Slim Series Results and Body Type

[SpecialK]

Hi Everyone

I have been reading many interesting threads on this board and the Ya Yas about pple's experiences with Slim Series. I've been on the fence for awhile, espec when I consider the time commitment (an hour or more) involved for each of these workouts. I am also in Canada so the price of acquiring the tapes is even more costly so I would like to be as sure as I could about my potential return.

In terms of my body type, I tend to gain and keep muscle quite quickly and carry most weight (both fat and muscle) in my lower body (butt, thighs--dreaded pear shape). I am about 8 lbs from my ideal body weight and quite cardiovascularly fit. I have recently put more of a focus on non-weighted exercises for LB including Callanetics, TBM and T-tapp with positive results, but would like to incorporate a little more strength training to add muscular def'n.

I was wondering about the impact of introducing high rep, lower weight workouts like SS, but started to wonder if the differential results that pple have reported with the tapes are due to body type differences. That is whether those pple with good results tended to have a particular body type that responded best to these workouts.

Just wondering if those with good results from SS could comment on how close they were to their ideal weight, overall body type/fat storing tendecies (pear/apple), and their capacity for muscle building. Just wondering if there was a common pattern that would help us understand why some pple respond well to SS and others do not.
TIA

[GymRatt]

I'm a pear, and I gain fat and muscle fairly easily. A four-week rotation with SS slimmed me up nicely. I also added three 30minute cardio sessions per week, and added an extra Firm It Up session. I was 50lbs overweight at the time.

From what I gleaned reading some of the SS threads, those who had the self-reported 'good results' were the ones who added cardio AND cleaned up their D$&t

[Tiffanee]

Hello,
I love the Slim Series. I did a Slim Series Rotation about five months ago and got fantastic results. I lost about 10 lbs, went down a couple of dress sizes and relieved my chronic knee pain.

I'm a pear shape. I definately carry most of my weight in my lower body. The Slim Series allowed my to slim down my legs and define the muscles in my upper body. I can actually see my triceps muscles!

However, I do consider myself to be an advanced exerciser and actually added 20-30 minutes of cardio to the 60 minute workouts. I also slightly adjusted my eating.

We have a September light wt, high rep challenge going on right now where you can use any workout that fits in this category. So far, I've used Karen Voight, some Hollywood Trainer, Cindy Crawford, and Firm cardio workouts. My goal is to lose maybe another 5-10 lbs and tone up some more. It is too early in the month to tell if this rotation will do the trick but my knees do feel better working out this way.

Tiffanee

[eventmom]

I'm also a pear and my weight is fairly close to what I'd like (I'd like to be 5'6" 135, but usually closer to 140). At the end of my last SS rotation I actually made it to goal weight!!! However, my first two attempts didn't result in losing weight (actually gained a couple of pounds). After all my rotations my upper arms and upper thighs were very toned (ok, not the back of my thighs, sigh). Here's the rotation I did that got me good results, just so you can see and compare to other rotations:
Day 1: cool it off or another stretching workout
Day 2: tear it up
Day 3: cardio - usually intervals - usually added on callanetics for hip/butt exercises on my own
Day 4: tone it up
Day 5: mix it up
Day 6: 60 min. low impact cardio - usually added on callanetics hip/butt exercises on my own
Day 7: Shape it Up

Things that made this rotation different (and I think added to my success compared to earlier attempts)
1. I managed to fit in both long workouts each week.
2. On the days I did the long workouts - I added an extra serving of carbs to my breakfast. By doing so it seemed to refuel me and my appetite didn't go out of control the rest of the day (which had been a problem in my earlier SS rotations) **I hope that isn't interpreted as a diet comment, this refueling seemed to be important to my success so I don't want to leave it out but if I should edit it out someone tell me **
3. The little bit of callanetics seemed to help my lower body - note I didn't rotate firm it up as I wanted time for cardio and callanetics.

My arms looked really great - very lean and defined. Overall I looked great (for me). I didn't experience any negative effects (unusual fatigue, getting sick or anything). It sounds like we have similiar body issues and overall I find the high rep/low weight work to be a great way to go (although I also like to change it up and get in a high weight upper body workout sometimes) and I enjoy SS for high rep/low weight work. Terrie

[SpecialK]

Thanks for all of the thoughtful observations so far. It is sounding as though the combo of easy muscle/fat gain in LB may in fact respond well to this type of training providing that some cardio is incorporated.

Eventmom, thanks for that rotation. My stats re: weight and height are very similar to yours too. 130 is quite slim for me, but 135 looks pretty good....I am currently plateaued at 140 so maybe a change of training will kickstart things again.

I would love to continue hearing pple's experiences with SS and their body type correlations!!

Thanks
K

[abbyalex]

Here is one from the other side of the fence. I do gain and keep muscle rather easily, but SS did nothing for me. I am more of a "cone" or "apple" shape -- I carry my excess weight/fat in my upper body (arms, back, stomach) and have slim hips and thighs and don't tend to gain in my lower body. I got NO results from the SS Slim Training rotation. Zero. As for stats - I am 5'6" and weigh about 135 lbs.

I think body type (shape) has a lot to do with whether you can get results doing this style of workout. I have heard of more pears doing well with SS than any other type.

[cdot30]

Another Pear here. I have to say that SS gave me nice definition in the arms/shoulders, abs, and thighs. I'm not sure if it actually made me lose weight becouse I did the rotation about the same time I stopped breast feeding. Therefore I lost 5-10 pounds anyway.

[Laura S.]

I'm a pear shape and I didn't really lose any weight while doing Slim Series. I felt stronger and the series seemed to work my muscles differently than other workouts I have.

[Rhae]

I haven't done a true Slim Series rotation yet (will after P90X/PHH rotation is completed), but I have read that a lot of the "apple shapes" did get good results, too. (I seem to remember a few posts on it earlier this year, including Alta?--I think.) It seems to be a combination of what GymRatt said (adding cardio and cleaning up d**t) and the YMMV thing from what I have read.

[Lyzza350]

I really dont know what kind of body shape i am. I pretty much gain weight everywhere evenly and easily . However, ive managed to work it off. Im 5'2 106lbs, and i've been doing slim series for about a week. I've already noticed a change in my arms and my legs feel stronger. As for sliming i have not measured myself but one of my shirts fits a little less tight, so i would say i've gotten good results so far.


I have a seperate question though if anyone cares to answer. I am a cardio buff and having a tendency to gain weight, so i was wondering if i did a rotation where i did one slim series tape one then the next day one cardio tape, the next one SS tape and then the next day one cardio tape etc would work. If not, would you all mind telling me what cardio tapes you added to your workout that were a half hour and gave good results. I was trying to add cathe twice a week and i found that not only was i too tired, but i really dont have the time.


Thanks!!