Metamorphosis: My Thoughts & Results

ssgilby · 06-15-11, 05:58 PM

Sorry in advance for the length!

I finished my 90-day Metamorphosis Hipcentric rotation earlier this week. Whew! Ninety days of anything gets tough, both mentally and physically. I experienced a bit of burn out at the end, but overall, I really, really enjoyed my Meta rotation. There were some levels that I absolutely loved! My body really did start "craving" the work. There were other levels I came to dread, but I managed to get through all of them, and relatively on schedule.

I stayed very close to Tracy's plan with the muscular structure (MS) work, which was one MS workout per day, 6 days per week with one rest day. There were weeks I had an extra rest day for one reason or the other, but for the most part, I stayed on track. I didn't add in or sub any other strength/toning work other than occassionally adding some light (2-3# handweights to my Leslie walks or using the cables from Leslie's QVC workout set). On average, although the MS workouts run around 30 min., they often took me 40-45 minutes to complete, taking into account adding a 5 min. warm up on my own, 5-10 min. of stretching on my own, and then pauses for very short breaks or to grab weights, a drink of water, whatever.

My cardio varied a lot. I did the actual Meta cardio maybe only once or twice. I did some of Tracy's other cardio workouts here and there, and I also did other dance cardio and some Leslie Sansone walks. My cardio sessions ranged from 20 minutes to 60 minutes, 4-6 days per week. I was fairly consistent with it. My only cardio regret is that I wished I would've had more time for more longer, steadier state cardio each week. My body seems to respond best to that. Having to do the Meta work 6 days a week ate up a lot of my workout time.

I adored most of the lower body work. It's the kind of stuff I really enjoy. All done on the floor (with the exception of some grand plies in Level 9), with no added weight (except for with a few of the exercises in Level 9 - and those were for the upper body, not to necessarily add difficulty to the lower body work). Most exercises were done in an all-fours position (or some variation thereof) or kneeling or in plank. In Level 2 there is some work done lying on the side.

I ran hot and cold with the upper body work. It is typical Tracy "all over the map" type stuff. Some segments were easy to pick up, and at other times, I really flailed around a lot. For the most part, by the time I was halfway through a level, I could follow along fairly well. I like Tracy's style, but I prefer it when she's a bit more focused, thus making it easier to follow along and really "feel" the work. The arms segment from her Mat Workout, IMO, are perfect. She never comes quite close to that in Meta (I never "felt" it like I feel the arm work in Mat), however, I still felt that it was fairly effective. I would say the same applies to the standing ab work. Good, but sometimes hard to follow and not as good as Mat Workout.

The floor abs were pretty good, IMO. I picked up the sequences pretty quickly in most levels. I really felt a lot of the work. Contrary to what some people experience with Tracy's ab work, the exercises didn't bother my back or neck, although sometimes I did experience some soreness/stiffness while performing the exercises in my neck (which is tweaky anyway). All in all, though, I thought the floor abs were good.

Two weeks before I started Meta, I started Flat Belly Diet (FBD), which I continue to be follow for the most part. I was fairly strict with FBD for the first 30-40 days of Meta. Since then, I would say I follow FBD about 80-90% of the time. I've taken to not being so strict with it. If you want more thoughts on FBD, please see my blog (link in my sig line).

Going into FBD and Meta, I didn't necessarily have a lot of weight to lose (although 5-10# wouldn't have hurt my feelings). I was mainly interested in flattening my belly and slimming my hips and thighs while also adding a bit of definition to my arms and shoulders. I was at the point where my body was very comfortable where it was, which wasn't necessarily a bad place. I think the reason I didn't have a huge weight or inch loss was simply because I didn't need to lose that much. I would say I accomplished those things I wanted - BUT, I still have work to do, although not much.

The Numbers (I am counting from the start of my FBD, which was about 20 days prior to starting Meta) -

Weight - Lost around 6-8# (see below)
Waist - Lost 1.75" (see below)
Hips - Lost .75" (see below)
Thighs - Lost 1" off each
Calves - Lost .50" from each
Biceps - Stayed roughly the same, but I see more definition in my arms overall
Chest - Lost .75"

So, total inches lost is 6.25.

Prior to FBD and Meta, my weight fluctuated between 132 and 138#. Now my weight ranges from 130 to 132#. For me, the biggest accomplishment has been staying in this lower (and less wide) weight range.

