Workout opinions please

jengollf

jengollf

Cathlete
Hi everyone. Over the past 6 months I have accumulated a lot of Cathe workouts and so far I am loving almost all of them. Best workouts ever. Not counting STS (which I also recently bought on daily deal), I now have 31 Cathe DVDs (32 technically, since I also have 4 Day Split). There are a few more I am on the fence about buying to complete my collection and would appreciate opinions.

Crosstrain Express, Low Impact Slide N Glide, Low Impact Turbo Barre, Travel Fit and Circuit Blast.

Other than those 5, I think I have everything I want now. I will say that I hate complex step choreography and have avoided purchasing Cathe's step workouts (I do everything but the step cardio on 4 Day Split--I use the premixes to do the strength portions of the step workouts). However I love the basic intense step like in To the Max, Athletic Step and Cardio Supersets. Crosstrain Express, in particular, I'm curious about the complexity of the step choreography and, if it is complex, is the collection still worth it if I skip the step portions (like in 4 Day Split--well worth it even w/out the step cardios--love Bootcamp and kickbox).

Thanks!
 
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Hi there!

Here are my thoughts on the workouts you are interested in:

CrossTrain Xpress - do not own yet :(

Turbo Barre - YES, YES, YES, YES. One of my favorite leg workouts of Cathe. It's a Masterpiece IMO.

Slide & Glide - Love it! Really fun! The muscle conditioning section is a goodie :D.

Travel Fit - Low impact band work at it's best! Get the right resistance band, and you will burn like heck!

Circuit Blast - Not the hardest circuit workout of Cathe, but good nonetheless. It utilizes the step for athletic moves like Box Jumps. I would put in on a scale of moderate intensity, so good for days when you don't feel like getting slayed.

HTH! Happy shopping!

Natasha
 
Hi Jengollf,

*) CTX, I can't comment as yet, awaiting for it through the post!

*) Turbo, Yes, yes and Yes...it is a nice conditioning DVD. It does come handy to have a break from pure weight lifting routine. It is a total body conditioning with more burn on problem area!I liked this one very much especially for the outer hip! I found it difficult to target this area.

*) Slide and glide yes, yes and yes...Again it hit problem area inner thigh (Felt DOMS the day after/:D:D loud conversation with my inner thigh!) and it has got a cardio factor, push up on discs which is an excellent variation.

*) Travel fit, can't comment but I am intending to add as it may come handy for holidays.

*) Circuit Blast, can't comment but again it is in my wish list. I need to work on box jumps, the duration of the workout is 45 minutes which fit in with the duration range I prefer.

Hope this helps you in your decision making,

Nathalie
 
Hi!
I agree with Nathalie and Natasha --

Turbo Barre, Slide and Glide, and Circuit Blast are must-haves.

They are great workouts, and Slide and Glide sneaks up surprisingly fast and it is fun.

Good luck!
 
I have all of the ones you are considering. Out of those 4 I most often reach for the Crosstrain Express DVD's. There is a real good variety of cardio-kickbox and step. The straight upper body compilation is great for an upper/lower body split and Leaner Legs is a masterpiece-supersetting leg work for a good 40 minutes. Then you get a whole bunch of ab routines to choose from as well!

I prefer to use weights to work my legs so don't reach for Turbo Barre very often. I have used Circuit Blast occasionally for an easier, fun workout. And I only did Slide and Glide once so can't really comment on that. I am just getting back to using dvd's from the LIS after a summer of biking a lot for cardio. I haven't even opened Travel Fit...just don't travel much!

Beth
 
I own all these, and like them all - I would say it depends on what you want out of them, and how far you are trying to stretch your dollars.

Crosstrain Express - I got this on one of the daily deals, and I have to say if you can do that it is worth it - I hesitate to totally recommend it to you because of the step portions. I like step, so it is hard to remember how much dancy versus athletic there is - but I will say for the weight portions alone, it would be worth it. You get a lot of choices with this one.

Low Impact Slide N Glide - I think is different enough to be interesting, and nice for low impact. It is not as hard as some of her others, but a fun one. And here is one thing for me -I actually use this as a travel workout (taking discs or paper plates with me), so you could sub it for travel fit easily.

Low Impact Turbo Barre - A great barre workout, very different. This one is really hard for me, something about those small movements - I have yet to meet Cathe for the full suite of presses at the end.

Travel Fit - Nice for travel, efficient workout. Hardly reach for it outside of travel.

Circuit Blast - I really love this workout. It is one I reach for again and again. First of all, it is 47 minutes so I can reach for it when I am crunched on time. Second, the circuits are fun and the time just seems to fly by. I never have a dread factor with this one.

So . .. to sum up. I would say you could use both Slide and Glide as Turbo Barre as travel workouts, so if you are trying to save $$'s, I would recommend those over Travel Fit. I would think given your step preferences you would get more use out of Circuit Blast (especially since you already own 4DS, which could be compared to Cross Train Express. )

Good luck, happy shopping!
 
Thank you!

Wow! Thank you everyone for your responses. Looks like I will get them all now! I watched the clips on Cathe's website and Slide N Glide. Travel Fit and Circuit Blast all look like ones I would probably enjoy. I will get Turbo Barre to mix up my lower body work and, since the rest of CTX is great, I can skip the step if I hate it.

We're going on a 2 week vacation overseas next year, which was one of the reasons I wanted Travel Fit--but bringing along Slide N Glide, too, is a great idea!
 
