Circuit Workout

Worknprogress

Worknprogress

Cathlete
Accidentally posted this in the "Ask Cathe" Form (new to posting in the forum) and didn't know how to move it.

Which circuit workout do you is Cathe's best and hardest?
 
Hi Debbie! My opinion changes from time to time but currently I think best and hardest as one choice is Drill Max. But with that said, my favorites are High Step Training Advanced (love this), Drill Max, Boot Camp and Step, Jump and Pump. I like them all for different reasons and they appeal to me on different days depending on my energy level. But, for the most part, these all have the right blend of cardio and weights for my liking. Another big favorite of mine is The Gauntlet which is on the Terminator DVD. It's a compilation but I really love this workout and like to do it when I have more time (it's about 75 minutes). Hope that helps! :)

Jo
 
Circuit Max is very advanced and always leaves me sweating like crazy.

It is not hard choregraphy-wise, but it is a killer workout.

As far as fun and difficult, I think Boot Camp or High Step Challenge or High Step Training are very challenging.

It all depends on whether or not you prefer a traditional step (used in Circuit Max) or a high step one (used in the other mentioned videos).

I can only speak for myself, but to me, Drill Max is boring and I don't consider it very challenging.

If you have carpet, no free wall or have limited space, Drill Max is not the cirduit video I would recommend.

I have tried to do Drill Max and plan on keeping it. I feel some day I want want to give it another go.

Who knows? I might had a larger space, a workout floor and a door to my workout room. The walls of my workout room are full of booksheleves, so I can't do the wall part at all.

However, please note that most people love Drill Max a LOT, so you might want to watch the video clips of some of Cathe's Circuit workouts.

What I love may not be what another person loves.

But personally, if I had to pick one circuit workout that is the hardest, it would be Circuit Max without a doubt.
 
Trust in the LORD with all your heart.

hi nidya, good to see you here too.:) i am really new here, also. just a few weeks. trying to integrate cathe into my workouts.
cathy
 
I think an ex-Firmie might also enjoy LIC (Low Intensity Circuit). If you're a vintage Firmie (back when Anna Benson was at the helm of the company) I believe you will really like that one. Also, Cardio and Weights. There is not much leg work in that one (other than the step workout) mostly upper body work.

Also, it's older but still a great workout, Body Max I. To me it's a little tougher than BM2. Some say that the set and the clothes are dated, but I'm in it for the workout so that doesn't matter to me. It's a very tough workout.

I also like Drill Max. It's primarily a floor workout (versus step workout) with fitness drills, some of which are very high impact. You can always adjust though to make it work for you. Some of the moves do require space but once again you can modify the movements. If you go with this one, you will need additional equipment. I love this workout but If you're looking for a "firm-esque" workout, this probably isn't it.

You can't really go wrong with Cathe so whatever you choose will yield great results.

For one of those total body weight workouts that move quickly from one routine to another with little rest in between and keeps the heart rate up, Muscle Max (MM)is excellent. It's not a circuit workout. I'm just throwing it out there as a bonus.
 
lots of good choices and suggestions. I wanted to throw Cardio and Weights in there. It isn't the most challenging workout but for me it's really fun and it does hit every body part. If I were just starting a Cathe collection I don't think I would get BM2 because of the length. That one takes stamina and you don't always have the time for such a long workout. The nice thing is that you can break all of her workouts into pieces by using the chapters or premixes. Heck, buy them all! I have all of hers except Cardio Hits and Maximum Intensity Strength.
 
i LOVE boot camp..... for it's fun factor and it's a good workout!

i don't have the love for drill max that so many others have.... it's a good workout... but i really had that skipping and hopping section and don't like the one ball cardio either.... (LOVE the football one!) it don't think it's THAT difficult either... it's challenging... but no moreso than any of the others!

(low impact circuit is a BLAST but not one of her more challenging ones... it's more an intermediate!)

i agree that circuit max... the oldie is a good workout! i haven't done it in a while... i'll have to pull that one out and give it a go!!


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cute work out clothes are good for AT LEAST an additional 10-15 calories burned!

http://www.picturetrail.com/desertbriez
 
The original Firm videos were great, although I have no idea of why Anna began to use movie stars or athletic models to lead her videos when she had a great cast right in her hands. Susan Harris was the only Master Instructor to become a lead and it was Susan who lead the original Firm Classic (Vol. 1)

Vol 2 of the Firm with Janet Jones Gretsky won a big award one year - kind of like an Oscar for fitness videos. It even beat out Jane Fonda for the award.

