Has Anyone Tried Criss-Cross Cardio?

R

roses_92123

Cathlete
In my never-ending quest for MORE workout videos (does it EVER end!!!) I came across this DVD and wanted to get some feedback. I know collage video has a clip up and it is listed as advanced...just wondering if anyone has it and what you think of it.

Thanks for any insight!!
 
I have this DVD up for a trade on another forum. I liked the workout itself okay as it has some new moves to me. My attention span has changed this year because of so many great instructors and workouts that things will bother me in a workout that didn't use to. One of the background exercises bugged me in this workout...so much that I couldn't concentrate on anything but her poor form and looking like she wanted to be somewhere else. So, this one doesn't have a fun factor for me. But that is just me. :)
 
It's one of my favorite Kickboxing workouts. Good blend of higher impact and I like the one last boxing combo a LOT. I like the instructor also. I recently recommended this to Diane Sue on the Hardcore Thread and she just purchased it.....so maybe she'll chime in here also.
 
I just previewed this last night and was going to do it this morning, but did not sleep enough so stayed in bed.

Preview thoughts, and what I remember from trying it before. I find the instructors form very sloppy, but she does have good energy. She is not always with the music, but she does some good standing core work, which I really like. One background exercisers is in the make fun of because she is so odd category, but heck, if I were a background exerciser, that would probably be me. I mostly focus on the instructor, so that does not bother me.

The ending hip and leg work-out look interesting and fun. I don't remember doing it, so I might have skipped that when I tried it before.

Anyway, may do it tonight if I have some time.
 
Thanks ladies for all of the feedback. I am really looking to expand my library of kickboxing vids because I am finding that this is the form of cardio I enjoy best.

I have all of Cathe's, all of the Turbo Jams, all of the advanced Taebos, Powerstrikes (;-) ) and a couple of random others like Janis Saffell and Kimberly Spreen. But alas...I am finding that you can never have ENOUGH variety. I have an insatiable appetite for all good kickboxing!!!

Thanks again for the responses! :D
 
Rose - do you like Tracey Staehle? She has a Kickboxing workout also. Her latest one is good, however, it is a bit repetitive.
 
>Rose - do you like Tracey Staehle? She has a Kickboxing
>workout also. Her latest one is good, however, it is a bit
>repetitive.


I do not have this workout. I was interested in it when it first came out but was swayed by some less than stellar reviews. What do you think of it?
 
Hi Rose,
I really like Tracey's stuff. Her Cardio Sweatfest is great--and it includes both a hi/lo workout and her kickboxing workout. Her second kickboxing workout is better than her first although I like both.

Allison
 
I did this one this morning. Her form is not as bad as I originally thought when first viewing, but she is just quick, and very often off beat. The exerciser on the left, who is toned down a bit actually has decent form. Ignore the one on the right.

This actually has a bit of an interval feeling because she teaches a section that does not get your HR up that high, then does some jumps or really high impact stuff, then teaches another section, and interjects high impact. There are 4 sections in all, and it takes her quite a bit of time to fit all 4 together, but once together, is surprisingly fun. I say surprisingly, because when previewing I thought, no way, I can't do that.

The leg work-out stuff is fun, but really not that difficult, and unfortunagely the shower called, so I did not do anything after the leg work.

She is an energizer bunny, I often had trouble understanding her because she talks fast, and has an accent(NJ), but doing it more than once would fix that.
 
Thank you for the update on the workout!

I was wondering also for those that seem to enjoy kickboxing like me, have you ever done any of Janis' old stuff? I think she has a couple of VHS tapes (CIA workouts maybe?). I have wondered about these too.
 
