phase for summer. It may become my go to summer workouts, because I can keep them short but work that muscle by going as heavy as I can. Incorporating other muscles makes other muscles so fatigued doing something else, that I don't think I see the benefit as much. I know I'm rambling, but I think everyone gets what I'm talking about. That is a good question on those leg workouts, they all seem to make my quads and calf muscles scream at some point during the workout. I'm looking forward to the Step Boxing workout also, because the RAW one she did is fun.

Thelma, Dang on being busy, but if it makes it so you can enjoy your off days then it is understandable. Glad I could be of some help with the moving situation. I'm sure that you and your DH will work through some important issues while making those lists. I'm so enjoying going heavier than I usually would on these workouts, so may try your idea so I can go heavier than half a pound. Enjoy your Friday!

Tami, Hope all is going well with you!

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! I am surprised today that I am not more sore than I am after yesterday’s workout, so that is a good thing. But that doesn’t mean I am bouncing off the walls with energy.....because I am definitely not! So I took the workout down a bit today and did RUUB Triple Chest followed by Cathe’s Step Blast. That one is always a fun one for me. I did increase my weight quite a bit for the chest work as well, and that felt good.

Thelma, sorry to hear about the long, stressful day. It is so unfortunate that taking a day off each week is creating more stress at work but, as you say, it is worth it for the day off. I think writing a list of pros and cons for moving is good. One of the benefits I find from having moved so much is I have a pretty strong grasp of what is important to me when it comes to where we live, and you hit one of those things on the head......being with my DH. Another big item for me is comfort.....and I am not talking creature comforts like a soft pillow. I mean feeling comfortable in my surrounding, my community, my home, etc. For us, in choosing a ‘where’ to live, I almost always lead with this issue. That is why we are in Alaska instead of Germany right now. I love Germany, but I know in the current global environment, I would not feel very comfortable living there. In Alaska......that is not an issue at all. I think of these as important ‘heart’ issues. Sometimes less emotional issues like finances can be somewhat more negotiable for me (in other words, realizing that maybe I can do without that 40th pair of shoes ) than ‘I won’t go to the store because I am afraid’ or ‘I live like a mushroom because our neighbor’s windows look right into our house’. But, obviously, finances play a huge role too....if they didn’t, DH and I would be packing for a move to Hawaii. So there is a lot to consider and to weigh, that’s for certain. And definitely drive together if you can!

Laurie, great workouts! I completely agree about this as a summer rotation.....much like I want to hit the holidays with metabolic or circuit work again this year. I have two interruptions coming up in our rotation with a visit from my in-laws and a trip to Colorado to see my sisters, and I love that I can work these workouts around to get everything in and still have days off. And I definitely agree as well that doing one body part really helps me focus on that part. I am never looking at the clock going ‘will this never end’, or, frankly, hesitant to push the pause button to go heavier because I know the workout is shorter. With hour long strength workouts, I don’t like adding pauses.

Tami, hope you are well.

Off to get my hair youthened. We are experiencing really warm (for Fairbanks) weather (in the 80s), so I am definitely looking forward to getting out and away from the roofers today!

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ I'm here Sorry I missed you all yesterday. I started writing everyone and then just got busy and didn’t get a chance . . . Today’s kind of the same so I will check in tomorrow forsure! So lets see, no am. Workout yesterday but I did go to Spinning and it was a pretty fun class. Small but fun. All women so Katy played her favorite “pop” music. So this a.m. was Giant Sets Legs (x2) and no workout tonight.

Tomorrow will be shoulders and then Sat I will do Bis/Tris and a Stretch.

Great workouts ladies! TGIF tomorrow 😊 Tami

fitzfour

Hi Ladies,

Feeling much better and back to regular workouts. Still plugging away at Cathe Live. I have learned this over the last 3 months of Cathe Live...I LOVE her upper body weights workouts, I don't love her straight cardio, but I really like her hiit/weights combo and I've learned leg day isn't my fave. Kind of a switch from how I have felt in the past. Interesting!

Tami, I am so sorry to hear about your mom. A total shock, for sure. I hope that she can get the pain under control and quickly get answers. It's so great that your sister is around and you are able to be there to help when needed too. Having family to help your mom during this time is key. Great job on your workouts, I'm sure it's keeping you sane right now!

Laurel, you are scaring me with your description of Cardio Leg Blast with High Step...I almost did that the other day. I think I'll hold off for awhile! I am sore just reading about your workouts every day!!