A few more questions--is Slide N Glide considered cardio? Or cardio + strength? And if the latter, is it just lower body? Same with Circuit Blast--is it cardio or cardio + strength?
 
Jen, your vacation sounds exciting!
As for Slide N Glide, it has 2 segments; the first one is cardio, and then afterwards there is strength for the entire body.
Circuit Blast is cardio; on the other hand it's also strength. It's the perfect example of a circuit workout.
 
Circuit Blast

Jenniferlove said:
Hi!
I agree with Nathalie and Natasha --

Turbo Barre, Slide and Glide, and Circuit Blast are must-haves.

They are great workouts, and Slide and Glide sneaks up surprisingly fast and it is fun.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Hi Jennifer,

You mentioned having tried Circuit Blast. I was about to post thread asking for feedback.

Would you mind sharing more thoughts on it?

Nathalie
 
To Jengollf

jengollf said:
A few more questions--is Slide N Glide considered cardio? Or cardio + strength? And if the latter, is it just lower body? Same with Circuit Blast--is it cardio or cardio + strength?
Click to expand...

I will try to answer to your question the best I can

[*]Slide and glide is a total body conditioning emphasising on legs. Travelling on discs put you in squat position and instantly challenge your leg muscle. especially the inner thigh ones. It is a cardio your heart rate will be high all the time cause you will be moving to next exercise at minimal resting time.Time flies and You won't realise. You will love it.

Hope this help,

Nathalie
 
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Travel Fit

BTW, Travel Fit is NOT just for travel! It's a wonderful low impact, resistance band workout! Perfect for days when you want overall total body conditioning, without dragging out equipment. Do not underestimate band work! It's tough if you use the right resistance :eek:. I always get DOMS with it :D. The cardio blasts sections are low impact and fairly easy, so you can chose keep it that way, or if you are feeling extra energetic you can throw in some high impact moves or use your S&G discs and do some mountain climber's or burpee's :eek:. It's a very versatile workout. Great too if you are recovering from an injury or have taken a hiatus from exercise for various reasons and need to start back up lightly. A great addition to your Cathe collection :)

Natasha
 
Hi Nathalie,
I think Circuit Blast is an awesome workout; it's fun and just the right amount of time (45-50 min or so).

I've read that some people don't think it's very challenging however I do - I really find it to be difficult (but do-able). I think it's tougher than the Bootcamp workout (on the Muscle Endurance DVD).

Now that the Low Impact series came out I've been doing Afterburn and Athletic Training more often, and now with Crossfire and To The Max the variety is in abundance so I just don't reach for it too much anymore... but I think I will, now! LOL!

Hope I answered your question:)
 
Would like to add LBB/MMA/PUSH&PULL/Pyramid

Hi Everyone,

I would like to add following:

[*]Lower body blast, heard it has got a cardio element, what are your thoughts on this?

[*]MMA I have KPC and I love it...I think it is time I start doing some Kickboxing/MMA workout to target my mid section.

[*]Pyramid, I just would like to add this High rep and would like to know what make pyramid different compared to other High reps such as power hours, muscle endurance and High reps. I love HR btw, it is an absolute incinerator!

Hope to have some thoughts on these above,

Nathalie
 
CTX step cardio is to my mind overwhelmingly athletic, not dancy, which is why I love it so much. If you can do power 15s, power 7's, ricochets, you can do all the step on this set.

In All Step, she starts the DVD with the most dancy segment, but once she puts it together with the rest, you can see easily how you can just change those fancy steps for a few side steps or anything else you fancy and carry on. The rest is athletic.

I tried the supposed Intense Step portion of 4DS and hated it, wanted to throw it right back at Cathe because she promised intense step, in comparison to the choreo step if the low intensity step on 4DS, and she did not deliver.

I adore CTX step cardio. It is gold. Some of her best ever. It pre-dates Step Blast and Rhythmic Step. It pre-dates all Cathe's attempts to do low impact step and make it fun and still worth doing, which usually translates into complex choreo and no intensity at all and I hate it. It was made concurrently with Circuit Max and Cardio Kickbox and has similar flavours of cardio.

Clare
 
Thanks

Thanks so much, Clare! This was just what I was looking for. I like Circuit Max and Cardio Kickbox. I haven't ordered CTX yet and to be honest, it was on the bottom of my wishlist (though I did plan to get it eventually). This bumps it up higher on my list!

maddiesmum said:
I tried the supposed Intense Step portion of 4DS and hated it, wanted to throw it right back at Cathe because she promised intense step, in comparison to the choreo step if the low intensity step on 4DS, and she did not deliver.
Clare
Click to expand...

This made me laugh. I ordered 4DS. I haven't done the strength work yet, but I did the two hour long cardio premixes--Double Cardio (HIS&LIS) and Cardio Power (BC&KB). LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Cardio Power--fun and intense. HATED Double Cardio. #1--it was NOT intense. #2--the choreography was too complicated. I twisted my ankle during Lower Impact Step--which, btw, I felt was more intense than Higher Intensity Step! Made no sense. But that's ok--I know the 4DS strength work will be great and it was well worth the Bootcamp and Kickbox cardios. I anticipated hating the step when I bought it--I knew she had premixes that would let me skip the step portions altogether. But I wanted to give it them try anyway, just in case!

Jen
 
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