Cathe Fans Part 5
Replies
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Morning Ladies,
Chest work this morning with 2.0 Body Parts Chest. Used the barbell and tower, so now I do have a different option. I just need to make sure that I'm writing down which option I'm using on my workout sheet.
We got some more rain yesterday, and today is going to be a scorcher. 90's with humidity, so it is going to feel hot.
Laurel, Glad that you where able to get in a good intensity workout! I'm sure that you will have not problem with your leg workout today. I really like the idea of combining the two systems minus Meso 1. I would probably have to separate one of the body parts out of the Chest/Shoulder/Tricep discs, just to make some of the workouts shorter for my timeframe. Those workouts have longer warm ups if I remember correctly. I sure would love to see what Cathe would do with the two series as a combo, although I think that we can figure something out that will work for us. Cathe should have come up with 2.0 before 1.0 so that we could feel a lot more comfortable with the increased weight from one phase to the other.
Thelma, Love that you where able to go up in the weight, and the pad is working out for you. I really did feel the back work much more this week than last week, so I'm going to stick with that tower option instead of the bands. Working with the bands at the end of the workout didn't seem so bad either. I know that my body can only handle HiiT once a week, and most of those would be low impact. 
Have a great day!
Laurie0 -
Hi Ladies, I was just listening to one of my favorite fitness coaches, and he said that if we're not doing deloading weeks we should.
I decided to read about it and remembered that Cathe had deloading weeks in STS 1.0. I think she didn't include them in STS 2.0 because these rotations are short.
I was wondering if we should do a deload week before starting the single body part rotation? We've been doing STS 2.0 for a while now. At least Laurel and I have been feeling a little fatigued. If we did a deload week, we could do some low impact Hiit training.
Anyways just a thought. I know a deload week sounds crazy now that we're feeling so good about our progress. Let me know what you think. I'm ok if we kept going as planned.
https://barbend.com/deload-week/
https://builtwithscience.com/fitness-tips/deload-week/0 -
Hi Ladies! Today’s workout started with 2.0 Lower Body 2, and I did the premix with the bonus moves. Today was one of those days I picked up my 30# weight on the first goblet squat move (I had my 10# weighted vest on as well) and said to myself that it was way too light. So I guess the spin yesterday didn’t have a bad effect. So I went as heavy as I could today, and it really felt good. I followed it with lighter, enjoyable cardio with LITE Rev’d Up Rumble. So good.
Thelma, great workouts. I am glad that barbell pad is working for you. Great job increasing the weight on that glute bridge. I am getting excited to move on to next week now that we have decided what to do.
Laurie, great workout. I remember loving that chest workout because it reminded me so much of the chest work in Meso 2, which I love. But having the tower and barbell on the presses is key for me because I just can’t get heavy enough weight up off the floor without risking my shoulder. I am glad you enjoyed that option. I doubt Cathe does a 1.0/2.0 rotation only because of the science behind the 1.0 program. I think the bulk of the workouts in 1.0 Mesos 2 and 3 are between 50 and 70 minutes, the Plyo Leg and Meso 2 Week 4 upper body workouts being slightly shorter. So dropping a body part or even dropping the number of sets to 2 or 3 times per exercise instead of the 3 or 4 times they are done in the workout would probably get them all down to a more manageable length. We’ll all have to give them some thought over the next few months for sure.
See you tomorrow.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, my workouts on Thursday were Walking and Cathe STS 2.0 Upper Body 2. I was really tired, but I dragged my body to the exercise room and once I got going, I felt energized. I went up in weights in most of the exercises and I even matched Cathe in the chest exercises. I did the tricep/chest bench press with 45 lbs, which is Cathe's weight. I also did the bench dips with a 45 lb barbell. The second barbell pad I ordered is a keeper too. It was perfect for the dips with the EZ bar.
It was another hot one here in BR. The sun was just brutal. DH said we had a 2-minute passing shower. We have 40% chances of rain through Monday.
Laurie, great workout. I think the barbell/tower combination is the way to go in order to go heavier. I am so glad you felt the back work a lot better this week. I could only handle Hiit once a week and it would have to be low impact also.
It seems that the entire country is going through this hot period. At least you got some rain!
The fact that we're feeling a lot more comfortable with the weight increase from phase to phase is the reason why I started thinking about doing 1.0. I do remember those workouts having a huge dread factor for me. Now I wonder why if the 2.0 workouts are just as long. It could be the length of the program. I know that I would push myself harder on STS 1.0 now. The idea to skip Meso 1 is definitely brilliant.
Laurel, great workouts! I also think 30lb for the goblet squat is low, but I can't hold more than 30#! On the sumo squat I've been doing 40# this week I also felt that wasn't heavy enough. I think I'd go up to 45#.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Thelma0 -
Morning Ladies,
This morning was 2.0 Total Body Stretch and Mini Ball Abs. We had more rain this morning, and they say scattered thunderstorms for the rest of the day. Of course we still have the heat.
Laurel, Love that you felt the work was to lite and had to increase. Awesome job with your workouts! You are probably right on the combining the series. Of course she does have these other options in the guide, and one of them is the low impact option. That may be my next rotation after this 12 weeks, but I really do want to change up the 10 week rotation to include low impact. The low impact has the body parts, and the 10 week uses the mish mosh. At some point I will for sure be looking into doing another 1.0 rotation, but for sure not right now.
Thelma, Great job with your workouts, and of course being able to increase the weight. Glad to hear that your other pad is working just as good for you. I may do a deload after this 12 week rotation, but will determine that after I'm finished. Doing a week of deload might be a good thing before I had into doing total body workouts again. I for sure am feeling the chest work today, so I know that I used a really good weight with that barbell.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Laurie0 -
Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was 2.0 Upper Body 1, No Equipment Abs and a 30 minute spin. I am almost sorry to leave the Upper/Lower workouts behind, but I am also looking forward to challenging myself with the Body Part workouts. But first, I am really looking forward to a recovery day tomorrow.
