Cross Train Xpress

J

JaneJ

Cathlete
I was wondering what you all think of the cross train xpress series. I have this thing set in my head that I should get 35-40 mins of straight cardio. Also, with that new study that came out a few months back that you should get an hour of cardio. The series looks great (don't all of Cathe's workout do though?) Thanks for your answers.

JaneJ
 
To me, for what it's worth, the CTX series remains Cathe's masterpiece. Keep in mind that I have not received the new series yet, so I may change my mind.

The cardios are VERY intense - I've just come off of weeks and weeks of long tapes and am doing a few weeks of CTX. The cardios are VERY adequate, believe me. I feel like I've worked just as hard with the CTX cardios as I do after a tape like Step Fit or Power Max. (I DO, however, raise my step from 6" to 8" with the CTX cardios.)

Then you have the weight segments - it's just so efficient! I'm sure it will remain a favorite of mine forever.

Just Do It! :)
 
I'm on a CTX rotation right now, and I love the balance of cardio and weights. I use it a bit differently from how it is set up, doing one cardio and usually two body parts per day (back/chest/lower body, shoulders--alone, biceps/triceps). The only thing I don't like as much about it is that the cardio is all very intense, and there is a lot of step (there is one kickbox video, and some combine step/hi-lo/kickboxing, but all but that one kicbox video have step in them), and I don't really like doing step workout two days in a row.
 
I love this series. I did it for a month straight when it was first released and lost three inches from my lower abs (granted, I'm overweight, but still!)

I'm doing a CTX/ PS rotation as soon as my PS DVD gets here. The CTX cardio along with my daily walks will be my only cardio for a couple of months.

Last year, I was doing less weight work and an hour of cardio almost daily and didn't have any results, so this year, I'm going the other direction.


Jenne
 
I love the CTX series! I'm on a S & H rotation right now but I did Step and Intervals last night before S & H chest and back and had a blast!! That tape is so fun. The time just flies by on those CTX cardio segments. I really think it is the most efficient use of time of any workouts I know of.

I think February is going to be "CTX month" for me!

Roni
 
I did the CTX cardios almost exclusively for a long time (6 months or more) when I first went back to work full time after grad school. I was surprised at how well I maintained my cardio capacity with these, given their length. These tapes pack a lot into a short period of time. I've got a lot of use out of them --there just aren't that many intense short workouts out there.

Regarding that study, I think they are talking about an hour of only moderately intense exercise, like brisk walking. I would think that if you're exercising more intensely, you could get the same benefits in less than an hour. (And maybe a couple of hours of strolling might equal 1 hour of brisk walking...) If you think about it, this would imply that people who work out intensely for 1 hour, 6 days a week, then take a rest day aren't getting enough exercise, and that doesn't seem right. I work out 4-5 hours a week and do a lot of non-brisk walking, and I can't believe that I'm not getting enough exercise for health purposes. So I personally take this with a grain of salt -- I think the point is to get people who are sedentary to take a walk after dinner, not to make people who already work out regularly to worry that they're not doing enough! Just my thoughts...

Audrey
 
Audrey is competely correct in her explanation of how to approach the new guidance for one hour's cardio per day.

If you are an advanced exerciser and already working out with Cathe, this does not apply to you. It is targetting non-exercisers, people with sedentary lives, to encourage them, as Audrey says, to take a walk, play a game of tennis, DO SOMETHING!!!!

Also, please don't think that you have to do one hour's cardio every day, especially if you are someone who likes to split cardio from weight training work on different days. If you have three or four cardio days and two or three weight training days in addition, you do not need to force ourself to do an hour's cardio on the days dedicated to weight training also.

Think about it: what Cathe weight training video does not push your heart rate up? The answer is: none. They all do. Weight training with Cathe also works your heart.

So, relax, you are covered. Keep doing what you are doing and what works for you and give yourself the permission to feel proud of yourself doing it.

ps. I have both the CTX and Intensity series and I am fast agreeing with Honeybunch:

"the CTX series IS Cathe's masterpiece to date".

Clare
 
Jane-
I am a lot like you whereas I feel when doing cardio, that I should be getting about 45 min- 1 hour on my cardio days. In a week, I usually do 2 days all strength, 2 days all cardio, and one day strength and cardio (CircuitMax is a great one for this). Anyway, I have the CTX series and what I usually do is mix two of the cardios from the series together in a day, without doing the weight work or the ab work (ab work is only on a few of the tapes). I personally think that the ab work on the CTX series is good, but not as intense as the ab work on some of Cathe's other tapes (i.e. BodyMax, MIS) So anyway, I mix & match them in different ways depending on how I feel that day. I LOVE the Kickbox tape, so I will usually do Kickbox with 10-10-10, or Kickbox with Power Circuit, and so on. I will start out with a stretch from only one of the videos, and when I move on to the second video, I have it already fast-forwarded to start right after the stretch. When I'm done with the cardio, I always do ab work from one of my other tapes, such as the ones listed above. I personally like BodyMax's ab section. Very intense!! After that I do a stretch from whatever tape I want, but I usually just do the stretch from whatever tape I used to do abs.

Since all of the CTX cardio sections are all almost half an hour long, when you mix two, you've got almost an hour of cardio to do. But I do agree with everyone else on this post that most of them are pretty intense. A few of them start off a little slow, but they will have you sweating and panting by the time that 25 minutes is up.
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-13-03 AT 05:01PM (Est)[/font][p]The cardios are WAY adequate!
For instance, during 10 10 10, I feel like I'm doing MIC hi/lo instead! My hr gets sky-high. They are fast-paced, for sure. Almost every one of the cardios (if not every one) has intervals stuck in there, some more than others. They are short, but that also makes them great for mixing and matching with each other, or with other cardio workouts that are on the shorter side!

The weight sections are K I L L E R. The weights sections HUMBLED me at first(of course I'm pretty humble to begin with, but still ;-) )
Okay, they still humble me, but now I know what I'm in for. At the end of the chest workout, the first time I did it, I literally thought Cathe was joking when she said that 'now we are going to do push-ups'. I did the screen-stare for a moment, snapped out of it, and got to work!
Kathy
 
Jane,
I love the series! All of the tapes are good with the exception of the kickboxing, which is OK if you are new to it; experienced kickboxers will find it too easy. Other than that, it is a great series.
Tracey
 
I just got this series and did 10-10-10 and loved how my hard was POUNDING! I do a lot of cardio and hadn't felt like that in a long time. I can't wait to do another tape tonight.

As far a the hour-a-day exercise advice, this is definitely targeted to those who are sedentary or those who perform low to moderate exercise. Every piece that I have read discussing this, says that the more intensely you work out, the less time you have to do it.

mikkame77

Water your fitness level every day and watch it grOW!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top