Saundra

I have long seen Stephanie as a background exerciser in several other videos that I owned and I was always impressed with her form. So when I saw that her two workouts were included in a 4 DVD Workout Set that was at a reduce price, I quickly picked up the set. The Ultimate Body Shaper clocks in at 70 minutes and it is a combo workout.  Combo meaning it combines cardio (in the form of Intensity Boost)  with strength training. Along with Stephanie there are two other cast members but there is not a beginner modifier. The DVD offers the following selections: Introduction Warm-up High Step Shaper Mat Shaper Full Workout Cool-Down V8 Bonus Abs What I like about the workout is the count down clock that appeared in each segment.  The warm up and cool down are 5 minutes each and the High Step Shaper and Mat Shaper are 30 minute segments. The High Step Shaper uses a high step.  During this portion you are performing moves standing and seated on the step. You ...

Burn & Build is a kettlebell workout featuring Paul Katami. This workout uses a high step which Paul often refers to as "the board". Along with Paul, there are three cast members. One cast member is modifying the moves and this person uses a dumbbell instead of a kettlebell. The workout contains a warm up, seven exercise blocks and an ending stretch. At about 70 minutes, I thought the workout long. Like KettleBell Drills and KettleBell Kombos each exercise is timed. However in this workout the timed exercise are for 90 and 60 seconds. For instance the first two warm up exercises start off with a 90 second timed leg drill. The first two warm up exercises, you do not used the bell or the high step. The warm up is about 10 minutes. Each of the seven blocks has a particular theme or focus. Cardio focus, core focus, strength & power focus are the predominate themes. You are doing each exercise in each block for 60 seconds. Each block is roughly 7 to 8 minutes. The b...

Cathe Legs & Glutes is probably my favorite Cathe Lower Body Workout. It clocks in at about 51 minutes. It uses the high steps, dumbbells, barbell (but just for balance - I used my dowel), and ankle weights. It also uses no weights or your own body weight for several exercises. Many of the exercises have a cardio factor to them. I was thinking the workout could be called Legs & Cardio or maybe Cardio Legs. I know my heart rate got up there on several exercises. There is a little bit of everything in this workout. You are hitting the legs from all angles - quads, hamstrings, outer thigh, inner thigh, calves, and glutes. There is standing work and floor work. Toning, sculpting, and power moves are included as well. The workout moves quickly. You don't get a lot of rest in between the sets or even between the exercises. I think Cathe is going more for endurance than strength with this workout. What I probably like best about the workout ---- is the soundtrack. There are m...

High Step Challenge is a 68 minute circuit workout that uses the High Club Step, various weighted dumbbells, a band, and barbell. The circuit pattern is not consistent but essentially consist of cardio, 2 lower body sets, and 2 upper body sets. Sometimes Cathe would alternate the lower body and upper body segments and sometimes she does them back to back. There are five circuits total. What stood out most to me in this workout is the pace. The workout moves and there is not much time for rest. Seriously, I barely had enough time to get a drink of water. The time between sets is taken up with getting prep for the next exercise. There is only minimum recovery after the cardio sets. Speaking of the the cardio sets, they feature a mixture of different types of cardio: High impact, step, and kickboxing. Also there is lots of band work in the upper and lower body segments. After the last circuit, there is an intense ab workout followed by a stretch. I don't do this workout...