I only measured at just about my belly button (natural waist). I WISH I would've taken measurement below the belly button. That's where my tummy really flattened, and I wish I knew by exactly how much. The most amazing thing for me was the flattening of my lower abs.

I didn't lose a lot inch wise in my hips, but they are definitely much slimmer. I think the reason the tape measure doesn't reflect that is because my butt lifted, which was another thing that I really enjoyed.

I feel slimmer, tighter, stronger and leaner all over! The workouts didn't exhaust me or make me feel tired or like over eating. They made me feel really good. In fact, the MS work has actually been therapeutic for my lower back. I have disks in my back prone to bulging, and my physical therapist really encouraged me to keep my back arched slightly during exercise. Tracy's work seems to encourage that. I know for some this is detrimental, but it really worked for me. Since starting Meta, my back has felt fantastic. In fact, during the past two weeks when I was very sporadic with my MS work, my back started acting up. Amazing.

All in all, I am definitely a TAM girl and plan to continue with Tracy's stuff being the mainstay for toning in my workout routine. I should note that most of the changes came in the first 30 days or so of Meta. From then on, changes were a lot slower. I think this is natural. The results come fast when you're doing something new. Once the body adapts, things don't happen so fast. To that end, I plan to continue on using TAM, but I won't be doing it per Tracy's recommendations. My plan is now to combine the following -

* For lower body and abs the floor abs and MS work from Metamorphosis Hip Continuity and the original Metamorphosis Abcentric program 3x/week.

* Upper body work will include the arm work from Tracy's Mat Workout, the upper body weights segments from Squeeze and Squeeze Stronger, and continuing to add light handweights to some of my Leslie walks - 3-4x/week.

* More cardio, which will be dance workouts and Leslie walks, aiming for 40-60 min. sessions 4x a week.

* Occasional "other stuff" like Ellen Barrett's stuff or the Ruah workouts just because I like them or the Fitstix workout because I think they add a really unique element to a fitness program.

I'm going to be pretty loose with things for the summer, but my priorities will be to get the lower body Meta work in and my cardio sessions.

I'm going to post final pictures on my blog by next week. Will post here when I've done that.

curious621 · 06-15-11, 06:07 PM

Thanks for your very detailed assessment! I have not yet been interested in these until today and your results sound great. It also doesn't sound too overwhelming. Thanks for sharing what you got out of it. Laura

ssgilby · 06-15-11, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curious621

Thanks for your very detailed assessment! I have not yet been interested in these until today and your results sound great. It also doesn't sound too overwhelming. Thanks for sharing what you got out of it. Laura

LOL! You're welcome. Thank you for actually reading it all!

andtckrtoo · 06-15-11, 06:36 PM

I enjoyed reading it, too, Shelley. I'm already sold on Meta (I own two centrics!).

bee · 06-15-11, 06:39 PM

Yep, thanks, Shelley! I got your blog post and loved reading the wrap-up! I was wondering if you'll do continuity -- it sounds like you have a good mix of things for "maintenance"!

fuzzie · 06-15-11, 07:01 PM

Shelley - Thank you for your AWESOME report and congratulations on your perseverance and great results!

I look forward to reading about your journey with the Continuity program...

yahoo205 · 06-15-11, 07:11 PM

tHANKS FOr this post. i think i 'm going to try hipcentric. is it 40 mins/day of muscular work? i was thinking about doing this with ballet body.

shortie · 06-15-11, 07:28 PM

Great report, Shelley!

I drifted away from Meta, but am pondering a return to it in a while. Right now I have the Omni Continuity program still coming -- any votes from you Meta-ladies on which Continuity is the best? I have stuff to work on all over (which is why I picked Omni), but I hated/dreaded Omni level 2 and loved Glute, so I'm pondering changing. Any advice?

pcramer · 06-15-11, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shortie

Great report, Shelley!

I drifted away from Meta, but am pondering a return to it in a while. Right now I have the Omni Continuity program still coming -- any votes from you Meta-ladies on which Continuity is the best? I have stuff to work on all over (which is why I picked Omni), but I hated/dreaded Omni level 2 and loved Glute, so I'm pondering changing. Any advice?

I have Omni Continuity also, so far so good.

