I'm here to tell ya- Pyramids really work!!

Clarissa

Clarissa

Cathlete
SO, I am done with my 6 week pyramid training cycle. Whoa!

I started on Muscle Endurance (the video I mean) and it was so easy for me now. To curl the 35 pounds used to bow my back and I did like 2 curls. I did all 14 of them and was like, okay, that was a feather to me. The pyramids totally gave me a lot of strength, not to mention definition, particularly in the shoulders. I felt the strength gains in every body part, from chest (where I did flys today with 20s when Cathe did 15s and felt it was light) to triceps dips and even shoulders, where front raises with 10s felt light too.

Just wanted to share my successes and opinions on the pyramids.

Clarissa ;)
 
Clarissa,

That's great!

Can you share your rotation? I've been adding more weightlifting to my workouts and I'd love to see what you did!
 
Thanks for the update on the results. I do not use that video that much but maybe I will try to work it in more.
 
Wow Clarissa I am jealous!!! You go girl! Just out of curiosity, how long did it take you to get to this point? I just started in January, and needless to say I am NO WHERE near where you are!! A girl can dream tho!:)
 
Clarissa-I have to agree with you! I use(d) PUB/PLB for my Body For Life rotations ALL the time and they DO WORK!!!!!! Great job!

Gayle
 
Congratulations Clarissa on your strength gains! Its a great feeling isn't it?

Did you also do the core work from this workout? Did you also see comparable gains? IMHO, that is one of her most challenging and best core workouts that she has ever done. Its quick, but extremely effective!

Take care, Lynn M
 
Yippee!:7 You did 20's for side raises?:eek: Good grief woman, you rock the bells! Dumbbells that is....;)

OOPS. Flyes. But still! Thats so awesome.:7
 
Interesting timing Clarissa. I pulled out PUB for the first time in ages today. Went with 40, 50, and 60 for all the leg work and I'm detecting that I may be a hurtin' pup in the morning. I think you're right - I need to pull these out more often. I do use PUB more often - and yep - like you I always go heavier. Thanks for the advice! Great job!


ETA: and wait - on ME do you mean you did that whole biceps curl section with 35 pounds? The one where Cathe only uses 20 pounds and laughs that wicked laugh biceps curls??? WOW - I bow to you!

Lorrie

www.picturetrail.com/lsass
 
I am using PUB/MM/SH/PH/GS/PS in my rotation I started a workout 4 weeks ago and changed after 3 weeks into it because I saw great results in my upper body and kept with it for the next rotation I am definately lifting heavier than I started out. I don't know what took me so long to work upper body. I guess I was more concerned with lower body and gave up when I started getting too thick of legs but this rotation just after 1 week has changed me.
beth6395

"Double Knot your laces and let's move on"
-Cathe Friedrich
 
Great to know...I'll be completing a 2 week Pyramid rotation on Thursday, then back to GS. And I agree with your comment about more muscle definition in the shoulders...this has been my experience too. I'm also noticing some of my veins are starting to pop a bit. The high total reps and fast pace sure shock a girls system!
 
I am sad to be done with the pyramids for now actually :( I think I will go back on in mid summer or so...

Anyway, what I was doing was less cardio and more lifting using ONLY the pyramids, believe it or not (although once a week I did a circuit video).

Monday - OFF
Tues - PUB + 20 min HIIT (treadmill)
Wed - PLB
Thurs - PUB
Fri - PLB + 20 min HIIT (treadmill)
Sat - PUB
Sun - BM2 (usually or something like it) OR interval training on the treadmill, but not HIIT
I work abs usually 5 days per week but no less than 4.


Then the next week, I would have PLB 3 days and PUB 2 days, know what I mean? Anyway, I really did get trimmer in the pants and everything. Doing less cardio did not affect me at all. I stuck strictly to this schedule, except for that flu time. :(


Good luck everyone! :)

Clarissa
 
Congrats, Clarissa! I was just thinking of starting a PUB/PLB routine next week (I can't seem to wrest myself away from the 4DS series), so this was great timing :).

Do you think it would have been just as effective if you'd done both tapes just once a week? I'm planning to do each once a week, then have 3 days of cardio and 1 day of yoga and pilates... I'd LOVE to get the kind of dramatic strength gains you got with your routine, but I wonder if doing them once a week will be enough?

Jennifer
 
Thanks, Clarrisa!

I'm going to do this. I wonder if after doing this for a few weeks, if an S & H rotation would be a good idea?
 
Jennifer - I am not 100% certain - but probably not...try it maybe??
I think the 2-3 days helped me with definition as well as strength. I just don't know for sure if 1 day is enough...?

TeTe- Slow and Heavy would be a great idea - it will sure help. First try Slow and Heavy just for S's & G's to see how "hard" it is...then do pyramid training and then Slow and Heavy again to see how much different it feels!

I really didn't do Cathe's video the whole time. After 2 weeks or so I did my own version - triceps rope pulldowns, lat pulldowns, lat low - row in place of the normal video...

Clarissa
 
Man... congratulations on your success. All the responses have me convinced I need to get The Pyramids. Right now I'm getting terrific results doing GSBSB and GSCT once a week, working legs twice (GSL and the Butts portion of B&G), and abs 3 times (CM1, CM3 and the Gutts part of B&G). The fat on my arms has melted and the muscle definition is really coming along. But my legs! For the first time in my life they're REALLY slimming down, firming up, and looking great (finally!). I was really worried about that weird pocket of fat on the inside-sides of my knees (50% gone now) and my calves were almost as big as my slimming-but-still-fat thighs. I was really afraid my calves would always be huge. I'll be 47 on March 31st and I wracked my brain trying to recall what my calves looked like before I got fat. But that was so long ago I really can't remember. I just held to the fact that calf shape is largely determined by genetics. My mom was never larger than a size 6 and usually about a size 2, with too-skinny legs. But I visited HER mother once when she was in her 80s and recall telling her she had incredible legs (she looked down, swiveled her calf around and replied "Yea... I know"!!!). So I was hoping I would inherit Her shapely calves. It's still too soon to tell but the calf work in GSL is REALLY doing its job. Still, there's always a point when you have to fine tune and change things up (that issue STS will address but,until then...). I bought Slow and Heavy but haven't done it yet because I'm all focused on GS and B&G right now. I'm thinking S&L and The Pyramids will be my next step now that I've read about your results.

By the way, I really love that you came here to tell us the specifics of your success. I hope more posters will do this because it's the specifics (what you used, where you're getting results, anything else you're doing) that help people like me, who have a lot further to go, decide what to do next to accelerate our results. I want to encourage EVERYONE to not be afraid to be perceived as bragging because I, and I think A LOT of others here, really want to know what works for you since it may work for us. And I love cheering the success of others' hard work. You go!
 
>
>By the way, I really love that you came here to tell us the
>specifics of your success. I hope more posters will do this
>because it's the specifics (what you used, where you're
>getting results, anything else you're doing) that help people
>like me, who have a lot further to go, decide what to do next
>to accelerate our results. I want to encourage EVERYONE to
>not be afraid to be perceived as bragging because I, and I
>think A LOT of others here, really want to know what works for
>you since it may work for us. And I love cheering the success
>of others' hard work. You go!

I just wanted to second what SirenSongWoman said, that it helps motivate me so much to hear and learn about what has worked for other people on the forum. I know that our bodies are all so different and respond differently to different kinds of training, but it's great to hear about what works for others.

Way to go, Clarissa, and also SirenSongWoman!
:)
 
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