New to STS

Debinmi said:
I thought so too, then thought maybe some people may be limited by the size of their weights & didn't want to purchase additional. Then I thought well Meso 1 endurance work is tough. Perhaps people bought them in phases in sequence and after all those reps (think push-ups) they just didn't bother with the other Phases. Another possible explanation is the 1RM thing can be intimidating. I purchased during the presale, & I found the 1RM a bit off-putting/time consuming and shelved the series until I had more time.
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OMG - I was going over the workout cards and saw all the push-ups. Holy hell.

Oh - and chin-ups and pull-ups. I don't have an STS bar - does she show modifications to do those - like doing barbell rows or something instead?
 
Kellyro77 said:
OMG - I was going over the workout cards and saw all the push-ups. Holy hell.

Oh - and chin-ups and pull-ups. I don't have an STS bar - does she show modifications to do those - like doing barbell rows or something instead?
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I have always referred to these pushups as - the pushups from hell!:p Made the mistake of counting all of them once. Don't recommend. :eek:
 
aqua girl said:
LOL! I was just working on schedule & looking at STS 1, and saw those Drop Set
pushups! 14, then 12, then 10, then 8, & finally 6! 50 Push-ups! Thank goodness I do
pushups on my knees, but still, that’s rough! Have fun! :)
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It's not just the drop sets, it's the fact that there are so many types of pushups!
 
I was reassuring myself today, thinking about all the push-ups, that I can do them just one day a week for four weeks. It's not forever... but I'm sure it's gonna feel like forever when I'm in the middle of them.

Thanks for the heads up on the band alternatives for the chin/pull-ups!
 
Peaceful Rainbow said:
It's not just the drop sets, it's the fact that there are so many types of pushups!
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Kind of reminds me of all the different kind of shrimp in the movie Forrest Gump…
”there’s standard push-ups, wide push-ups, narrow push-ups, staggered push-ups,
around the clock pushups, Bootcamp style push-ups, drop set push-ups, 21’s push-ups.
prone push-ups, decline push-ups, straddle push-ups, core push-ups, close grip push-ups, seesaw push-ups, crossover push-ups, pyramid up push-ups……..:):)
 
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I'm getting kinda nervous with these 1RM tests... lol. I'm finding I'm stronger than I think, which means that it appears for a lot of my workouts in the past, I've typically been working in my 60-70% range - and I thought THAT was challenging.

From doing these tests alone, I can already see how this system has made such a huge difference for people over the years, because I know it's going to push me into far heavier weights down the line.
 
Kellyro77 said:
From doing these tests alone, I can already see how this system has made such a huge difference for people over the years, because I know it's going to push me into far heavier weights down the line.
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Yup. It's an education in selecting appropriate weights for sure! If you find yourself struggling with the weights in Meso1, just repeat the week before moving on as you may be lifting more weight for those rep counts than you ever did before. It's tough.
 
I'm seeing partially why I've held off on the original STS for so long - it's all the preparation work necessary for this series. The 1RM tests are fundamental, but holy crap, it's a slog.

I'm making it a point to only do one body part max per day of 1RM testing with good rest before I move on to the next body part, as I'm sure that 1RM test is ideally done when you're fresh and not fatigued from previous exercises.

So, for instance, today I'm going to do all upper body 1RM testing, which means I'll do back, chest, biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Just one exercise for each (ie: I'm not going to do bench press and then later chest flys).

I've so far knocked out 28 exercises, but good grief I still have a long way to go.

I was initially prioritizing exercises showing up in Meso 1 since I'll be experiencing those first. Still have quite a few left to do, but I'm now shifting over to prioritizing the 4- and 5-star exercises.

I'm also not sure how much more time I should bother with the lower body exercises since I don't have a squat rack and therefore will be doing plyo legs when that comes up. (I've completed the 1RM for the primary LB exercises: squats, lunges, deadlifts, and calves, at least.)

Just glad I've got this LMRE rotation that I wanted to complete first before jumping in to STS. Nice thing is the LMRE workouts are mostly light to moderate weights so I'm not totally burning myself out with heavy weight work following the 1RM tests. (And I do the 1RM tests after doing the warmup from any given LMRE workout before I jump in and do the whole workout, if that makes any sense.)