I had Hipcentric Meta and traded it but I have seriously been considering getting Glute Meta. Did you have good results with Glute??

ssgilby · 06-15-11, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yahoo205

tHANKS FOr this post. i think i 'm going to try hipcentric. is it 40 mins/day of muscular work? i was thinking about doing this with ballet body.

The MS work clocks in around 30 minutes, but as I mentioned, with a short warm up on my own, brief pauses for rests, water breaks, to grab weights, whatever, and a short cool down/stretch, the MS work ended up taking me around 40-45 min.

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06-15-11, 05:58 PM
ssgilby Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Minnesota	Metamorphosis: My Thoughts & Results Sorry in advance for the length! I finished my 90-day Metamorphosis Hipcentric rotation earlier this week. Whew! Ninety days of anything gets tough, both mentally and physically. I experienced a bit of burn out at the end, but overall, I really, really enjoyed my Meta rotation. There were some levels that I absolutely loved! My body really did start "craving" the work. There were other levels I came to dread, but I managed to get through all of them, and relatively on schedule. I stayed very close to Tracy's plan with the muscular structure (MS) work, which was one MS workout per day, 6 days per week with one rest day. There were weeks I had an extra rest day for one reason or the other, but for the most part, I stayed on track. I didn't add in or sub any other strength/toning work other than occassionally adding some light (2-3# handweights to my Leslie walks or using the cables from Leslie's QVC workout set). On average, although the MS workouts run around 30 min., they often took me 40-45 minutes to complete, taking into account adding a 5 min. warm up on my own, 5-10 min. of stretching on my own, and then pauses for very short breaks or to grab weights, a drink of water, whatever. My cardio varied a lot. I did the actual Meta cardio maybe only once or twice. I did some of Tracy's other cardio workouts here and there, and I also did other dance cardio and some Leslie Sansone walks. My cardio sessions ranged from 20 minutes to 60 minutes, 4-6 days per week. I was fairly consistent with it. My only cardio regret is that I wished I would've had more time for more longer, steadier state cardio each week. My body seems to respond best to that. Having to do the Meta work 6 days a week ate up a lot of my workout time. I adored most of the lower body work. It's the kind of stuff I really enjoy. All done on the floor (with the exception of some grand plies in Level 9), with no added weight (except for with a few of the exercises in Level 9 - and those were for the upper body, not to necessarily add difficulty to the lower body work). Most exercises were done in an all-fours position (or some variation thereof) or kneeling or in plank. In Level 2 there is some work done lying on the side. I ran hot and cold with the upper body work. It is typical Tracy "all over the map" type stuff. Some segments were easy to pick up, and at other times, I really flailed around a lot. For the most part, by the time I was halfway through a level, I could follow along fairly well. I like Tracy's style, but I prefer it when she's a bit more focused, thus making it easier to follow along and really "feel" the work. The arms segment from her Mat Workout, IMO, are perfect. She never comes quite close to that in Meta (I never "felt" it like I feel the arm work in Mat), however, I still felt that it was fairly effective. I would say the same applies to the standing ab work. Good, but sometimes hard to follow and not as good as Mat Workout. The floor abs were pretty good, IMO. I picked up the sequences pretty quickly in most levels. I really felt a lot of the work. Contrary to what some people experience with Tracy's ab work, the exercises didn't bother my back or neck, although sometimes I did experience some soreness/stiffness while performing the exercises in my neck (which is tweaky anyway). All in all, though, I thought the floor abs were good. Two weeks before I started Meta, I started Flat Belly Diet (FBD), which I continue to be follow for the most part. I was fairly strict with FBD for the first 30-40 days of Meta. Since then, I would say I follow FBD about 80-90% of the time. I've taken to not being so strict with it. If you want more thoughts on FBD, please see my blog (link in my sig line). Going into FBD and Meta, I didn't necessarily have a lot of weight to lose (although 5-10# wouldn't have hurt my feelings). I was mainly interested in flattening my belly and slimming my hips and thighs while also adding a bit of definition to my arms and shoulders. I was at the point where my body was very comfortable where it was, which wasn't necessarily a bad place. I think the reason I didn't have a huge weight or inch loss was simply because I didn't need to lose that much. I would say I accomplished those things I wanted - BUT, I still have work to do, although not much. The Numbers (I am counting from the start of my FBD, which was about 20 days prior to starting Meta) - Weight - Lost around 6-8# (see below) Waist - Lost 1.75" (see below) Hips - Lost .75" (see below) Thighs - Lost 1" off each Calves - Lost .50" from each Biceps - Stayed roughly the same, but I see more definition in my arms overall Chest - Lost .75" So, total inches lost is 6.25. Prior to FBD and Meta, my weight fluctuated between 132 and 138#. Now my weight ranges from 130 to 132#. For me, the biggest accomplishment has been staying in this lower (and less wide) weight range. I only measured at just about my belly button (natural waist). I WISH I would've taken measurement below the belly button. That's where my tummy really flattened, and I wish I knew by exactly how much. The most amazing thing for me was the flattening of my lower abs. I didn't lose a lot inch wise in my hips, but they are definitely much slimmer. I think the reason the tape measure doesn't reflect that is because my butt lifted, which was another thing that I really enjoyed. I feel slimmer, tighter, stronger and leaner all over! The workouts didn't exhaust me or make me feel tired or like over eating. They made me feel really good. In fact, the MS work has actually been therapeutic for my lower back. I have disks in my back prone to bulging, and my physical therapist really encouraged me to keep my back arched slightly during exercise. Tracy's work seems to encourage that. I know for some this is detrimental, but it really worked for me. Since starting Meta, my back has felt fantastic. In fact, during the past two weeks when I was very sporadic with my MS work, my back started acting up. Amazing. All in all, I am definitely a TAM girl and plan to continue with Tracy's stuff being the mainstay for toning in my workout routine. I should note that most of the changes came in the first 30 days or so of Meta. From then on, changes were a lot slower. I think this is natural. The results come fast when you're doing something new. Once the body adapts, things don't happen so fast. To that end, I plan to continue on using TAM, but I won't be doing it per Tracy's recommendations. My plan is now to combine the following - * For lower body and abs the floor abs and MS work from Metamorphosis Hip Continuity and the original Metamorphosis Abcentric program 3x/week. * Upper body work will include the arm work from Tracy's Mat Workout, the upper body weights segments from Squeeze and Squeeze Stronger, and continuing to add light handweights to some of my Leslie walks - 3-4x/week. * More cardio, which will be dance workouts and Leslie walks, aiming for 40-60 min. sessions 4x a week. * Occasional "other stuff" like Ellen Barrett's stuff or the Ruah workouts just because I like them or the Fitstix workout because I think they add a really unique element to a fitness program. I'm going to be pretty loose with things for the summer, but my priorities will be to get the lower body Meta work in and my cardio sessions. I'm going to post final pictures on my blog by next week. Will post here when I've done that. __________________ Shelley