Hello everyone,
im a long time lurker but i never post anything on these boards. I just wanted to chime in. I had ordered criss cross cardio when it first came out, and was looking forward to it. I really like Sheri, and did her older workouts but my biggest problem with her is that there was WAY too much marching in place. i jogged or did jumping jacks but in all her workouts there is just too much down time. My heart rate would just start going up but then she'd take you down too soon and explained things too long. Its been a while since i've done this. I've since traded it. I'd say try Tracey S's new cardio kickbox workout. If you like step you can try Kelly Coffey Myers Kickbox step workout, and she is coming out with part 2 in the fall. There are mixed reviews on this. I love kelly but didnt find this too intense. I thought tracey's looked easy but when i did it - wow..it was really good! So i'd say stick with powerstrike, cathe, and maybe some tae bo and the above mentioned. I must also add i'm a high impact, high intensity cardio junky!! Thats why I love Cathe..she always kicks my butt :)
 
I don't know how you ladies can handle the kickboxing. Every time I attempt Kick Max I end up turning it off halfway through because I feel like it's going to fast for me to have good form, and it ends up hurting my knees with all the quick pivot actions. For me, kickboxing is just too fast and jarring to get into it. I sure wish I liked it more, because it sounds like there are some great videos out there for it!
 
>I don't know how you ladies can handle the kickboxing. Every
>time I attempt Kick Max I end up turning it off halfway
>through because I feel like it's going to fast for me to have
>good form, and it ends up hurting my knees with all the quick
>pivot actions. For me, kickboxing is just too fast and jarring
>to get into it. I sure wish I liked it more, because it sounds
>like there are some great videos out there for it!

Kick Max is an advanced KB workout, and best if you have some prior KB experience. I personally love KB, and have been doing it for about 12 years. It does take developing some muscle memory, which is hard to do safely with advanced workouts when you're just starting out.

I remember at first how hard it was to keep things coordinated and kick and punch as fast as the Stephanie Steele workout I started with. There were just so many things to think of at once: not extending the elbows all the way, turning the hip, pivoting the foot...all for just one punch. And all those elements of the move didn't coordinate very well: they were more like separate pieces!

Then a couple of years later, I went back to the same workout, and I could actually go faster than the instructor. All the 'parts' of the moves came together as one fluid movement.

In KM, I don't do most of the pivots because I don't like them. You can definitely get a good workout from it without the pivots.

If you really want to get into kickboxing, start out with a more basic workout, one with more form instruction. Then, when you've gotten better form and the moves feel more natural, try more advanced workouts.
 
>I was wondering also for those that seem to enjoy kickboxing
>like me, have you ever done any of Janis' old stuff? I think
>she has a couple of VHS tapes (CIA workouts maybe?). I have
>wondered about these too.
>

A lot of Janis' earlier KB workouts are more choreographed than her latest ones, with lots of pivots and almost dancy in places, though one of her "Kick It" workouts has a really good final 'drills' section. I always wished it would come out on DVD: I'd reacquire it and skip over the choreographed first part, doing just the drill area.

Another thing, Janis is stuck on the word "Awesome" in her early workouts.
 
Rose - sorry it took me long to see this. RE: Tracey Staehle's new kickbox. I found it to be a good workout, but a bit repetitive. I didn't mind that fact though.....as I simply listen to my own rock music and follow. It's nice to have some workouts you can do that with....in my opinion. I thought the intensity was decent for a kickbox workout. She goes single time and then double times moves so it may be slightly interval. Sherri's Criss Cross workout is definitely an interval workout (says it on the cover) although it's not like IMAX....just slightly. Also, I agree with the above poster.....Sherri does explain moves and you have to run in place while she's talking. I'm used to doing that anyway. Tony Horton is the KING of explaining moves and I always run in place while listening to the instructions to keep my HR up so it's never a problem with a DVD for me. I'm not very picky cuz I like lots of variety.

