So how is Cathe's STS 2.0 going?

[ChelePA]

I misunderstood what this series was going to be all about. I thought she advertised much shorter strength routines. I expected something similar to Perfect 30. I’m not a big fan of strength work but know how important it is, especially since my accident and as I get older. I usually try to keep it 30 to 40 minutes, including core. I’m also not going to give up my cardio because it really improves my mental health. I tried one workout using a short premix and it just didn’t work for me. I then previewed the rest of the series and realized I wasn’t going to get my bang for my buck. I decided to sell the strength workouts while there was still interest. I kept all the Recovery ones. I use them mostly for warm-ups. Especially the core, mobility and active recovery routines.

I posted this a few weeks ago but here’s a copy.


Posted in my check-in but thought I would share. Would love to hear others’ reviews.

Some thoughts on STS 2.0—

The core routines are really nice as a warm-up. Nothing too crazy with far less reps than usual. I know I mentioned this before, but since my accident and starting the Peloton calendar, I switched to doing abs/core first. It’s been a game changer for me. Never skip it at the end. Plus it really does get me ready for whatever comes next. I liked using the barbell plates for the moves in the standing routines. I just need to increase the poundage next time around. Also, hopefully I’ll be more coordinated with the mini ball exercises as well as one of the floor plank moves.

Mobility 1 and 2 are also nice to use at the beginning or end of a workout. I’ve been using them as a warm-up especially if I’m doing Peloton strength since they’re lacking in that area. Mobility 1 is definitely less intense after a somewhat active start. Reminds me a little of Perfect 30 but shorter. Definitely more relaxing than #2 with some nice dynamic stretching. Also really enjoyed Mobility 2. Might be a good one to tack on to her very short active recovery routine. She really focused on wrists in one section and I wish she would’ve done the same for ankles. I could really use it.

Yoga— the sitting routine was quite easy and I’m not sure if I will return to it. Maybe if the poses were held longer. Need to try it once more I guess before making a final decision. Loved the mat yoga more so as an extended stretch. I’ll definitely use this one at the end of my workouts.

Active Recovery/Total Body Stretch-hard for me to review without showing my frustration at the hiccups. Active Recovery was short and sweet but needs a little bit more IMO. Not standalone for me. Maybe a yoga or mobility workout afterwards or even the total body stretch premix. The animal crawls were a challenge, but I think the second time around, I will know what to expect and finish them more smoothly. Total Body Stretch had a really nice flow to it if you don’t have any issues. Haha. Just due to its length, I wish some of the poses were held longer.

Foam rolling-like I said in an earlier post, the upper body was not very comprehensive. It was used more as an assist and a stretch in my opinion. A few sections did go over technique. So if I use this one, I know it’s more stretching and not if I really need to get out the kinks/knots. The lower body routine was a little bit more traditional, but yet again, not enough time spent in each area. It’s good for beginners who need instruction. I probably will use both if I’m just looking for a lighter stretch or massage on my muscles.

[frostyjan]

I was doing the 8 week rotation (weight workouts only).
I completed 2 weeks of the Total Body workouts, and 2 weeks of the Upper/Lower Body workouts, and have decided to stop here.

For background, I had been using Caroline Girvan workouts for the 6 months before I decided to give this rotation a try. When I had a week between Caroline programs, I would use Cathe PHA workouts, or some combination of Cathe strength workouts 3 times a week.

I decided not to do the rest of the workouts because they feel inefficient. That is likely because I've gotten used to having a really good cardio effect with my strength workouts lately.

The rest periods felt super long, and unneccesary depending on which body parts were being worked. For example, I like the rest between leg exercises, when I am going super heavy, but much less so when I am rotating upper and lower body.

I was under the impression that we were to be lifting as heavy as possible because of the amount of rest involved, but there are random band/bodyweight single sets thrown in that take time to set up, but aren't done long enough to really burn out the muscle group.

