Good morning, its Workout Wednesday here today and I'm reviewing some DVDs for you.
I waited patiently all fall for the new DVD set I ordered from Cathe. Turns out by late fall, they meant it would arrive after Christmas while we were in Florida!
Sadly, I am disappointed :(
First off, I don't find any of the videos as challenging as a few of hers I have already, and I guess I was expecting them to be. Second, one thing I have loved about her DVDs is that almost every one includes an awesome unique ab workout. All the DVDs in this set use the SAME ab routine. Blah, what a cop-out! Third, a few of her past DVDs have used real music, but most of it in this series is instrumental yuckiness, and I didn't recognize a single song.
Here is what is included (I have not yet opened the cycling DVD, but hope to one day):
PHA Training
PHA (peripheral heart action training) maximizes the amount of blood that circulates to your upper and lower body as you complete a sequence of resistance exercises. With PHA training, you alternate between upper and lower body resistance training exercises, allowing as little rest as possible between each movement. The lack of rest and recovery keeps your heart rate up, for cardiovascular and fat-burning benefits, while switching between upper and lower body exercises, maximizes blood flow to all parts of your body and reduces build-up of lactic acid. By reducing lactic acid, you're able to train hard without being forced to stop due to the burn.
Total Body Giant Sets
This workout will utilize giant sets to fatigue every muscle
group while rep pattern and weight variations keep your heart pumping and muscles firing.
Boot Camp
This workout consists of six rounds of one minute
cardio, upper body, lower body and core segments.
Cardio Slam
A combination of high impact,
low impact and blasts both on and off the step.
Ramped Up Upper Body
This workout will combine
slow and heavy reps with light high reps to keep the muscles confused and
working at maximum capacity.
Cycle Sweat
Cardio workout on a spin bike.
While this set didn't meet my expectations, this is not to say its bad. Its just not what I expected or wanted. From what I briefly read about it, I thought it would be a lot of loaded cardio (using weights to increase intensity of cardio moves). The only DVD that does that is Cardio Slam. I do really like that workout, though it isn't as intense as her HiiT and plyo workouts I already have. The cycle workout, obviously will only appeal to people with spin bikes at home, and given how expensive they are, I am sure there aren't tons. We have one and I've used it once in all the years we've had it. But I do want to try the spin DVD one day. The others are all strictly strength-based, and I prefer to do that training on my own.
So it may not be best suited for me, however, this is a fantastic workout series, for anyone wanting to get stronger and fitter at home, who has no idea where to start with weight training. You will need a lot of equipment though. She uses a Body Pump-like bar with weights, but you can use just barbells. But you will need lots of weights, and heavy ones. It really is worth the investment if you don't want to join a gym!
While many of her DVDs are super advanced and not at all appropriate for a beginner, these DVDs all work for beginners to intermediates. As a beginner, you will struggle and have to use very light weight, but then as you get fitter, you can keep increasing your weight. You can also customize every single workout, picking and choosing segments/circuits, to make them more/less intense, body part focused, or shorter for when you have less time. It really is a perfect set for someone who wants a program they can use long-term as they progress. From Cathe's website you can even download a program that will give you a workout schedule. Its like having your own personal trainer!
So do I recommend it? Absolutely, though not for someone like myself, who prefers to do their own weight training routines or is looking for something more cardio-based that will really kick your ass.
I have shared this post with the #motivateme linkup.
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