Thelma, you've gotten in some great workouts, but some days the work stress/time takes over and it calls for a rest day. I've been there, and unfortunately in the insurance industry, it is like that every year from August to December. This is the "slow" time...which to most is the normal busy of a work day.

Laurie, Thanks for the heads up on the KCM filming. I feel like I've lost track of her filming, so I'm going to go check that out. Absolutely loving your workout mixes with KCM, Cathe and others. Sounds like you're hitting every muscle well!

I won't be back on until next week as we'll have a weekend off of sports, so we are going to cram in lots of sleepovers for the boys, family get togethers and hopefully some bonfires. We also had our driveway/sidewalk torn out earlier this week and that gets done tomorrow and Monday/Tuesday so we're getting prepped to not have a driveway/sidewalk for several days!

Have a good weekend!

Erika

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did Fit Split Boxing BC w/u, S&S Ramped Up Upper Body Double shoulders, Treadmill, Stretching. Another long day at work. I had to finish my sprint planning so I did the double shoulders as you can see.

Laurie, great workout. I bet the stretch felt great! We definitely will be working on those lists! Try going heavier on the first set and take and listen to your body on the following sets.

Laurel, great combo today. I can't believe you're not sore after yesterday's combo!
It really stinks that I had to work long days so I could have Friday off but having a long weekend makes it worth the sacrifice!
I hear you on the comfort. I want to live in a safe town where I will feel safe at home. I want privacy and I'd prefer not to be close to any neighbors. Finances do worry me. Not so much because I'll have to become a recovering shopaholic but because I want to feel safe financially in case of an emergency.

Hi Tami, great job with those workouts!!

Hi Erika, so glad you're feeling better and back to normal workouts! I know that I no longer enjoy high impact workouts. Cathe's fancy step moves are not my fave. I am afraid I'll fall off the step!

Have a wonderful weekend ladies! We'll be going to my BIL's on Saturday for my SIL's 60th bday celebration. I'm going for a pedicure tomorrow.

Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Got in the GS Biceps after work, and was able to complete all the work with the same weight. Talk about jello arms with that one. This morning was KCM TLC #1 and then I did the Bonus Push-Ups. I have never tried that bonus work, and you can do push-ups, crunches or squats. Kelly has a deck of cards, and you do the number of reps on the card. She has 2 sets from 2-10. I did them all on my knees, otherwise I think it would have been tough.

Laurel, Awesome job with those workouts, and increasing your weights! Nice that you had a chance to get out and have some pampering on such a nice warm day. Love the idea of doing metabolic during the holidays. I'm with you on that one. Let me know the start date for that one. Doing these metabolic type workouts during the one body part has actually been great, but of course I'm making sure that I don't go to heavy with those. I thought I was the only one that watched the clock on some workouts. I love it when the workout ends, and I didn't glance at the time once. Those are good workouts.

Tami, Glad you where able to check in even if it was a short one. Great job on the workouts!

Erika, Glad to hear that you are feeling better. How nice that you will have a weekend to have some fun with the family, and not have to worry about going to sporting events. Sounds like you will all have some great relaxing fun. Good job on the workouts. That is interesting that your taste for workouts has changed. I know that I love metabolic type ones over many others, but then they are creating more and more of those lately. Kelly usually films just before Cathe does, because they use the same director. So I'm pretty sure that Cathe will be doing the same thing shortly.

Thelma, Great job with the workouts. I will try out going heavy on the first round, and take it from there.

Have a great weekend!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Went a little longer and tougher on the workout today to end the week. I started with RUUB Triple Triceps and upped the weights all around. This was no easy task because I really seemed to have reached for a good weight yesterday in the chest workout, and my pecs were screaming today. For cardio, I did a Cathe Live combo of Cardio Mish-Mosh followed by Circuit Crush.

Tami, hope you get a chance to relax this weekend. Great workouts this week, as always!

Erika, so glad to hear you are feeling better. Sounds like you will have a fun weekend! That being said, I don’t envy you with the sidewalk/driveway work. We will enter our third week of roofers Monday, and I have had enough of people working around the house for sure. Great job with the workouts. It is funny how tastes in workouts change. I used to avoid circuit workouts at all cost, and now they are some of my favorites. I can go months between step workouts....and then want to do them every day for three straight weeks. One of the reasons I love having the Live options is on any given day depending on the whims of my mood, I can find a workout between my DVDs and Live that will match whatever it is I feel like doing.

Thelma, great workout despite a long day. Hope you are enjoying your day off!

