Rememering my first Cathe workout

taterkc

taterkc

Cathlete
I'm doing a week of Cross Train Express to get back into the swing of things post holiday and just did Step and Intervals.

That was the first Cathe workout I did back in 2005 and I will never forget it. I did the warmup then into the step workout. Then she did a break and said now we will do intervals. And for some reason I thought that entire first part was the WARMUP! With a zillion power 15s! Lol. I thought if this is the warmup it can't make it through the real workout

It's funny to me that I thought that but always remember every time I pull out that DVD. Needless to say it was all challenging but so happy now to have all her DVDs. Happy new year all :)
 
I saw Cathe on Fit TV and was intrigued and I think my first was Pyramids, its either that or PowerHour. I remember clearly I didn't have a highstep and didn't think it was necessary because I had a wood crate and figured that was going to work. Well that crate lasted all of two workouts, and boom! Here's the other deal, I thought I was going to buy a couple of DVDs tops, because I thought it was insanely expensive to get a series, and who does all that stuff anyway. Talk about eating it! I have since bought every dvd Cathe put out except Step workouts. My last purchase this December was CTX. I still lift heavy and gym style on my own, but Cathe workouts are fun and have shown me so many different ways to lift. Now please...if you are reading this dear Cathe.... STS #2.... ;)
 
I used to use a chair and no, it never went boom! But did prove unsatisfactory in other ways. My first step was wooden one, made for me by a friend according to specifications I found on collagevideo.com. It was Frankensteinian: bolts/screws sticking out all over the place and for some reason it rocked sideways all the time. Still, I use that thing like nobody's business until my DH came home from recycle Ann Arbor one day and asked me: what does a real step look like? He had found me a real club step for $7. Deal of the century. I used that for 17 years. So, he did get me a present once.....!

Love CTX, will never stop using it. All Step followed by Step & Intervals = workout heaven.

First Cathe was Powermax and Max Intensity Strength. Boy! It was exactly the club intensity I had been looking for and could not find anywhere else and I never went back to the Charlene Prickett's, Jane Fonda's and Kathy Smiths after that. No siree, I was hooked.

Still love Powermax. It stands the test of time workout-wise: fashion wise?..........!

Clare
 
I also found Cathe on FitTv (RIP, FitTv :(), and I think my first workout was Bootcamp. I remember thinking "look at this little thing, how hard could her workouts be?" and then I was dying halfway through! The next day I came back and did SJP and that was it, I was hooked. I wound up buying both DVDs and didn't realize that they were truncated to fit the TV time slot, so that really threw me for a whirl. It was all over then ;)
 
Oh boy I'm surprised I even bought more DVD's after the 1st Cathe one of HIIT back in 2010. I guess I thought very highly of myself back then doing Jillian and Jari Love, but when I did the 40/20 HIIT my lungs were on FIRE!!!! I was so out of breath my son came running downstairs to make sure I was OK. But I survived and now get through those workouts without feeling like I'm gonna die so I have Cathe to thank for that.
 
meliffy18 said:
I also found Cathe on FitTv (RIP, FitTv :(), and I think my first workout was Bootcamp. I remember thinking "look at this little thing, how hard could her workouts be?" and then I was dying halfway through! The next day I came back and did SJP and that was it, I was hooked. I wound up buying both DVDs and didn't realize that they were truncated to fit the TV time slot, so that really threw me for a whirl. It was all over then ;)
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I miss FitTV too, I used to have that on just because I liked to hear it. Same with listening to a hockey, baseball, football game, love to listen to that sort of stuff.
 
I loved FitTv. My first Cathe was Rhythmic Step. I almost died part way through her warm up. Then I went on the website and saw the beginner's rotation, started with Basic Step (which came with my circuit size step, cause I live in a tiny room.) And, it still felt like her 'beginner's' level was harder than Kathy Smith's advanced workouts. I'm recovering from illness, so I'm back in the Kathy Smith. :eek: Boy, am I glad I didn't throw them out.:eek:
 
I found Cathe through Collage Video. I had just started with Step workouts and for some reason I liked the description on Mega Step Blast. I bought it and thought it was the hardest workout I ever did! That was in 1995 and I was hooked from that point on.
 
Fun thread! I KNOW my first Cathe workouts were on VHS. I'm pretty sure it was one of the Pure Strength workouts, quickly followed by Mega Step Blast! Wow, that's taking me back quite a few years. I still have some of those VHS tapes...memorabilia :D

Moreso, I remember how intimidated I first felt when Cathe said these are for advanced exercisers. Would I be able to do them, keep up? Well...I'm still here :eek:

Lisa
 
Pure Strength on VHS plus a cardio workout I can't remember. I was doing the Firm originals at the time. Collage recommended Cathe when I asked for a suggestion.
PS is still one of my all time favorites and it gets my legs like no other. I have long since replaced it with a DVD.
 
Slow and Heavy was my first set from Cathe! I had been doing the Firm for years as well. I was hooked as soon as I started working out with Cathe. It didn't take me long to complete my collection of her workouts. I still love doing the "oldies" and revisit them quite often.
 
