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Cross Fire Fitness DVD Review


 
Okay, drumroll please...and the winner of the workout DVDs that finally manage to kick my butt are:

Cathe Friedrich!!

I will answer to questions you probably have before I share the details.  First, the reason why I don't just put myself through my own self-designed workout every day (since I've been a fitness instructor for 24 years) is that at 5am, I don't want to do that much work.  Also, after I do my cardio or self-defence workouts, I do my weights, which is me training me always. So my brain has to be on for all of that.  Second, many folks have suggested various Beach Body programs.  The problem is, these programs are intended to be complete workout programs, but I am just looking for one specific thing.  I don't want weight training - I do that on my own - and I don't want yoga/stretching - I do Essentrics for that. Furthermore, the programs I have (Insanity, Asylum, etc.), I barely use because they aren't my favorites.

So finally I just asked myself what it is that actually does the best job of kicking my ass.  The answer: Plyo and HIIT training.  A Google search led me to Cathe.  Imagine how surprised I was to find this woman and her extensive fitness empire.  In all my years in the fitness industry I had never heard of her.  Never seen her nor her products at a fitness conference nor read about her anywhere.  Weird!  I decided she was worth a try and ordered several of her DVDs.  She also orders On Demand and streaming services too!

Today I will review Cross Fire:



The first thing I noticed that is unique about this workout is there is real music playing, well, remakes of pop songs.  Most fitness DVDs just have rather generic instrumental music, but this music has words.  Some people won't like that but others will appreciate it.  I like that there is a Canadian song in it (Hello, by Dragonette!).

Cathe's got a no-nonsense teaching style.  There isn't a lot of detailed instruction nor many variations because its obviously geared at advanced level participants.  Its Tabata (a particular type of HIIT training) and lots of Plyo.  If you can't do high impact stuff, this workout isn't for you (although there is a very short bonus low impact Tabata workout at the end). She has no attitude and doesn't trash talk the other participants nor is she at all condescending.  When I looked her up, I couldn't believe she's over 50.  She's in tremendous shape and looks much younger!

This workout does require quite a bit of equipment, including weights, gliding disks, a leg band and mat, but all these things are worthwhile investments if you workout at home.  Also, you can do without the mat if necessary, and just use paper plates for the disks.

I love this workout, its 55 minutes total, including the stretch, but then has a 9 minute core training bonus section, which is really good, and then the very short (4 min, 40 sec) low impact Tabata routine.  This workout definitely kicks my butt but is fun too. I definitely recommend this DVD if you want a great, tough workout to take your fitness to the next level.
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