Kick Max Drills for Knee Strengthening?

[lightening16]

Hey Everyone

I have been working along in STS and having some really great side benefits for my knees. I have a "crunchy knee" that did not like doing lunges when I first started and could only do the plate work with 0lbs. Now I am doing much better and I planning on trying a bunch of other Cathe workouts (newbie) when I am done STS. I have GS legs, Legs and Glutes and Butts and Guts but after reading the success story at Cathenation I have been wondering about the Kickmax drills as another good strengthener for my knees.

Has anyone had success with knee strengthening etc using these videos? Is Kickmax going to give me something that is not on another DVD. I have also been doing the bonus legs from Meso 1 occasionally as well as another strengthener as most of the excesises I recognized from physio.

Any suggestions?
Thanks Heather

 

[Aaroneet]

Kick Max is a superb knee strengthener. It starts off with squats, so it's kinda like her other lower body DVDs minus the weight work. Pay special attention to the kicking drills. The best aspect of that DVD is the premixes. Cathe's "blast challenge" at the end focuses almost entirely on high-impact, high-intensity drills. So if you're not up for all of the jumping (or for a 75-minute workout), but still want the benefit of the kicking drills, I would recommend the second premix. I believe it's approximately 58 minutes. It includes three combinations plus the kicking drills, which should bring you from anywhere from 50-52 minutes. She has a thorough stretch in this one, and you'll need it.

If you're into the Hardcore Series, I would recommend Low Max. While it takes the impact entirely out of step (which you may not be used to if you've never done her other workouts), it compensates in terms of its focus on the legs. Cathe made it specifically to tone the legs. About 70 minutes in length, it borrows from Kick Max in the end, as the last drill uses kicks off the step. This, too, relies heavily on squats, so be prepared. One bit of advice for anyone trying Low Max: Cathe has a section in which she keeps the leg on the step stiff while she does a repeater. Do not keep it stiff; I've found that this has been too demanding on my legs (And mine are naturally pretty strong) in that you can easily strain the muscle.

The Hardcore Series is brilliant for its weight-less leg work. It's probably reminiscent of Mega Step Blast, in which Cathe designates an entire section to leg toning through the use of squats. It's the series that got me started, and I would definitely give both a shot, although you may not want to finish either the first few times you do them.

 

[Aaroneet]

Edit: Mega Step Blast did not focus heavily on squats. The weights portion on the"Wedding" video did.