My first Cathe workout was HIIT 30/30. I distinctly remember a coppery taste in my mouth from what I thought were bleeding lungs :p! I had purchased the HIIT DVD and Travel Fit to take on vacation with me for 2 weeks. I tried to blame higher altitudes for my struggles through HIIT Pyramid, and thought the band was somehow tricking my "pink" weightlifting muscles ;)! When I returned home, I boxed up my Tracie Long and Firm DVDs, donated them to the library, and ordered more Cathe workouts :eek:! With every new workout I would think I had overestimated my fitness level; but with grit and determination I would somehow get through them and feel empowered! I have enjoyed every single DVD I have purchased from Cathe and admire her immensely! Whenever I pull out Travel Fit in a hotel room I grin and think "It all started here!" :).
 
Body max was pure fun starting point

My first Cathe workout was Body max original with power horse, three knee repeater, basket ball---:):):).

That was one of my happy time discovering cathe. I purchased the dvd bundle after a search on the internet. At the time (2007) I had no clue about cathe nation existence:eek::eek: neither did I know about the entire cathe collection.

I had so much fun working out Body max to a point of falling in love with step. I had never in million years thought I would love those power moves. It did feel brutal and I was fine cause I was looking for challenge. Three months working cathe I started being asked what type of exercise I was doing.

Two years working out the full bundle and muscle max, I then (after STS release) discovered the full gem collection. From that point I knew I wanted every single program cathe had ever made:):). I loved all of them and I would *not* have loved cathe any other way! Her wittiness is a bonus;)

Now I still want more new goodies.:p
 
I started Cathe in 2004 because I just happened to find our about her on a FIRM forum and I soooo needed and wanted something more than FIRM. I had literally worn out my FIRM Tortoise video from doing it so much that I had to tape the tape together in some parts.

So my first Cathe was HIgh Step Training because we used it a lot in FIRM. It was so great! It gave me the more and challenge I had always wanted but never gotten before. I remember thinking, "Wow, she gets me."

I then got Bootcamp, Muscle endurance, IMAX 2 (which I did on one of those smaller steps-now I have a full size). I now have all her dvds except for like 5 which are waiting to be purchased in my shopping cart!
 
This is a fun thread! I feel like I "discovered" Cathe twice. I was a Firmie starting back in 2003 or so and I LOVED high stepping and the way The Firm alternated cardio and strength. I was never active on the Firm forums like I am here, but I did visit them every so often to see if they had new workouts coming out. I would see people recommend Cathe if you were looking to kick things up a notch. So In 2006 I bought Bootcamp/Muscle Endurance. They both KILLED ME! I thought I was in pretty good shape back then--I Firmed every day! (it makes me laugh, thinking back--my heaviest dumbbell back then was 20#) But I couldn't get through either of them w/out having to constantly stop because of the pain. So I put that DVD away and forgot about it.

I eventually went beyond Firm because they weren't challenging me anymore--Jari Love, Jillian Michaels, Michelle Dozois, Gin Miller and many more. Then in 2008 I discovered Beachbody products--I did ChaLean Extreme, TurboFire, P90X and Insanity--and loved them all. Then in 2012 I came across that old Bootcamp/Muscle Endurance DVD and remembered how 6 years prior it was way too advanced for me. I remember thinking--hey, I did P90X and Insanity--surely I can handle this now. I popped it in and fell in love. I was able to get through both w/out a problem--but I was still challenged (and of course used heavier dumbbells the next time I did the workouts!).

I now own every one of Cathe's DVDs--and I purchased them since April 2012! She is my "go-to" trainer and her workouts are my absolute favorites now. And Bootcamp and Muscle Endurance are two of my all-time favorites because every time I do them, I remember how far I have come.
 
My first Cathe was Basic Step/Body Fusion. I heard of her through the Firm Forum and was very afraid so I tried that one and dived in. My next was High Step Training Advanced and also Muscle Endurance/Boot Camp. HSTA still kicks my behind!
 
My first Cathe was Mega Step Blast, which started my addiction. I purchased almost every release she put out since that one. :p

Loved Lisa and Hope from the old days. Had an especially soft spot for Hope, particularly after she had to do the modifications in IMAX1.

My first high step was wooden w/screws (possibly the same one Clare described). It's in my basement and I occasionally still use it.

I also bought that black bench that Cathe used in S&H (it's retired, stored somewhere in the bowels of our basement). ;)
 
Pure Strength, my first encounter with a barbell:) I'll never go back after having discovered Cathe!:D:D
 
Swimmer said:
My first Cathe was Mega Step Blast, which started my addiction. I purchased almost every release she put out since that one. :p

Loved Lisa and Hope from the old days. Had an especially soft spot for Hope, particularly after she had to do the modifications in IMAX1.

My first high step was wooden w/screws (possibly the same one Clare described). It's in my basement and I occasionally still use it.

I also bought that black bench that Cathe used in S&H (it's retired, stored somewhere in the bowels of our basement). ;)
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My first high step (with theFIRM) was an upside down 5 gallon paint bucket! I honestly used that thing for years! It worked...but I only used it for high steps ups with or without weights.
 
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