Foam Rolling is part of Cathe Friedrich‘s STS 2.0 program which contains 26 workouts. The subtitle for the STS 2.0 program is Muscle and Recovery. These workouts are part of the Recovery. I am doing the 12 week STS 2.0 rotation; however I am not following it to the letter. The foam rolling doesn’t actually fall into the first week of the program but I did it anyway since I plan to foam roll once a week during the program. First off, this is not a bad foam rolling workout but definitely not the best. For the lower body I feel that Cathe is just showing you how to do it. It’s short so it’s actually perfect to add onto the end of a lower body workout if you have the time, but if my legs were sore, I would definitely want to spend more time on them. Thankfully they are not sore. The upper body foam rolling workout is more than foam rolling. First, it doesn’t hit every muscle group in your upper body and second, it is more of a dynamic stretch/mobility workout with some foam rolling. That is not a bad thing. I really enjoyed it and it was not nearly as uncomfortable as most foam roller workouts I’ve done recently are but if you want (or need) to get some deep foam rolling for your upper body, this is not the workout for you.
Since it was the first time I did both workouts I used my long softer foam roller rather than my rumble roller (which is short and has knobs all over it). Because of this the actual foam rolling was not nearly as uncomfortable as it normally is. In fact, the only areas that were truly uncomfortable were my calves, IT band and one side of my lats. So the next time I do this I will have both foam rollers out so I can dig deeper into the muscles. For some of the exercises you need the long foam roller because the length is important to the exercise.
I will continue to use these workouts for the first phase and maybe the second phase of the 12 week program but by the 3rd phase I plan to substitute other, better foam rolling workouts by other trainers.
Update: I just finished week 2 of the 12 week program and did the premix that starts with lower body and finishes with upper body. As I mentioned above, this time I had both foam rollers handy and used my rumble roller for most of the actual rolling (except my IT band and lats–I stuck with the softer foam roller for those). I definitely felt a big difference. I would have liked to have spent longer on some muscle groups but the rumble roller worked the muscles nicely–lots of discomfort. I will do these two workouts again next weekend when I finish out Phase 1, but for Phase 2 & 3 I will use other, better foam roller workouts.
Foam Rolling Upper Body is 20:13 minutes. Equipment: fitness mat and long foam roller. You will flow in and out of some of the positions and hold some (and sometimes both!).
- Chest expansion (lay on foam roller so back of head down to glutes are all on foam roller, roll gently side to side; extend both arms to ceiling with palms facing each other, open arms out to sides in T, opening chest; change arm position to goalpost/cactus and open arms to sides; pull elbows down towards waist then push arms overhead into a “Y”; extend arms to ceiling again, palms facing away from you, extend one arm overhead while lowering the other arm beside you, alternate arm positions)
- Upper back (sit on mat with foam roller behind you horizontally, knees are bent with feet on mat, raise hips and roll out the spine)
- Lats (lay on side with one hip on mat and foam roller under arm, arm is extended overhead, using foot, roll foam roller all along lats)
- Side reaching side bend (sit cross-leg on mat, foam roller is on mat beside you, place same side hand on roller, reach other arm over head and do a side bend, reaching top arm over to other side of body while rolling other arm out on foam roller)
- Thoracic rotation (get on knees and one hand, foam roller is on floor with end just behind hand that is on floor, bring other arm underneath of you and place hand on roller, palm facing ceiling, lower shoulder to mat, rolling arm out on foam roller into a thread the needle type move)
- Side tilted saddle stretch (sit on mat with legs open wide, place foam roller between ankles holding one end of roller in each hand, do a side stretch, lifting one end of the foam roller off mat so it is sitting on one end, alternate sides)
- Posture muscles/arms (kneel on mat with foam roller in front of you, place forearms on foam roller, palms facing each other and lower down as if in child’s pose–hold this pose while Cathe explains what is coming next and why; lift and lower one arm, lift and lower other arm, then roll foam roller toward you by bending elbows then roll foam roller back to start)
- Prayer stretch/upward arc (start in same starting position as #7 except palms are facing downward, let head/chest drop down to deepen the stretch (this is prayer stretch); roll foam roller toward you while raising body upright into high kneeling, round spine as you do this, at top cervical spine will still be rounded, roller will be against thighs and finger tips will be on roller, roll back out into prayer stretch)
- Thoracic open book (lay on one hip, both arms are extended straight in front of you on mat with palms together, foam roller is in front of you, bottom leg is straight, top leg is bent and resting on foam roller, open top arm so that your torso is open and arms are in a T (spinal twist))
- Sit cross leg and roll shoulders
Foam Rolling Lower Body is 13:39 minutes. Equipment: fitness mat and foam roller.
- Calves (sit on mat with foam roller beneath calves, place hands on mat behind hips, raise hips off mat and roll out calves; for a deeper release, cross one leg over the other; continue this but move foam roller to the side a bit and place one foot mat so you are now rolling out only one calf )
- Hamstrings (place hamstrings on foam roller, hands are on mat behind you, roll out hamstrings; changes to single leg rolling)
- Quadriceps (get into a modified plank position with one quad on end of roller and other knee on floor, roll out quad; after doing each leg, you will do a double leg quad roll out)
- IT band (get into a sort of modified side plank with outside of one leg resting on foam roller, top leg is bent with foot in front of you, bottom hand is on mat, roll up and down the outside of your thigh, staying away from your knee joint)
- Inner thigh (lay on stomach on mat, one leg is extended straight and the other is bent and pulled up to side, place roller under thigh of bent leg and roll out inner thigh)
- Glutes (sit on foam roller with feet on floor and hands on mat behind you, roll back forth over glutes; cross one ankle over other knee and lean onto glute of crossed leg, roll out one side of glutes)
Premixes:
Foam Rolling Total Body: Upper Body + Lower Body 31:01
Foam Rolling Total Body: Lower Body + Upper Body 31:32
Foam Rolling Total Body: Mish Mosh 31:41
Happy Saturday!
