SirenSongWoman
Cathlete
You know, before I discovered Cathe, I amassed quite a collection of FIRM workouts that just collected dust after Cathe. However, I was desperate for something different to do on cardio night (though it's, technically Friday morning...) and had to come up with a solution. I just did LowMax two nights ago, the only other Cathe cardio I have is IMAX3 (plyo Hell, you've got to be kidding) and those super easy introductory Cathe step dvds that, along with every other cardio dvd I have, accomplish nothing, after all this time. That's the dichotomy about Cathe's cardio vs. everyone else's: Much of her cardio is loaded with plyo and too hard on the joints for a large percentage of us while everyone else's cardio is twinkie stuff. Nobody's really doing cardio for that middle ground with any consistency. But I digress. I thought about the treadmill but I really don't want to hop on that thing again until my Cardio Coach discs arrive. So, exasperated, I finally started looking over my old FIRM dvd's, which I abandoned largely because I needed serious weight training which The FIRM doesn't do (hence, I moved to CatheLand). Yet, I recalled that I always found their cardio REALLY challenging so I thought 'Why not?' I mean, it would be interesting to see if it still leaves me panting, sweating and exhausted. So did it still get my heart racing? Oh Yes. I selected Ultimate Calorie Blaster with Stephanie Huckabee and dusted off my old Transfirmer step. The whole experience was a shock, good and bad. I used to have an awful time doing the arm moves while doing the footwork but have gotten better, all the tall box climbing was so hard It used to bring me to the edge of stomach-churning illness. All that Cathe leg-work has done wonders. I got through all of it, standing tall, abs in! But when it was over I had to hit PAUSE, catch my breath, get some water and hose myself down (with a misting bottle full of cold water), just like old times. My heart was a-thumpin'. There are moments where both feet leave the floor, though one of the crew shows us modified moves, with one foot always planted. Thus, the "plyo" moves are NOTHING like what Cathe does, for all those of you concerned about injuring your joints. There is step and floor work throughout (and the choreography is NOT difficult at all) so there's plenty of variety. When the cardio was over and I was ready to cool down and wrap it up it was time to break out the mat and do some planks! Oh man! I totally forgot. The FIRM sticks ab work at the end of nearly all their workouts. Their forward planks don't keep you up on your toes as long as Cathe (thank you) but they also do SIDE planks, which are probably new to Catheites. Whatever. The ab work is brief and I need it, so it's all good. All in all, Ultimate Calorie Blaster is STILL a killer - but if you don't already have their Transfirmer step (so glad I didn't get rid of mine) you'll not be able to do this workout without the slanted risers for the club step and you may have to modify some moves. Not only do I recommend this workout as a heart pumper (though using the light dumbbells is still kind of dumb and I certainly would not rely on any FIRM workout for weight training) I believe I'm going to start rifling through all my old FIRM cardio dvds to see what else can be used to augment my workout schedule. I learned that Cathe has done so much for making my legs stronger but my heart still has a looooong way to go. In the end, I gave up on The FIRM because I needed heavy weight training but, tonight's killer workout has made see it was a mistake to give up on their cardio. This workout kicked my butt and my heart. As long as you don't RELY on The FIRM for weight training (3 lb. dumbbells... please) I think their cardio workouts offer a lot. And the instructor on this one, Stephanie Huckabee, is merciless.
Hope somebody finds this helpful.
Hope somebody finds this helpful.