Thelma, great workouts. What surprised me about the 30# weight for goblet squats yesterday is, like you, I have trouble holding it and yesterday it felt light. That could be because Wednesday was a recovery day because if I tried to hold a 35# weight like that tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t be able to. I am glad the new barbell pads are working for you. 45# on those triceps dips is serious weight!
Laurie, great workouts. Enjoy the rain! It is hot and dry here, but I can’t complain after the summer we have had so far. I think you can modify the 10 week rotation enough to include some low impact, even if it is one time a week. I think for me how the next 3-6 weeks go will help me decide whether I want to do another full rotation of 2.0 this fall or whether I want to change things up. Right now I am inclined to do another rotation of just 2.0, but it may be something I make up that bears no resemblance to anything Cathe suggested. I am not going to lie in saying that I am not sure how I feel about another three weeks straight of those total body workouts. I love the workouts themselves, but, boy, those weeks felt really tough for me. But all of that is still miles down the road yet.
Enjoy the weekend.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, I hope you had a nice weekend. We had a nice weekend. We had a nice one and got some rain.
I got a lat pull down bar for my tubing wall system and it worked very well. It came on Saturday, just in time for my back workout on Sunday. This was a total game changer for me. It feels just like a lat pull down machine does at the gym. My back got an amazing workout.
I also learned to set up the tubes and handles for rowing and that was also a great discovery. My back sure is feeling the workout. I was able to increase my tubbing weight and for the dumbbell work I used the weight I had used in upper/lower for that exercise.
My workouts on Friday were Gentle Flow Yoga and Walking.
Saturday - Cathe STS 2.0 Total Body Stretch, Walking.
Sunday - Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Back, Walking.
Laurie, great workouts! I am definitely going to do a deload week after this rotation.
Laurel, great workouts! At the end of last week, I felt like I could do a 4th week of upper/lower.
Congratulations on being able to increase your goblet squat weight!
I agree with you about the total body workouts being tough.
Have a great week!
Thelma0 -
Morning Ladies,
We had a stormy night on Friday, DH had to wake me up to head into the basement because of a tornado warning. I was sound asleep, but I was able to get back to sleep. We didn't have any damage, but lots of branches and walnuts to clean up. Otherwise we had a really quiet weekend, just DH and I doing our own things. He is getting his 442 ready to head out for our vacation, and I just did some sewing after some clean up of course. I will be off tomorrow, just decided to take the day off since I have a dentist appointment.
My workouts where Saturday 2.0 Total Body Stretch and a walk, Sunday was Body Part Biceps, and this morning was Body Part Triceps. Overall I was able to match what Cathe was lifting without to much of a problem.
Laurel, Great job with the workouts! I'm sure that you will be having a blast with these one body part workouts. This phase really lets you up the amount of weight you can use without the grip problem. That is one thing that I have noticed about doing these workout, my hands are not as sore from the weights as with previous. It might be because of the barbell, but I'm okay with that. I may do other workouts, because I can get that rotation ADHD. I don't want to avoid doing these workouts in the future, because I burned myself out. We will see how I feel. I know that I will not be doing these workouts when we go on vacation, just to much equipment.
Thelma, Love all the workouts! How wonderful that you where able to set that up for your back work. Awesome that it is a game changer for you, and I'm sure that you will get plenty of use out of it with that back workout.
Have a great day!
Laurie0 -
Hi Ladies! I hope your weekends went well. All here was good. DH arrived back home Saturday afternoon, and we ran a couple of errands, then spent yesterday doing some shopping, a few chores, and taking a really long walk. It was a pretty relaxing weekend for us, which was nice. The weather was hot on Saturday, but we didn’t get above 90 yesterday which was a bit of a surprise. But it was still pretty humid.
For workouts, on Saturday I did Jessica Smith’s Feel Good Fusion and 45 minutes of hip focused yoga. Yesterday was 2.0 Body Part Back with Bonus and S&S Cardio Slam. And today was 2.0 Body Part Biceps with Bonus and a 45 minute spin. I decided at the last minute to do the workouts with bonuses with week, which wasn’t my original plan. I don’t quite understand what Cathe was going for with these bonus moves, but I think if I continue to do them, I will use them as finishers since she puts them near the end of the workout (before Supermans in the Back workout and before wrist curls in the Bicep workout). But in no way do I think they are necessary. The one thing I did like today about the bicep bonus is it gave my arms that really pumped feeling right at the end that I like. But they were feeling pretty pumped enough before the bonus too! I was able to match or exceed Cathe’s weight in the Back workout, and only was under her in one set of barbell bicep curls (the pause reps set) in Biceps. That shocked me. No doubt this program has made me stronger for sure.
Thelma, great workouts. I am glad you found something to make your back workout more effective. That sounds terrific. I am still not in love with that back workout, but it felt more effective yesterday than it did my first time through with it for sure.
Laurie, yikes on the storm! I am glad you didn’t have any damage. That is scary. Great workouts this weekend and fantastic job with the heavy weights. I think one of the reasons I don’t like the back workout is because it feels like I am constantly changing weights or pulling in equipment or moving something throughout so I definitely don’t see being able to do these workouts when on vacation. I looked through the other rotations Cathe has suggested with these workouts, and I may end up doing a blended rotation next time. My eye is on the Ripped With HiiT/2.0 combo. But we’ll see how I feel about these workouts after I have been away from them for the month of October, as I plan to do. I may be up for a full rotation, partial rotation or not at all rotation.
See you tomorrow.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, my workouts on Monday were Walking, Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Biceps with Bonus and Gina B Power Walk. I'm loving the body part workouts so far!
I didn't do the bicep bonus until after dinner. There is no way I could've done the bonus exercises with the workout itself. My biceps were already fatigued. I went back after dinner and did a 20-minute Gina B power walk and the bonus bicep exercises. This worked very well for me, and I think I will keep doing this whenever possible.