The Lower Body 1 workout is quite good as a stand alone workout, but the Upper Body 1 only makes sense if you are doing it within the same week as the Upper Body 2. The UB workots are a full hour but I never felt really worked even though I was lifting heavy during each set.

The music is kind of boring, and overall the workouts seem overly fussy to me.

There are so many hour long Cathe workouts that are outstanding! These workouts, while not terrible, just aren't good enough to displace other more time efficient workouts.

I am very glad so many people are enjoying them!

[prettyinpink]

I am in the middle of the ten week rotation, kind of. But I will not be doing the last six weeks exactly as written. I haven’t done any of the phase 3 workouts yet.

So far, I like these more than any Cathe weight workouts I have ever done. I had been doing paper weight workouts for several years, except for a couple of breaks with Caroline Girvan. STS 2.0 came out at the perfect time for me, as they give me a plan for nearly the entire summer, and I was getting a little burned out on what I had been doing. It also gave me a break from the gym for awhile.

The main thing I don’t like might not matter to most here, which is the timing limitations of working with video: with dumbbell increments of 5# for the bigger muscles, it can be challenging to get the weight right to do EXACTLY 8 or 10 reps with Cathe for every exercise. So this means either not working to near-failure, doing fewer reps with heavier weight, or keeping the lower increment and pausing more to get reps in and still get adequate rest.

My more minor gripes:

-the workout guide doesn’t have the reps listed for each exercise, just the weight that Cathe uses. In a few instances, the weight listed is different from the video, but that isn’t a biggie.

-I really don’t love most of the recovery workouts I’ve done, and don’t plan to use them in the rest of the rotation or otherwise. I haven’t done the Chair Yoga or foam rolling ones.

-The warm-ups are fine but meh. I do my own dynamic stretching.

-cool-downs also meh, but I never care about cool-downs in workouts, just do what I need to on my own.

-I thought they would be a little shorter. But it’s okay.

-a little much in the way of isolation work for my taste. I’ve complained before here about too much biceps. I don’t see a reason to do weighted shrugs, ever.

-along with the isolation comment, this program seems UB-heavy. I’ll see what I think after I’ve finished. It looks more like a “bro” program for women to me than a lot of what is available out there for programs marketed at women, which tend to do more for lower body than upper. A little more lower than upper is my preference, too. I doubt it’s a matter of right or wrong, just preference. It’s also nice to do something different for a change!

-would like more postural exercises, like prone Pilates-inspired exercises, YTWL. This is a preference that I feel I benefit a lot from, but I could do this in addition to the workouts, also not a big deal.

Overall I’m happy I purchased and am enjoying them. The way each is structured slightly differently is engaging and makes the time go more quickly. Cathe is her usual, peppy but not too much, the set is bright and very nice. I have no idea about the music as I always turn it off and play my own, an option I really appreciate. The check-in is a nice bonus and I hope more people join, however much or little of the workouts they do.

[firmiewannabe]

Major disclaimer - When I bought this set, I knew it was going to be more advanced than I was ready to do but I wanted to give it a try thinking I could tweak it to work for me. Plus I own other Cathe dvds and have enjoyed working out with her.

So far, I'm not in love with it. I have other Cathe workouts that work much better for me. To be honest, I don't have the heavy weights that this set seems to require due to the very long rest periods between sets. I appreciate the fact that she gives plenty of options for equipment but there have been times where the chatter about what you can do goes on for so long that I got bored just waiting to do the move finally. The workouts are chaptered very well so I can skip to the next move vs having the full rest period but then it just feels like I'm holding my remote control more than dumbbells.

I've done all of the workouts except I do still need to do the Body Parts and foam rolling dvds. I hope I will find something that will work for me. Otherwise this set may be set aside as I return to other dvds.

On the positives, I do like the tropical scenes on the walls and the crew are all likeable. I'm in awe of some of the weights they use!

