Cathe STS Newbie

christadiehl

Hey all! I am finishing up my 1RM test (doing them all over a 2 week span) and will be starting STS on Feb. 18th officially. I am brand spankin' new to any Cathe workouts, and have purchased the download version of the program to use at the gym. Any and all advice would be SO helpful!! I have done Les Mills BodyPump and Chalean Extreme in the past (it's been awhile for either program, though) and over the past 6 months have played around with the weights/machines at the gym plus some cardio (I'm okay to give that up!!).

Planning on doing the 3 1/2 Rotation with HITT on the 3 off days to start with, and go from there:
**Current: 5'4"--164.5 lbs.--32% BF (roughly)--Size 12/14 Pants--M/L top
**STS Round 1: 5'4" (I suppose lol)--140 lbs.(not main focus)--25% BF (main goal, not sure how attainable)--6/8 pants--m/l top (change the way the fit would be a goal)
**Ultimate Goal: 5'4" (yep, still)--130 lbs.(again, not main focus)--18-20% BF--4/6 pants--s/m top (except of course if this means my gun show will rip sleeves...then I suppose I'll stick with the large...:)

I'll start with eating around 1800 cals a day (about 20% cut) and adjust up from there. 1800 is plenty for what I do now, which is mostly random HITT sessions and playing around with machines. However, once I start lifting more, I'm sure I'll need to adjust.

Anyhow, that's the info I have at this point. If you'd like more details, feel free to ask. Any and all tips/advice would be so appreciated. I love hearing other's experiences with this program, I haven't heard one negative review yet! I've been scouring MFP and also the Cathe forums for any info previous STSers have to share. Gets me excited to begin (and a little bit scared!)

Thanks for reading through all that! Excited to start this adventure!!

christadiehl

Please?

heybales

From what I understand, Cathe is really good weight lifting program.

Since that is weight lifting, your attempting to do basically more weight lifting on the inbetween days will be counterproductive to getting full benefit, or much of any, from either workout.

Talking about the HIIT.

If true HIIT, not just intervals for improving your VO2max or such, then it is in essence a lifting exercise that is sport specific.
You go all out anaerobic for brief spurts, followed by a slight recovery, and do some more. Your benefit is strength building, and post workout fat burning.

Exactly like weight lifting - because it is.

Which means, have you read anything that says lifting with the same muscles 2 days in a row, never mind 3 or 4 or 5, is a good idea?
Why?
Your muscles are tired and you can't lift like you should be able to, and you kill the repair process.

HIIT was the fad response for people that only wanted to do cardio and no lifting, so they could get some benefits of lifting in.

But you are lifting already - so get the most out of it. Skip the HIIT.

In fact, cardio the day after lifting should add NO load to the muscle, only aid in repair and recovery. So should be no higher than the Active Recovery HR zone, badly named fat-burning zone.
Cardio the day before lifting should NOT tire out your muscle for the next day's effort. So should be no higher than Aerobic HR zone, and if that is wearing you out, go lower still.

So just tread HIIT as the lifting it is, and if those muscles aren't going to be worked out and weren't just worked out - go right ahead and enjoy it.

christadiehl

Thank you for that response! I had just heard that HIIT was the best alternative to steady state cardio, and was merely assuming it was the best cardio option for optimal results on the days I'm not lifting. What you're saying makes complete sense, though, especially before/after leg days specifically.

What would you recommend for cardio on non-lift days, then, if not HIIT? I am possibly reading too deep in, but wouldn't steady state at "fat burning zone" for any length of time still tire out muscles that have been or will be worked out? Just curious, as none of this has occurred to me before, to be completely honest. I knew not to lift the same muscle groups on consecutive days, but the idea of HIIT/cardio in the same regard never popped into my brain.

Thanks again for the response, and for any additional advice you might have! I really appreciate it!

heybales

Thank you for that response! I had just heard that HIIT was the best alternative to steady state cardio, and was merely assuming it was the best cardio option for optimal results on the days I'm not lifting. What you're saying makes complete sense, though, especially before/after leg days specifically.