I started with the last weights I used in Upper Body and increased my weights by 1 lb. I am so glad I bought those baby weights. I love those kneeling exercises and really liked the bonus moves too.
Laurie, I'm so glad your home didn't suffer any damages from that scary storm. Sounds like you and your DH are getting excited about your upcoming vacation! When are you leaving and where are you going. Sorry if I missed the details!
Great workouts and good job matching Cathe's weights! I hear you about the hands not being as sore with these workouts. Mine were sore with the total body workouts. I was getting worried about hurting my hands, so I bought the weight grips.
We are definitely going to get a lot of use out of the lat pulldown bar because DH likes it too.
Laurel, I'm so glad you had a good weekend and that your DH made it home safely. It looks like we're done with temps in the 90s. The hottest temps are hitting by mid-afternoon with low humidity. The morning and early afternoon were very nice on Sunday and Monday. I think it will be the same through Wednesday. Thursday may be rainy with a high of 77 and Friday could be cloudy with heavy thunderstorms. I don't like the sound of Friday's forecast!
Fantastic workouts! I didn't do the back bonus exercises, but I did like the bonus biceps. The last two were more I think to strengthen the wrist and forearm. I think finishers is a good way to describe the exercises! I agree about the pumped feeling in the arms! Since I had plenty of time to rest before doing the bonus moves, I added a concentration curl set too. Congratulations on exceeding or matching Cathe's weight! That is totally awesome! Those pause reps in biceps are killers!
I can see why you are not crazy about the back workout, given that you don't like the tubbing. Now that I have the lat pulldown bar I realize how much I wasn't able to isolate with just the tubbing. If you have a door in your workout room, you could use a door tubbing anchor and get an inexpensive lat pulldown barbell. The one I got was $27. You can use the anchor at the bottom of the door for rows too.
I've been looking at the rotations too and I also like the sounds of the Ripped with HiiT one. The Xtrain one sounds pretty good too, but the Tabatacise workout scares me! I'm afraid I'd need oxygen after that workout! LOL
See you tomorrow!
Thelma0 -
Hi Ladies! Today’s workout started with 2.0 Body Part Shoulders, and I added the bonus exercises to it. This workout was great with the bonus moves, and I will do this one like that when I can. I also opted not to use bands at all in the main workout and, instead, did the rear lateral raise with a weight (10# and 12#) and the Y raises like Jenn is doing on the ball with weights. I loved this workout like this. I couldn’t stay with Cathe’s weight for every set, but I at least did one set with her weight choices, and probably 75% of the workout at her weight. That made me very happy given my wonky shoulders. Anyhow, I followed it with Cathe Live Steptastic which was all kinds of fun and 2.0 Mini Ball Abs.
Thelma, great workouts! I am glad you liked those bicep bonus moves. They just give it a little extra burn for sure. Great job being able to increase your weight throughout. I am loving these body part workouts as well and, so far, think they are manageable on a daily basis. We’ll see how we feel come Friday, though.
I think my problem with the back workout is, since the back is one of the larger muscle groups, I expected Cathe to make this workout more heavy weight intensive….kind of like the chest workout. In the chest workout, she does all varieties of presses and flies and all with heavy weight. But there are only three heavy weighted exercises in this back workout (I don’t include the chin-ups and pull-ups since they are bodyweight exercises) and then more muscle shaping exercises. I think I am going to play around with it and maybe add in a set of one armed horizontal rows in place of a tubing exercise or something. But I really appreciate the recommendation of a lat pull-down barbell. I never would have thought of that, and maybe that would do the trick for me.
Laurie, I hope you are enjoying your day off.
See you tomorrow.
Laurel
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Hi Ladies, my workouts on Tuesday were Walking, Yin and Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Shoulders. I didn't have time to do the bonus exercises, but I really liked the workout. I went up by a pound or 2 in most exercises, but I am stuck at the same weight with the shoulder press.
My 20 lb plates arrived and they are heavy! It's amazing what a difference weight distribution makes. Unfortunately, they are the same circumference size as my 10 Lb plates! So much for them being bigger to help me get under the barbell for hip thrusts!
Great workouts Laurel! I only used the tubbing for the lat raises. The Y raises with the band just don't feel right at all. I also did it with the dumbbells. Five lbs were the only weight I could match to Cathe's! LOL
I also think (so far) that these workouts are manageable on a daily basis. I am so glad we didn't choose the mish mosh premixes!
I am really surprised how band heavy that back workout was. I think I'll do weights one day just to hit the back differently, but I did like the bands.
You can always order a barbell and if you don't like it, you can send it back. The one I got came in three pieces, so it makes it easy to return.
See you tomorrow!
Thelma0 -
Morning Ladies,
I had a great day off. We had to find a new dentist, because ours decided to leave the practice she was at and go into a different field of dentistry. I didn't like the other dentist at the practice, so I have been on the hunt to find someone else. I think that we have found one. He is young, so will not be retiring in the near future. The hygienist was very thorough. We don't have dental insurance, and this place gives us 10% off if we pay 2 weeks before the appointment. Later that day youngest dd gave me a pedicure, so my toes are pretty for my vacation. It was a nice way to break up my work week. The hygienist made my next appointment on a Friday, so she said I can take a Friday off. I already really love her for that.
My workout yesterday was 2.0 Foam Rolling Upper Body and Standing Abs. This morning was 2.0 Body Parts Legs. Added on more weight to my barbell, so I'm creeping closer to what Cathe is using in this workout. The ball is still working well for this, even with the increase in weight.
Laurel, Awesome job with all your workouts. Glad to hear that your weekend was a good one. Nice that you are trying out those bonus moves. I have looked at them, but didn't see the need to try them out at this point. I think that using them as finishers is a great idea. That RWH/2.0 looks like a really great option to try out. I'm leaning toward doing a Caroline rotation after this 2.0 rotation, because I just know that my plan to move into the ten week rotation would not be good for my love of these workouts. I'm still looking at options for vacation workouts. They will have to be simple and some I can try out in my hotel room.
