Program reccomendations

[Feathers]

Hi

I was wondering if I could get some advice on which program(s) I should go for.

I am 16 and a girl and would like a program(s) that would maintain fitness levels (I am already very fit) but doesn't require much in the way of excessive time use (3xs a week is as much as I cope with) as I am not really looking for fat loss and muscle growth programs, just something that will help me maintain my current condition.

The truth is, I loathe working out, but need something to keep me fit as I live in an apartment in Dubai so there is not much room for lots of physical activity (I usually stay with my grandparents on their farm during the summer and that is the kind of work/fitness I love the most) so all I want at most is something that only takes a few minutes a couple of times a week and is just enough to keep me ticking over as it were, just until I can get back to working on my Grandparents farm.

I have previously tried the BER Fundamentals program, and although I enjoyed it, I find It causes me nothing but stress the night before I have to do it.(It makes me ill thinking about it)I also purchased the Bodyweight Fatloss for life program by Adam Steer, but found 4xs a week was too much, and I really wasn't into it (I hated it - no offense) I am open to any and all suggestions that you may have.

Thanks for listening and I hope you can point me in the right direction as to which products to choose.

All the best,

Alex

[John B]

Alex,

Welcome to the forums...

Based on your descriptions, FlowFit®® would certainly get the job done. You need very little floor space, don't need any additional equipment, it can be done in as little as 14 minutes per session, is progressive for easy entry and straight-forward advancement, and is a great conditioning tool.

Still, it is a body weight program. Even though the protocol is different than Coach Steer's and Coach Murdock's body weight programs, I'd hesitate fully recommending FlowFit®® until I heard a little more as to what difficulties you had with the other programs.

Was it the fact that it was all body weight? Was it the protocol? The commitment to the programming? Or was it something else?

Regards,

[Coach Gostnell]

Was it the fact that it was all body weight? Was it the protocol? The commitment to the programming? Or was it something else?

John's correct that a little more information would be good, what you liked or didn't, also perhaps what sorts of work do you do on the grandparent's place? Bucking hay bales, dealing with livestock? As he mentioned, FlowFit would get the job done, and you might even experience a nice carryover into the work you do, because of the conditioning but also because of the different ranges of motion the exercises entail.

You might also enjoy Intu-Flow - even someone your age can have developed a few glitches, especially someone who's done heavy work or sports; it's very low intensity and feels very good, especially the morning after a long day of physical activity.

Now two questions in one: do your grandparents live in the States or Europe and exactly how much room do you have in the Dubai apartment?
I ask because, while I use the bodyweight programs, what I truly love is swinging clubbells. They'd be a less expensive experiment for you if you could purchase them when you're stateside or in Europe, or depending where you are, you might find a CST person who could introduce you to this form of training. A number of the exercises can be done without needing a great deal of room, the Xtension series, for instance.
Feel free to send one of us a pm if you like for more information.

[Feathers]

Hi

Thanks for replying so quick.

I have a fair amount of room in my Bedroom, enough to easily house a yoga mat, I could probably swing something around, but it would depend on how long the clubbell was.

My Grandparents live in the UK and I do alot of work with Livestock (goats, chickens, dogs) like cleaning, walking, feeding, maintenence and things like mowing grass, removing old vegetation, cutting branches, working in an allotment, so I would say I spend alot of time moving around, pulling, pushing, crouching down, that sort of thing. (My grandparents don't have a huge farm, just a little small holding so we work lots cause it's just us)

I like the bodyweight stuff, in fact I prefer it to the traditional dumbbells and stability ball stuff, as I used to use the Turbulence Training programs, but found it gave me huge traps and a puffy look, I also found the bodyweight exercises yielded much better results in a shorter time (I followed the BER fundamentals workout 3xs per week for 3 weeks and have never had better results) and they were alot more fun and seemed to have sorted out some kinks that were put in place by the Turbulence Training.

