Re: Pure Strength - Strong Legs & Abs - Cathe

[Guest guest]

Wow!!! Awesome workout Sara! This sounds really tough (but fun), great job!!!

Pure Strength - Strong Legs & Abs - Cathe

This week is Cathe week for me, using her Pure Strength series. I again decided to get leg day done first thing, so today I tackled Strong Legs and Abs. This one was tough, but very straight forward and traditional, which I am very comfortable with. Cathe is great, as usual – friendly, encouraging, fun, full of tips on form, great cueing, etc. There were several times during the workout that I didn't even need to watch the screen once we started the exercise, as her counting helped you keep pace. I really like that, especially during abs, when it can be kind of hard to see the TV and keep form at the same time. The music is pretty good in this one, too – but a little soft. I suppose that could have been because I have these on VHS, lol. As with Amy's leg workouts, I only got about 75% - 80% of the reps for the heavy weighted squats and lunges, as well as the hover squats. My HR was waaaay up and my legs were cooked! I was also sweating buckets using the heavy weights, even though it was quite cool in the basement today. Whew!The abs section is shorter than I expected, and pretty standard stuff as well. There wasn't any rest between the exercise changes, and these started to feel they were never going to end, lol. I'll be interested to see if I have any DOMs from this workout, as I was expecting more from Cathe. The stretch at the end is very short, but as Cathe mentions, stretching is done throughout the workout between sets as well.So, I'm very, very happy to be done with leg day for the week, hooray! Tomorrow and Thurs will probably be cardio days, with the other two volumes of Pure Strength on Wed and Fri.Here's the breakdown, borrowed from VF, comments are from the VF reviewer, not me this time:Standing Leg Work: Lunges/reverse Lunges - "warm up set": floor lunges with light weights (I think Cathe uses 5 or 8 lb dumbells), then a set of back lunges (aka dips) with light weights. Lunges/reverse Lunges - "heavy" set: Cathe appears to be using 12-15 lb. dumbells for these. You get a short, active rest between the lunges and the back lunges, and a rest and stretch after. Static Lunges: with the barbell, 16 reps each side. Cathe has 2 plates on her "heavy" barbell, which looks like about 45 lbs total. She says not to be afraid to go heavy, but that you may have to experiment to find the right weight for this exercise. You get a short, active rest of side steps before doing a second set of 16 to each side. Plie Squats: Alternating stepping into the plie squat to the left, then the right. The first set Cathe uses a 15 lb body bar, but you could use your barbell w/o plates. Plie Squats w/ heavy barbell: This set is similar to the set in MIS. It's followed up with a short rest and inner thigh stretch. Step Ups w/ 12" stool: These are identical to FIRM leg presses, with one set of 12 on each side starting from the floor, then a set on each side starting from the top of the stool. Heavy weights are used--I believe Cathe has either 12's or 15's. Cathe and participants use a special Step Co. bench top perfectly sized to fit the 4 stacked risers underneath. FIRM tall boxes, Rubbermaid stools and such would also work. Squats w/ heavy barbell: self explanatory Sit and Stand Squats: These are similar to the FIRM's "hover" squats. You stand in front of your stool, barbell on your shoulders. You sit down on one, then lift up just slightly on count 2, then hold until you stand up on count 8. OW!!! You would not believe how badly Cathe's legs are trembling by the end of these, and she is out of breath while talking through the rest period which follows. Cathe makes the point here that she has to do include endurance work for the legs to really fatigue the muscles, because it's difficult for women to work to failure w/o a spotter--women can generally handle heavier weight on their shoulders for leg work than they can manage to lift over their heads. Quarter Deadlifts: Two sets, plus a short rest and ham stretch. Calf Raises: 3 sets. You rest your toes on a 2x4 (or you can use the end of your step) while grasping the body bar (or a dowel) in front for balance during the calf raises. The sets are long, and many variations are shown. For example, you can do calf raises one leg at a time, with the other leg back on your stool, one hand grasping a dumbell, the other holding the body bar for balance. Another variation demonstrated by Pat is to sit on your stool with the barbell lying on the quads just above the knee and raise the heels. Floor Work: Inner Thigh Raises: 15 lb. body bar rests between the legs on the working leg. These 2 sets (on each side) are done slowly, and several position options are shown. There are very short rests in between sets. You can also use ankle weights or an empty barbell in place of a body bar for the floor exercises.Outer Thigh Raises: Lying on side, legs bent forward, you lift with the Body Bar on the top foot. Two sets on each side, followed by a stretch. Hamstring Work: FIRM fans would call this bridge work. You lie down with your feet on the step and the body bar across your hips and push up through your heels. Then you do another set without the body bar, with one leg pointing up in the air, isolating one leg at a time.Abdominals:The short ab work in this video includes many crunch variations, oblique work, reverse crunches and all that good stuff. The tempo is slower, more similar to Body Max than the lightning fast crunches in MIS.

[Guest guest]

Thanks, !

I really felt this one in my legs and abs the next few days.

Especially my inner thighs and calves. And I can still feel my abs a

bit today actually. Legs are almost back to 100%.

Moving leg day to the beginning of the week has done wonders for my

attitude, too. Of course, both Cathe and Amy's Slo-Mo actually

suggest legs as workout #1. I should have listened sooner, lol!

Sara

>

> Wow!!! Awesome workout Sara! This sounds really tough (but fun),

great job!!!

>

>

>

> Pure Strength - Strong Legs & Abs - Cathe

>

>

> This week is Cathe week for me, using her Pure Strength series. I

> again decided to get leg day done first thing, so today I tackled

> Strong Legs and Abs. This one was tough, but very straight forward

> and traditional, which I am very comfortable with. Cathe is great,

> as usual - friendly, encouraging, fun, full of tips on form, great

> cueing, etc. There were several times during the workout that I

> didn't even need to watch the screen once we started the exercise,

as

> her counting helped you keep pace. I really like that, especially

> during abs, when it can be kind of hard to see the TV and keep form

> at the same time. The music is pretty good in this one, too - but a

> little soft. I suppose that could have been because I have these on

> VHS, lol.