Lower Intensity Step Review

[gogigi]

I'm cutting and pasting what I wrote at VF:
I just finished the entire workout and I LUV it! The music is fresh and fun and it matches the mood and choreography of the workout perfectly! The WU is soooo much fun in this one and I absolutely LOVE the WU song. The cardio choreography is creative, fresh, and yes I will say it again...FUN! There are 3 combos and each combo has two sections. You learn one section, the next section, put them together (but not over repetitive) then you so a simple power section move on to learn combo 2, power section, learn combo 3, power section then you do combo's 1, 2, & 3 with each combo section broken up (to give the brain a rest) with a simple power section. Lots of directional changes but the choreography "made sense" and was quite easy for me to catch on to (I HAVE learned to enjoy more complex choregraphy and while this isn't all out complex, it is more complex than a lot of Cathe's other cardio). Now, I was also surprised that this got my heart rate up more than I thought it would. This is LOWER intensity but it is easy to put a lot into it and get quite the little cardio workout going.

The shoulder work was perfect. I didn't feel like it was endless reps. There were 4 rounds and my shoulders were fried using the weights Cathe used but perfectly fried. I was ready to be done and had forgotten about the bonus band section....ouch! The ab work was very tough! My core was a little sore from the get go (I noticed when I started the ab work) so I'm thinking my core may have been sore from the functional fitness/kettlebell workouts I had been doing this week. Very, very good ab section. The stretch was nice and flowed smoothly. The music used for the stretch was from the Intensity Series Boot Camp. The rest of the music was not recycled or at least I couldn't tell if it was and I really, really like the music.

Two thumbs WAY up for this one!
Angela:7

 

[debbydarestobefit]

Thanks for posting this Angela! I'm looking forward to them!
DEb

 

[FoolofaTook]

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing for myself today or tomorrow...eagerly watching for that UPS truck!

 

[JT]

I just previewed it after doing the kicbox section tonight, Lower Intensity has fun step combos in it. The calve workout is definately a burner.

 

[EVCT]

Thanks for the review! I'm doing this workout as soon as I sign off.
Ellen

 

[Amy Steppe]

Hi Angela!

I did the Lower Intensity Step last evening and had a blast! I don't see how Cathe can always come up with a new twist in her step workouts. She cues really well and makes workouts so much fun!

I did have to rewind a few times, but finally got most of the choreography down.

I think I'll wait to learn the Higher Intensity Step since I am still on a learning curve with Lower Intensity Step and the Boot Camp.

 

[DeanaMax]

thank you for the thoughtful review.

How long is the cardio section versus the weight work?

 

[stephanie932]

Angela.........I read your review at VF and feel the same way! I loved this workout!

I did it today and was smiling right away while doing the warm-up and the hip hops.....They were too fun! It did take me 54 mins. (instead of the 37 actual minutes that it is....lol) to work through LIS because I wasn't going to let myself finish without nailing each combo. Choreography doesn't come easy for me, so when I was finished, I was quite pleased with myself. I burned almost 500 calories and worked up a great sweat!

To make sure I've really got it down.......I'm going to do the LIS Circuit premix tomorrow. It looks like it will be just perfect and also something just a bit different.

I'm loving this set!

 

[Amy Steppe]

The cardio lasts appx. 30 minutes, but Cathe's warm ups are active and she really lays the intensity on.

Boot Camp is really fun, challenging and and easy to master.

I also love the bicep and tricep workout in the series.

4-Day Split is a Jewel in the Crown!

 

[erinw]

I did this workout this morning and really liked it. I think it's my second favorite so far (after Kickbox); I only have Higher Intensity Step left to try. I thought the warm up was fun and the cardio section itself was quite fun as well. I thought the time flew by and I really enjoyed the workout. It wasn't too hard, but hard enough to get a good sweat going. And I only had to rewind a couple of times to get the choreography down. I enjoyed the variety of combos and none were too intricate that I got confused. Overall, a fun workout.

The shoulder rounds weren't that hard that I couldn't do them successfully (I had trouble even completely the bi/tri rounds). I usually dread doing shoulder exercises, but these were sequenced in a way that I felt quite good about my ability. Shoulders tend to be a weak area of mine, but this made me feel like I was pretty good.

The ab section was really great. I thought they were great exercises and really fired my abs. The backward bicycle at the beginning took a bit to get the hang of, but I liked the overall workout a lot. I loved it so much, I did it twice. :9 I will definitely be doing this workout quite often. I thought it was lots of fun.