What do you prefer in your cardio DVDs- rotating activities or all one format?

T

TurquoiseEyes

Cathlete
In other words, do you prefer a workout that's all-step, all-kickboxing, all hi/lo, etc., or do you like a workout that rotates these activities within one routine? Does it depend on your mood, or how you feel physically that day? Is there a go-to workout for you, a particular style, or do you change it up all the time.

I got used to rotating between four-limb, step (although they were basic moves), high step, hi/lo and a teeny bit of kickboxing within one workout by doing The FIRM for years. I was sucking wind the first time I did Cathe's Basic Step because I utilized my normal step height, and I wasn't used to doing a straight half-hour of step aerobics. :D I didn't think I'd like doing all one format for 30-60 minutes, I thought I'd get bored or it would be harder on my joints. I didn't get bored, though- I had lots of fun. Then I realized it was REALLY nice not to constantly pick up the step, put it back, pick up my weights, put them back, pick up the high step, put it back and repeat that process several times, LOL. (Although that style did allow me pause time to go get a drink of water. Cathe doesn't do that, she's making me pause and rewind a bit more as I go suck a wee bit of wind and rehydrate.) ;)

Sometimes I love just being able to grab a step, put it in the middle of my workout space, and leave it there. Working out with that one piece of equipment the whole time, that can be so refreshing to me. :)
 
There are times I like to just step and nothing else. But I also really enjoy Crossfire type workouts with minimal equipment. What I like with Crossfire is that in one workout, you do different types of workouts (if that makes sense.) I feel so good after a workout like that, esp first thing in the morning. But my fav. is always going to be boxing/kickboxing. I just can't get enough of those workouts. That's why I love Cathe live because I can get kickboxing and compound weights in one workout without having to change my dvd. She has a few that you do cardio in the beginning then do compound weights or even barre. LOVE IT!!!!
 
I don't follow rotations because I just like change all the time. My weight lifting may be a 3 day split one week. The following week total body etc. I'm also like that with my cardio. I go with whatever my mood is any given workout day. I may be in the mood for spin, kickboxing, hiit etc. The past month I've chosen more hiit workuts but still did other, the month prior I chose more spin but still did other and prior to that I chose more metabolic weights and didn't do any hiit.

I just keep it changing so I will always love working out. I sometimes will go to my homegym look at the dvd and think none of them look fun today so on those days my go-to is spin. I can always find the pick-me-up on the bike but prior to my spin it was Turbo Fire. The TF workouts use to get me out of the slump day

sorry missed what you were asking I like the cardio to be all types of different stuff most of the time like spin sculpt on and off the bike with weights or metabolic with lots of different stuff going on keeps it from being boring. I use to only run for ever or only do kickboxing now I like cardio with all types of stuff going on.
 
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My favorite go to is the Cardio / Weights workout. It's just step for cardio and free weights for the circuit portion. So much fun I can make myself do it on a low energy day. You have to try it!

It's ok to take breaks. I do to make sure I don't work my heart too hard, unless it's a Hiit workout and that is the plan. Also, sometimes Cathe might have a shorter warm up than you need and I do 10 minutes to change gears on my heart. It is less uncomfortable for me, I am getting older lol.

I used to do prewritten rotations, but since I am coming back from injury, I am just slowly ramping back up starting with the easiest and making sure I work different muscle groups every other workout.
 
Ditto that ditto! I take some time on Saturday or Sunday and pick out my wkouts for the next 5, 7 or even 10 days. I physical rotate them on my shelf so I always know what's coming up. If I have some Hiit coming up, I'll also choose some sort of weight wkout to give me an hour or more for my wkout time. I keep things varied so I don't do 2 Hiits in a row or 2 metabolic wkouts in a row etc. keeps it interesting.
 
RapidBreath said:
My favorite go to is the Cardio / Weights workout. It's just step for cardio and free weights for the circuit portion. So much fun I can make myself do it on a low energy day. You have to try it!

It's ok to take breaks. I do to make sure I don't work my heart too hard, unless it's a Hiit workout and that is the plan. Also, sometimes Cathe might have a shorter warm up than you need and I do 10 minutes to change gears on my heart. It is less uncomfortable for me, I am getting older lol.

I used to do prewritten rotations, but since I am coming back from injury, I am just slowly ramping back up starting with the easiest and making sure I work different muscle groups every other workout.
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Yes! C&W is a wonderful intermediate workout that can be modified up or down more easily than some other Cathe workouts. I find that workout easy to get into & stick with. It's laid out beautifully, IMHO.
 
Justinef said:
I HAVE to have a one-style-for-the-entire-duration type workout. Even if that's circuits, so that I alter between weights and cardio but for the entire hour or so (if that makes sense)? If I'm in the mood to kickbox, I wanna kickbox. Ditto lifting heavy, plyo, step etc.
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Yeah, that makes sense. :) I also hate workouts where I've got to get on the floor, get back up, grab my bench, put it back and so on repeatedly. It hurts my back & knees to do that constantly. I get so tired of hoisting equipment in and out of my way in order to make room for my next set. I work out in my little bedroom, though. If I had a larger space, it'd be better.
 