Laurie, great workouts. That GS Bicep workout is SO good. She hits the muscle in every possible way. I am toying with a few suggestions in my mind about ‘what’s next’ right now since we extended this portion of our rotation to September. So I want to think through now how to approach the fall/holiday period, allowing for circuits over the holidays. So I will try to write down a plan and come up with something and see how that works for us. I think some would think I am crazy for already thinking about the holidays. What can I say? I like in North Pole, Alaska!

Enjoy the weekend.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies and Happy Friday! So this a.m. was RUUB Shoulders (x3). Love it. Shoulders (as I have mentioned before) are always fun for me to work. Probably my favorite upper body work.

Thelma: Sorry for how many hours you are putting in to get an extra day off. I remember at my old job I had to do that every time I took vacation and it was so stressful. I hope you enjoy your long weekend! Great job with your RUUB Dbl Shoulders ….. you got it done! Way to go. I know what you mean as well on picking a place to live. We had not planned on living where we are (house wise) for 20+ years but it is in such a great little quiet cul-de-sac, huge trees behind us with no houses and great neighbors. Plus we have a shop for DH. It is hard to find and hard to replace forsure. I bet you guys will find the perfect spot when it is time!

Laurie: Way to get in your Shoulder work and Plateau Buster along with the additional stretch. LOL . . . we get what you are saying on the muscle work! It’s all great, I agree. Also, good job with the Bi’s this a.m. and Jell-O arms. That TLC sounds like it was a nice little bonus. Way to go!

Laurel: Fabulous workouts!!!! You are putting together some great combos as always. I wish I could say the same but I am doing what I can and keeping up. LOL The Cardio Mish-Mosh + Circuit Crush sounds like something I would like; just the names alone.
I look forward to hearing what we have coming up on our rotations. For now we are continuing with the TRIPLE Upper, etc. like we have been doing for a month total right? Then into the STS portions of body parts OR? and then Body Beast, etc. for a month, like you posted a while back? I have it printed at home but just wanted to check in about our timeline of things. Thank you in advance.

Have a great weekend ladies! Talk to you on Monday …. Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I hope you all had a nice weekend. We had a great weekend and on Friday I treated myself to a mani/pedi. On Saturday we went to my BIL's to celebrate his wife's 60th bday. It started out raining in the morning and it remained cloudy and raw the rest of the day. We were cold outside! It's a good thing I took a hoodie with me!
OMG ladies, my BIL was talking about how much he enjoys the time we spend together, especially because he knows we will move out of state in the future. I thought he was going to cry as he was saying that. We didn't have the heart to tell him that we may move next year!
On Friday I did Fit Split Boxing BC w/u, S&S Ramped Up Upper Body Triple Triceps, Treadmill, Stretching. On Saturday Jessica Smith Pilates and Yoga Stretch and tonight Fit Split Boxing BC w/u, S&S Ramped Up Upper Body Triple Back, Treadmill, Stretching.

Laurie, great job with your workouts!! Are the GS workouts you're doing Giant Sets or Gym Style?

Laurel, congrats on going longer and tougher on your Friday workout! Great job! Sounds like you have a wonderful house location. We also have great neighbors and protected woods behind our house. I hope we're able to find the right location. For us, it's all about the view.

Tami, great job with your shoulder workout!!
It really is stressful to have to work extra long hours just to be able to take a day off. Any day outside the office is worth the sacrifice of the extra hours for me.

Hi Erika!

Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

This may be the first time that I'm happy it is Monday! All weekend I did gardening. We put concrete blocks around the shed so that the gravel underneath doesn't move. We stained the blocks to match the color of the shed, it really looks great. I also hauled a bunch of mulch all around the house, and planted some more perennials. DH and I where exhausted by Sunday night, and I didn't get anything exercise wise done. On Saturday alone I had over 15K steps on my FitBit. Didn't wear the thing on Sunday, because it was charging. Overall the yard looks great! I will probably need some type of stretching this week, so will be looking at which one I want to try out. After work on Friday I did get in the GS Triceps though. This morning was Kickboxing and Dumbbells Drills Premix from Kelly's Step Boxing workout. Will be doing chest work when I get home, and probably some stretching.

Laurel, Awesome job with the workouts. Oh my on the pecs during your tricep work. Sounds like you really did push those chest muscles good. Wouldn't it be great it Cathe and Kelly got their new workouts to us before the holidays, so that would be a chance to try out those DVD's. I really haven't tried out a rotation with Kelly's and Cathe's last series, so maybe that is something that I will try out. If you or I don't think of things like this well before hand, I would be surprised. I'm one of those exercisers that needs to have a blue print ready.