I find 3xs per week is enough for me, so the Bodyweight for fat loss program, at 4xs a week was too much, and the BER Fundamentals was such hard work that the thought of having to workout more was a bit scary - enough to put me right off. I have taken a break from working out (this is the 2nd week) and turned to low impact stuff like swimming until I can muster up the desire to workout again, the problem could be that maybe the workouts were done at too fast of a progression and as a result my body has put me off working out until it feels ready to go at it again.

Although I don't mind working out, I would really rather not do it, as I've practically grown up on a farm, and I'm used to hard physical work that doesn't really feel like hard work and exercise (you only know it's been hard when you sit down in the evening and are only watching TV so you can go to bed at a grown up time even though you know the minute you put your head on the pillow you'll be sound asleep - the best kind of living!) but since I currently live in an apartment and have a few more years of living in the same sort of surroundings (college etc) until I can get a farm of my own, I am quite happy to work out until I can do something else.

Thanks for the support,

Alex

Ps Flow Fit and Intu Flow sound good, so does the clubbells, can you explain a little more about them?

Thanks

[Coach Gostnell]

Hi Alex,
Your grandparents' farm sounds idyllic. We lived in town but I had aunts, uncles and cousins with dairy farms where I spent as much time as possible. (I didn't like it though, when I was little and they butchered the rabbits I'd been feeding all summer - wouldn't eat dinner that night, which was of course, rabbit.)

Intu-Flow® is the basic joint mobility program - it helps nourish and "clean up" the joints proper and the connective tissue, keeps things lubricated and the space between the joints opened up so that the synovial fluid, doesn't get squeezed out as gravity, age and mileage compress things. It also helps you seek out and release unnecessary tension that you might not realize gets built up from doing everyday activities, such as spending hours at a keyboard. It's a sort of systematic "inventory" you can run through all or part of every day, taking anywhere from 10 minutes to as long as you want. The DVDs teach you the program as well as the proper form that you'd use with any of the other CST programs.

We have to head to town right now, but I'll get back to your other questions ASAP. But just to let you know, there's some great CST instructors/coaches in the UK, Coach Hothi, Michael Addison and Genella Doble come immediately to mind.

[Feathers]

Hey,

Can anyone tell me the difference between the Prasara yoga program and the flow fit program, and also what each one entails.

I'm not really into being beaten within an inch of my life with an exercise program (I tried it with the BER Fundamentals for 3 weeks, and as a result I haven't worked out for another 3 weeks!)

Don't get me wrong, it was fantastic for the first week, but I soon realised it wasn't for me when I was trying to coax myself into my workout clothes to do the exercises. Fantastic results though! Really amazing job coach Steer and Murdock, but just a bit too much for me!

Thanks for the quick replies by the way, much appreciated!

[John B]

If you've been feeling burnt out, as you've mentioned in previous posts, you may prefer the Prasara Series A flows. While the postures/movements can certainly kick your ass, they will do so not by driving you into the ground/suicide type work, but by highlighting weakness and imbalance in the body. I find they do wonders for bringing me back to center, especially on days when I'm mentally drained.

You'll pick an active pose, work at nailing it and eventually linking several poses together into a chain or flow of movements. But the pacing is different than that of a FlowFit or a BER Fundamentals session. And even if you don't feel as though you've worked out, the movements are serving to transform you into a stronger, more pain free individual.

[Chuck Kechter]

Hey,

Can anyone tell me the difference between the Prasara yoga program and the flow fit program, and also what each one entails.

I'm not really into being beaten within an inch of my life with an exercise program (I tried it with the BER Fundamentals for 3 weeks, and as a result I haven't worked out for another 3 weeks!)

Don't get me wrong, it was fantastic for the first week, but I soon realised it wasn't for me when I was trying to coax myself into my workout clothes to do the exercises. Fantastic results though! Really amazing job coach Steer and Murdock, but just a bit too much for me!

