STS 2.0 Lower Body workouts - plyo-free!

Kellyro77

Cathlete
I've finished another 12-week rotation - this time one that merged XTrain and STS 2.0 and I'm on my rest/recovery week.

Since I've become an OnDemand subscriber, I've been perusing all of Cathe's other workouts to see what I want to do next. I've already determined I'm going to give the intermediate ICE 4-week rotation a go this month (inserting some extra rest/recovery days since I learned I need those after my first STS 2.0 rotation.). After that, I'm going to do the 12-week STS 2.0 rotation again. And then... maybe a P30 rotation...

Anyway, while I was looking at all of Cathe's other workouts, I was also considering the original STS rotation, and was seeing that she was providing alternative lower body workouts for those who don't have squat racks. Those alternative lower body workouts are heavy on the plyometrics, as, from what I understand, she says they have to fill in as explosive strength since, without a squat rack, we're limited by how much weight we can otherwise hold and/or lift overhead to do the exercises and challenge our lower bodies effectively.

She took this same approach with lower body work in XTrain - via Cardio Leg Blast (explosive) or Legs which was just really endurance-based.

I just realized she didn't force in ANY plyo work in STS 2.0. What we could hold turned out to be enough! And as someone who really does NOT like HiiT type workouts (especially high-impact), I am so grateful. Yes, I have to "cheat" it sometimes with wrist hooks because my grip strength starts giving out, but she managed to create several solid lower body workouts that used heavy weights that we didn't have to lift overhead.

Yet another reason why I realized I enjoy STS 2.0 so much, and finally came to see why I didn't dread the lower body workouts in this series.
 
I like the idea of wrist hooks.
TessGeo13 ... they really help with heavy weight on lower body and pulling exercises (not pushing). Some of us purchased them last summer when STS2.0 came out as the dumbells Cathe & crew use are pretty heavy. My hands would ache during STS2.0 's SuperSets TB ... the hooks help alleviate that. I don't use them for dumbells under 25 # as I'm used to those weights. But I certainly use them on 25# and above or when heavy weights are held for a long time as in Supersets. They'll also work on a barbell for deadlifts and deadrows.
 
The hooks were such a game-changer for me when I started using them for lower body. Like others said, after a while in doing the really heavy lower body work in STS 2.0, my grip strength starts going out. My lower body can certainly handle the heavier weights, but I can't go as heavy as I'd like if my grip starts to fail on me.

I still try to go as long as I can with the heavy weights without the hooks since I know it'll start to improve my grip strength, too. But once my hands and forearms just can't handle any more, I throw on the hooks to finish out.

Here are the hooks a lot of us opted to purchase:

DMoose Lifting Hooks
 
You’re going to love ICE rotation 4. It’s a great challenge for sure
I

Since I've become an OnDemand subscriber, I've been perusing all of Cathe's other workouts to see what I want to do next. I've already determined I'm going to give the intermediate ICE 4-week rotation a go this month (inserting some extra rest/recovery days since I learned I need those after my first STS 2.0 rotation.).
 
The hooks were such a game-changer for me when I started using them for lower body. Like others said, after a while in doing the really heavy lower body work in STS 2.0, my grip strength starts going out. My lower body can certainly handle the heavier weights, but I can't go as heavy as I'd like if my grip starts to fail on me.

I still try to go as long as I can with the heavy weights without the hooks since I know it'll start to improve my grip strength, too. But once my hands and forearms just can't handle any more, I throw on the hooks to finish out.

Here are the hooks a lot of us opted to purchase:

DMoose Lifting Hooks
Thank you for the recommendation! I am not there yet with heavy lifting ( still afraid not to mess with my shoulder) but purchased the hooks!

What gloves do you all use?
Shall I buy Cathe’s? Thank you
 
I have a pair of Cathe’s older gloves and a couple others that I got at Walmart over the
years. Oh, and a pair of Leslie’s white “walking” gloves which I use with weights some.
and I have a pair of the older STS micro-load gloves and a pair of the orange new ones.
Between those 2, I prefer the older micro-load gloves. More comfortable….
 

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