Thelma, Great job with your workouts! Love that you are splitting up the day so that you can try out those bonus moves. Dang on the plates being the same dimension as the 10lb weights. I'm sure that you will get good use out of them though. We are headed to Dayton for the Oldsmobile Nationals. It will be a very busy week for us, since DH is the one in charge of judging. I'm the one that is in charge of the tabulation. I pride myself on getting this stuff done in one day. It will for sure be a challenge this year, because we have over 200 cars. Should be a good show though.
Have a great day!
Laurie
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Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was 2.0 Body Part Legs with the bonus, a 30 minute spin and Cathe Live Core Flow Express, which is a fusion of Pilates, yoga, mobility work with a little core work thrown in. I love this workout and it was perfect as a mid-week refresher.
Thelma, great workouts. I hear you on the shoulder press. It is an exercise I will never be too strong with. I did manage one full set at 40#, then had to stop early in the next so dropped down to 35#. But I am stronger with the barbell than I am dumbbells for sure. I am not sure why to be honest. I am glad we didn’t choose the Mishmosh premixes as well. I think they would have felt pretty easy.
Laurie, great workout. Yay for getting closer to Cathe’s weight on that barbell. I am thinking next week I may try my barbell again and see if I feel more comfortable with it now that I am more comfortable with the move itself. But it won’t be loaded at 75# for sure. I am glad you were able to find a good dentist. Working out in vacation is such a pain sometimes. I gravitate to Cathe Live workouts when I do because everything is done with 15# weights or less so I’m not lugging around huge weights.
See you tomorrow.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, my workouts on Wednesday were Walking, Gentle Flow Yoga and Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Legs. This leg workout was brutal, but in a good way. I was a sweaty mess! I really pushed myself and went up in weight from what I'd lifted during Lower Body 1&2. I ended up doing the hip thrusts on the floor like Jen. I had been thrusting 49 lbs and I went up to 55lbs, but when it came time to lift up, I got scared. I didn't do the bonus moves. I was just spent.
Laurie, I'm glad you had a great day off. I'm glad you were able to find a new dentist and got a pedicure! What a nice discount for paying two weeks early! The dental hygienist sounds great!
Great workout and congratulations on getting closer to lifting Cathe's weight! Treat your vacation week as your deloading week!
Sounds like a really exciting and busy vacation for you and your DH!
Laurel, great workouts! That core workout sounds wonderful! I don't know if you heard but there won't be a Cathe Live workout this week because they're understaffed due to people being sick.
Excellent progress with the shoulder press! I used to be able to lift more weight but this time around I just can't. I think I'm going to try a seated shoulder press with the barbell, or I'll try standing with dumbbells just to see how I do.
See you tomorrow!
Thelma0 -
Morning Ladies,
This morning's workout was 2.0 Body Parts Shoulders. Every time I do this workout my shoulders seem to be getting stronger and stronger. I think that I should be able to go to 20# for at least one or two sets the next time I try this workout. Shoulders have always been my weakest muscle, so this is very positive.
Laurel, Love the workouts! Really love the sound of that live workout, it has just about everything that you need rolled up into it. Tomorrow is the mobility 1 workout, and I'm thinking of doing one of the Perfect Flow workouts just for a change of pace. I think that I have narrowed down what I'm going to do for workouts. Caroline has some bodyweight and kettlebell workouts that I can do in the hotel room. I just have to make sure that I don't let go of the kb and hit something. I'm for sure looking at mostly low impact, because I don't want to make to much noise.
Thelma, Great job increasing the weight, and awesome job with those workouts! We know we are working out hard when that sweat starts to pour. DH is headed to the dentist today, so I hope that he has a good experience. He doesn't take care of his teeth as well as I do, but he is one of those that doesn't get cavities. The deloading will for sure be happening.
Have a great day!
Laurie0 -
Hi Ladies! Today’s workout started with 2.0 Body Part Chest with the Bonus. I really surprised myself by lifting Cathe’s weight until the last move in the bonus section. By that time my arms were spent! I really like this workout. I followed it with a fun one….Cathe Live Boom Boom Pow Kickbox. It was the perfect level of intensity for today.
Thelma, great workouts. I am definitely feeling my legs from that workout yesterday. The kicks in the kickboxing seem to have helped though. So when I came up with our schedule, I completely forgot that Cathe does a couple of moves in this chest workout that focus also on the triceps. I am going to go ahead and do the tricep workout if I am not feeling it too much in my triceps. But I know it isn’t necessarily wise. And because of that, I am going to change up the order of the workouts for next week. Starting on Sunday, my order is going to be shoulders, biceps, chest, legs, triceps and back. I am really sorry about this and hope you skip triceps this week if you don’t feel it is safe. I saw that about Cathe Live this week. I am not surprised after the Road Trip last weekend that they are suffering from vacations and illness.
Laurie, great workout. And I love hearing that you feel stronger with each workout. I hope I experience the same in my shoulders next week. I think the Perfect 30 Mobility workout is a great substitute for the 2.0 Mobility workout. I did one of the P30 Mobility premixes (it was core focused) a couple of weeks ago as a substitute, and it felt so good. Sounds like you have a great plan for traveling. I was scanning through 2lazy4gym’s site the other day, and she was comparing Caroline’s workouts to one of these 2.0 workouts, and it really sounds like Caroline is a great instructor. I keep saying I am going to look her up and then….well…..too many workouts, not enough time. But I really should look her up from the sounds of it!
See you tomorrow.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, my workouts on Thursday were Walking, and Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Chest. I really pushed myself with this workout and my arms were pretty fatigued by the time I got to the banded exercises. There was no way I was going try to attempt the bonus exercises.
I went up on most weights. I used the tower for the chest presses and on the flat press I was able to lift 46.5 lbs. Next week I will up that to 50.