How long did it take you STS veterans to complete all your 1RM tests?

Also, after you completed STS in whole, did you re-do your 1RM tests to gauge improvements? And if you do STS regularly, do you do all the 1RM tests again before you start STS again?
 
Kellyro77 said:
How long did it take you STS veterans to complete all your 1RM tests?

Also, after you completed STS in whole, did you re-do your 1RM tests to gauge improvements? And if you do STS regularly, do you do all the 1RM tests again before you start STS again?
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Before doing 1 rep max, I already wrote down the weight on each workout card for lifting program. All of them. So it took me few hours Saturday and Sunday to fully test and encode the weight selection on workout manager.

During the entire program, I amended the weight while moving forward. I also printed the full workout sheet and amended the weight. I recorded the actual lifed-weight and encoded on the workout manager.:D

Next time I redo it, all I need to do is go from what is recorded on workout manager. Voilà;);)

Take care:)
 
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Discovered there's really no way around it - I really need something like the FitTower in order to do barbell bench presses. Tried with no success to heft a barbell from the floor across my torso to do some 1RM testing of an incline bench press yesterday. Just was not going to happen unless I wanted to really risk injuring myself. Might have been a little more possible if I were lying flat.

I posted this in another thread in Open Discussion where a gal was looking to purchase a used FitTower.

Since I was looking for one, too, I couldn't find one online, but I came across this Lifeline Fitness Exer Tower which looks like it's almost exactly the same, just with different branding and paint.

Putting this out there in case anyone else out there is looking for something similar.

Reason #3 why I was reluctant to get into STS - additional equipment cluttering up my space. Sigh.
 
Kellyro77 said:
Reason #3 why I was reluctant to get into STS - additional equipment cluttering up my space. Sigh.
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With everything happening now : dvd production being phased out and fitness gear being discontinued, I am happy I invested in a Fit tower way back when it was released. I need to pull out and mount mine. I could pull out my squat rack instead.

Hope you find a good tower to embark on your rotation safely. I think you will enjoy STS making the investment a worthwhile decision. All the best.
 
Kellyro77 said:
I've so far knocked out 28 exercises, but good grief I still have a long way to go.

I was initially prioritizing exercises showing up in Meso 1 since I'll be experiencing those first. Still have quite a few left to do, but I'm now shifting over to prioritizing the 4- and 5-star exercises
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I did not do 1RM for every single exercise. I did similar to you. I prioritized the major lifts (the 5& 4 starred) and Meso 1. I tweaked my 1RM as I went through the program. I guesstimated similar exercises such as incline press vs flat press, or barbell curls vs dumbell curls. There are slight differences but not enough to make a change. If you update the Workout Manager each week you can have it recalculate your 1RM for the following weeks. Chris Williams, Cathe's business partner, suggested this in postings when STS was coming out.

That equipment from Dick's you posted here and on another thread looks good! I purchased a squat rack after my 1st round of STS which worked well for me for many years.. However I was able to purchase one of the used FitTowers a year ago or so from Cathe. I like it better as it's light weight and easy to move around and has more levels to hold the bar. As an aside, you can also put your barbell on it for hip thrusts, using your bench set up near, making it easier to get heavier weight on/off you hips. We are very fortunate to have a large workout area in our lower level for all the equipment. I like having my barbell and bench set up and ready to go.
 
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Debinmi said:
you can also put your barbell on it for hip thrusts, using your bench set up near, making it easier to get heavier weight on/off you hips.
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Haha - yes, I was thinking that, too. I was "cheating" and using my risers (three on each side) to set myself up to do the heavier hip thrusts (I do them on my stability ball, so no need to worry about not having the risers under my step). The exer tower will definitely be useful there.
 
Kellyro77 said:
I was "cheating" and using my risers (three on each side) to set myself up to do the heavier hip thrusts
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Ha ha, I don't think that's "cheating" - I think it's innovative. If you are considering that exer tower, you might consider Cathe's FitTower dvds. The TB and Bootcamp ones are not very hard, but something different. However, I strongly endorse the Glutes, Legs & Core one. I really feel it for glute work - it's endurance work for sure but I think a nice alternative and counter balance to heavy weight work.

ETA: And the LIS Turbo Tower dvd for the LB premix.
 
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