Rethinking my Slim in 6 results - blech!

[Jewels5]

Rebecca,

I sent you a PM.

Julie

[Pratima]

I admit, I'm baffled. SS is one of the few sets that actually got rid of that bulge for me.

HOWEVER--that only happened when I added in kickboxing, so I'd basically do one day of SS and one of kickboxing. It's like SS cardio isn't intense enough for me and the kickboxing helps overcome that problem.

I can't imagine the weights used with SS are enough to really build muscle. Again, this is my experience--I've never gone heavier than 10# dumbbells. Are you all going heavier than that?

[eventmom]

blueskies - I don't know exactly why that happened. I seem to recall that my first 2 rounds I did a day of cardio between the total body workouts. My last round I think I did use cardio but ditch firm it up and maybe then I did lose a little, but my body cannot handle those workouts daily. I realize now I had forgotten I used cardio a day between the first two times. But I get your point about that not being the look you were going for. Pratima added kb between SS and got good results - I think this shows how YMMV is so true.

Terrie

[cherimac]

Originally Posted by Pratima

I admit, I'm baffled. SS is one of the few sets that actually got rid of that bulge for me.

HOWEVER--that only happened when I added in kickboxing, so I'd basically do one day of SS and one of kickboxing. It's like SS cardio isn't intense enough for me and the kickboxing helps overcome that problem.

I can't imagine the weights used with SS are enough to really build muscle. Again, this is my experience--I've never gone heavier than 10# dumbbells. Are you all going heavier than that?

That was my experience as well. I wonder if SS has a different effect on the body than Slim in 6?

[Belle de Jour]

Debbie is one of my favorite instructors, but I had some pretty bizarre results with a Slim Series rotation.

I was following Slim Training for four weeks, and I noticed my arms and thighs getting much thicker. I am more of an hourglass figure, and these are serious problem areas for me as is. My guess is I was building muscle and not burning fat because I was not getting much of a cardio effect with the workouts. My arms looked massive, not defined. I just couldn't stand it.

After, I switched to Classical Stretch and Essentrics, which really smoothed out my appearance while still giving a challenging workout. I've found everything is individual ... unweighted is the only way I've ever been able to get leaner.

[Pratima]

Originally Posted by cherimac

That was my experience as well. I wonder if SS has a different effect on the body than Slim in 6?

I do think of them very differently--the weight work in Si6 is all at the end, and I actually tend to go a bit heavier. In SS, it's throughout. But IMO the cardio is the same in both--not intense enough for me to really get my heart rate up. Even doing say, weighted lunges in SS doesn't seem to be enough after a while.

[LeanneM]

Originally Posted by Diana3271

I have been watching/reading this thread with interest. I think I have something similar to Rebecca going on.

I purchased #10 SD Xtreme and pretty much followed the rotation at written. I did add in some extra cardio, since my body seems to prefer cardio. The highest weight that I used was #10.

Then I purchased heavier weights, #12 & #15. I finished my rotation and started it again with the heavier weights. I used #12 for upper body and #15 for lower body. I just finished this rotation a couple of weeks ago.

When I am heavier I am pear/bell shaped. I am still in my maintenance weight range. So my weight is OK. I love the muscle definintion in my upper body. I have always been very small in my upper half. But the problem is my bottom half, again. I swear I am getting saddle bags!

I was reading this thread with interest because I am starting my #10 SD Xtreme rotation again and then I was going to follow that with some SS training. Now I am totally rethinking this whole thing.

I'm not very knowledgable with weights/rotations. I don't want to detract from the original poster. We have similar situations, so hopefully it's OK to post my question here. What should I do?

I want to continue with #10 SD Xtreme in some way. It's the only system that uses weights that I have stuck with. Would it be best to do the #10 SD Lower Body workouts unweighted? Or should I do something like Ilaria's Body Strikes in place of the lower body workouts?

I appreciate any advice you can offer.

Diana, I'm having the exact same problem! I just finished a second round of #10 SD Xtreme, and have the pronounced saddlebags/jodphurs thing going on as well. I'm feeling really discouraged by it!

[ilovemybirds]

I've had similar problems, every time I do LB workouts with squats and lunges. For example, I've been doing Body Pump, and my thighs have gotten bigger (especially in the quads). The only time my legs look good is when I do floorork and Pilates for my lower body work.

[Inchworm]

Originally Posted by ilovemybirds

I've had similar problems, every time I do LB workouts with squats and lunges. For example, I've been doing Body Pump, and my thighs have gotten bigger (especially in the quads). The only time my legs look good is when I do floorork and Pilates for my lower body work.

Hi. So what are your favorite Pilates and floor work dvd's??

Thanks,
Kelly

[LeanneM]

Originally Posted by ilovemybirds

I've had similar problems, every time I do LB workouts with squats and lunges. For example, I've been doing Body Pump, and my thighs have gotten bigger (especially in the quads). The only time my legs look good is when I do floorork and Pilates for my lower body work.

That's good to know!