Interval Training Explained!

Finally, I found an awesome poster that explains all the mysteries of basic interval training you could ever want to know:


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Tabatacise Me!

Tonight I did XTrain's Tabatacise! Woohoo! This is just my second time doing it. And already I see a teeny-tiny bit of improvement. I also squeezed in my Intensity dvd (warmup to combo 2) that was planned for Saturday but I just couldn't resist doing today. Call me eager but I LOVE intensity and plyometric type workouts. I just love jumping. I guess it's a throwback from ballet where I excelled in jumps. It's in my blood. I just hope my knees behave!

Tabatacise

Cathe gives you five tabata's on this dvd. Of which she separates them into LEVELS. Each LEVEL tacks on another tabata. LEVEL 1 has only one tabata and by LEVEL 5 you're doing all five tabatas. And, yet the way tabata's were designed you really ONLY need to do ONE tabata to reap the benefits of epoc calarie burn for the next days and of course increased cardio capacity. But Cathe's a machine and wants you to be one too. Lol! So I did LEVEL 2 with tabatas 1 and 2 which including warmup and cooldown is 25 minutes. Each tabata is actually just 4 minutes long though Cathe does top each tabata off at the end with a short blast to finish it off. Kinda like a burn set for cardio. Each tabata has eight 20-second high intensity blasts followed by a 10-second recovery. If you want to get a burn in your lungs and legs this will do it! It will also fast-track your cardio capacity like nothing else. But who told me to do it the day after, yes, I said the day after a heavy leg workout. But hey, give me a break, I didn't feel any quad pain before or during so I thought DOMS would slip under the radar, just for me of course. Haha! I'm joking right?! My legs are suddenly in P.A.I.N, I mean A.G.O.N.Y. I don't even want to think about tomorrow! Seriously, I'm a little afeard!!

Intensity

AND to top it all off as I said before, I got a little gungho, couldn't leave well enough alone and added Intensity step into the mix. Thanks be to Jesus, I only did the warmup to combo 2. But still! The tabata should have been more than enough. This step is all power moves, plyo's, and intensity blasts which is basically like a frikken full-on 20 minute non-stop blast, I kid you not. Which includes a crazy-ass step section followed by an HIIT step section, high impact floor HIIT, low impact floor HIIT and a bonus bootcamp section. The really nice thing about it is Cathe designed it purposely so you can do as little or as much as you want, and use it to tack on sections to the beginning or end of say your weight workout. It's very flexible. But as one reviewer said, there's no downtime on this dvd. You go from intense to maximum-intense-on-roids-over-n-over-again. Yowza! BUT it hurts SO good! I guess that will be my mantra tomorrow!

... so practice, hurt SO good, and all is coming!

Havin a Partay!! ... AND Broke the Workout Barrier!!

... with Cathe's Party Rockin Step 2 again just last Monday AND I broke my workout barrier by doing Low Max Step in it's entirety!!! Unheard of for me. You see I've always had challenges with stamina (left over chronic fatigue reminders) and actually rarely have completed a FULL Cathe DVD ever. Yes, I'm a cheater. Ha! So, you can imagine my shock and awe when I finished the complete Low Max workout last Wednesday which is a 70 minute high intensity low impact step workout with 7 combo's combined with 7 HIT blasts after every combo. I felt on top of the world! After the 4th combo/blast I kept psyching myself up with "come on, don't stop at your usual spot you can do another." And I did another and another and another! WooHoo!! I was a very sweaty proud mess at the end.

 

I decided to do a low impact step as my achilles were acting up a bit but still wanted to get in some much needed fun cardio and still keep my goal of building my cardio capacity. I love this workout because it's so much fun, the music is great and it's deceiving. The intensity sneaks up on you and by the 3rd combo/blast your huffing and puffing and feeling the quad burn. Cathe is a master at ramping the intensity up in her workouts and she didn't disappoint here. She uses alot of quad work in this to ramp the cardio up and go anaerobic on you. She even teeters after a blast because she just burnt out our legs big time. It's hilarious to witness because we all swear Cathe is made of steal. Lol!

A Party Rockin Step #2 P.S. ...

 

I recant my previous "Happy Thanksgiving ..." post where I said Party Rockin Step #2 wasn't as intense as her other blastier type step workouts. What was I thinking??!!@@ When I did it again last Monday for the second time, I realized how intense it was! And I did more combo's that time too. I actually liken it to her Intensity DVD but a more toned down, balanced, dancier version. If that makes any sense. I find this the PERFECT balance of dancier step/blasts/plyo to use for really ramping my cardio capacity. As it allows for just the right amount of mini recovery within the plyo moves and blasts.

