Kellyro77
Cathlete
I'm pleasantly surprised with this workout. Was worried it would turn into another "dread factor" workout, but it wasn't too bad. I matched Cathe's weight selection on most exercises except some of the triceps and biceps - tris were kind of oddly sore after doing ICE's kickboxing workout yesterday for the first time (guess some of those punching combos were new enough to shock my tris!) and I still take major precautions with bicep exercises since my tennis elbow is still healing... close, but not quite to 100% yet.
I liked the alternation between several lower body then several upper body exercises. Lower body did feel a tad repetitive with traditional squats, deadlifts, and plie squats showing up twice (set #1 and set #5) with the same rep patterns.
I appreciated the little "breaks" she threw in with a few non-weighted exercises like pushups, warrior lunges and sweeper lunges.
I wasn't fond of the heavy 1-arm rows resting your hand on the ball. I didn't feel very stable (and I get that's the point of using a stability ball). I will either lower my weight significantly if I choose to stick with the stability ball as a prop, or, if I want to stay heavy, I'll go with a traditional split stance resting my non-working arm on my thigh.
While I'm glad she includes stretches at the end of the workouts in this set, I don't care for stretches on the stability ball. My core is still working sitting on it, and I'd rather take out the need for my stabilizers working while I'm stretching so I can relax completely.
Definitely enjoyed it. I'm not going to need to psych myself up when this shows up in my rotation again.
Not my fave total body workout of Cathe's though. I still love Tri Sets or Giant Sets from STS 2 (especially the unilateral approach in STS 2 Giant Sets). I just really appreciate the slower pace and since the emphasis with those workouts is on selecting really heavy weights, I still get the cardio factor out of the workouts, too.
I liked the alternation between several lower body then several upper body exercises. Lower body did feel a tad repetitive with traditional squats, deadlifts, and plie squats showing up twice (set #1 and set #5) with the same rep patterns.
I appreciated the little "breaks" she threw in with a few non-weighted exercises like pushups, warrior lunges and sweeper lunges.
I wasn't fond of the heavy 1-arm rows resting your hand on the ball. I didn't feel very stable (and I get that's the point of using a stability ball). I will either lower my weight significantly if I choose to stick with the stability ball as a prop, or, if I want to stay heavy, I'll go with a traditional split stance resting my non-working arm on my thigh.
While I'm glad she includes stretches at the end of the workouts in this set, I don't care for stretches on the stability ball. My core is still working sitting on it, and I'd rather take out the need for my stabilizers working while I'm stretching so I can relax completely.
Definitely enjoyed it. I'm not going to need to psych myself up when this shows up in my rotation again.
Not my fave total body workout of Cathe's though. I still love Tri Sets or Giant Sets from STS 2 (especially the unilateral approach in STS 2 Giant Sets). I just really appreciate the slower pace and since the emphasis with those workouts is on selecting really heavy weights, I still get the cardio factor out of the workouts, too.