I’m glad you reviewed the foam rolling first. I have very limited experience with it so it’s nice to sort of have the lay of the land before I tackle it.
I’ve been following Week 1 and so far I like it! Not the super intense Caroline that I’ve been used to but still thorough. On the recovery days I’ve started with 30 min of Cathe boxing vids (fit split box bootcamp, LITE rev’d up rumble and xtrain hard strikes) and then finished with abs and the recovery/yoga. I decided to include the boxing this week because those are my favorite cardio Cathe workouts! But ugh, I forgot how tough hard strikes is on my lower calves. I’m certain I’ll be sore in the coming days. And I also have an appreciation for how convenient it is to have a playlist in YouTube so you can go from one workout to the next without stopping. With dvds I now have to eject and switch discs. What a pain! If she puts out any more workouts I’ll have to get the downloads instead, I think. 🤨
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Tomorrow I finish Week 1 and I am loving it. I was really nervous about doing it but so far I am really enjoying it. I have my nitpicks but my consensus on the first week is–great program! I am think I like it more than the original STS.
This foam rolling workout is easy compared to all of the others I have done so far–which is why I will eventually substitute other foam rolling workouts. But it was enjoyable. And the lower body one is so short it is a nice add on. If it weren’t DVD! That is sort of a PIA.
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I bought Cath’s STS 2.0 program as well! I’m finishing Caroline’s Beast program (trying to, I skip the HIIT days) and will be doing Cathe! It’s my first STS as I didn’t do the first 1. I’m still a newbie to lifting as I was a cardio junkie. I’ve seen strength improvements with using Caroline’s programs over the pandemic but I was weak as heck to begin with lol!
I love Caroline’s programs but I always hear about progressive overload and increasing weights over the weeks and I’m not sure if Caroline’s programs do that. I workout out but don’t look like I do or the progress to show for it. I know it’s up to me to increase weights and I do try with Caroline’s program, but it’s not structured that way. What are your thoughts?
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Hi Cher! You don’t have to do a specific program for progressive overload. In fact, now that I have reviewed (watched, not done and reviewed on my blog), all of the STS 2.0 strength workouts, Cathe is not varying reps like she did in the first STS. You are staying with primarily 8-10 reps the entire program. What she is changing is the structure of the the workouts. So it is up to you to gradually increase the weights you use as you go through each phase of the program. Caroline’s programs are the same. As you go through any of her programs, the idea is that you are getting stronger and increasing the weight you lift. One of the things to keep in mind in Caroline’s programs is that, since it is done to an interval, you do not have to do your reps at the same pace as Caroline does. Outside of the original STS, I have seen some of my greatest strength gains from Caroline’s programs–especially her Iron Series but they have all contributed. My biggest strength gains were when I convinced myself that I DO NOT have to keep pace with Caroline. If I do a few less reps than her but I am using a heavier dumbbell than I did the last time I did the workout then that is great! Caroline also does other things that work you towards great strength. The progressive overload principle can be employed in many ways–not just increasing the weight of the dumbbells you are using. She does that by decreasing recovery time and using different techniques (drop sets/supersets/giant sets/tempo changes (1.5 reps, 1/2 reps), etc.).
In the original STS Cathe had go through the whole 1 rep max procedure (1RM) then you input that into her calculator and it told you the weights to use each week–so it increased your weights for you. In STS 2.0, as with Caroline’s programs, increasing your load is your responsibility. Pay attention to how the exercises feel each time you return to them and increase your weight when you feel able. And if the target reps is 8 and you get out 6 or 7 reps–that is a good thing, not a bad thing. If you only get out 4 or 5 then you probably need something lighter. That is in reference to STS 2.0, But in Caroline’s programs it is entirely up to you. Getting out only 4-5 reps with a very heavy dumbbell (for you) is a good thing not a bad thing so just because Caroline is doing more reps than you only means she is lifting for a different purpose. This chart is a good example of different rep ranges for different weight lifting goals:
I hope this helps!
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I love this response! I have come to love the no talking aspect of Caroline’s workouts because I don’t feel the pressure to keep up with someone else’s rep count. I can concentrate on doing my own speed and my own number of reps. I’ve done the Iron Series 5 times now, and each time I’ve increased my weight by 1 or 2 pounds for most exercises. I haven’t started STS 2 yet, but I’m hoping I continue the strength gains I’ve gotten from Iron with it.
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I am really enjoying STS 2.0. I have now previewed every workout in the program and I know that the real strength gains will come in the second 2 phases. But for total body strength workouts, Phase 1 is pretty awesome. I hope that on her app Caroline creates a longer program similar to Iron Series. Though I am looking forward to eventually doing the 10 Week Beastmode program, I previewed the workouts posted before my subscription runs out (today I believe 😥) and the recoveries are only 20 second. We can of course manipulate things however we want but we are still limited by total time (40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest is only 60 seconds total, whereas in Iron series you get the 60/30 so 90 seconds to work with) which will affect how much recovery you get. Thinking of that has kind of dampened my excitement about doing it and made me think maybe I should just do Iron Series again.
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I feel the same way about the new Beastmode. I want to lift as heavy as possible but really need more time for recovery. I’ll have to wait and see what she puts out next.
I’m glad you’re enjoying STS 2! I really don’t want to cheat myself with only using premixes so I’m trying to figure out a way to fit the full workouts in my schedule.
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