[difit]

Originally Posted by Pam61

I'm doing the 12 week rotation and will begin my 5th week on Monday. With the 12 week rotation the first 3 weeks are Total Body, the next 3 weeks are Upper/Lower Body, and the remaining weeks are individual Body Part workouts. The recovery workouts (Mobility, Stretch, Yoga, Foam Rolling) are sprinkled into your week, with the strength workouts. There's also an Abs/Core DVD with three workouts to add to the mix.

The only workouts I haven't tried yet are the "Parts" workouts, but I've been very pleased with all the workouts that I've done so far! I'm currently doing the full workout (as intended) but I can see these being very useful to add to your week anytime using the shorter premixes. As is, these are about an hour in length, more or less.

I only wish there had been a longer cooldown stretch on each of the strength workouts, instead of the short "abbreviated" stretch that might be about 3 minutes. And (as long as I'm wishing) specific stretches for just the Upper/Lower Body workouts would have been nice, too! Other than those few minor quibbles, I am very happy with this purchase and know I will use this set again and again.

It's also fun to put so much of my equipment to good use and to have so much variety (and options) the way Cathe created these workouts. Changing up your equipment to something different from week to week keeps you from getting bored with the same old dumbbells every single time.

Cathe's leggings are super cute in these workouts! It just makes me happy looking at some of the different combinations of outfits and the sets are nice and bright. Cathe and crew all look terrific and are either smiling or struggling with their last few reps. ;-)

Me too! Even though Cathe included recovery workouts and I do like them and are perfect length on days I don't work out for over an hour, but I do wish she added bonus stretches 8-10 min after the strength workouts. Due to length of strength workouts then adding an ab workout and then an extra stretch. I only have time to do add an 8-10 min stretch on those days. I have always added an extra stretch after my workouts depending on the length of my workouts, I add between 10-20 min.

I also thought the STS 2.0 were going to be shorter in the 40- 45 min. than the original STS. I guess including the premixes will make the workout shorter, but I very seldom do the premixes, unless I'm really pushing for time.

Did Cathe ever say where she gets her leggings?

[sheepla]

I haven't done a Cathe video in a look time as I've been working out at the gym lately. But I still finding myself reading every thread and wanting this set!

[AnMrsDe]

I'm really enjoying this set so far. I am loosely following the Low Impact Cardio rotation, changing up the cardio with my speed walks, so this summer I can get the "best of both worlds!" I really love the 3 total body workouts and will get lots of use out of those. There were maybe 1 or 2 workouts that didn't float my boat as much, but I think for the most part, these are a good fit for me and my fitness level & limitations right now. I do miss the # of reps listed in the UG, though...very disappointed with that.

I am finding I like to keep my YT mobility, core & stretch workouts added into the mix, as Cathe's are good (love the standing abs and mini ball especially done as a w/u!) but sometimes I like to provide more of a challenge for me as well as focusing on certain body parts for the stretches as well. Her active recovery is a good w/u also but not sure how often I'll do it, as it just isn't enough as a stand alone workout b/c of the length. I do love Cathe's P30 Mobility and need to keep that one in the mix for a recovery workout as well.

Love the brighter studio now and really enjoy Kristin as a newbie...her personality just shines! Cathe and crew are top notch (with awesome workout attire!) and very enjoyable to work out with. And talk about STRONG!!! Very inspiring!

I did purchase an additional 35# set of Cathe's BB plates, and a set of 40#'s (which is really heavy for ME). I don't plan to hold both 40's at once quite yet w/ my wrist limitations/grip limitations, LOL, but one DB may be doable where I can use both hands to grip it for the sumos, unilateral calves, close grip squats, or weighted bridges in a pinch when my heavier barbell isn't available.

Starting week 4 with the body parts (loved chest so far!), and I am feeling much stronger everywhere and my clothes seem a little looser ...my booty seems a little lifted/rounded also which makes me happy since my rotation last summer, it seemed I totally walked off my booty with all my speed walks! I think the weighted bridges/thrusts are coming through for me, LOL!