TurquoiseEyes said:
Yeah, that makes sense. :) I also hate workouts where I've got to get on the floor, get back up, grab my bench, put it back and so on repeatedly. It hurts my back & knees to do that constantly. I get so tired of hoisting equipment in and out of my way in order to make room for my next set. I work out in my little bedroom, though. If I had a larger space, it'd be better.
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I think that's why I don't do workouts like Drill Max as often as I would like. I love that workout, but I have to keep moving my step when I'm not using it.
 
tlc93 said:
Ditto that ditto! I take some time on Saturday or Sunday and pick out my wkouts for the next 5, 7 or even 10 days. I physical rotate them on my shelf so I always know what's coming up. If I have some Hiit coming up, I'll also choose some sort of weight wkout to give me an hour or more for my wkout time. I keep things varied so I don't do 2 Hiits in a row or 2 metabolic wkouts in a row etc. keeps it interesting.
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I would save myself so much time in the morning if I could stick to this type of planning. It can take me forever to pick out just what I want to do that day. I can't seem to follow a rotation very well, LOL.
 
Talking about cardio workouts: Unless the workout already comes with variety I add my own and change my own.
I can't do step for an hour, I get bored after 30 minutes so:
Within a 45 min time span or so I do step a few minutes, hi lo, treadmill, rebounder, Kickbox back to step, back to walk/jog intervals on the treadmill ,pick up light weights and do AWT, or circuit and so on. I change it up within the cardio workout.
I love workouts like Breakthru because they don't do the "add on" of moves. I like leaving a move behind and going on to something else.

I did Crossfire for the first time yesterday and loved it because of the variety.
 
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Lucia A said:
Talking about cardio workouts: Unless the workout already comes with variety I add my own and change my own.
I can't do step for an hour, I get bored after 30 minutes so:
Within a 45 min time span or so I do step a few minutes, hi lo, treadmill, rebounder, Kickbox back to step, back to walk/jog intervals on the treadmill ,pick up light weights and do AWT, or circuit and so on. I change it up within the cardio workout.
I love workouts like Breakthru because they don't do the "add on" of moves. I like leaving a move behind and going on to something else.

I did Crossfire for the first time yesterday and loved it because of the variety.
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I love AWT because it's what I started with many moons ago. At the risk of getting my butt kicked here, some of Cathe's newer metabolic workouts remind me The FIRM's classic AWT workouts. Well, The FIRM's floorwork was tougher in those really early tapes, IMHO...but Cathe is in a class by herself in the standing work! :D

It could be my fibromyalgia, my particular bone structure, my higher weight, or my overall fitness level, but I find doing one type of workout for a whole hour to be really hard on my body. When I do one type too often in one week, that is. An hour of hi/lo, step, kickboxing, etc., all mixed up in one session- no problems. One style only done time after time and my body starts to really ache. Not DOMS aching (I can deal with that and don't mind it), but that gnarly feeling in the joints and hip flexors and ligaments you can't shake. It isn't the type of pain that goes away with a little stretching and an aspirin, either. It's akin to that overtraining syndrome feeling. I was trying so hard to learn Cathe's step routines recently, as they are a MAJOR change from The FIRM workouts I'm used to. And I have grown to love step, was having so much fun with the newness and variety, but I just can't do one thing intensely three times a week for an hour without pain at this point.

Now I'm going to mix it up with stuff like AfterBurn (I just use a light weight), Kick Max, Slide 'n Glide, or one of my multiple-style cardio workouts from The FIRM to keep myself feeling decent. Stick with step-only workouts one or two times a week. Whatever works, right? :) I did CrossFire once and boy, did it kick my booty! :D But I enjoyed it. Yet another DVD to buy...sigh.

I hope I get so fit one day I can do step six times a week if I want and still feel like a champ, but yeah...I'm not going to kill myself trying that strategy out right now. :)
 
Interesting, I never really thought about why I never "bonded" with workouts like X10 but maybe it's because I don't handle change well. Now that I think of it I have to have a structured pattern or I get anxious LOL!
Jamie
 
I definitely prefer doing only one style of exercise during a workout, and circuits I would consider one style. And I do enjoy X10 and Cross Fire, etc. But, for example, Body Max 2 has step cardio and UB weights, and 4DS has a weights segment and a cardio segment. I don't put those in my rotations. (They would be a nice change in my routine though.)

Now sometime this week I'm starting phase 2 of Body Beast and it's a single body part per day of lifting so I'm thinking of adding on to these workouts a short cardio, barre, yoga, etc. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stick with that plan, though. I just may do BB and call it a day. :p On the other hand (I just though of this!) if I start with the "extra," I would be less likely to skip Body Beast.
 