Tami, Great job on all the workouts. I like shoulder work also, I just wish that I could lift heavier, I feel like such a weakling compared to Cathe and Kelly. Although I'm lifting heavier than I ever have lately. I love boxing, so any chance I have to do those type of workouts I will. I probably could do boxing everyday.

Thelma, Nice job with the workouts! Maybe a Jessica stretch would be good, will have to check that out. Although Kelly did make a RAW Stretch that I would love to try out. The GS I'm doing is the Gym Style, and will be glad when I'm done with these. Those 72 push ups are tough, but I'm loving them just because I can see a difference. I guess I don't do enough push ups, they are something I tend to avoid. Oh my on your BIL, that had to be tough. Sounds like you had our weather from last week, it you get the weather we had this weekend, you will be loving it. Just enough breeze and sun.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! We had a beautiful weekend weather-wise, and we made it a mixture of fun and work. We found out Friday evening that the roofers wanted to finish up on Saturday, which made me very happy. But I couldn’t take another minute of nail pounding over my head, so DH and I headed out before they arrived on Saturday.....and played 2 of the three golf courses in Fairbanks. I have never played two rounds of golf in a day before, but it was good fun. The weather was fairly decent and the courses pretty quiet, which helped. Took us about 8 hours, though. We did ride in carts for both rounds though. If we hadn’t...... . Yesterday was spent like Laurie.....in the garden. We finally got some plants in and mowed (we hadn’t been able to do that with the roofing materials all over for the past two weeks). It was so nice last night to be able to sit on our porch, enjoy a little wine, and look at all our plants and flowers. Summer up here is far too short to have spent two weeks not able to do that. But the roof is done and looks good.....so all is well I suppose.

For workouts, Saturday I did Jessica Smith Yoga Sculpt. Sunday was RUUB Triple Biceps followed by a Cathe Live Combo of Cardio Circuit Clannge and Cross Fire Quick Fix. Today was RUUB Triple Shoulders followed by another Cathe Live combo of Move It and Low Impact Conditioning Express. I increased the weights on both RUUB workouts, which felt really good. I did slow down today’s shoulder workout a bit to do that, but only by a couple of minutes. That’s pretty good for me and shoulder work!

Thelma, sorry to hear about the chilly weather. I imagine it was tough to hear that from your BIL. Moving is tough....no matter how you twist and turn it. Great workouts this weekend!

Laurie, I laughed when I read your description of your gardening followed by the ‘no workouts this weekend’. I would beg to differ! Sounds like your gardening was far tougher than any ‘workout’ would have been! Especially moving concrete blocks and mulch around. Tough stuff! But I bet it feels good to have it looking so nice. Hopefully you were able to sit outside a bit and enjoy it like we did. Such a great way to end a hardworking day! Great workout this morning. Hope you get a chance to stretch later because no doubt that will feel good. I hope both Cathe and Kelly’s workouts come out before late December. I know Cathe filmed in October last year, so if her filming is anytime soon......they should be out before the holidays. Fingers crossed on that!

Tami, I didn’t get a chance to toy with the rotation this weekend, but I will try to get something done soon. This one body part will go until September 30 . And, yes, my plan is to do STS Meso 2 next, followed by Body Beast Bulk workouts. Then I was planning on doing the Muscle Meltdowns for the final stage, but I may revise that last stage a bit and do the LIHI workouts instead. I am trying to figure out which would be better to get me fit for our trip to Hawaii that last week in September. We had agreed to do a month of circuits after that, but as I mentioned last week, I want to do circuits in the December/January time frame. So part of me is toying with starting our pattern of this rotation over again some time in October (which is when we started it last year), but using different workouts. I think I will want to put something in between the one body part and going back to heavy work (which is how we started this rotation), though. Like I said, still churning through thoughts. All ideas welcome! Again, I hope you got a chance to relax this weekend. I hope your Mom’s appointment on Saturday went well.

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies ~ Weekend was pretty good. It felt a little long but that’s ok. I did go into work for just a couple hours yesterday. It was productive but not as much as I had hoped. Nobody had been in so there wasn’t a stack of work, which I dont ever know prior to going in if several people have been in or nobody. Stayed and then headed back home. Bernie of course joined me. My little sidekick. So workouts were Bi’s/Tri’s (x3) on Saturday + a Jessica Smith stretch and then yesterday I did RWH Chest Xtreme pre-mix + KCM “TLC” Conditioning. Tonight will be BootCamp after work.

