Good Morning Ladies!
Today I did Tracey Staehle's Step Sweatfest and C&W Abs. I really liked Step Sweatfest. The choreography was fun, music ok, cueing could have been a little better. There is no breakdown. I didn't preview this one so at first I wished there was a little bit of a breakdown but I got about 95% of it the first time through. There are two sections, one which I think she says is a little more athletic and the second one a little more complex. The second section had a move called the "whirlybird" which was almost (if not the same as) like a move in Rob Glick's Amazing Step Styles. I only had a hard time when my back was away from the camera so I'll try and preview a few moves the next time around. The only thing I didn't like was that these were broken up into two separate workouts each having the same warmup and cooldown. The next time I'll skip the 1st cooldown and the 2nd warmup but the only bad part is you have to go back to the DVD menu instead of just fast forwarding but I guess it'll take just as long either way. After doing this, I really see how high Cathe's production values really are. My heartrate stayed up the whole time in this workout. Burned 429 calories (about the same as Step Blast). C&W abs were not hard for me like they used to be. It's been a long time since I did these. A couple of the oblique moves were the same as Ab Ripper X which made C&W abs much easier for me this time around.
My pecs are really sore this morning from yesterday's workout and my core is just a little sore. Cathe still gives me a great workout.
Gin - Glad you had a blast doing Step Blast. My heart rate goes up during the blasts as well. At least you had a vacation before you start working again.
Deanie - Today's a perfect pool day. Is is 95 degrees by you like it is here? Yesterday wasn't too bad but today it's real steamy out there. Glad you're liking your treadmill. Are you still using your ipod with it?
Cheryl - Glad you had a great workout. I agree with Gin's suggestion about the pushups. The more you do them, the easier they become. I did hundreds of pushups with P90X (have you done the X yet?) and I got so much stronger. Working out in the a.m. is much better if you can manage it. You will get up to Cathe's weights. It may take a little time, but you will. I find it hardest to match her with Chest & Biceps but I outdo her on Shoulders, Tris and Back although yesterday I went a pound heavier than her on bis as well. As far as what other series to get, I would possibly get Slow & Heavy (don't know if you like pure strength workouts, but this one worked real well for me). You might want to wait if you ordered the new workouts though. As far as your next cardio purchase, I would get the Rhythmic Step DVD which has both dancy and athletic on it. Rhythmic Step is my favorite of Cathe's step and the most dancy. Interval Max is an interval workout which is a little below or about equal the intensity of IMAX 3 but with athletic choreography and Maximum Intensity Cardio is an intense hi-lo workout and athletic step done on 8". The outfits are a bit dated but in MIC and IMAX but if you can stand it, they're great workouts. I also love dancing. I line dance once a week for 3 hours and I love it. We do everything from swing to rumba, waltz, cha cha, two-step, etc.
Tracee - Hope you have a great workout.
Marcy