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bzbnmom said:
I definitely prefer doing only one style of exercise during a workout, and circuits I would consider one style. And I do enjoy X10 and Cross Fire, etc. But, for example, Body Max 2 has step cardio and UB weights, and 4DS has a weights segment and a cardio segment. I don't put those in my rotations. (They would be a nice change in my routine though.)

Now sometime this week I'm starting phase 2 of Body Beast and it's a single body part per day of lifting so I'm thinking of adding on to these workouts a short cardio, barre, yoga, etc. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stick with that plan, though. I just may do BB and call it a day. :p On the other hand (I just though of this!) if I start with the "extra," I would be less likely to skip Body Beast.
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When I did BB, I thought it was great to have a heavy weight workout, that was around 30 minutes. I loved those single body part workouts.
 
nckfitheart2009 said:
Great thread ! I prefer a variety. That's why I love TTM and cross fire.
Off to bed. The forum is addictive.
11 pm central European time ;-)
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Nathalie, a little OT but you have me curious. I know you've lost a lot of weight and got incredibly fit with Cathe. Because I still have significant weight to lose and am several months away (at least!) from being even intermediate-advanced, I'm wondering how long it was before you were an advanced exerciser with Cathe. When you started her workouts, were you already advanced because of other training? Or did it take awhile to gain advanced fitness, where you could do lots of plyos, follow tough rotations, etc.? I feel sometimes like I will never be able to follow those advanced rotations, that they will just be too hard on my body. I'm not discouraged, just trying to be realistic about what is possible and what is not. Sorry if I'm asking too personal a question within the forum, but I'd love to know more about your timeline of fitness progression. :)

Liz
 
TurquoiseEyes said:
Nathalie, a little OT but you have me curious. I know you've lost a lot of weight and got incredibly fit with Cathe. Because I still have significant weight to lose and am several months away (at least!) from being even intermediate-advanced, I'm wondering how long it was before you were an advanced exerciser with Cathe. When you started her workouts, were you already advanced because of other training? Or did it take awhile to gain advanced fitness, where you could do lots of plyos, follow tough rotations, etc.? I feel sometimes like I will never be able to follow those advanced rotations, that they will just be too hard on my body. I'm not discouraged, just trying to be realistic about what is possible and what is not. Sorry if I'm asking too personal a question within the forum, but I'd love to know more about your timeline of fitness progression. :)

Liz
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Hi Liz,

:):):) I do not see myself as incredibly fit. There are moves, exercices and variation I would like to execute
with cleaner spot on form. Pull up without any assistance is one of them. I have just added a pull bar and now need to fixe it on one of my doors
in my small appartment. We do not have ample space as you guys living in US:). I know cause I have visited few times ;-)

Ok your OT question. When I started working out cathe I was not on the forum and believe it or not I was not aware
how big cathe collection was. Looking back I am glad I was not on the forum:cool::cool:. I started cathe with two bundles:
It took about two years to build up and gain some decent level of fitness to be able to jump on
any cathe program with confidence. I did not set any goal. I took it as journey without putting to much pressure on myself.
All I knew, I wanted to tighten my skin after a year of total change for as a lifestyle. I could not do any push up at all:D:D
After about six month I could complete all my push up as listed on first two bundles above. I was very happy. From there
my mindset changed!! But I was adamant, determined to be able to execute a military push up. I took baby's step;););)

Six months after starting working out cathe, a stranger living in my vicinity stopped me and quoted:
"Whatever you have been doing these last six months, carry on doing, it suits you":cool:
You look good:) From that day, I knew I had choosen what I needed.

After two years i knew I wanted the entire cathe's collection. I started to spend hours reading through program
descriptions adding whatever I wanted. I just wanted it all lol:):):)
Imax2 and Body max being my favourite for cardio, I started lurking imax3 description.
I sensed it was brutal but somehow, when I started cathe I was ready for a challenge I had never experienced
before. I did some of workout rated intermediate/advanced in UK:eek::eek: What level is it compared to US
average, I do not know.

The market for home exercisers is literrally non-existent in Europe. In Belgium and France I do not know
anybody who exercise at home:D:D:D. I do not mention it.

So to come back to your question, It took me years as a journey! Truly a happy fun journey.
I did not want to tell anyone I was on a diet when I started and each year I am getting better. Be patient!
For me I made it "easy" by just enjoying the journey without setting too many goals in the beginning. Four years after I started to set goals to complete all cathe's dvds I added and discover more. I was mapping out my own rotations.
In the beginning,the main goal was to loose weight from the scale point of view. I achieved it:D:D:D
Yes I had my "glory ruling steady state pace time". I was bored before discovering cathe.
When I put my foot on a step cathe style doing body max, I got HOOKED:D:D
That is when the fun began. The rest was history.

Feel free to pm me if you wish to ;-)
 
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