Step recommendations?

jennifermaria

jennifermaria

Cathlete
Hi everyone,

I've been away from Cathe for the most part for the last few years since I moved to NY for grad school and had to join a gym (which caused major separation anxiety for me, being without my Cathe workouts!). In the years since, I've graduated and moved back to CA, and Cathe's added to her library with a TON of DVD's! I'm just now getting caught up (I recently got GS, PUB/PLB, MM, and BC/ME--holy moly, now I see what y'all have been raving about!! I can NOT wait to tackle all of them!).

After having "dipped my toe" back into Cathe-land with her newer strength tapes, I'd like to ease my way back into her step tapes as well. I've mostly done elliptical, kickboxing (Cathe's KPC, mostly), and running for cardio in the last 3-4 years. I've been running almost exclusively for cardio for the last year and a half, so I'm very "out of it" when it comes to step workouts and don't know what to buy...

Just to give you an idea of my preferences, I'm pretty old school--I LOVE Cathe's older workouts like PowerMax and Step Jam, which has really fun (but not TOO complicated) choreography and even more fun music that has me jamming and forgetting that time is flying by. Which ones of her "newer" (my "newer" I mean post-CTX) step workouts are similar to that style of workouts (i.e. fun music and fun choreography that isn't too intimidating)? I was eying Step Blast, IMAX2, and IMAX3, but I'm at a loss... I thought I'd ask you guys and see what recommendations you might have.

Sorry for the long intro--any advice would be most welcome :).

Thanks,
Jennifer
 
To ease back into Cathe's step, I would try the IMAX 2/Cardio & Weights DVD. The step isn't too hard and they are both fun. IMAX 2 is the easiest of the IMAXes (at least for me, but it seems for most people). IMAX 1 ("Interval Max") has the easiest (most athletic) choreography. I would say IMAX 3 has the most challenging choreography and is the most intense (but on a pretty equal par with IMAX 1) but IMAX 3 has less recovery time which makes it more demanding. I would also try Low Max. It's low impact but high intensity and a great workout and major calorie burner for me. Cathe does it on an 8" step but you can start out at 6" or even 4". After you catch on to those two, you could try Step Blast and Rhythmic Step which have her most challenging choreography (very dancy and also my favorite).

Marcy
 
IMAX2 is my favorite Cathe workout. It's tough but so much fun it doesn't feel like work. :) Low Max is a good one, too. It's surprisingly intense for a low impact workout. I don't have Step Blast or Rhythmic Step (yet) but have heard good things about both. Have fun!
 
I would recommend Imax2 and Interval Max.

Some of the other workouts you are looking at (like Rythmic Step) have more complicated choreo. And the step workout in the Hardcore series have more complicated choreo, which is also not as well cued (making it harder to pick up).
 
Thanks for the recommendations, guys!! Looks like IMAX2 it is :). I do have IMAX and Rhythmic Step, the former I used to do a lot (before moving to NY), and the latter I haven't been able to get into as much because the choreography really stumps me LOL.

What do you guys think about Step Blast? That looks really fun too...

Jennifer
 
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