Saundra

Metabolic Blast is a total body workout that clocks in at under 41 minutes.  In this workout, Cathe targets the lower and upper body by combining moves into compound multi-joint exercises. Cathe uses relatively light weights with higher rep counts.  There are two sections, a standing segment which is around 25 minutes and a floor segment about 15 minutes in length.  The standing segment contains a lot of 4-limb movement.  The floor segment is primarily focused on core/abs. Cathe combines two compound exercises together. You will perform the group back to back for a couple of run-throughs and then you move to the next group of two compound exercises. The workout moves quickly and there is not much of a break between exercises. The DVD Menu Getting Started Play Chapters Basic Premixes  (total 10) Timesaver Premixes (total 6) Scrambled Premixes (total 6) Bonus (Calorie Crush, 6 Pack ABS #2, Pyramid Pump Back Extended Stretch #2) Audio Settings 4 stars

Strong Body Stacked Sets: Upper clocks in at just over 35 minutes.  This workout follows the same concept as the lower body version.  In the upper body version, Cathe is stacking 5 to 6 exercises one-on-top-of-the-other. There are three groups.  Round 1 groups triceps and chest Round 2 is shoulders Round 3 groups biceps and back Each grouping gets repeated twice.  Cathe varies the rep count, rep pattern and rep tempo depending on the exercise we are doing.   This workout flies by and I like that. It is a get in, get it done workout.  The equipment used in this workout  include step, mat, and dumbbells.   DVD Menu Getting Started Play Chapters Basic Premixes  (total 9) Timesaver Premixes (total 10) Scrambled Premixes (total 5) Bonus (6 Pack ABS #2, Pyramid Pump Lower Body, Extended Stretch #2) Audio Settings 4 stars

Strong Body Stacked Sets:  Lower clocks in at just over 38 minutes.  This workout uses the giant sets concepts meaning you are doing several exercises back-to-back with very little rest.  Cathe calls this stacking the exercises one-on-top-of -the-other. In this workout, there are two rounds.  Each round contains 5 exercises. You do all 5 exercises and then repeat the grouping before moving to another group of five exercises. The workout moves fast. There is very little rest. I definitely had a cardio effect going on.  The rep count varies.  The equipment list include barbell and dumbbells.  Good soundtrack. DVD Menu Getting Started Play Chapters Basic Premixes  (total 6) Timesaver Premixes (total 6) Scrambled Premixes (total 5) Bonus (6 Pack ABS #1, Pyramid Pump Shoulder, Extended Stretch #1) Audio Settings 3 & 3/4 stars

PHA2 is a fast moving cardio-inducing total body workout. It alternates lower and upper movements.  The original PHA workout has been one of my favorite Cathe workouts. In PHA2, you are performing 8 exercises per round. There are two rounds. Each round is further subdivided into two sub-rounds or sets. There is an A round and a B round.  You will do all 8 exercises in round A and then repeat them again in round B before moving to the next grouping.  The number of reps vary by the exercise. As stated earlier this is a fast moving workout. There is really no time to write anything down.  This is one of those workouts where you want to have an idea  of your weight selection before hand. I like this workout just as much as the first PHA. The DVD Menu Getting Started Play Chapters Basic Premixes  (total 5) Timesaver Premixes (total 8) Scrambled Premixes (total 5) Bonus (6 Pack ABS #1, Pyramid Pump Biceps, Extended Stretch #2) Audio Settings 4 & 1/4 stars

Pyramid Pump is an optional total body workout that is included as part of Cathe LITE series. I really like the first set of pyramid workouts (Pyramid Lower Body and Pyramid Upper Body) that Cathe did a number of years ago as part of her Intensity Series. This workout is essentially the sequel to that. In this workout, you work up the pyramid in term of your weight selection and then back down the pyramid - ideally starting and ending with the same weight selection. At the same time, but in terms of rep count you work down the pyramid and then back up the pyramid. So you get a double whammy. As you increase your weights, you decrease you reps; when you increase your reps, you decrease your weight selection. Essentially you are doing 5 sets of each exercise group.  The  upper body has two exercises per muscle group.  For the lower body, Cathe chooses a lot of single leg exercises and as Cathe always says "what you do to one side you do to the other. If you do the entire m

March 2019 Monthly Rotation Well my schedule has stabilize somewhat, so I am hoping to be able to complete a full monthly rotation this month. Breakdown Sunday - Treadmill Monday - Cathe Lower Body Tuesday - Cathe Upper Body Wednesday - Treadmill Thursday - Cathe Total/Metabolic Body Friday - Ilaria Kickboxing Saturday - Essentrics Aging Backwards