Thelma: Your 3-day weekend sounds like it was wonderful! I am so happy for you. Nice that you enjoyed a mani/pedi on Friday. Nice that you had time with your family. That will be really hard to tell him it sounds like. Awwww ….. but then they can come visit you guys. Thank you for the kudos on my workout.

Laurie: WOWSA! Sounds like you did a lot of yard work … I bet it looks amazing. That all sounds like exercise to me. Excellent job getting in your GS Tri’s on Friday and KB today. I also love boxing workouts. Had tough time yesterday deciding on Conditioning or Boxing in that TLC workout. That’s great you are lifting heavier than before and feeling the strength gains. Has Kelly posted anything about her new workouts?

Laurel: Your 8 hours of golf sounds like it was a lot of fun! Way to go. Sounds nice to come home and enjoy your yard finally. Way to go on your workouts! Fabulous combos as always. Thank you for the update on our rotation. So when will you switch from “RUUB x3” combos to STS? In September? I have it all printed out at home but I wasn’t sure how long we were in the “RUUB” stage, then STS Meso 2, then Body Beast Bulk, etc. Thank you again and sorry for my confusion.

So my mom’s biopsy is on this Thursday and then the PET scan on Saturday. Hoping to have results of both on Monday or Tuesday is what my sister said. My sister is going to be told the results over the phone and relay them to my mom. {SIGH} She said she may call me before telling mom. Really trying to hope for the very best of course. I will know more after we know the results of when I will be planning my visits.

Talk to you ladies tomorrow ~ Tami

SouthernMamaUnderConsruction

Hey everyone ! I'm a bit of a newby. I did four Cathe workouts last week all STS except I did an xtrain DVD for an extra cardio. I'm working up to 6 days a week. Quick question I couldn't get the Cathe website to do right for the one rep calculator. How would you go about doing it by hand?

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, tonight I did Fit Split Boxing BC w/u, S&S Ramped Up Upper Body Triple Shoulders, Treadmill, Stretching. So happy to have gotten shoulders out of the way for this week! Now they can rest for a few days!

We sent our financial advisor all the documentation he needed in order to analyze our retirement readiness situation. So we will see if we can continue dreaming about retiring next year.

Laurie sounds like you had quite a gardening workout all weekend! I bet it looks great. DH decided he didn't want to do our usual summer flowers because he is convinced we are moving next year. Great workouts on Monday!

Jessica Smith has some stretching workouts that are pretty good. I was afraid you were going to tell me you were doing Gym Style workouts. I'm not ready for that kind of workout! 72 pushups would probably kill my hands.
It was tough to hear my BIL tell us how he felt about us moving. Of course, we are already thinking of helping them with their airfares so they can visit us. We had a pretty raining weekend. We had nice weather today.

Laurel, so glad you had such a nice weekend and happy your roof is finally done! Yaaay!!! Two rounds of golf in one day! Wow! Sounds like you had a lot of fun! Congrats on increasing your weights! I am not able to increase shoulder weights but at least I'm able to do the 3 sets with my highest weights which is great. I did take longer breaks as I've mentioned before.
I love the idea of starting a different flavor of this rotation in October Laurel!

It really was hard to hear my BIL on Saturday tell us how much he would miss us when we move.

Tami, awesome workouts! Wow! You're really pushing yourself! Great job!
We are already planning to pay for my BIL's airfare so he can visit us.

Thanks for letting us know which days your mom is having her tests done. Keeping her, you and your sister in my prayers and hoping for the very best too. How is your mom doing? Is she still in the hospital?

Hi SouthernMamaUnderConsruction, great job with your workouts! I never used that one rep calculator so I can't help you there but I'm sure the other ladies will be able to help you.

Good night ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

I got home really late yesterday, stayed at work longer than usual. So I had to get dinner going. It's okay, will get in something tonight since I don't have to deal with picking up Rocket from daycare either. This morning I did Kelly's RAW Kettlebell and Dumbbells and Build & Burn Cardio Core.

Laurel, Your weekend sounds great, and also getting in your workouts. That is a long golf session, but glad to hear that you both enjoyed it and got away from the hammers. I did have a chance to enjoy the deck after we were winding down for the day. There was a great breeze, and I had a glass of wine in my hand. I was making sure our dinner didn't burn on the grill also. I'm glad to hear that you got in your plants too, I was getting a little nervous that I had some not in yet too. Kelly had a teaser this morning on fb, it said DVD's coming soon.

