Stability ball

[TessGeo13]

Hello all Catheletes! I am new to Cathe’s workouts. Just a couple of quick questions.

I am not new to working out but definitely not strong and am only used to low impacts.
I am in my early 50s. What workout are the best to start with considering my goals becoming fitter and stronger. ( losing weight is NOT my goal)

I see Cathe using a stability ball in many workouts. What are the benefits of using a stability ball?
Thank you!

Happy holidays!

 

[Kellyro77]

Welcome and glad you found Cathe's workouts!

You'll probably get a bunch of different suggestions. For me, personally, I think her LITE series is a good one to start off with - her main workouts in that series are low impact, but she has bonus workouts that you can optionally add on that are higher-impact when and if you ever feel ready.

They're a great introduction to weights, as well. You might want to start off with a set of 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12-pound dumbbells. Eventually as you progress you'll find yourself wanting to try heavier and heavier weights.

Since you don't want to lose weight, I'd suggest keeping an eye on your weight when you start adding in strength training. You may actually gain some muscle weight (that's good!) which might set your scale off a bit, but if you find your weight's starting to go down, then you'll likely need to start eating more. Any time you build muscle, you start to increase your metabolism, which means you'll burn more calories even while at rest.

Stability balls are really good for core strengthening. Even if you're just sitting on one and not doing core-specific workouts, your core muscles are firing to keep you upright on the unstable surface. They're a great addition to your home gym, and Cathe uses them pretty frequently in a lot of her workouts - again, not just for core-specific exercises, but as additional challenge to hit your core while doing other exercises, like upper body weight work.

Hope this helps. Let us know what you decide to try!

 

[TessGeo13]

Hello @Debinmi , what a thoughtful response! Thank you! You ladies seem like a wonderful and kind bunch of people!
With regards to equipment, I have a variety of dumbells ( with plates), elastic bands, stability ball, and a Reebok step.
As I live in the UK, I have not got some of the largest pieces of equipment Cathe uses, such as fit tower and the bench with the risers.
Additionally, for Christmas I got myself a barbell with similar weights to Cathe’s.

I am tempted to buy her brand of gloves as I can’t find a high quality ones.

As for Cathe’s style, I am struggling with highly paced workouts but enjoy the once focused on building strength and endurance.

Now in perimenopause, my understanding is that we have to focus of strength and maintaining muscle mass.

There are many trainers but I found Cathe through a highly comprehensive and complementary blog and decided to try. As an on demand subscriber, I am finding it a great way to sample many of her workouts.

Have a lovely day!

 

[TessGeo13]

Thank you! That makes total sense. Is the first STS worth exploring or is it for younger peeps?

 

[Gobias]

Thank you! That makes total sense. Is the first STS worth exploring or is it for younger peeps?

My only regret about doing STS is that I didn't do it sooner! I had it for about a year before I actually started the program (this was maybe 10 years ago). I let it sit on the shelf since I wanted to do the 1RM that Debinmi typed about above. I would slowly complete the 1RM over several days....well, a year... and not do the actual program. I finally just DID the STS program even though I did not complete the 1RM calculations.

Despite not completing the 1RM, the series is great. And after doing the series, I see the value in the 1RM - unless it prevents you from starting the program like it did me. I now do STS 1.0 at least twice per year for the last decade. Now that STS 2.0 is out, I will probably do both at least twice per year I love them so much (maybe even more).

I keep track of all weights used and just over the last month I came across my very first STS sheets and I see how I have improved strength tremendously. On average I would say I increased my weight selection by 30-50%! STS 1&2 are easily my favorite series because I get the strongest results.

 

[TessGeo13]

Thank you! I agree that 1RM is daunting. Your wise words are very encouraging though!