What would you recommend for cardio on non-lift days, then, if not HIIT? I am possibly reading too deep in, but wouldn't steady state at "fat burning zone" for any length of time still tire out muscles that have been or will be worked out? Just curious, as none of this has occurred to me before, to be completely honest. I knew not to lift the same muscle groups on consecutive days, but the idea of HIIT/cardio in the same regard never popped into my brain.

Thanks again for the response, and for any additional advice you might have! I really appreciate it!

No longer than 60 min. Jogging, elliptical, Spin bike on your own (class is likely to get you too pumped up), ect. Throw in 10 min walk warmup and cooldown, and only 40 running isn't bad at all. If you want to go that long and that fast.

The fact is tired repairing muscle from lifting will cause that HR to be higher for a given pace compared to when rested.
So you slow down to keep the HR lower, meaning you are going even slower. So even less load on the muscles.

Many have trouble running that slow, and just say forget it and walk or hike in woods. It can be difficult to go that slow if used to going faster.

It's interesting to compare. Figure your Recovery zone.
Do treadmill nailing the upper end of that zone and not going over.

Some other day when rested do the same just to compare. You'll be decently faster usually to keep the HR up.

Here's your zones. And actually, using this method gives slightly higher zones. The method based on % of HRmax makes it even lower, even slower.

http://www.calculatenow.biz/sport/heart.php?

Again, don't have to go that long or fast, that's just about max though if just desired to get some in.

KarenJanine

Hi. I don't have much in the way of advice to offer but I'm an STS first timer too, about to start M2W2. I'm pyramiding, I.e. working 1,2,3,2,1 so it's a 5 month rotation. Loving it so far. Feel free to add so we can follow each others' progress.

KarenJanine

Re non-lifting days, I just bicycle and do some yoga and walking so no particularly strenuous additional workouts, especially as I'm bulking now I'm in Meso 2 so I am trying to keep my TDEE down a bit or I'll be eating myself out of house and home!

christadiehl

Heybales, thank you for all the information, you have no idea how helpful it's been! It's all making sense to me now, and honestly after just completing the 1RM testing, and seeing how sore that alone made me, I was nervous how I'd get through intense HIIT workouts on off days without burning out each week.

I appreciate all of the information, and how much time you took to provide it all for me. Thank you!!

christadiehl

KarenJanine, How have you been doing with the workouts??? I'm so excited to get going, but more nervous than I care to admit Were you a heavy lifter before starting STS? I'm sore from the 1RM tests, but glad I'm taking the time to complete before starting the program, it will help me save so much time once I get going.

I'll be adding you asap, and feel free to use me as a support if you should need it! I've heard Meso2 legs is a beast! I'm with you on keeping TDEE down, I already have a tough time fitting the 1800 into a manageable budget without even adding in my husband's food too...we shall see how creative I can get in the following months! Are you planning on bulking all 5 months or will you do a cut through any of them?

I am aiming more for muscle gain/fat loss, so should I stick to a 15-20% cut or should I bump up to TDEE?? Based on your own experience is fine, I haven't read of many who did/are doing this program not on a bulk, so trying to gather ideas before diving in. Trial and error will be used, too until I get a handle on it all. In my experience, the figuring out a steady amount to eat has always been my problem.

Thank you for chiming in, so excited to meet someone else who's going through the program!!

KarenJanine

I think it's definitely trial and error regarding your eating. I was cutting during M1 which was doable but the M2 workouts have definitely been intense so far (it's true about the DOMs for the leg workout, I did it last Monday, and they've only just gone. I'm hoping it won't be so bad next week though) so you may well wish to bump up to TDEE, even just on lifting days to help fuel the workouts.

I got DOMs from the 1RMs too and then not so bad after the Meso 1 workouts themselves. There are a lot of push-ups which at the start I had to do a lot of on my knees but I definitely saw improvement and could do most on my toes by the end of the month.

My intention is to bulk through 2,3,2 then cut again when I'm back on M1 and then into the summer months, that will all depend how much I can handle the weight gain though and how quickly the pounds go on. I'm only at a small surplus though so hopefully it won't be too fast!

Look forward to following your progress