Can't Wait For Party Rocking Step #1

I just previewed Party Rockin Step #1 and I can't wait!!! It's prancier, dancier, twirlier and more low impact than #2. Perfect for my naughty achilles. And has rockin techno music to boot. The jokes on me because when I bought it ~ it came as a package with Step #2 ~ I wasn't impressed by the choreography in the online preview. Really NOT impressed. I thought it looked cheesy, awkward and forced in it's complexity. Was-I-wrong. Upon previewing the whole dvd the other night I realized how much fun it is and how the moves go great with the funtastic techno music. Man, I LOVE workouts where it's challenging and FUN with a capital F. And Cathe hits the mark every time!!

... so practice, have FUN with a capital F, and all is coming.

Sore Muscles, Sore Eyes ... but Beautiful Vision

Everything is sore from sore muscles to sore eye. lol! I do love sore muscles as I know I did some crazay effective workouts. Like yesterday's amazing Xtrain Cardio Leg Blast by Cathe which made my quads and hamstrings sore and the day before Travis' Ultimate Yogi Flexibility which darn well did in my butt, hamstrings and shoulders. So, I've got DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) setting in nicely now. Yowza! With that a rest day was in order today. And to top it all off my left eye began feeling achy when doing some minor grocery shopping in my neighbourhood. Today was the first day I went out with my eyes fully undressed from the protective sunglasses the doc gave me. And my eyes felt the wonky vision full on in broad beautiful daylight. My eyes are so miss matched blurry that the walking around trying to focus through the brilliant haze proved a little too much too soon. Thank goodness I wasn't out too long and still managed to enjoy the fall sunlight. I even took this beautiful vision of a picture above on the way home which made me almost and I say almost love fall! lol! But I digress ...

Xtrain Cardio Leg Blast by Cathe

 

 

I did Cathe's amazing Cardio Leg Bast for the first time yesterday. I had this disc for a while but had to shelve it until my knees grew stronger. So, now I'm enjoying some good ol jumping cardio. It reminds me of my ballet days doing all the beautiful jumping floor work. I felt so light, lithe and strong back then and it makes me feel the same now, so exhilerating being finally able to do it again.

This is a great cardio and moderately heavy weight leg circuit workout with 12 rounds of about one minute plyometric cardio blast (HIT) with one moderate weighted leg work for about a maximum 16 reps which you repeat 12 times. The first 6 rounds are done off the step and the next 6 rounds are done on. No exercises are repeated so it's really fun. At first I used slightly lighter weights than Cathe and crew wanting to play it safe with my knees but then realized if I wanted to feel any burn with just 16 reps I needed to match or go heavier with the weights. So when I hit the round where we did plie squats — my legs are strong for this — I went with my 50lb barbell than their lighter pound dumbbells. I also added some extra pulse squats to the squat section to feel more burn and instead of doing their side lunges after that set — my knees do NOT like side lunge motions — I did pop squats interspersed with jump ropes. I found this more effective for my quads following quad style plyos with weighted quad work. It employs the quad muscles in a way that forces the quads to get strong very fast. Also, I noticed that, especially with the jumps on the step, I bend my knees more than the crew does. I think my ballet training has alot to do with this. This technique creates a softer, quieter, more controlled landing and also takes the impact into the quad and calf muscles more than the knees. Thus protecting the joints while building powerful, more explosive lean legs. I did have to take some extra breathes here and there but all in all I was able to keep up nicely and ALMOST completed the workout. I got to round 11 and quit. Naughty girl! I didn't realize there was only one more to go!

The music was great and keeps you going when it gets hard and was one of the reasons I was able to even get to round 11 and also I love step work. Cathe's a pro at using amazingly hip music and crescendoing it at just the right moments to keep you fired up and getting that extra wind to take you to the next level. Really amazing! (Can you tell music is very important to me for workouts. It actually will make or break what would be a very good workout for me. Cathe is a genius for this most of the time. The one time she derailed was when she did her amazing STS heavy weight periodization program where for me the music did NOT work.)

I forgot to do the bonus Burn Set Bi's at the end. But was probably wise that I forgot. As I'm feeling the sore today and don't need anymore added to it. That's another wonderful thing about Cathe is she's so generous (Amy Bento does the same too) she always adds premixes to all her dvds and sometimes adds bonus workouts from her other dvds in the set. Which she really went all out on with her Xtrain set. Kudos Cathe!

... so practice, get nice and sore, and all is coming.