I have all three of the the tapes and like them all. I enjoy Charlene, but she does keep everything more low impact than Cathe. Her only major impact is what she calls "extreme repeaters," which are fast lunges off the bench. Cathe has a few similar variations - like the fast foot repeater.
Now, for each video -
Crazy for Step is about 80 minutes total, including about a 4 min warm up and a cooldown (don't know how long that is - I always do my own). She builds up the routine in about four or five segments and then runs through the entire thing three times, kind of like theh Step Blast Challenge, if you've done that (but it's not anywhere near as hard). Crazy keeps a good steady heartrate up for a long time, but it doesn't push the anaerobic threshold. I personally think it's a lot of fun.
Start your Engines is very low impact, an hour long. No step, just floor work. It's not very challenging, and I think the warm up is too long. But I think the routine is fun, and I am keeping it in case I need something slow, in case I get sick or tear a ligament or something. It's definitely one of her older videos.
Living Proof is a good, solid workout, about an hour long. The moves aren't very technically challenging, but they get you going, and there's enough variety to be interesting. This was my first "advanced" step routine, and I just about killed myself learning it. I was all left feet. But since you're already familiar with Cathe, you won't have any problem.
I personally like Charlene and think she gives some good workouts. But, like I said in reference to "Crazy," she doesn't ever push the anaerobic threshold. I'm keeping my Charlene tapes for the variety, and because sometimes that steady cardio is what I need. I really love it when Cathe's routines push beyond what I think is humanly possible, though ...
