LOW MAX CRISIS-WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

[jillybean]

Girl, I hear you. I COULD not get the reverse mambo down. I had my husband stand at the back of my workout room so he could keep both me and the TV in his view. Then I did my version of the reverse mambo (which looked like someone tryng to stomp out an invisible fire - pathetic). He said, "Honey, Cathe is turning all the way around, then stepping down to this side of the step with her right foot first. You're stepping on the other side of the step with your right foot." I took in what he said and practiced over and over til I got it. I just did Low Max again and got it down - every single reverse mambo was done correctly - woo hoo! Try it again and don't get frustrated - it happens to all of us!

 

[starlight6]

You'll be surprised how much better it goes even the second attempt...I find that I always feel a little (or a lot) awkward with any new workout, but your body starts using that muscle memory thing very quickly!

Ruth

 

[kathryn]

Tesla,
I felt the way you did when we got to the "glide" move (where you step off the side and pivot then go into a diagonal basic). I just couldn't get it (and I usually get 85% of Cathe's cardio first-time out--after previewing--and pick up the other moves after 3 or 4 repetitions). I even tried "rewinding' to repeat part of that section, but I still didn't get it. And then the )@*$&@ move comes back in a combo. ARGGH!

I plan to re-preview that part of the workout, breaking down the move more and isolating it. Or if I still get frustrated by it, find a replacment move without a pivot (I don't like pivots anyway!).

 

[stephanie932]

I finally got all the steps down after the 3rd time. I think what really helped me is for the last 2 days, I did the cardio only premix with just the first 4 segments, warm up and stretch. It helped me tremendously. So keep at it, you'll get it!

~Stephanie~

"Happiness is knowing what you are doing next without me saying it!" - Cathe

 

[Pedmom]

I just keep rewinding. I tried Imax 3 before LM and didn't get through all of it (frustration factor kicked in). When I did LM the first time yesterday I had to rewind four times to get the reverse mambos right and three times for the step sweep part. Just keep rewinding and watching. Hang in there!

 

[ducky]

I feel the same way with all my new cathe choreographed workouts. It's because she doesn't TEACH the moves, and this really annoys me. She just jumps in and does them, leaving the learner to just stop and watch what the heck she is doing. I also don't think she queues very well. She queues most of the moves as she does them, without enough lead time. I love the workouts after I learn them, but I am consistently annoyed with the lack of teaching and queueing.

 

[kathryn]

She queues most of the
>moves as she does them, without enough lead time. I love the
>workouts after I learn them, but I am consistently annoyed
>with the lack of teaching and queueing.

I think her cuing on Low Max is better than on the begginer/intermediate workouts from last year. But I agree that there were 3 or 4 places on the Low Max workout (the only cardio I've done so far) where the cuing was not sufficient (when she first tells us to do "knee slam repeaters" which are not three knee slams, but a "knee-kick-knee"; when she has us do a "over-face-in-over without the turn this time" hunh? she meant without the diagonal, but it threw me at first; the "glide" move; and another place--I don't remember what the move was, but we were facing sideways at the time, and I had to say "hunh"? )

She is assuming that people already know many of the moves. And it is annoying to have to go through LONG teaching of a move upon repeated playings of the workout.

A solution, IMO, would be to have a "learn the moves" segment on the DVD for those more complicated moves (like the reverse mambo, which I didn't have any problem with --pat on back--but others seem to ). The moves could be broken down more without interrupting the flow of the workout itself.

Cathe did this before with another workout, and I think it would satisfy both those who want more instruction and those who are annoyed by too much instruction, since it would be the viewers choice to watch it or not.

 

[Pedmom]

THAT is a great idea Kathryn!

 

[WRITER]

I found this a little tricky too. A couple of hints: when Cathe does triples, she first take two single steps. So, it's like right step, left step, right-left-right, left-right-left. This tripped me up in an earlier video. On the step-sweep, which I haven't fully mastered, I find that I do it right more often if I listen rather than watch. Somehow, trying to mirror that one fouls me up. As one who gets frustrated easy with complex choreography, I am finding that the more I do Cathe's workouts, the faster the learning curve on each one is. Once you get the mambo combos down, you'll see them over and over!

 

[mmarg9]

Another idea... I did the step mix first, in order to get it down then the next day did the intervals 1-4 , then a day of intervals 4-7 and lastly put it all together doing the whole shebang. Somehow, it didn't seem so overwhelming ... at least there were some moves I recognized from the previous day! It will take some more practice to focus on working more, instead of fumbling along

Good luck and keep tryin'!