But when Anna sued Shape Magazine for saying that Vol. 3 was not a cardiovascular workout and susequently lost the lawsuit, the slow, painful decline of the Firm began. Her attorney bills had to be huge.

Mark Henrickson and Anna divorced and Cynthia (Anna's sister) and Mark went one route and Anna another.

Mark and Cynthia basically sold out to Goodtimes Video.

To add to the confusion The Firm kept renaming their workouts and it became very confounding with all the compliations and new names.

The new Firms are horrible. I bought one set with one of the Firm's special steps and the step would not incline like it was supposed to do and the videos were for beginner to intermediate exercisers.

Only Nancy Tucker and Kirsten S. (can't spell her name) had good videos after the split. Nancy did a pretty good all cardio video for intermediates and Kirsten did a good Power Yoga video.

Years ago, I went on two Firm roadtrips.

Anna, to put it mildly, came across as some kind of paranoid genius.

Her first question was "Are there any spies in the Room?

Now the Firm studios in Columbia and Charleston, SC are no more.

Later on, Anna began the Fit Prime series and bought some type of farm fitness place in rural South Carolina.

She began to charge her forum members.

If I had been in Anna's shoes, I would have just let the comment made by Shape roll off my back and keep making the great videos like she did.

Oh, there was also a split between the original cast -- some went Anna's way and some with Mark and Cynthia.

I heard Tracie Long who had been one of Anna's strongest allies had left Anna to try to become a video fitness instructor in her own right, but I don't know how true that is.

Several of the original Firm instructors were ousted or just gave up and parted the Firm on adversarial terms.

The story of the Firm is like reading about a very nasty celebrity divorce.

Instead of focus on quality workouts, the Firm became hideous melodrama, to say the least.

I think Anna designed great videos and was a groundbreaker for making videos that incorporate cardio and weights, but her business acumen was less than ideal.

Her first 6 videos were sheer genius, especially the first three.

While Anna said she preferred to be behind the camera working on design and production to being a cast member, she did instruct one beginner video after the "great split".

One home exerciser who lived in Columbia, SC and actually did become a Firm cast member said that doing her videos was sheer hell.

This woman only did one video and she said, "Never again!" She said Anna's voice would boom out from above like the voice of God with Hitleresque demands.

Filming is grueling enough, but add Anna to the mix, and I can see why this girl said she literally cried during production the one Tri Trainers (later renamed).

Cathe Friedrich has always been focused, had a roadmap of what she wanted to accomplish, listened to her advisors and fans and has a good business plan.

Anna, on the other hand, was a creative genius, but more like Frankenstein than a business person.
 
Traci Long started "TLT" (Traci Long Training--i think it stands for that). Collage has some of them available. Susan Harris does a core workout that the Collage people seem to like alot.

I had no idea what or why Anna sold out. I knew about the lawsuit wiht shape but i thought it was because they didn't want to print that it was that 99% of users stated that it was the most effective workout. I never knew what came of the lawsuit.

The Firm people sent out a letter back in the mid-90's asking us if we wanted celebrities (specifically mentioniong Cher) in future videos. I wrote back NO! I never found out what the general consensus was though.

The only new firm I purchased after the company changed hands and IMO are only out for money (versus quality workouts)is the one with the incline step. I got the newer version that looks different than the ones on the video. The workouts are very easy. I thought the inclined bench would help with muscle confusion for my thighs and tush. I use it from time to time to mix things up but ALWAYS include a Cathe workout for intensity and fun.

I do still use one of the Firm' videos, Vol. 2 with Janet Jones. Using 15 pound weights during the four limb movements and hoisting them over my head at an aerobic pace is great for endurance. When Janet starts the hi/low work I switch to one of Cathe's aerobic DVD's to finish the workout. Lately, I've added the Vol. 2 part I mentioned to Cathe's Drill Max.

How did you find out all of this Firm Backstory information. I saw in Cathe's forum that you know quite a bit about her cast members' backstory as well.
 
>Body Max 2 is more of a
>crosstrainer.. but the premixes OH!!!, the premixes are
>wonderful..
I LOVE the Bootcamp premix.
 
>I think an ex-Firmie might also enjoy LIC (Low Intensity
>Circuit).

Actually, Low IMPACT Circuit (it's definitely *not* low intensity!).;-)
 
OK, here goes, but it is along post and rather scrambled since I am writing off the top of my head.

