Love this, thank you!
STS 2 Results
- Thread starter randidiane
- Start date
jillybean
Cathlete
Good question. I do easy-ish cardio workouts (like Cardio Party or Step Sync - just not something like Tabatacise or CrossFire), and something like a Cathe Live Fit Tower workout or Travel Fit or Boss Bands Total Body. I don’t lift anything heavier than 5 lbs during a recovery week so I stay away from traditional strength training workouts those weeks. I also do mobility or yoga instead of strength. A typical week is usually cardio Tues, Thu, Sat, and then a non-weighted strength workout or a stretching/mobility workout Mon, Wed, and full rest day Sunday.Thanks for posting your rotation! I always enjoy seeing how others are using new series - helps give me ideas!
A couple of questions for you... are you only doing the Recovery workouts during your Active Recovery weeks or do you sprinkle them in your rotation? A 2nd question is what are doing during your Active Recovery Weeks? Thanks!
Also, I try to fit in the recovery workouts whenever I can. Since a lot of the STS 2.0 workouts are close to 60 minutes, I will sometimes add one of the recovery workouts on my cardio days instead. If the cardio is 40 minutes then that leaves me 20 minutes for a recovery workout. I tend to try to not workout too much longer than 60 minutes. Some days I go a bit over that, but generally not.
FlemingCol56
Cathlete
I trick my brain sometimes and string together a bunch of short workouts by several different trainers in order to motivate on those days I’m not feeling it-and I always play my own music except during Yoga-I will do over 90 minutes of excercise but doing all those shorter segments is less scary then working out for more then an hour
annetarsia
Member
I want to report on how my STS 2.0 training is coming. I loved the original STS, and have done the full series a few times. I've done Cathe workouts regularly for over 20 years, alternating cardio and strength workouts or doing her combo workouts. My weight has held steady, but now that I am 65 my body has changed and my waist has thickened.
I started STS 2.0 with the 10 week rotation, and I just finished week 4. The weight workouts seem pretty easy when I do them (the weight I use is pretty much as Cathe recommends, and I lower the weight when it feels appropriate, 5-10 lbs) The evening after the workout, I am very tired and the next day my muscles are sore, which honestly hasn't happened to me before. I look forward to "rest days" and do 30 min of mobility, yoga or foam rolling on those days. I am noticing that I feel stronger generally and my waist is trimmer, my core is definitely tighter. I have done NO sit-ups this whole month, it's all core working to lift weight. I couldn't be happier with my results - it is so motivating!
Thank you, Cathe team!!!
I started STS 2.0 with the 10 week rotation, and I just finished week 4. The weight workouts seem pretty easy when I do them (the weight I use is pretty much as Cathe recommends, and I lower the weight when it feels appropriate, 5-10 lbs) The evening after the workout, I am very tired and the next day my muscles are sore, which honestly hasn't happened to me before. I look forward to "rest days" and do 30 min of mobility, yoga or foam rolling on those days. I am noticing that I feel stronger generally and my waist is trimmer, my core is definitely tighter. I have done NO sit-ups this whole month, it's all core working to lift weight. I couldn't be happier with my results - it is so motivating!
Thank you, Cathe team!!!
Kellyro77
Cathlete
I'm still on the Body Parts segment of the 12-week rotation. I had a rest week last week, so thus it's taking me technically longer to do the whole 12 weeks, but that's okay. Those rest weeks are important.
Since I noted that for lower body, even in the Body Parts cycle, she works the entire lower body, I've decided to rotate in the Lower Body 1 and Lower Body 2 workouts on occasion in replacement of Body Parts Legs to fight possible boredom and also keep things fresh with differing exercises.
Today I swapped in Lower Body 1 and wow - I'm noting strength improvements already. I was able to up my weights in all areas. I will say part of that is because I'm using those DMoose hooks, because my grip strength gives out pretty dang fast, otherwise. I still do the first set without the hooks to continue challenging my grip strength, and all throughout he calves section, I don't use the hooks, either (but I do have to drop my weight selection each round), but I like that I can really challenge my lower body muscles and focus on them with the aid of the hooks.
Real exciting to see progress, and I just had a lot of fun revisiting Lower Body 1 since it's been a few weeks since I last did that workout. I'd forgotten about and missed the quad finishers at the end.
Since I noted that for lower body, even in the Body Parts cycle, she works the entire lower body, I've decided to rotate in the Lower Body 1 and Lower Body 2 workouts on occasion in replacement of Body Parts Legs to fight possible boredom and also keep things fresh with differing exercises.
Today I swapped in Lower Body 1 and wow - I'm noting strength improvements already. I was able to up my weights in all areas. I will say part of that is because I'm using those DMoose hooks, because my grip strength gives out pretty dang fast, otherwise. I still do the first set without the hooks to continue challenging my grip strength, and all throughout he calves section, I don't use the hooks, either (but I do have to drop my weight selection each round), but I like that I can really challenge my lower body muscles and focus on them with the aid of the hooks.
Real exciting to see progress, and I just had a lot of fun revisiting Lower Body 1 since it's been a few weeks since I last did that workout. I'd forgotten about and missed the quad finishers at the end.
I've noticed a big difference in using the hooks. I did the Super Sets Express 4 premix yesterday and used the hooks for the squats and deadlifts round, and the shrugs and calf raises round. Not only was I able to go heavier on those rounds but I was also able to go heavier on some of the other exercises where I wasn't using the hooks because I hadn't maxed out my grip strength.
Kellyro77
Cathlete
Was able to up my weight selections when I did shoulders yesterday. Even went heavier than Cathe for some of the lateral raises!
I was experiencing what I first called mystery rear-delt soreness yesterday before I started my shoulder workout. Was wondering "what the heck" since I did legs the day before. I finally figured it out when I was re-racking my 25# Select-Techs after the hip huggers/shrugs on my Select-Tech stand. Apparently when I'm working my lower body really hard I get bonus rear delt work whenever I'm putting all those heavy weights back on the stand.
Oh - and side-note: I am PAYING for going heavier with the use of the hooks for my lower body workout from Sunday. Oouuuccchhh. Was stiff and store yesterday, and still stiff and sore today. Way more than I recall from previous lower body workouts. Today's a mobility day and I'm looking forward to it. Even light walks and yoga haven't completely worked the stiffness out just yet.
I was experiencing what I first called mystery rear-delt soreness yesterday before I started my shoulder workout. Was wondering "what the heck" since I did legs the day before. I finally figured it out when I was re-racking my 25# Select-Techs after the hip huggers/shrugs on my Select-Tech stand. Apparently when I'm working my lower body really hard I get bonus rear delt work whenever I'm putting all those heavy weights back on the stand.
Oh - and side-note: I am PAYING for going heavier with the use of the hooks for my lower body workout from Sunday. Oouuuccchhh. Was stiff and store yesterday, and still stiff and sore today. Way more than I recall from previous lower body workouts. Today's a mobility day and I'm looking forward to it. Even light walks and yoga haven't completely worked the stiffness out just yet.
I was paying for it afterwards too after using my hooks on the Super Sets Express 4 premix. I've had to take 2 recovery days with stretching and foam rolling. Hoping to do the Trisets Express 3 premix today.
vivbc
Cathlete
the air has cleared somewhat, the bank of smoke has gone, and the temperatures are much cooler, so I can workout again. I have been doing recovery workouts, and will expand those to a week of LITE, and ICE before returning to STS 2.0. I was due for a rest week anyway. Boss Bands and Loops are in the car in case of an evacuation order, but rain yesterday has reduced the likelihood of that. Here’s a photo from a bad day. All smoke. Today I can see the lake.
Thank goodness! Hopefully things will keep improving and you won't need to evacuate. Your photo reminds me of the smoke we got here in New Zealand from the Australian wildfires a few years ago. It was the first time I'd ever seen anything like it. Also, it was just as the Covid pandemic was starting and along with the constant news about the pandemic and people dying overseas and the smoke giving everything a yellowish tinge, it was very eerie.
ashaw
Cathlete
Please be safe. There is some downright scary weather right now. I’m in Houston , Texas and yesterday was the first day in august that the temperature wasn’t at least 100 degrees. They’re forecasting 106 for tomorrow.
Kellyro77
Cathlete
Okay, I'm sure you're all tired of hearing from me on STS 2.0 progress.
I'm now officially DONE with the whole 12-week rotation. Again, it took me longer than 12 weeks since I had a couple rest/recovery weeks thrown in between.
I am so happy and really proud of myself for sticking this through. I posted somewhere else that I think part of the magic formula for this for me was all the active recovery days. I wasn't pushing super hard for several straight days in a row. That helped me stick with it, and it also helped me not feel too terrible if I missed a day due to fatigue or other circumstances.
Results? Well, as I said when I started this, I'm not weighing or measuring myself. Just assessing progress based on how my clothing is fitting and how I feel overall. So I can't say "I lost ## pounds" or "I shrank ## inches".
I can say that my energy has really improved. So much so that I really dislike being sedentary for long periods of time. I get kinda fidgety, so taking extra walks has been one of the added benefits to this program (and because I'm not completely wiping myself out every single workout, I have the energy to go for those extra walks.)
My biceps have definitely grown. I have more definition in my shoulders and traps. I'm fitting into my clothing better, or even so much to say that I can fit into some of my smaller-sized jeans again (yay!) which means I've certainly slimmed down some around my waist and thighs.
And finally I'm defiinitely stronger. I've been able to increase my weight selections pretty frequently throughout the last cycle of the rotation. I've even been able to match Cathe or, in a few cases, surpass her in some of her weight selections. That's huge to me because I've just about never been able to match Cathe's weight selections.
I still think one of the more fun pieces of evidence to my all-around improvements is being able to get into crow pose in yoga and hold both my feet off the ground for more than just a split second.
So - Cathe, if you're reading this, THANK YOU. I am so very glad you put in the thought and time to do this system. It has been wonderful. You made it really fun and interesting to follow, too, so I never found myself getting bored or dreading a single workout. This set was perfection!
What's next for me? A deload week (super light weights), followed by an active recovery week (also with a massage and a trip to the chiropractor thrown in), and then it's on to my next rotation which will be including more STS 2.0 workouts plus the 8-week STS 2.0/XTrain rotation. Looking forward to seeing more results!
I'm now officially DONE with the whole 12-week rotation. Again, it took me longer than 12 weeks since I had a couple rest/recovery weeks thrown in between.
I am so happy and really proud of myself for sticking this through. I posted somewhere else that I think part of the magic formula for this for me was all the active recovery days. I wasn't pushing super hard for several straight days in a row. That helped me stick with it, and it also helped me not feel too terrible if I missed a day due to fatigue or other circumstances.
Results? Well, as I said when I started this, I'm not weighing or measuring myself. Just assessing progress based on how my clothing is fitting and how I feel overall. So I can't say "I lost ## pounds" or "I shrank ## inches".
I can say that my energy has really improved. So much so that I really dislike being sedentary for long periods of time. I get kinda fidgety, so taking extra walks has been one of the added benefits to this program (and because I'm not completely wiping myself out every single workout, I have the energy to go for those extra walks.)
My biceps have definitely grown. I have more definition in my shoulders and traps. I'm fitting into my clothing better, or even so much to say that I can fit into some of my smaller-sized jeans again (yay!) which means I've certainly slimmed down some around my waist and thighs.
And finally I'm defiinitely stronger. I've been able to increase my weight selections pretty frequently throughout the last cycle of the rotation. I've even been able to match Cathe or, in a few cases, surpass her in some of her weight selections. That's huge to me because I've just about never been able to match Cathe's weight selections.
I still think one of the more fun pieces of evidence to my all-around improvements is being able to get into crow pose in yoga and hold both my feet off the ground for more than just a split second.
So - Cathe, if you're reading this, THANK YOU. I am so very glad you put in the thought and time to do this system. It has been wonderful. You made it really fun and interesting to follow, too, so I never found myself getting bored or dreading a single workout. This set was perfection!
What's next for me? A deload week (super light weights), followed by an active recovery week (also with a massage and a trip to the chiropractor thrown in), and then it's on to my next rotation which will be including more STS 2.0 workouts plus the 8-week STS 2.0/XTrain rotation. Looking forward to seeing more results!