How Were You Introduced to Cathe/First Tape or DVD?

B

BeeLvr

Cathlete
My first Cathe workout was Interval Max on VHS. I used to be a firm "Firm"ee and would never think of straying. Once the workouts were offered as Infomercial material, I started looking elsewhere for a good workout. Additionally, the Firm series wasn't "doing it" for me anymore. Tried Crunch, Gilad, and a bunch of other misc workouts (even book), but none would never keep my interest long-term. And then I discovered Cathe. For the life of me, I don't even remember how I stumbled upon her, but I'm glad I did.

What's your story?
 
Hi again Heather! What I want to know is, why are we up cruising Catheland at 2:30 A.M. :p

I think I started out originally with Margaret Richards & Gilad, dabbled in some others I'm too embarressed to mention...& then I found Collage. Cathe's workouts were listed as heavy weights which for some reason I had decided I wanted. My first was MIS. I still can't believe I went from the workouts I was doing (sporadically) to MIS. I then got Step Max & PS. I've never looked back.

Ruth
:)

ps - unlike most Catheites, I've never cared for the Firm. Just not my thing I guess.
 
I'm at work. I work for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and my shift for the month is 7 pm to 7 am. I switch back to days (7 am to 7 pm) on the 12th (woo hoo!) I'll FINALLY be able to see my friends, again! I've worked every weekend since May - just how my days on and off have fallen. I'm working weekends in August, but at least I can get off of work and have a little bit of time to hang out with friends and family.

The earlier Firm was good. I actually have the 1st VHS they came out with (1981) and still have the routine burned to memory!

Why are you up?
 
Aha! Work! Do you have to swing your shifts all the time? Not sure I could do that anymore.

I do actually have all the Firm Classics & I've done them. There's nothing wrong with them of course, & many people have gotten a lot out of them. I just prefer working out a different way. Heck, I don't even like circuit training, not even with Cathe. But, I put it into my rotations occasionally just to confuse this old body. (Also I firmly believe if you hate a certain exercise it's probably the one you need to do...that probably holds true for workout types too!)

Glad they're going to let you out in the daylight soon! :7

Ruth
:)
 
Oops! Forgot to say...I'm an insomniac. I also work the night shift but in my case that means from about 1PM to...whenever. Maybe 9, 10, midnight? We never know. Hasn't helped my insomnia a bit. LOL

Ruth
:)
 
It's funny......I started out working in the world an 8 hour day. For the past 17 years, I've been working a 10 hour day, and now I'm at 12 hours! MY NEXT JOB BETTER NOT BE A 14 HOUR WORKDAY!!!!! LOL!

I actually don't mind nights - hey! I actually get to get on this forum, eh? Anyway, you work some long hours, too. Do you have a difficult time at times where you work? I get attached to animals too quickly.......A guy I used to work was a Vet. For the longest time, I thought he gave shots to "Fluffy" and "Spot." Nope.....SO not the case! He was a research Vet at Johns Hopkins, so "Fluffy" and "Spot" would be no more/not quite right after he was done with them. How sad (guess someone has to do it, eh?)!

God! When do you sleep? Must be difficult to get a workout in!
 
Good grief girl, you work too many hours! It can be very hard working where I do...mostly because the patients don't know why you're doing things that scare/hurt them (in their perspective)& you have to be willing to do it anyway. I've seen some really awful things over the years...sometimes I lay awake thinking about them all night. On the other hand, I do feel that I've done a lot of good for a lot of pets.

I love my pets like family (more than some family!) & it darn near kills me when I lose one. I lost my last dog about a year & a half ago & I still grieve for her. Unfortunately, I fell in love with a short-lived breed & we usually only get to have them for a relatively short period of time.

I get up early (early for me anyway) to do my workout because I came to realize I would never be able to do them consistently any other way. It was pretty hard at first, but I don't mind it too much now. And it's worth it, although I have a long way to go since I only just started back about 6 months ago.

What do you do for MEMA? Why such long hours??

Oh, I don't sleep.

Ruth
:)
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
I work Operational issues - dispatch mainly for MEMA.

I'm in the military - the Air Force. Actually, the Maryland Air National Guard and I worked full-time (active duty for the State) for them until this past February. I was actually going to retire as I have over 24 years (Air Guard and active duty Army combined). I didn't have a job lined up when I was in the retirement process, and I was approached by my Commander asking if I would be interested in taking a short active duty tour until July 2008 at MEMA. I figured "what the heck". It's good money, and it's a change from what I would was doing for the past number of years (Human Resources). Plus, it's good Homeland Security experience. I'm actually looking for a civil service position and have applied to several. We (MEMA) are first responders, and there are only eight military and ten civilians. The military not only work civilian issues, but military, as well. I don't know why the 12 hours other than the fact that there isn't much of a staff and we'd be working all of the time. There is usually two of us on a shift. The 12 hour days are a bit old, though, and I miss doing things with my husband. Yesterday, he went to his sister's house to go swimming while I was sleeping to get ready to go to work. Don't get me wrong......I think my job here is extremely important. I am just "tired".

I really, really want a dog. My hours really won't allow me to have one as it wouldn't be fair to it. My husband isn't home because of his job (only home ten days a month and six of those days he's working his part-time job). I think once I settle into another job working (hopefully) eight hours, I can get one. I'm like you, though. I would be out of work for a month grieving for him/her once they died.

What do you do at the hospital?
 
I grew up in a military family & I have total respect for you & the job you have done & are doing. I have many dear friends in or attached to the military who have worked with me at the hospital & we have become so close to their entire families, only to lose them when they have to move on. That's the down side for those of us left behind, but I never regret it!

I hope you find something you will enjoy soon & I certainly hope you won't work 14 hour days! I don't know how you & your husband do it, but on the other hand I guess it could be pretty romantic at times. One of my dearest friends who moved to NY State when her husband retired finally couldn't stand having him around the house so much & told him to find a job with travel! And he did!

I'm the senior Vet Tech at the hospital...I'm in the fairly unusual position of being the main front staff person & yet still do a very good amount of actual nursing. Most of the time the two jobs are separate, but in our hospital not so much. Over the years I guess you could say I have become the doctor's personal assistant but I can't ever remember a day when I didn't also do at least a little nursing...we do the usual stuff including surgery. We don't board or groom thank heaven, as we are a small hospital.

What kind of dog do you want? It's a complete tie in my life as to my main passions between working out & dogs. I hope someday to do physical therapy & behavioral work with dogs...I do it some now, but not enough to suit me! I'm trying to learn all I can in the meantime & as much as possible I try to apply what I learn at work now. My doctor did tell me not long ago that he would never trust anyone else as much as he trusts me to handle problem dogs. He doesn't give too many compliments, so that made me feel good.

I hope you're able to get that great job & new dog really soon!

Ruth
:)
 
Ruth,

(Sorry.....my husband called - on his way to work. Got caught up in conversation)

Thank you so much for your kind words. They really mean a lot. Funny you told me that story about your friend. My husband retired from the Air Guard (he was a weekend warrior) about 3 years ago. It was KILLING me to have him around the house all of the time (you know, the ten days! LOL!), so he got a part-time job. He travels enough with his full-time job - so that wasn't too much of an issue!

Have you ever wanted to become a Vet? Did you go to school to become the nurse AFTER you were the (for lack of better word) front desk custodian? What an exciting career-goal! Is there an actual name for what you would like to become? I'll bet the working out REALLY helps when you have to handle a large/aggressive dog, eh? How long have you been working with dogs? The doctor will probably be more than happy to give you a ringing recommendation with regards to whatever you want to do. You sound like a very dedicated lady!

I just applied to a couple of jobs working for the Coast Guard down in Baltimore. Not Curtis Bay, though. I actually don't know the location. They just give the office where the job is located and I'm thinking it's in one of the buildings down on Pratt street.

I'm not too sure what kind of dog I would like to get. A small one would be nice. We don't have children. We don't care for "yippers" or barkers. Low maintenance would be nice. My neighbor has a King Cavalier (I didn't realize how expensive they were) and I like him. However, I read that they suffer from Separation Anxiety a lot. I thought about a Puggle, but the Pug in them makes it difficult to tolerate heat or cold. Because of that, it's difficult to deal with because the Beagle in the mix (which is a hunter breed) wants to be outside all of the time.

Any suggestions? My husband wants a female dog. I've grown up only with males (Sheppards, a Husky and a Doberman at one time). Are females much different?
 
Collage Video helped introduce me to Cathe, and I am so glad it did! I was a devoted TaeBo addict for about 10 years, and it all came crumbling down over one weekend last July..so much so to the point where I simply could not pop a Billy Blanks tape in..but I needed my kickbox fix to compliment my yoga practice, which I love equally!!

