I need help from you experts

[lindaspang]

I have never tried Cathe before but am intrested in trying her out. I love to do Tae Bo and Tamie Lee Web. I am 5'4 and 115lbs. I don't need to loose weight but I have alot of toning to do. I really need work on my abs, arms, buns, and thighs. I am not sure which DVD to start with. I don't even have a step anymore and it looks like she even uses that alot. Any help would be appreciated on what I should start with. Thank You

 

[exercise forever]

Cathe has lots of workouts for the toning you need. She has coremax that is really good for the abs. It is three twenty min. segments. It is tough. She has a legs and glutes workout that does standing legs and floor legs with ankle weights. there is a all upperbody workout that is called ctx upperbody, it has high reps and light weights. There are several total body tapes she has. I'm sure some of the other ladies will inform you.

kim

 

[cjbate]

Well, you will need either a step or some kind of padded bench if you want to do the strength workouts. The step works good for folks that already have it for the step aerobics.

I think it would be helpful to narrow it down, how many days a week you have to devote to strength training? The total body workouts are nice to get it all in in one workout....or you could get Pyramid Upper Body and Pyramind Lower Body if you wanted to split it up into 2 days. If you are willing to take more days, you could get the Gym Styles, or Pure Strength. I like to do 3 days a week of the Gym Styles, or Slow and Heavy, or Pure Strength, then on a 4th day in the week I will take a total body workout class at my gym, or can do one of Cathe's total body workouts (Power Hour, MIS...ME but I don't have that one).

My first purchase related to Cathe was the CTX series. I really liked it. If you get it on DVD (I have it on video) I think she has premixes where you can do more than the one body part per day.

Hope this helps!

Jen

 

[clareMc]

Just to clarify a little from what Jen hs said:

choices are:

1) total body weight training workouts, i.e. Muscle Max (MM), Muscle Endurance (ME), Max Intensity Srength (MIS) and Power Hour (PH), Supersets (SS) and Push/Pull (PP), both from the Body Blast series. These are more endurance focussed workouts (lighter weights, higher reps). As a beginner, you will gain strength with these, but as you get more used to them, you will not be so challenged strength-wise and will want to move on down the list to categories 2 and 3 type workouts.

2) Workouts that separate the upper from the lower body, i.e. CTX Leaner Legs (LL) and CTX upper body split (actually both endurance worrkouts, but very tough for all that, especially LL), both contained on the incredible and versatile CTX series, or Pyramid Upper Body (PUB) and Pyramid Lower Body (PLB) from the Intensity series, also Legs & Glutes from the Body Blast series.

3) More intense workouts that are focussed more on strength and mass gaining than mere "toning" and shaping, i.e. the Pure Strength series (PS) which has just been updated as the new Gym STyles series. There is also Slow & Heavy series where Cathe lifts the heaviest weight as for a real slow count, thus maximizing strength and mass gains. All these workouts use a slower count than is used in endurance workouts because you are lifting a moderate to heavy weight, therefore these workouts take longer to get through and are split up into 2 seperate workouts, i.e.chest and back on one tape and shoulders, triceps and biceps on the other. You can work 2 body parts on the same day (chest and back), or choose to work just one body part per day after or before your cardio routine.

Whereas with endurance you will work the whole body in 60-70 mins, here you may spend 30 mins on just one body part, hitting the muscle from many different angles to fully fatigue it.

The type of workout you choose depends on your goals and the time you have available. However, for many people starting on a strength training program, there seems to be a natural progression from starting with the total body workouts and after 6 months, progressing through to the split routines over a 3 or 5 day period.

Clare

 

[haleslie]

I definitely recommend Cathe. Just be aware though, that her workouts are challenging, intense and fun. I've used Tamilee Webb's workouts and basic Tae Bo, among others (The Firm) and when I started using Cathe, I was overwhelmed. I have to use much lighter weights than Cathe and crew and I've had to pause my DVD player many times, to catch my breath and either rewind to re-learn or to prepare for the next excercise. I also had to learn that it is okay to slow down and learn it, instead of quitting.
Also be aware that Cathe's workouts use more equipment that the standard workouts (they are so worth it though!), such as barbells, dummbells, steps, resistance bands, stability ball, medicine ball... but on some of those you can substitute, depending on the excercise being performed. Her workouts are ultra effective and I do not regret spending my money on them. So when you're ready for a challenge, go with Cathe! (whether it's cardio or strength training). Cathe.com and Collagevideo.com both have great information on her videos to help you decide which one to start with. Also, check out videofitness.com for reviews.

Leslie L.