The incline bench press/close grip combo was really a killer with the heavier weight. I had upped my weight and I was only able to do 4 reps. For the first time ever, my arms just collapsed on the tricep part of the exercise. My arms just gave out on the way down, the weights were on my chest. I didn't drop the dumbbells, so I didn't hurt myself.
My arms were so spent that I could hardly do the first set of flies with my lightest tube I have. The second set was elevated, So I did much better with that.
I did the pushups on my knees and even the loop around my arms didn't help to keep me up when I tried to do a full push up! LOL
I had my appointment with the surgeon and all I can say is thank God I decided to get a second opinion from a surgeon. The mass in my stomach could potentially be a hernia according to the doctor. I have a CT scan next Friday at 1pm. I can't drink or eat 4 hours prior to the scan. I'll drink a vanilla protein at about 8AM that day. An ultrasound only looks from the top, where a CT scan is able to see the bottom too. The doctor said if it's a hernia it could be that I have a small hole in my fascia and fat came out. She said if it is a hernia, it should be fixed while the hole is small. It could potentially just need a couple of stitches.
Thank God I followed my instinct and went to see her. I was told that it was a lipoma and that nothing should be done about it, which is true, but I needed an expert's opinion. The doctor is very sweet, caring, knowledgably and nice. Another great experience at the Northside Hospital.
I didn't ask if I should stop lifting because I told her that I am lifting heavy, and she didn't say anything.
Laurie, great workouts! Fantastic progress with the weight you're lifting! A female bodybuilder I've been following said today that she prefers to do incline shoulder presses because it allows her to engage her scapula better and it felt safer. The standing press isn't working for me because I start arching my back. I'll try seated next week just to see if that's better for me.
I cracked up at your comment about not letting go of the kettlebell at the hotel! Too funny! How about taking some of the Perfect 30 workouts with the bands and loops? Do you have Cathe's travel workout? It also uses resistance bands.
I hope your DH has a good experience at dentist too. We love our dental hygienist. DH and I were assigned different dentists at the clinic, and I lucked out with the gentlest hygienist ever. I told DH to schedule his cleanings with her and he loves her too.
I hope you and your DH have a fabulous time next week!
Laurel, great workouts! I am not surprised you had strength to do the bonus chest exercises at all. You go girl!!!
I am definitely feeling my legs. I stretched after the leg workout but didn't massage and that was a mistake. I massaged my legs tonight because it was absolutely necessary.
I'll be OK doing triceps tomorrow. No worries. I am glad we'll do triceps earlier in the week when I'll have a little more strength. I love that we'll be doing shoulders first too!
Have a great weekend!
Thelma0 -
Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was 2.0 Body Part Triceps with Bonus and a fantastic repeat of the 45 minute soft rock spin I fell in love a few weeks ago. I think I could do this spin every time I hop on the bike because of the music. So good.
Thelma, I am SO glad you got a second opinion as well. And I am glad they are going to explore it further and you don’t have to wait too long for the scan. I hope it isn’t a hernia but if it is, you will recover quickly from that no doubt. Great job with the workouts. Yikes on your muscle giving away, but I am glad you were able to control the dumbbells and not hurt yourself. I am not going to lie…..triceps felt tough today free that chest workout yesterday. Once I got into the workout I was better, but the first couple of sets I was wondering what I was thinking when I came up with this week’s plan.
I think the format next week will be much better. But I did decide today that after we finish these one body part weeks, I am going to do at least two weeks of the full split set premixes of these workouts. One week I will do the workouts in the order they are on the DVD (Leg/Shoulders, Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps), and the next week, I will reverse the order, doing shoulders, triceps and biceps first. But those are going to be long workouts, and I know you said you wouldn’t be able to do those, but the Mishmosh premixes do reverse the order as well, so if you want to join me, those might work if you are interested. I just want to see how my muscles stand up to that kind of endurance challenge.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, I hope you had a nice weekend. Ours was busy but good, and finally got some much needed rain on Sunday. We are in danger of getting a bunch of organized thunderstorms coming our way. I think this is like the awful storm we had back in June. I hope that's not the case.
My workouts on Friday were Walking, Gentle Flow Yoga and Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Triceps.
Saturday: walking and Tracy Steen Total Body Stretch.
Sunday: Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Shoulders + Bonus, and Walking.
Laurel, doing shoulders at the beginning of the week was exactly the right thing for me. I had an amazing shoulder workout, like I've not had in a very long time. I decided to take my time making sure I was rolling my shoulders back and engaging the scapula. I did the standing overhead presses seated on my workout set at 90 degrees. This gave my back the support it needed to allow me to go heavier. I will be able to go a little heavier next week too. I did all the inclined moves on my bench too. I was able to go heavier on most exercises and felt good enough to do the bonus moves too.
I am feeling like I want to do 4 weeks of one body parts.
Fantastic workouts on Friday! That spin workout sounds great!
Triceps were a little tough for me on Friday, but I was still able to go up a little. It was nice to go heavier, but I may dial it down a notch because I felt the heavier weight affected my form. Of course, it could be that my muscles were tired from the day before.
I definitely don't want to do the split sets, but I will do the Mishmosh premixes. I am really loving the body parts premixes because I feel that my arms are getting a really good workout.
See you tomorrow!
Thelma0 -
Hi Ladies! I hope you had a good weekend. Ours was good, in part. But the weather is driving me crazy. Saturday was hot and humid, and we took the opportunity to do a lot of yard work. It was tough, but we got a lot accomplished. Yesterday they were predicting storms, so DH decided to hard wire our last TV so that we can go to streaming TV. I still can’t believe that we bought a house in 2019 (not 1979) that did not have a single ethernet cable running through it. Anyhow, the result was insulation from the attic being carried throughout the house. As I tried to clean it up, DH ran out to Lowe’s, a storm hit, we lost power, DH couldn’t get back up the hill to our house because of downed trees and, well, it was just a mess. I ended up down on the floor with towels trying to clean the insulation while DH found another way home. And we didn’t get power back until 5:15 this morning, which was 14 hours later. It was a long, hot night, and it is storming again right now. I have had enough of this for the summer for sure.