Tami, Awesome workouts! Glad to hear that you didn't have a ton of work, and Bernie got a chance to be with you for a bit. Will be praying for some hopeful news on your Mom, you all are in my prayers. I love TLC, when you have the time the combined workout on that one is awesome. Her announcement on the new workouts this morning said Stepboxing 2...coming soon! I will have my credit card out really fast when she announces we can purchase. She usually only has a short sale time, because the DVD's are already in production.

Thelma, Great job on the workouts, and getting the shoulder work finished for the week. Nice getting all the information for retirement, then you can see what you need before you make to many plans. I'm going to look at Jessica's stretching for tonight after my Chest/Back workout. I'm sure I can find something short that will work good.

SouthernMama, If the calculator on Cathe.com doesn't work the try out this one. https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/other7.htm You find a heavy weight for each exercise, do as many reps until you can't lift anymore. Then punch the info into this calculator. Then use the weight for the % the each workout suggests. Hope this is a help. Some people just picked up a weight for each workout, and then changed the weight as they went along.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was RUUB Triple Triceps followed by Cycle Max. This week I have done my upper body work so far in the order of biceps, shoulders and triceps, and I think this has been my favorite order so far. I will do chest and back Thursday and Friday, but am going to try this order again during our rotation. Before, I was mixing shoulders in with chest and back, and I think doing them with the smaller muscle groups instead of those larger ones where I live heavier is better. Feeling really strong right now, which is good! Even cruised right through the spin workout today!

Tami, great workouts. I guess I was hoping your Mom had one of her tests this past weekend. I am sure the waiting for answers is leaving you feeling incredibly unsettled. Will be praying for all of you. Great job with your workouts. And don’t worry about asking questions about the rotation. I don’t mind answering! The four weeks on RUUB will be done on July 6, so starting STS on July 8. Then STS will go until August 3, when I plan on moving to Body Beast (August 5). That will go until August 31 when I will move on to a combo of Muscle Meltdowns and LIHI (September 2), which will go until September 28. My dates may get a bit squishy coming up as I work the rotation around some interruptions, but that is the ‘set’ plan. Hope that helps.

Thelma, great workout. Will keep my fingers crossed for good news from your financial advisor!!

My thoughts for after September 28 when we finish this one body part rotation are still fluid and depend a bit on when Cathe’s new workouts may be released. So many of those workouts sound like they would be perfect for our metabolic month (planned for the holidays) that I would love to get them and use them for an entire month right away. But here is kind of what I am thinking:

October—total body workout. We had talked about doing this already after one body part but were going to focus on metabolic workouts. I want to keep this in, but I know I will focus not just on metabolic but the more traditional total body strength training workouts like STS Total Body or Muscle Max since I want to do metabolic and circuit workouts over the holidays (more workout benefits in shorter times!)

Late October/November—Heavy lifting. This would be a re-start of our current rotation. Last year I did the Body Beast Bulk workout. This year I may do Meso 3, but I haven’t decided yet. I may opt for Body Beast Build if I want something shorter.

November/December—High Reps. Last year I did Meso 1. This year will be XTrain Discs 1 and 2 and random high rep lower body workouts.

December/January—Metabolic workouts, hopefully focused on the new Lite Series.

I haven’t put in dates yet because if we do four weeks of each, the start dates for these four rotations would be:
September 30-Total Body
October 28-Heavy
November 25-High Reps
December 23-Metabolic

I wanted to get everybody’s thoughts on this and whether those dates work or whether we should shorten the total body rotation to 2 or 3 weeks to get those shorter metabolic workouts starting earlier in December to accommodate more for holiday time crunches. I am mostly time crunched during the two weeks of Christmas and New Years, so this would be okay for me. But I also don’t mind moving it up a bit either. One possible downside to moving it up earlier is we may not have the Lite Series yet. So.......all thought welcome please!!!!

Laurie, great workout this morning! I need to remember to work that Cardio and Core workout into my plan sometime again. Such a good workout. Wow to Kelly’s news!! That would be quick! Glad you got a chance to enjoy your garden the other night. I know DH and I will spend as much time on our little porch as we can over the next couple of months....until we can no more. Makes for such a nice change from watching mind-numbing TV shows.

SouthernMama, Laurie has given you a great on-line calculator for 1RM. Hope that helps. Great job with STS and all your workouts!!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel