KCM 30 Minutes to Fitness Favorites...

[schoolgirl-01]

Originally Posted by SueT

Schoolgirl-01, what kind of workouts seem to be good for your knees? I'm 54 and I had knee surgery two years ago, and I've noticed that if I miss working out for more than two days, my knees feel stiffer. For me Jari Love workouts have been working out well, as well as consistent cardio, as long as I keep the impact to a minimum. The worst thing for my knees is inactivity.

For quite a while I was afraid of weight workouts for my knees, but after trying Cathe's ICE workouts, I realized they made my knees actually feel better. I remember when my knee surgeon told me to stay away from squats and lunges, but that was right after surgery. To me it only makes sense to strengthen the muscles that support the knees, but I just keep the weight to a reasonable amount so I don't stress out the joints too much.

I'm just curious what has worked for other people with knee issues.

Thanks,
Sue

i do kettlebells 4 or 5 days a week and think it's done the best for rehabbing my knee.

i also do KCM or Cathe Ice or Low Impact Series.

Cathe Ice To The Mat, Low Impact Sweat, and Turbo Barre has helped a lot. i do each of those DVDs once a week.

i also do step like Cathe Low Max or the Stairmaster. i live in South Florida the land of no stairs or hills. it only became clear to me when we were living here for about 6 months or so how bad that is for my knee. so we bought a stairmaster and i'll do Low Max once a week (i use one riser).

then when i'm done beating up my knee for the day i do Yoga Tune UP i have all the DVDs.

then on the weekend i'll do a long foam roller/yoga combined DVD called Flexible Warrior 5.0 Foam Roll, Stretch, Recover.

now on top of this i take a large amount of supplements for joint health (i don't think this is diet related).

I take Neocell Collagen II, Super Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, and Mega Red Krill Oil. i take other stuff but those are the ones that i think help my knee.

we went away for the weekend last week and i forgot my pills by the time we got home i could tell my joints weren't as juicy as they typically are and i felt it in my knees when i did my monday exercises. within two days of taking the supplements my joints went right back to being juicy.


always feel free to ask me anything, my life is an open book and us knee people have to stick together.

[Aurora C.]

I know, I gain so much knowledge from you generous folks here at Videofitness! I used to get cranky knees from running a lot and doing too many forward lunges when I was in my Debbie Siebers period...but I had extra weight on and have since discovered HIIT and sub in back, side or curtsy lunges wherever necessary since forward ones done at a fast pace don't agree with me.

I'm loving the supplement recs! Thank you! My Mom has had double knee replacements a few years ago already so I'm going to share all this with her and maybe I'll experiment with some of those supplements too...is it ever too soon to give father time the finger?

[SueT]

Schoolgirl-01, thanks so much for your response. I remember when I tried to do Cathe's ICE workouts how wonderful it felt to get back to the kind of workouts that are my absolute favorites, that I thought I might not be able to do again. Physical therapists and doctors generally are very conservative with their recommendations for what we should and shouldn't do, and sometimes we just have to experiment to see what works for us.

Thanks again,
Sue

[DrSteph]

Originally Posted by summer breeze

I am curious what kind of results you've seen from just doing KCM workouts for several months.

Warning: this may be more detail than you were looking for.

Prior to doing only KCM workouts for strength and cardio, I was primarily using Jari’s workouts for strength (the original Ripped series, Get Extremely Ripped, and the Weights and Abs workout from Lean Machine) and a mix of various instructors for cardio (mostly Kathy Smith, Christi Taylor, and Leslie) and some Ellen Barrett and yoga workouts mixed in.

Since I have switched to only KCM for strength workouts, I have experienced a noticeable increase in strength in all muscle groups but particularly in my shoulders, which have traditionally been rather wimpy. I was not getting any noticeable strength gains from Jari’s workouts -- after up to a year of doing them I was not able to increase my weight load at all for any muscle group other than lower body, although her workouts did help with endurance. With KCM workouts, I have been able to increase my weight load with many upper and lower body exercises and feel stronger overall. I am also seeing muscle definition in my arms, shoulders, back, and chest which I have never had before.

I have also had a very noticeable increase in cardio capacity from doing KCM’s cardio – I don’t get nearly as winded now as I did when I first started her workouts, even though my heartrate is still nicely elevated.

The biggest surprise was the results I have seen in my abs/core. It seemed that no matter what I did, I could not flatten my abs. Now, my abs are almost flat and some of the excess fat that was holding on for dear life has melted away. I still have some more progress to make in that area but I am astounded by the results so far without doing any “traditional” ab work. I attribute this mainly to the boxing/kickboxing as well as the standing core work she incorporates into many of her workouts.

I find that the 30 minute format works well for me. I work out in the morning so I get a little extra sleep with a 30 minute workout compared with the hour I usually spent with Jari. And with KCM’s premixes there is the option of doing longer workouts when I have more time (usually on the weekends).

I still mix in Ellen and yoga workouts for a change of pace, but you’d have to pry my KCM DVDs out of my cold dead hands.

Steph

[SueT]

Steph, were you using the rotations that Kelly has on her site, or were you making up your own rotations?

Congratulations on your awesome results!

Sue

[summer breeze]

Steph, thank you so much for your detailed response! That's exactly the kind of response I love actually . It sounds like KCM has helped you on so many fronts, that's great! I'm especially impressed with the strength gains and ab/core results! You may have convinced me KCM is the way to go! Congratulations and thanks again!

[DrSteph]

Sue: I have not been using a specific rotation, but I generally aim for 3 days of strength and 3 days of cardio per week. I try to make sure that 2 of the 3 strength days are total body "pure" strength, and 1 day is circuit/interval. But sometimes I break my own rules. The great thing about Kelly's premixes is they allow for so much versatility. For example, even though the main workouts on Circuit Burn are cardio/strength circuits, there are premixes with only the strength or only the cardio components of the circuit. So this DVD can be used as pure strength, pure cardio, or circuits/intervals.

summer_breeze: I'm glad my response was helpful! As I mentioned, my abs are not exactly where I want them to be yet but I am seeing progress toward that goal for the first time in a *long* time. I use 1-lb gloves for boxing/kickboxing, which surprisingly helps me to actually feel my core engage. I have never really been able to achieve that feeling with other ab workouts. Not sure why, but for whatever reason the boxing just seems to click.

Thanks to you both for the congratulations!

Steph

[bzar]

"SOMEWHAT" OLD THREAD ALERT:

been stalking really good threads about people's favorites since today is Kelly's sale.

i want to get more of her workouts that have more weights segments. i already own about 14 KCMs.

QUESTION: what are your favorite KCM weights workouts, and if you could, quick sentence on why it's your favorite?

the following have made the short list for this possible order:
30MTF Muscle Definition - can go heavy, can use as endurance w/o; good premixes
30MTF Muscle Up/Lift 2B Fit - can heavy up
30MTF Plateau Buster - easier weight training w/o

also considered these:
30MTF Body Shop
30MTF Split Sessions
30MTF Strength & Stamina (bonus step routine is good to have too)
30MTF Your Best Body

[schoolgirl-01]

if i could only have one KCM it would be strength and stamina i love doing dumbbells and kettlebells in one workout

[DrSteph]

Originally Posted by bzar

"QUESTION: what are your favorite KCM weights workouts, and if you could, quick sentence on why it's your favorite?

Right now, my favorite is Muscle Definition (I say "right now" because my tastes tend to vary over time). I like it because each of the two main workouts are total body workouts, although there is a bit less emphasis on the lower body. I can go heavier as there are fewer reps and active rests between sets (generally, there is a lower body exercise as a "rest" between sets of upper body work).

The main workouts do clock in closer to 40 min than 30 min.

There are a variety of premixes as well, but I tend not to use them much as they are splits and I prefer total body workouts.

Steph