To say I wasn’t feeling like working out this morning would be a wicked understatement. But I did 2.0 Biceps with Bonus, and once I got into it, it felt good. I followed it with a fun 30 minute spin and the core work from High Reps. Yesterday was 2.0 Shoulders and Intensity. Saturday was a walk with Jessica Smith and 45 minutes of yoga.
Thelma, great workouts. Like you, I really enjoyed starting the week with shoulders. One thing I noticed today on the bicep work is my forearms weren’t as tired as they were the day after doing the back work, and that really made the bicep work feel more comfortable. I was thinking this morning I want to do the body part workouts for four weeks too. I think having the order right because of how we are doing them is important, and last week was okay but not great for that. If this week is better, I want to see how much improvement I can have over three weeks. I’m loving these workouts right now. They feel tough but so manageable. I hope you aren’t getting hit too badly by storms. I am just amazed at how violent the weather has been all year. And they come on so fast. Just not good and, frankly, getting a little scary.
See you tomorrow.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, we survived the storm system that hit us this afternoon. It wasn't bad at all for us. It only got scary for about 1/2 hour. I had made sure that we'd be able to keep the chickens in the garage this time because I wasn't about to agonize over them through another storm. We went outside to take them to the garage at about 2:35 and the storm started as we were in the process of carrying the girls to the garage. We had made sure everything outside that could get airborne was secured.
Two dogs and 1 cat are afraid of thunder so we had to make sure they were OK. This time around I made sure to install the local weather apps to make sure I got all the storm alerts, and I did. I rather get 5000 alerts than nothing at all. We have more chances of severe thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday.
My workouts on Monday were Walking, and Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Biceps + Bonus. I had another amazing workout. This is how a bicep workout should feel. I think I get a better workout with the body parts than the split sets or total body. I really don't like the fact that Cathe leaves the bicep work till the end of the other workouts. I've been feeling like I wasn't hitting the biceps well at all and now I know I was right.
I was able to go up in weight for the majority of the exercises, which was amazing. I also did the incline work on my workout bench, and it made a HUGE difference. From now on I'll use my bench whenever possible. Using the ball for incline work is not challenging enough. The same weight I used last week on the ball for incline curls, felt like 30 lbs on the inclined bench.
I almost feel that this week should be week 1 of the body part rotation. I was really happy with my workout today.
Laurel, I can't believe you had such crazy weather! I'm glad your power was restored. How scary that your DH wasn't home when the storm him and couldn't get home because of a fallen tree. I'm so glad he made it back home safely. I think you're going to love streaming TV. We did that at the end of last year and have never looked back. It's a lot cheaper too.
I can just imagine how tired you must've been in the morning. I'm glad the workout made you feel better. Great job with your workouts!
I had the same feeling about my forearms with the bicep work. We've definitely learned the importance of ordering the body parts workouts correctly.
See you tomorrow!
Thelma0 -
Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was 2.0 Body Part Chest with Bonus and Cathe Live Hearts on Fire. The chest work felt fantastic today. I love this workout and the different way she used standard exercises with minor modifications to change things up and challenge the chest muscles differently. Definitely my favorite of these body part workouts with biceps coming in a close second. So good.
Thelma, I am glad you survived the storm. And I am glad all of your animals survived as well. Ours wasn’t too bad yesterday, just lots of thunder and lightening and rain, but the wind never got as bad as they were predicting. Like you, we could get more storms tomorrow. Great workouts! I have been increasing my weight where I can by just one pound this week, and so far that seems to be working. Next week I may try to jump an increment of 3-5lbs on some moves for at least a set and see how it goes. I am not lying when I say I was thinking today about doing this method of training forever. I know that isn’t quite right, so I won’t. But I am definitely here for four weeks, and this can be week one of those four if you like. I am not at all anxious to move on at the moment.
See you tomorrow.
Laurel
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Hi Ladies, my workouts on Tuesday were Walking, Yin Yoga and Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Chest. I didn't do the bonus exercises for this workout. I was able to up my flat bench press weight to 51 lbs. I was pretty happy about that. I was able to go up by about 1 - 1.5 lbs in others, but I also went down 1 lb in two others that I'd marked heavy last week and that was definitely the right choice. I was able to increase my resistance band weight for the two banded exercises, which felt great. I felt like I'd gotten a great workout, but I also could tell my arms were tired. I'm glad we're doing legs on Wednesday!
The rain we were expecting didn't happen. We got a few raindrops and that was it. We're expecting to get severe thunderstorms on Wednesday late in the day into Thursday.
Laurel, great workouts! Cathe really did a great job with the chest workout.
I hope tomorrow's storms won't be bad. We've had enough of those violent storms!
I was thinking that we should do a body part rotation using the other programs' single body part premixes. You and I definitely love the single body part rotations. We always extend that part of any rotation. This is my favorite phase, and my least favorite rotation is the total body one.
I am glad you're on board with counting this week as week 1 of the body part portion of this rotation.
See you tomorrow!
Thelma0 -
Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was 2.0 Body Part Legs with Bonus, 2.0 Standing Abs Metabolic, and a wonderfully recharging 45 minute low impact spin. I felt super strong today and went up 10# in three different exercises. I also managed to get a 65# barbell on to my hips for glute bridges! I am still not sure I feel good about using that weight for hip thrusts, but it felt good with my back on the floor. So I continue to progress with that exercise.
