CTX Cycle Question: Cathe or anyone...

[LynnFinn]

Hi Ladies!

I recently purchased CTX for my daughter, who has recently "gotten into" Cathe like I never dreamed she would! (She used to be afraid of more "complex" step videos and shied away from them like the plague!)
My question is this...both for her and my own info.
The cardio on CTX is shorter than many of Cathe's regular step/cardio tapes. My daughter loves CTX, but was wondering if she could supplement the shorter cardio in CTX with any of Cathe's other tapes, or if the short cardio four to five times a week is sufficient.
Also, what are some of your suggestions for doing a CTX rotation? I'll happily take any and all combinations of rotation, since I know everybody likes working certain body parts more than others. For me, whenever I work my lower body, whether it be step or weight training, it always feels afterwards like I REALLY did something, whereas doing upper body weight training, though I go heavy and get pretty sore, doesn't seem to "tax" me as much as lower body, and I often want to add in a solid cardio workout on those upper body weight training days.
I'm truly interested in knowing how everyone here uses CTX and what strength/endurance/heartrate improvements you've seen.
Thanks loads to all you wondrous creatures---women who exercise!
Hugs,
Lynn Finn

 

[Andrea]

Hi Lynn,
That is great that you and your daughter share an interest in working out AND Cathe! I've never used just the CTX tapes and nothing else. The cardio is too much high impact for my knees so I have to sub in a couple lower intensity days. But I have done the body parts only once a week and saw a great improvement in strength! My upper body muscles also started showing a little more. The way I did it was to work two body parts a day 3 days a week. That way my upper body felt more worked out, as the one body part always felt like I was missing something. But again that's just me. Lots of people do them twice a week. I just don't have the time, or I'd enjoy trying that. Have fun with it!

Andrea

 

[KathyH]

Hi Lynn! It's great that you and your daughter work out together. The possibilities are endless with CTX rotations. You can do 2 or 3 body parts first and then do the cardio or you can do all 6 tapes working the tapes like this: Put Power Circuit first, then All Step, Step and Intervals, Leaner Legs, 10-10-10 and last but not least Kickbox. This worked well for me as its very taxing on the legs. Don't put Power Circuit and Leaner Legs in a row for two days. This is too much for the legs. I benefited more from doing the weight training first and then the cardio. I didn't see any muscle definition results from doing cardio first. But every body's different and will respond differently. But she sure did cut my bodyfat from all this intense cardio. So experiment and have fun!! kathy

 

[LynnFinn]

Thanks, Ladies!

I will direct my daughter to look up this thread next time she logs on (which is usually daily...or more ;-))
Right now I'm struggling with not devouring 9 packages of delicious, yumm yumm Girl Scout cookies....and wondering, "what was I THINKING????" when I ordered them.
Is it true that when you buy foods for a good cause there's no calories in them?
Do I wish....
Hugs,
Lynn

 

[jillybean]

Because of your theory that foods become non-caloric when their proceeds go to charity, I bought eight cases of Paul Newman candy bars. Just kidding. Regarding CTX, I did the shorter cardio, but doubled up on the weight work so that my rotation went like this:
Sa Step Int. Chest/Shoulders
Su Power Cir. Back/Biceps
Mo 10-10-10 Triceps/Chest
Tu All Step Shoulders/Back
We Kickbox Biceps/Triceps
Th Leaner Legs
F Rest

I found that I couldn't do Leaner Legs in the middle of the week since my legs got too sore, but my goal during this rotation was muscle gain. I read a post where someone did 2 cardio sections a day, and then the upperbody all at once the next day, then 2 cardio sections the day after that, and then the whole upperbody again the next day. It sounded interesting. Hope this helps!