Since this thread inititiated....I received my new KungFu Kickboxing with Tiffany and Max Chen. It's freakin' amazing. I'm addicted to it. It's not a pure cardio workout per se, as it has some balance moves thrown in or pushups or ab moves, etc. It is more like an interval type workout because of this....but it's cool cuz it's done in 3 segments. Segment 1 is Beginners (20"), Segment 2 is The Kicker - takes the combos up a level and makes you think a bit more and segment 3 is The Killer....takes it up another notch with intensity and combos. The last segment takes a lot of mental work (which you'd probably learn after doing it a couple times). The combos are different than traditional kickboxing since this actually a Shan Shou Boxing style that incorporates wrestling and kicking techniques. Tiffany and Max teach at their father's NYC studio. Tiffany is freakin amazing. I love her style and her demeanor. It makes me feel like a hardcore fighter!! LOL. I've been doing weighted circuits out of Jillian Michaels book and adding a segment of the above DVD to the end to round my workouts out to a bit over an hour. It's perfect for that. It is also an Acacia production so the music is good. The 2nd segment has music I really like that I recognized from Shiva Rea (I think) and I'm postive Duncan Wang's Yogic Power had the same music. It's also got great production quality. It's available at Amazon for relatively cheap.
 
>Since this thread inititiated....I received my new KungFu
>Kickboxing with Tiffany and Max Chen. It's freakin' amazing.

I've seen this DVD advertised, but wasn't sure it would be good. I was thinking that it would be too basic. Would the beginner and intermediate segments be worth doing for an advanced kickboxer (to make a 60-minute workout), or is just the last segment at the right level?
 
Kathryn - I might be the wrong person to ask this to....as I usually modify up and I also don't do Cathe intensity workouts daily. The only thing different about the beginner segment other than not having any plyo in it and the combos being easier is the fact that they explain and preview the move first. In the intermediate and killer segments, you have the option to just play the segment or play it with instruction. I played them without instruction and found it to be okay...but the more you do the DVD, the easier the moves become. They are just new and different.....but not too much. Also, if you have a problem lying down in the middle of your cardio....to do pushups or abs, etc. ....you won't like this (but I think I mentioned this above).

I think it's good enough for me, but I've never found kickboxing to be super intense either. The Killer segment is the best, as it moves a bit faster and adds hops and plyos. I think you would appreciate Tiffany's straightorward demeanor and you can tell they know what they're doing. They are both doing the DVD seriously......punching hard, etc.

The first person that came to mind when I first did this DVD was you. I thought you'd appreciate it cuz it's done in rounds with the bell....like Speedbody (sort of) and I remember you saying you liked Rob Forcelli's force with throwing punches in that DVD and I got the same feel from this DVD. I can't say how much I like Tiffany. I actually wrote to her father's studio (via email) to compliment this DVD. It is very well done and I'd actually love to see more from them and since they have a studio and teach.....I figured it was worth a shot.
 
I am definetely going to check out the video that you suggested here on amazon. It sounds like something that I would really enjoy!!

I also appreciate your opinion on Tracey's video.

Thank you for the insight!!
 
>>I was wondering also for those that seem to enjoy
>kickboxing
>>like me, have you ever done any of Janis' old stuff? I
>think
>>she has a couple of VHS tapes (CIA workouts maybe?). I have
>>wondered about these too.
>>
>
>A lot of Janis' earlier KB workouts are more choreographed
>than her latest ones, with lots of pivots and almost dancy in
>places, though one of her "Kick It" workouts has a really good
>final 'drills' section. I always wished it would come out on
>DVD: I'd reacquire it and skip over the choreographed first
>part, doing just the drill area.
>
>Another thing, Janis is stuck on the word "Awesome" in her
>early workouts.


Thank you Kathryn. I think that I may skip Janis' earlier workouts because I am not so much into the vids with lots of pivots. I don't care for them, they make me dizzy and I wouldn't like a video that had lots of them!!

Perhaps I will check out the "Kick It" workout!

Also Kathryn, didn't I see a previous post from you where you mentioned another kickboxing tape? I think it was Fit to Kick or something like that?

Can you tell me more about this one? Thank you!
 
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