I honestly don't even notice the music which is a win/win for me since it's not annoying.

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase but it may be a matter of time until I tire of one instructor. By including my YT instructors, it is more doable for me, LOL!

UPDATE 7/15/23: I just finished the Body Parts workouts and really love those as much as the total body workouts!! This is my FAVORITE Cathe program EVER!!!! I am starting my own rotation incorporating them all by mixing them up - should be fun! I'm at least going to do this until the end of July...maybe longer, we'll see how it goes.

[counterclockwise]

I’m starting my 3rd week of total body. I have done zero recovery workouts but I’m committed to doing them this week. I really like the total body workouts. I like the heavier weights and lower reps, and even though you repeat sets in some of the workouts, it doesn’t feel repetitive to me for some reason. I think it says something that I didn’t want to immediately switch to the upper/lower workouts after doing total body for 2 weeks.

Did I do all the workouts as-is? No - I have been doing knee pushups and modified chin-ups instead of the chest and back exercises in Supersets as an example. But the structure of that workout really suits doing something like that because the reps aren’t too high, so I just go at the same pace as Cathe. I do that because those are two exercises I want to get a jump on improving on. I modified the other two workouts slightly too, but not that much.

I know it seems like legs aren’t worked enough, and I could be wrong, but I might be convinced that if you could really go as heavy as possible, it would be enough when looking at the week as a whole.

But that’s not going to be possible for everyone - some of us won’t have heavy enough weights, a squat rack or weight vest, or we will have injuries or other issues that prevent that.

Although the workouts are on the long side, I can use the premixes to still get a pretty good shorter workout. And I can quickly skip rests where I feel like I don’t need them. Supersets (which I think has the most annd longest rests?) even has a no rest premix that is 44 min long.

ETA: meant to write above that the part about there being enough LB volume was just about the total body workouts. I haven’t done any others at this point.

[prettyinpink]

Originally Posted by counterclockwise

I know it seems like legs aren’t worked enough, and I could be wrong, but I might be convinced that if you could really go as heavy as possible, it would be enough when looking at the week as a whole.

But that’s not going to be possible for everyone - some of us won’t have heavy enough weights, a squat rack or weight vest, or we will have injuries or other issues that prevent that.
.

Yes, I think you are right! Although still I think you’d run up against the format of the workout, because there will be a limit to how heavy you can go for legs if you are doing 7 sets of 10 squats as you do in one of the lower body workouts, plus all of the lunges and deadlifts. Or doing sets of ten with no rest before the next exercises, as Giant Sets. The format of the workout is designed for people who are at home and are much more likely to have equipment limitations.

I am not feeling much of a lack of lower body in phase 2. But it seems unpopular at the moment in the strength training world for women to do legs just one day per week as in phase 3 of STS 2.0. That’s one reason it seems light on the legs to me and maybe to others, because that is less than we are already doing. Phase 1 also has a little less leg and glute volume than I am used to. Unpopular doesn’t mean wrong, but for me working legs more often is a strong preference that I have had good results with.

[counterclockwise]

Originally Posted by prettyinpink

Yes, I think you are right! Although still I think you’d run up against the format of the workout, because there will be a limit to how heavy you can go for legs if you are doing 7 sets of 10 squats as you do in one of the lower body workouts, plus all of the lunges and deadlifts. Or doing sets of ten with no rest before the next exercises, as Giant Sets. The format of the workout is designed for people who are at home and are much more likely to have equipment limitations.

I am not feeling much of a lack of lower body in phase 2. But it seems unpopular at the moment in the strength training world for women to do legs just one day per week as in phase 3 of STS 2.0. That’s one reason it seems light on the legs to me and maybe to others, because that is less than we are already doing. Phase 1 also has a little less leg and glute volume than I am used to. Unpopular doesn’t mean wrong, but for me working legs more often is a strong preference that I have had good results with.

Great points