06-15-11, 06:07 PM
curious621 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dayton, OH	Thanks for your very detailed assessment! I have not yet been interested in these until today and your results sound great. It also doesn't sound too overwhelming. Thanks for sharing what you got out of it. Laura

06-15-11, 06:36 PM
andtckrtoo Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Island off the NC Coast	I enjoyed reading it, too, Shelley. I'm already sold on Meta (I own two centrics!). __________________ Christine Wag more, bark less

06-15-11, 06:39 PM
bee VF Supporter Join Date: Jul 2008	Yep, thanks, Shelley! I got your blog post and loved reading the wrap-up! I was wondering if you'll do continuity -- it sounds like you have a good mix of things for "maintenance"!

06-15-11, 07:01 PM
fuzzie VF Supporter Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Montreal, Quebec	Shelley - Thank you for your AWESOME report and congratulations on your perseverance and great results! I look forward to reading about your journey with the Continuity program...

06-15-11, 07:11 PM
yahoo205 Join Date: Apr 2002	tHANKS FOr this post. i think i 'm going to try hipcentric. is it 40 mins/day of muscular work? i was thinking about doing this with ballet body.

06-15-11, 07:28 PM
shortie Join Date: Mar 2009	Great report, Shelley! I drifted away from Meta, but am pondering a return to it in a while. Right now I have the Omni Continuity program still coming -- any votes from you Meta-ladies on which Continuity is the best? I have stuff to work on all over (which is why I picked Omni), but I hated/dreaded Omni level 2 and loved Glute, so I'm pondering changing. Any advice?