I don't care for Tracie Long at all. She was really snotty at one Road Trip I attended. A group of girls went into a restaurant to eat during a "break" and she rolled her eyes at another instructor when the girls walked in, got up from her table and walked out.

How rude! Obviouisly, she had forgotten who pays her -- the people who buy the workouts! In reality, she worked for us!

The girls were really hurt by her nasty behavior.

My incline step never worked. I even a guy try to get the step to incline and he could hardly do it.

How do I know all the story? Because in 1987, I was finally getting back into fitness after a 3 year hiatus while single handedly raising my daughter.

I had done workouts with Kathy Smith, Jane Fonda, Charlene Prickett (who has a great advanced step workout I use regularly), and Denise Austin (I can't tolerate Denise at all).

I went to Blockbuster and rented Vol 1 of the Firm with Susan Harris.

I loved this workout, purchased it and subsequently began to collect all the others.

At that time, the Firm did pre-orders like Cathe.

So I bought all the Classics, The Tortoise and The Hare and the Tri-Trainers.

The Tri Trainers sucked so much I lost my passion for the Firm. Anna overbilled the things and they were intermediate at best!

When the Firm roadtrips began, I attended several of them since Columbia and Charleston SC were only a few hours drive for me. I could afford to go since I did not have to book a hotel or flight and The Firm never charged to attend.

(Can you believe neither facility had a freaking shower?)

Anna sat like a Queen on a throne on the workout pedestal surronded by her Ladies in Waiting (the instructors) during a Q&A session. I, as an attendee, felt like a peasant who was fortunate to even sit in the same room as Anna and her Stepford Wives.

Anna's first remark was, "Are there any Spies here?

Weird.......

Mark Henrikson, Anna's Ex husband and Cynthia, Anna's sister were both very nice people -- I met them on another roadtrip. However, Mark was hawking some type of nutritional concoction.

I kept up with the Firm's drama because it was so interesting.

When Shape wrote that Vol 3 was a good workout, but not an aerobic workout, Anna went ballistic and sued them, draining all the Firm's resources in futile attempt to win damages.

I vaguely remember the survey you mention -- I can't remember if I returned it or not.

Cher teamed with Petra Kolber (or some other well known instructor) and made a video that was actually pretty good for the time.

There was one instructor, Stacy Milner Collins, I think was her name who pissed Anna off because she was taking Anna's "secrets" to another studio. Stacy ended up teaching at that studio in Mount Pleasant, SC if my memory serves me.

Pam Cauthen was another instructor who finally flew the coop when Anna was in charge, according to the legend.

She returned when the Firm "sold out".

If there was ever a "mad scientist" of fitness, it was Anna Benson.

She definitely knew her stuff, but she turned her instructors into "Stepford Instructors".

Susan Harris, however, had a lot of spunk! In Vol 1, it was said that if a person played the video with only the sound, it would have sounded like a porn video with all her oohhhhh sounds.

When I finally met and worked out with Susan, she was hilarious and a great instructor.

Jen Carmen and Tracie Long were both snotty and arrogant.

I did like Allie Strickland (Del Rio) and now remarried and I forget her surname.

Nancy Tucker and Lisa Kay were quite cordial, as was Heidi Tanner.

I think I must have attended at least 3 Firm roadtrips. I even met some people who are now Cathe lovers on the trips. I was having trouble with the 360s in Cathe's Power Max, and one person showed me how to do the move! Cathe's move taught to me at a Firm roadtrip. Had Anna known, she would have probably ousted us!

I also thought Tamela Hastie was nice. She was quite pregnant with her third child when I attended a Roadtrip in Columbia. I recall that people really dissed Tamela for saying "this is fun" over and over in one of the videos she led . But that was a combination of Anna's editing and Anna's use of the teleprompter.

Dale Brabham married one of the video crew and was actually at the hospital having a baby when I went on the trip to Columbia.

Some of the instructors were Charleston based and some Columbia based. Ans so many of the people who had actually been in a video wanted to lead a Firm video. It resembled little girls watching and dreaming about the day they would be in a beauty contest.

Anna even at one point changed SUSAN Harris to SUZAN Harris. I know for a fact her name is Susan Harris because she autographed a photo and my VHS box as Susan Harris.

The Firm did sell out and became an embarassment to themselves and the fitness industry.

Anna was great at conceiving and choreographing videos, but she had not a scrap of business acumen.

A good business person has a road map to what they want to accomplish. They are not dictators who must control everything. The best business people surround themselves with others who are expert in various sectors of a business.

Anna was sort of wandering around in a daze and thought she knew it all.