Thelma, great workouts! And yay for the heavy weights. We could easily do a 9-12 week rotation of one body part workouts. Just off the top of my head, I would probably opt for doing the ICE Muscle Meltdowns (for endurance), the premixes from Ramped Up Upper Body for endurance/strength, and these 2.0 workouts for hypertrophy/strength. But, honestly, we would have a ton of options, and could do them in any order we want. If you are serious about this, I would be. I think this could be a cool winter holiday rotation (November-January timeframe), and then maybe I would be in the mood for another 2.0 rotation or trying a 2.0 rotation with another program. Thanks for the suggestion! Let me know what you think. I listed my favorites above. What are yours?
Our storms here yesterday weren’t too bad….just some rain. But they are shutting everything early today in anticipation of some pretty heavy storms. I really hope they are wrong with the forecast. I am so not ready for another scary evening. I keep thinking I need a vacation from the weather! I hope you and your animals stay safe.
See you tomorrow.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, my workouts on Wednesday were Gentle Flow Yoga, Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Legs and Walking. No bonus exercises. I was already tired, but I did have an awesome workout. I went up with my weights pretty much used 25 lb dumbbells on the majority of the exercises where Cathe uses 25lb too.
The elevated lunges kill me! I can never position myself correctly. I was super wobbly today. I finally stopped the video and did them on my own, taking as long as it took. This is one exercise I'm keeping the weight low because I need to get it right before I go heavier. I was watching a funny fitness coach I like, and he was doing the Bulgarian squats holding a 300lb barbell over his shoulders! He said: "Don't try to make Bulgarian squats suck any less than they do because they won't! Just get used to them!" He made me feel better because I felt like I was the only one who hated them so much. LOL
I am also trying to get the hip thrusts right, so today I lowered my 55lb barbell down to 48lbs and tried the step again. I'm trying to see if I like the ball or the step better, but most importantly which support method makes me hit the glutes better. I was thinking of also trying the bridge thrusts with my feet elevated at the edge of a 3-4 riser step. I saw a woman doing that and I want to give it a shot because it looked very effective and safer.
We got a rain and wind in the early evening that gave us 1/4" of rain. I didn't hear any thunder and thankfully the wind wasn't too strong. There may be more rain on Thursday.
Since I've been eating more protein, I'm staying full for a very long time, and it turns out I'm not eating enough. This is a new problem for me!
I started doing the Micro Diet, which focuses on food nutritional value, instead of calories. The app I'm using is called Macrofactor. The app learns from a user's food entries as time goes by and adjusts nutrient allocations and calories. The good thing is that it shows you each food's macro nutrient value (protein, fat, carbs) and at the top of meal entry it gives you the macro expenditure of the food choices made. It gives you bar charts that shows your macro expenditure throughout the day too. I just started doing this on Tuesday, and so far, I'm making better food choices. The extra protein is really making eating less a heck of a lot easy. I am just not hungry and most importantly, I'm not craving sweets. I actually bought almond butter so I could increase my number of calories consumed. I put it on a toasted piece of crusty bread and topped it with fresh blueberries. It was yummy! LOL. We normally eat pretty healthy, but I can go out of control with sweets from time-to-time.
Laurel, fantastic progress with the leg work! That's totally awesome! Great job! What did you use for padding on the barbell?
I am so glad you liked the idea of a body part rotation! I love the programs you suggested! Thanks for not saying STS 1.0! LOL. I love the idea of making it a winter rotation. I think it will be a lot of fun. I'm in too!
I'm so glad your storms weren't too bad. I hope the ones tonight weren't bad either. I hope the forecasters were wrong too! I am not ready for another scary evening either. It's weird but storms like these ones are happening in a lot of places. My aunt sent me pictures of down trees in her condo complex in Milan! They're also having torrential hailstorms which caused a lot of damage to cars and roofs. There was a video of a flooded street, that looked like a river full of hail. I heard that there were other hailstorms in Germany too. Crazy!
See you tomorrow!
Thelma
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Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was 2.0 Body Part Triceps and Bonus followed by Cathe Live Hard Strikes Low Impact Boxing. The triceps workout felt much better today than it did last week right after the chest workout. I was able to go up in weight throughout and enjoyed it.
Thelma, great workouts. I hear you in the elevated lunges. They are definitely not my favorite. I do them on a lower height (8”), and for the first set (where you stand upright), I use two 15# dumbbells, one in each hand. I feel so much more balanced this way and the exercise is way more effective than when I am struggling with a higher step (my hips hate a higher step) or one heavy dumbbell at my chest. I do the second set with one heavy dumbbell as Cathe does because it is down lower. But this is how I make them tolerable because I really don’t like them.
For the glute bridge yesterday, I used a towel across my hips as my ‘pad’. It seemed to work just fine. I still don’t see how I will ever be comfortable with that much weight hoisted up on my hips on a bench or ball, but, as I said yesterday, I am making incremental improvements so maybe I will surprise myself.
Interesting information on the Micro Diet. I have gotten into such a rut with my cooking right now. I eat pretty healthy, but I have zero (less than zero actually) interest in cooking. So my meals are very simple. I am hoping I snap out of this malaise come winter.
I hope your storms weren’t too bad last night. We got some heavy rain yesterday afternoon, but the worst storm hit us at 3am (again) with thunder, lightening, wind and rain. And it lasted for a long time. The lightening was insane. DH slept through it (lucky him), but it was another long sleepless night for me. But we are supposed to have a clear weekend, and I am looking forward to it. I just surveyed our yard, and we only had a few tree limbs down, so we got lucky again. But we have a company coming next week to give us a quote for removing the four trees closest to the house. I hate doing it, but these storms are really beginning to concern me, especially having our house already this year by a snapped tree. I have heard about some of the horrible storms in Europe. I hope your aunt is doing okay.
Sounds like we’re on for a one body part rotation!!! I really love the sound of this. I will come up with some ideas for the lower body workouts that we should do doing the Muscle Meltdown and Ramped Up Upper Body weeks, and then we can come up with a plan for how we want to sequence the workouts. In other words, do we want to do 3-4 weeks of one set of workouts before moving on or do we want to alternate weeks? I would love to hear your thoughts.
