Higher Intensity Step is one ball of energy from start to finish (well, not including the final stretch, of course).
The music is very upbeat and a nice mixture of songs with lyrics as well as all instrumental pieces. While this music is not top 40 and non-recognizable, it is VERY good and fits so nicely with the workout. More specific music details will follow in tomorrow’s update.
Back to the workout…..
The very active WARM UP and STEP CARDIO segment comes in right around 30 minutes in length, and once completed, you’ll definitely be amazed at how much you accomplished in that amount of time.
You’ll start stepping immediately with familiar moves to allow you to flow freely as you raise your body’s core temperature. Since every move in the warm up is one you have most likely done in other step workouts, I just call them out with no breakdown and even have a few SUBTLE directional changes to keep you interested but not overwhelmed. Once your muscles are warm you move right into the step cardio portion of the workout.
This section starts with STEP COMBO #1. You will quickly build up a 32 count combination and run through it a few times. Then you insert COMBO ONE BLAST that has the choreographed feeling of a step combo itself, however, it’s not broken down and just solid high impact (and very easy to learn plus easy to modify by simply choosing not to jump). This will surely catapult you to a higher level of intensity.
Next, STEP COMBO #2. This is my favorite of the three combo’s. A great mixture of easy-to-learn-fun-to-do moves. It borrows my familiar ricochet move and literally puts a new twist on it. Then you’ll learn a new “big scoop, little skuddle” move that completes the 32 count combo and makes it extra fun. COMBO TWO BLAST is another high energy, solid high impact, quick 32 count, heart thumping package. As with all the blasts, the height of the jump is always optional and your call.
The final combo, STEP COMBO #3, is your thinker combo. You have to have one that makes your rise to the challenge, right? Don’t give up on it because is soooo much fun once you have it. Tricky? Yes! Undoable? NO! As Nike says “just do it”. Be sure to report back how you liked it! COMBO BLAST 3# is my favorite of all the blasts. It is flows so easily, feels so fun, and still gets the job done. Well worth the bite, LOL! I love the Power Leap over the top into the lunges the most…weeeeee! But Wait….the fun’s not over….you still have to do all three step combo’s (without the blasts) in a non-stop step express mix before entering the cool down. A brief cool down follows so that you can continue on with your weights (or jump ahead to the final stretch if weights are not in your program that day or at that time). Now on to the strength training portion of the workout (which is right about 25 minutes in length).
Higher Intensity Step features a superset approach for BACK and CHEST and we break the workout up into rounds. This weight workout has a total of five rounds and each round concludes with a brief stretch for the worked areas. You will also alternate doing a back move with a chest move or two back moves and two chest moves, etc, per round. Expect to vary the intensity through rep patterns, speed of execution, weight loads, type of equipment, various angles, and amount of sets and or reps. Either one or all of these factors come into play per exercise so that the muscle feels very challenged and exhausted by the workouts end.
Finally you will conclude with a complete 4 minute stretch. As you can see the entire workout comes in right around 59 minutes in length. I think you will be super pleased with the variety and effectiveness this entire workout delivers ……all in just one hour!
Stay tuned for future blog updates which will feature premix descriptions to maximize this workouts options.
Cathe