You should read her and Cynthia's Book. I think it is not out of print.

She even suggests women wear black underwear! I guess she feels that makes a person fitter!

I could go on and on about the Firm, but I won't.

Their days are over and they are now a sad legacy that should serve as a case study for MBAs or any business person (not just in the fitness industry, but in any industry) of what happens when the inmates run the prison.
 
Thanks Kathryn, for the correction. You are absolutely right. I was actually talking about the low impact high intensity moves and got my works mixed up.

I get fried with this one using an 8 inch step and adding in the bonus cardio.

Teals
 
Hey Amy,

Thanks for all of the info. I really didn't know what the heck happend. I discovered the firm in 1989 after reading about them in shape magazine. I have all of them from Vol. 1 through the core cardo 1 & 2 premixes and as i mentioned the 5 that came with the incline box. I wish I had known about Cathe then.

I got my gym step in 1990 with a 20 minute intro tape by Gin Miller. I wanted to kick things up so I called SNM to get a tape that was a step up from that one. It was Step N Motion 1. I had no idea who that person was in the tape but i thought she was crazy. And I recall calling SNM and complaining that no one could go from that intro tape to doing the stuff in the one they suggested I purchase. I NEVER used it and ended up getting rid of it. It wasn't until 2001 when I discovered Cathe that I realized that SHE was the person in the video and that I had pure gold in my hands and threw it away. I watched a clip of that video on Cathe's site and although it would still be a great workout (as all of her videos are) it's definitely do-able.

It's funny now how I thought the firm was the toughest workout out there. If I had held on to SNM 1, I would have discovered the magic of Cathe much sooner and who knows the shape I'd be in today. She's only a month older than me but her fitness level surpasses mine by a huge margin.

Anyway, thanks for the low down on the Firm. I sorry about how they treated you though. It's a shame to travel all that way to be treated like dirt. Cathe's warmth glows right through the t.v. screen and given her hands on approach to her forum, she has to be a people person. Everyone who meets her says how nice and gracious she is and I believe it's genuine.

Teals

PS: Tamala Haste kept saying "this is fun" in "cardio burn". And in retrospect, it was a little annoying. In BM 1 Cathe says, "I'm feelin' this real good" a couple of times in a row during the step routine but it didn't bother me. I guess it's all in the sincerity of the comment.
 
I absolutely think Drill Max, and I love High Step Challenge advanced and the Bootcamp premix on BM2. They are all in my current rotation for their intensity.
 
Hi Teals,

One of the best Firm films is Mark Henrickson's "20 Questions About Fitness". Actually he had already won a documentary award while in college (where is where he met Anna if my memory serves me).

I think everybody should see that video because almost every single scrap of information in the video is useful, tested, and timeless.

It is one of the best fitness informational videos ever made. When I want to motivate myself, I still watch "20 Questions about Fitness"

It is the best documentary on fitness I've seen to date.

I had never heard of Cathe until she came out with Maximum Intensity Strength. I bought it and Maximum Intensity Cardio.

Some people who loved the Firm were talking about Cathe's MIS and how good it was.

So I bought it and MIC.

Can you believe that MIC was my first Cathe Cardio? It was and I thought I would die even getting through the hi/low, much less the step routine.

I remember thinking I could never complete that video.

But one day -- I did it! From that day on, there had been no other instructor who has continued to challenge me with intensity and variety like Cathe.

Poor Tamela Hastie -- she was just following Anna's script. It did make Tamela sound silly, but I felt for her since I had already been introduced to the strange, strange brainwash known as the Firm.

S&M 1 is classic. I am so lucky to own it. I bought it at Ebay when no more were available here.

I wish Cathe would put S&M 1 and Mega Step Blast on DVD. They are both so awesome. S&M 1 has some kick butt music -- ditto Mega Step Blast. I always love the part in Mega Step Blast where Cathe says, "Make your body look hot" -- she's so cute, but she sure can crack the whip!

It is hard to believe how far I've come from the first time I did a Cathe video to now. Although I will be 53 years in October, I feel more vibrant and healthy than I did when I was in college, taking all the PE classes I could fit into my schedule.

All it takes is a little inspiration and a lot of perspiration.
 
Oh Good Lord, Low Impact Circuit is very, very advanced. You are so right -- Low Impact Circuit is in no way an easy workout.

It is not intermediate to me -- it kicks my butt each and every time I do it.

By the third rotation when Cathe begins the chest work, I feel like I am going to pass out.

Fortunately, I keep on challenging myself and reap the rewards.
 
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