See you tomorrow.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, my workouts on Thursday were Walking and Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Triceps and bonus. I had a really good triceps workout! I had a horrible night for the second night in a row, so I was feeling very tired. I was able to go up on the lying overhead extension which was great. I'm up to 32 lbs. I was not able to go up on seated overhead extension, but the weight I'm using is still challenging that I had to assist myself on the last two reps.
I also increased the weight on barbell for dips.
I was able to go up on all the banded exercises, which felt great.
We had a bad thunderstorm that started at about 4am on Thursday. I was worried about my chickens, so I didn't fall asleep until almost 6am. We did have a beautiful day.
I have the CT scan on Friday at 1pm. Hopefully they'll get to me on time because I have to fast for four hours before the test.
Laurel, great workouts! I agree with you about the triceps workout feeling much better than last week.
I think I will lower my step for the elevated lunges too. I hadn't heard Cathe say that we could use a set of dumbbells for the first set until yesterday! How did I not hear that before? I guess I was too busy focusing on getting the move right! I will use two dumbbells next week too.
I'm glad the towel workout nicely as a pad for the barbell! I think eventually you will be able to hoist that heavy barbell on your hips.
I think the thing about this micro diet app that I like and found helpful are the visuals. Since I already eat healthy, I've not had to come up with foods that are healthy. I am still surprised at the fact that I wasn't eating enough calories. I can only cook with recipes and usually choose the easy ones. I know the sort of foods we like and that makes it easy to select recipes. I have a collection of them that I rotate through, but I'm also looking for new stuff.
The skinnytaste.com website has been my main source of recipes for a very long time. I hope you'll be able to get your cooking inspiration back soon. I don't cook every day. We don't mind leftovers, so I only cook a couple of times a week, but make sure the food will last for two meals.
Our storms were bad, it rained pretty heavily and there were strong winds, thunder and lightning too. I don't blame you for wanting to cut the trees close to your house. Sometimes those things are necessary. My aunt is doing OK thank you. She's just having to deal with the damage to her roof.
Thanks for thinking of the leg workouts! I hadn't even thought about that! I wonder if we should do 2 weeks of one set of workouts during the first half of the rotation and then alternating weeks to give our bodies a bit of a shock. Or maybe do the reverse first?
Have a wonderful weekend!
Thelma
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Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was 2.0 Body Part Back and Bonus followed by a challenging 45 minute HiiT and Hills spin. I went as heavy as I could on the back work, and am still not quite happy with this workout. I think my biggest issue with it is that, unlike every other workout in this section, she starts the workout out light then gets heavier. I am actually thinking that next week I might do a weighted exercise in the first section instead of the banded pulls. I may opt for a set of the gorilla rows (like those included in the bonus section) or horizontal rows. But I just need a little something different from this workout right now.
Thelma, great workouts. I am sorry you got hit by the same storm we did. DH told me last night that they had a ton of damage by where he works, and even the building he works in lost its sign. We also took a walk around the neighborhood last night, and there were some trees down. I am not liking this pattern at all. I have never seen as many snapped or uprooted trees like this in my life that didn’t involve a typhoon or hurricane. And even with those events, they were one-offs and didn’t happen a couple of times a week for several months. Just crazy.
I am glad your aunt is doing okay. It is hard to believe it has been three years since your uncle passed away. I hope she is finding joy in her life.
I love the idea of starting out our next rotation with doing two weeks of each set of workouts and then backing off to changing weekly. We can do that for a total of 9-12 weeks (6 weeks to cover the three different programs then 3 or 6 weeks to do the alternating weeks) which would be fun. I had forgotten about legs too until I was roaming around the house during the storm on Wednesday night. Oops. I am leaning towards doing LITE Stacked Sets Lower Body during the Muscle Meltdown weeks. I think that would be a good complement, and it is such a great, compact workout. I haven’t quite decided in the Ramped Up Upper Body lower body workout, but I want something heavier but not as heavy as 2.0. I am actually eyeing up Perfect 30 Lower Body as a possibility. It is a little shorter and heavier than I would prefer, but I think those things would counteract each other and make it a decent fit. Let me know what you think.
I hope your CT scan goes well and you get some answers soon.
Enjoy the weekend.
Laurel0 -
Hi Ladies, I hope you had a great weekend! Ours was very busy. Our Samsung refrigerator's cooling system froze again, so Saturday was spent thawing that thing out with the blow dryer and I took the opportunity to deep clean the fridge. In the middle of all that, dinner had to be prepared, laundry washed, dogs walked, and chickens taken care of.
On Sunday I decided to channel my inner Betty Crocker. I had to search quite deeply for her, and I found her! LOL. I made a protein banana bread and protein cookies. Surprisingly both recipes turned out to be good. They are low cal, low fat and high in protein. I also made dinner. I didn't start my workout until 5:30PM and had dinner at about 6:30. I was happy with everything I made. Even DH liked the banana bread. I am not a baker, and these recipes were easy enough for me to follow.
My workouts were as follows:
Sunday - Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Shoulders and Walking.
Saturday - Walking x2.
Friday - Gentle Yoga, Cathe STS 2.0 Body Parts Back and Walking.
I was able to go up in a few of the exercises. I am not sure I can go up any further though.
We had a scary thunderstorm system hit us on Saturday afternoon. Thankfully it was scart for a short time. We had another thunderstorm on Sunday night. It wasn't bad either.
Laurel, great workouts! I think it's a good idea to change the weighted back exercises. I am going to do weighted this week.
It really is concerning that we're having all these dangerous storms. Trees here definitely have shallow root systems.
It is hard to believe that it's been 3 years since my uncle passed away. This is not something my aunt has recovered from. Sadly, she never will.
I am really excited about our next rotation. I love the leg workouts you're thinking of!
I had the CT scan on Friday and to my surprise, I had to drink something that tasted like a very creamy milkshake. My doctor should have the results on Monday.
Have a great week!
Thelma0
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