Thanks for the quick replies by the way, much appreciated!

1. Flowfit is a part of Prasara. It is a specific flow that can be used as a conditioning tool or as a warm up for other work, or as a mobility tool.

2. "I'm not really into being beaten within an inch of my life with an exercise program..." At the risk of sounding snarky ( I am not by the way) you know this is all about you don't you? It is not the program -- or any program for that matter. It is how you approach that program. CST uses a scale of exertion for a reason.

Your 5 or 6 on a moderate day might only be a 2 on someone else's. So if you're be "beaten" by a program I would have to ask how you are going about performing that program. On a moderate day, are you TRULY staying within a moderate level on the RPE scale, or are you always "busting-a-gut?"

If you are truly doing the work, then maybe what you need is some acclimation time with the exercises before actually setting to on the program. Like learning a new movement, break the components of the program down, groove them and then add them all back together back into the selected program.

Does that make sense?

[Health First Fitness UK]

Chuck that's invaluable advice you've given there, and a great reminder for all of us, thank you.

Michael :)

[Feathers]

Thanks for getting back so quick.

Is the Yoga program something you can continue to do for like a year, without having to change to something else (I know alot of workouts have to be changed every month/few weeks to stop you from plateu-ing)

If so, do you have a reccommended follow up program? I only really need something that will keep me going for about a year and a half - if that, I'm going to college next year in Feb, and am going to be working at my Great Aunt's farm or at my Uncle's Landscape Gardening business, so exercise isn't going to be such an issue.

Also, Since I seem to be doing the BER Fundamentals wrong, can someone explain it to me along with the FlowFit® and Clubbells program?

I only ask so many questions (most are the same but different format) because I really don't have much money, and I wanna make sure what I buy is best for me, as I bought the BBFFL program, and can't use it.

Thanks

[Chuck Kechter]

Flowfit has 4 levels to it. If you did 4 4x7s with it (assuming your progress within the program is linear) that would be 4 months worth of training. Then add to it, that you could use is for either (or both) pre or post WO mobility work, you could cycle this one program for a very long time.

BER has 4 programs in it. All of which can be cycled. As long as you'd want to. Add to that, that all the exercises can be scaled (contact Coaches Steer and Murdock for this) -- and that you have complete control over how you perform, and you potentially have a lifetime of training with this one program.

Why can't you use BBFFL? Is there some movement or series of movements you can't do? Is it the RPE scale -- that you feel you don't have a handle on how to judge your performance levels? Be specific and maybe one of the coaches or instructors can suggest solutions to your dilemma...

[Feathers]

The time use.

4x7. I can't do the workouts four times a week, I am used to do 3xs per week and I only really need something Low-Key to keep me at my current fitness level - I don't want to muscle up like a bull elephant or loose so much fat I look like Madonna (Slim yes, but ropey no)

I hear you can do the flowfit workouts like that, is it true?

But anyway, I only need something that is 3xs per week, pretty low key, and can be done for 1-2 years or has a follow up program that can be done after the first is finished.

[Chuck Kechter]

Yes. Flowfit can be used like that...

But so can BBFFL, though the results you get would be different from what it's advertised to produce.

It's not the exercises... It's how you approach them, how you program them, what kind of results you want, how committed you are to getting them... Etc...

You won't muscle up by a program alone, that takes the right kind of food, ingested at the right times to produce the right hormone profile to increase muscle mass... You won't lose fat and look like Madonna because, A. you're male, and B. that takes the right kind of food, taken at the right times to produce the hormone profile to burn fat (and not lose [much]) muscle...

Good luck on your quest!

[Coach Gostnell]

Hi Alex,
Sorry about not getting back to you - our weekend became more involved than we expected!

Looks as though Chuck has answered your questions, but continue to inquire if you need to. Our goal is to help you succeed at your goals! And keep us posted if you can or encounter challenges as you progress.