I tried Keli Roberts...eh, ok..I tried Cathy Smith...nothing special, nothing great, either..I know they've both helped alot of people, but just didn't do it for me. I then gave Cathe's KPC a try..and it was love at first jab!! The best video I have ever done, including my 10 year TaeBo period.

Just wish I'd have found Cathe sooner..but now I know what all the fuss is surrounding her, she really is that good at what she does!!

Jerry
 
Collage Video, I saw Cathe for many years but was very hesitant. Her Wedding Video came out during my divorce so that was one I wasn't to purchase. Then, as soon as I got a DVD player, I knew I could finally check her out and that's exactly what I did. I bought all of my first Cathe DVDs from Collage and made it over here 5 months later.
 
Hello Heather,

I bought my first aerobic tape from Jane Fonda and started doing aerobics at home very long time ago. Then I bought others like Cindy Crawford, Cher and Callenetics, but here in the UK there are vert few choices. I knew that I prefer to exercise at home though, so one day I did a search on the internet for 'fitness videos' and came across www.videofitness.com. I saw on the Favourites that there alot by Cathe Friedrich. Everybody said how good the workouts were and tough too. So I went to the web site and bought Rythmic Step DVD and MIS. Even before I bought I spent ages browsing the web site and dreamed about the workouts, I really really really wanted them. But because I live in the UK I was afraid of how much they would cost me. In the end I took a chance and it cost me a fortune!!! I will NEVER order direct from SNM to the UK again.

When I found Cathe, they were just starting to put the workouts on DVD. I wonder how long ago that was?

Yen
 
I was a fan of kickboxing videos. I wanted something intense but cued better than Billy Blanks, so I ordered Kick Max. I loved the kickboxing segment and was awed by the blasts. I then decided I'd like to try step aerobics. When I bought my Step it came with Basic Step & Cardio & Weights (strange combo that I've since sold so that I could buy them in their normal combos). I did Basic Step a few times but it was too short. I soon was doing it on 8" and repeating it a couple times to get a good workout. However, Cardio & Weights seemed impossible at that time. I slowly worked my way up through Low Impact Step and the other low impact videos. Now I own all the Cathe DVDs currently available. I'm still just intermediate but I'll try anything she puts out. I think I bought that Kick Max back in April or May, so it hasn't been long!

I briefly tried the Firm but came to it too late--never tried the good classic Firm I'd heard about and was quickly bored with the newer stuff.

***Lainie***

http://web.mac.com/lainiefig/iWeb/Site/Exercise/Exercise.html

"The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself." -- Mark Twain
 
after working with so many different instructors for years, we finally had fittv when we got dish network(when we lived in the country) and saw a few shows. i taped them and tried them all, then eventually i order my first two dvds-Power Hour/MIS/Body Max and Rhythmic Step/IMAX/MIC. and the ball just kept rolling from there. its my only luxury really. some have a million and one pairs of shoes, many of our PTA moms here want fancy clothes and jewlery and i show up in gym pants and sneaker braggng that dh bought me another cathe LOL.

before then i started with denise austin's show and built up videos with her and whatever i could find cheap at thrift stores,dollar stores, hobby shops that sold used dvds and recorded stuff off tv. i was pretty out shape when i had viola but i have really come along way in 7 years. i am in better healthier now then when i was an athlete in high school. believe me salad was on the menu next to a few slices of jersey pizza LOL. i didn't know any better, the food was the same with some more snacks thrown in but the exercise wasn't. i think working with cathe has inspired me to me search alot about weight lifting and nutrtion.

kassia

http://www.picturetrail.com/ldy_solana

"And do what thee wilt as long as ye harm none"

http://images.meez.com/user03/06/01/04/060104_10010099873.gif
 
Fun question! I was a former Firmie(bought first tape in 1986)prior to that I started with the 20 minute workout(does anyone rememeber that? LOL) and Charlene Prickett. I read a review about Cathe (MIS)in Shape magazine in the late 90's and have been hooked since. Cathe brought my fitness to a new level;pushing me to do things I never would have thought I could do!

A friend in fitness,
Shirl
 
Kassia my first purchase was also Power Hour and Rhytmic STep. I think they too are also my luxury purchase.

Jenn;-)
 
Yes, 20 min workout. . . My Mom and aunts used to do those- that's how I started with all this exercise too! Charlene Prickett was the next one. I didn't know they aired those in the US.
 
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