Hi Cathe! First I'd like to say that since discovering your workouts, my levels of both cardio capacity and strength, along with the visual changes in my body, have really improved a ton since before I started working out with you. So, thanks for that! However, lately I've been in a bit of a rut and haven't been seeing a whole lot of improvement in any area, so I was wondering this....
Is it possible to have too much variety in your workouts, and therefore not be doing any one thing often enough to get the benefits from it? I've always heard that you should do a lot of different things to keep your body from getting accustomed to your workouts, so I've been trying this past year or so to do many different things throughout the week. I change up the specific workouts/videos I do every 3 weeks, but here's what I do each day, (along with the particular video I'm doing in the 3 week "rotation" I'm presently in, as an example). Most days I work out both morning and evening, so I'll list what I do AM and PM as well:
TUESDAY - AM: Circuit (High Step Challenge), PM: Upper Body (Both Gym Styles)
WEDNESDAY - AM: Interval Cardio (IMAX3)/Abs (ME Abs), PM: 20 min of abs (Coremax 3)
THURSDAY - AM: "Steady State" Step (Step Blast)/Legs (Kick Max Legs), PM: Full Body Weights (Muscle Max)
FRIDAY - AM: Kickboxing (Kick Max)/Abs (various), PM: 2 Coremax segments (#2 & #3)
SATURDAY - AM: Appx. 30 min Hi/Lo (SJ&P)/Abs (SJ&P), PM: Nothing
SUNDAY - AM: Interval Cardio (IMAX2)/Abs (C&W Abs), PM: Full Body Weights (Muscle Endurance)
MONDAY - Off
(This is my "tough" rotation, hence all the Hardcore series stuff. I like to do 3 weeks "tough", 3 weeks "moderately tough", and then one "rest week" where I do stuff that's a little easier, like a 6 or 7 on a 1-10 scale. I also take an extra day off during my "rest week").
I'll do these workouts for 3 weeks, then continue with the same "format" (Circuit in Tuesday, Interval on Wednesday, etc), but switch out, say, HSC for Boot Camp, or Kick Max for KP&C. I also switch up the weight workouts (like PUB instead of the Gym styles, or Power Hour instead of ME).
Is doing a different type of cardio every day not allowing me to get the benefits from any one of them, because I'm not doing it often enough? Also, would I be better off doing one weight training workout for all 3 sessions I do during the week, or is it better that I'm doing a different one each time? I'm afraid to do anything too much because I don't want my body to adapt, but on the other hand I don't want to do it too little, either. I also find it hard to work in a circuit workout without worrying about 2 days between weights, so I chose to put it on a weights day. Is that OK?
Any advice you can give me to push me out of my rut I would really appreciate. I already lift about as heavy as I can while keeping good form, so I'm especially curious to know what I can do to start getting some improvement again in strength and definition. Thanks!
Mephie
Is it possible to have too much variety in your workouts, and therefore not be doing any one thing often enough to get the benefits from it? I've always heard that you should do a lot of different things to keep your body from getting accustomed to your workouts, so I've been trying this past year or so to do many different things throughout the week. I change up the specific workouts/videos I do every 3 weeks, but here's what I do each day, (along with the particular video I'm doing in the 3 week "rotation" I'm presently in, as an example). Most days I work out both morning and evening, so I'll list what I do AM and PM as well:
TUESDAY - AM: Circuit (High Step Challenge), PM: Upper Body (Both Gym Styles)
WEDNESDAY - AM: Interval Cardio (IMAX3)/Abs (ME Abs), PM: 20 min of abs (Coremax 3)
THURSDAY - AM: "Steady State" Step (Step Blast)/Legs (Kick Max Legs), PM: Full Body Weights (Muscle Max)
FRIDAY - AM: Kickboxing (Kick Max)/Abs (various), PM: 2 Coremax segments (#2 & #3)
SATURDAY - AM: Appx. 30 min Hi/Lo (SJ&P)/Abs (SJ&P), PM: Nothing
SUNDAY - AM: Interval Cardio (IMAX2)/Abs (C&W Abs), PM: Full Body Weights (Muscle Endurance)
MONDAY - Off
(This is my "tough" rotation, hence all the Hardcore series stuff. I like to do 3 weeks "tough", 3 weeks "moderately tough", and then one "rest week" where I do stuff that's a little easier, like a 6 or 7 on a 1-10 scale. I also take an extra day off during my "rest week").
I'll do these workouts for 3 weeks, then continue with the same "format" (Circuit in Tuesday, Interval on Wednesday, etc), but switch out, say, HSC for Boot Camp, or Kick Max for KP&C. I also switch up the weight workouts (like PUB instead of the Gym styles, or Power Hour instead of ME).
Is doing a different type of cardio every day not allowing me to get the benefits from any one of them, because I'm not doing it often enough? Also, would I be better off doing one weight training workout for all 3 sessions I do during the week, or is it better that I'm doing a different one each time? I'm afraid to do anything too much because I don't want my body to adapt, but on the other hand I don't want to do it too little, either. I also find it hard to work in a circuit workout without worrying about 2 days between weights, so I chose to put it on a weights day. Is that OK?
Any advice you can give me to push me out of my rut I would really appreciate. I already lift about as heavy as I can while keeping good form, so I'm especially curious to know what I can do to start getting some improvement again in strength and definition. Thanks!
Mephie