Beginner

[Romello]

Hey Everyone,
I'm new to the Cathe tapes and the intensity of the step workouts. I just got a Reebok step and some tapes about a week ago. Trouble is I have Mega Step Blast and Step Fit. In both tapes Cathe says that these are advanced workouts. Can anyone recommend some good tapes to work up to the two that I have? I have been doing the Firm for quite awhile and then picked up Cardio Kicks which I loved. Unfortunately my hips are my weak area. A fall a number of years ago effected my strength and endurance in that area. I can do the moves and can follow everything pretty well but I think maybe I would be better off if I got into it a little more gradually. Using less advanced tapes seems like a good way to do that. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Robin

 

[rockette]

I'm new to Cathe too! I've only been doing her tapes for about 2-3 weeks. The first 2 I bought were the wedding video and Rhythmic Step. I just got Step Works, Step Jam, BodyMax, and 2 pf the PS series.

I started with the wedding video, I consider myself to be an intermediate exerciser but the lunges in the last section of the step portion wore me out(maybe I'm not as intermediate as I thought!) I found that lowering my step helped tremendously when it was time to do that section. Today I did Step Works and I loved it. I modified when I needed to and I didn't use any risers with my step.

I say all of that to say, you can make the workout so that it's a challenge to you without killing yourself in the process! So though Cathe videos are for advanced exercisers, you can modify enough so that you get the maximum benefits for your fitness goals.

By the way, even though I started with the wedding video, after a couple of times I was kind of bored with it(I prefer more complex choreography). I've read that many have said Mega Step Blast is similar to the wedding video so I bet you won't have a problem once you get the choreography down!

HTH,
Rockette

 

[l23]

Honestly, most of Cathe's tapes are advanced. I think I'm just used to them, so I don't realize it. Rhythmic Step made me realize that the choreography can be tought though!

Maybe you should try a non-Cathe step tape to get some of the basic moves down. This way, when you do Cathe, you'll know the basics already. I don't think the Firm really has much step work involved.

I started with, and still love, Reebok step tapes- especially the step workout, power workout, and extreme step (I think that's what it's called- it's intervals)- they're all with Gin Miller. It's simple choreography but tough.

 

[wendyloo]

And Kathy Smith has some tapes that might help you out too. Have you tried videofitness.com? You can get tons of information there...
Wendy