My Observations and Thoughts
A few things jumped out at me when I previewed the video clips (aside from the familiar music and outfits). The whooping is definitely over the top. I do not mind appropriately placed whooping. I never notice Cedie in Boot Camp even though people have pointed out that she makes a lot of noise, so I am not one who is easily annoyed by that sort of thing. It may be because the instructor is the one who is whooping in these, which makes the noise more central. Without a doubt, that would distract me. Bad acoustics does not help the situation. What really hit me was the form on some of the exercises. In the “boot camp” workout and the “pump” workout, Amy appears to be trying to touch her chest to her knees when she is doing squats. That does not look right to me, but I am no fitness expert. I have never seen anyone do squats like that. Her form is good for the stability ball pikes, but her background exercisers appear to be struggling with them. At least one of them is rounding her back instead of bracing her core when she pulls herself up into pike position. Everyone is out of sync too. I am a visual person, so that would distract me as well.
The choreography is interesting and complex, but I would fall on my face if I tried to do that crazy shuffle!
The video clip for the step workout is not long enough to give me a good feel for her teaching style. I love Cathe’s style. It frustrates me when instructors spend too much time breaking down patterns. I get bored.
There is no way I would spend that much money on an unknown instructor. She is not just new to me. She is new to the video fitness world. There are no unbiased reviews by people who do not know her personally.
I am not interested in finding another instructor who is like Cathe but not Cathe. I look to other instructors to add something unique and original to my rotation (like Kari Anderson’s ballet-inspired workouts or Jen Carman’s Strength in Movement). I guess I just do not see the benefit of adding more workouts that are similar with a different instructor. I will just wait for the new Cathe workouts to be filmed. I do not even have the Hardcore Series yet, and I already have enough workouts to keep me entertained for a long time!
I have learned the hard way to wait for Collage Video to carry products by new instructors so I can return the workouts if I hate them. I do not jump on many bandwagons. Cathe wears me out in the morning, and I do not have enough energy left to jump on any wagons!
I joined the Ya Yas last April and have watched in amazement as people get excited about the latest craze then decide months later that it was not all that. As for me, I will stick with the tried and true. I am loving Kari Anderson’s videos that I discovered through the links on this website and also expect to enjoy Jen Carman’s new workout too when I try it for the first time. Other than that, I am super picky about my instructors and have been disappointed more times than I can count when I experimented with anyone but Cathe. I am willing to try new things, but I want to read a lot of good reviews written by people I know and trust first.
One more thing. The desire to acquire is never going to be satisfied. It is a bottomless pit. I am learning to enjoy what I have and clear out the stuff I no longer love that is just clutter to me. Fitness for me is about freedom above all else. It requires hard work and sweat and tears. The perfect workout that will somehow make all my dreams come true is not going to be created tomorrow.
Blessings,
Heather B.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).
