Saundra

The FIRM's Tough Tape is a solid 42 minute total body workout. It uses the barbell, various dumbbells, and the tall step. It is a compilation workout taken from the Hare and Tortoise workout videos. This workout is hosted by and stars Tracie Long who is superb. This was Tracie's first outing as a lead. The workout moves quickly from one exercise to the next. Therefore, it is handy to know what weights you will need. The only annoyance with the workout is that in one of the leg press sets (there are three sets total), the count is not the same for the left and the right. I like this workout a lot and give it 4 stars. I have attached a worksheet of the exercises in Tough Tape in the order that they appear. Please click on the image for a larger view.

I am starting a 5 week rotation that starts Sunday February 28 and ends Satuday April 3. This rotation consist of aerobic weight training, kickboxing, and treadmill and step cardio. Saturday will be an active recovery day and rest day. I have chosen 20 to 30 minutes workouts to stretch out the body. Please click on the image for a larger view.

Rumble is not your typical Amy Bento hi low interval Kickboxing workout. This workout has 3 parts. The first part is kickboxing - 40 minutes, the second part is standing boxing bag -25 minutes (although you can just punch the air if you like) and the third part is about a 15 minute stretch. When I do this workout, I only ever do the first part and today was no different. I like the first part. As I stated previously, this is not the Amy Bento kickboxing you are used to. I love Amy's other kickboxing workout and I like Rumble well enough. With Rumble there is no complex choreography to learn. Essentially your are doing drill type combos; and you do the combos on each side (your right and your left). Within each combo, Amy first has you do a series of 8s, then 4s, and then she alternates them on both sides. There are a total of 4 combinations all together. This workout is not as intense as some of her others workouts. Never the less, I worked up a nice sweat. The music was g

Step, Jump, & Pump is a 73 minute workout that includes a 26 minute step routine and approximately a 40 minute circuit style workout. Each circuit contains hi-low for cardio and 2 sets of various weighted/strength exercise. Rarely do I do the whole workout because this DVD contains one of my all time favorite Cathe premix which is the Step Hi Low only premix. However, I do like the full workout. The weight work leans towards muscle endurance. There are lots of reps within each set. This DVD has the music louder option which I love. The music used in the step routine was fun, the music for hi-low contain a real upbeat tempo whereas the music for the weight segments slowed the tempo down quite a bit. It takes a lot of energy to get to get to the end of this workout. Another reason I like the workout is that the step section didn't seem to be as repetitive as some step workouts. I think that was because of the time. One other thing I will point out is that you do the hi l

Click on the Image for a larger view.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Clip on the Image for a large view

Hi Lo Xtreme might have been my first Amy Bento purchase. When I first did this workout several years ago now, I found myself fumbling all over the place. I thought to myself, I know people say Amy is advance but I thought they meant as far as intensity go. I didn't think I would have too difficult time picking up the choreography. Well I stuck with it - not without chucking the DVD in the corner first - and I am glad I did. If you really want a super fun workout, this is it, but you need to give yourself time and patience to pick up the routines. Now of course I don't think the choreography in the routines is tough at all. Part of it was learning what Amy calls things. I remember when I first heard her say heel lift. So I was only lifting my heel, because that it was I was used too. However, when Amy says heel lift, she means what I think of as a hamstring curl. Semantics. I like this workout very much. It is a classic Amy Hi Lo with combos and intervals. Like her kic

BootCamp from Cathe's Intensity series is a 60 minute circuit style workout. It consist of 8 circuits. Each circuit contains a minute each of cardio, lower body, upper body and core. This is the workout that gives us Cathe's famous saying that "You can do anything for a minute." The problem with that is that during some of the cardio segments that minute gets extremely long. I was very winded doing this workout. In the cardio segments you will do sumo squats, jacks, mountain climbers, kickbox, squat thrust ice breakers, speed skaters, and so on. Some of the exercises in the lower body portion of the workout are squats, plie squats, leg press, static lunge etc. The upper body muscle groups worked are back, chest, bicep, and triceps. You use a variety of equipment in the workout to include the high step, med ball, dumbbells and a barbell. While I like this workout a lot, I can't say it is my favorite of my circuit workouts. The music is okay, the set is busy,

72 minute workout. That is what Drill Max clocks in at. It is an intense workout. There are six drill cycles that Cathe takes you through. Each cycle contains a cardio drill, leg drill, and upper body. The only time when you might get a break from the cardio is during the upper body segments. The leg drills are tough and definitely cardio based. Lots of equipment is used. The step, stability ball, weights, and band. The cardio sections sometimes seem to go on forever but the workout actually moves through at a quick pace. The weights are used to increase the intensity and the conditioning and not for muscle strength. I really love the music. The beat was infectious. I think I got most of my energy from the music, and I love the set. It is one of my favorite sets that Cathe has used. The isn't much that I don't like about this workout. I didn't care for the lower body or upper body sections in the last drill, but that could be due to the fact that I am wiped out b

Mu scle Endurance is approximately 65 minute workout and boy did it move fast. Usually when my workouts, especially weight workouts are longer than 60 minutes, I start get antsy. However,not this time. This workout is a total body weight workout that uses high reps. Multiple exercise were done for each body part and the exercise came right after each other - not much rest was given. Along with various weights - dumbbells and barbell, Cathe used a med ball and the high step to give variation to the exercises. Cathe also included tempo changes with the rep count - single, 2/2, 3/1, 1/3, 4/4 and the dreaded 7/1 low ends (I think they are dreaded) were some of the patterns she used. The set or exercise that always gets me with the workout is the bicep work using the barbell. I always hit failure before the end of the set. And, it doesn't help when Cathe give you the witches laugh as she makes you hold the curl for what seems like forever. I really like this workout and wish

Hi Lo Challenge I am in love with this workout. Well, maybe not in love but I love it. I don't do the workout as often as I like (comes from having to many workouts). Each time I do the workout, I keep thinking that I need to add it into the rotation more. Hi energy from start to finish. I was soaking wet and I workout in my basement where it is quite cold down there now during the middle of winter. The workout (the hi lo portion) is approximately 66 minutes long. Amy takes you through 4 combinations followed by 4 blast. The combinations are somewhat intricate. You probably won't pick it up your first time through, but when you get the hang of, it is fun. The blast or intervals as Amy calls them, are simple to follow. They don't really require a lot of thought to follow. Great driving music. 5 stars of of 5

Cardio & Weights is a 60 minute circuit workout. I rarely do this workout as designed. The only reason I put it into the rotation is because I wanted to do a circuit type workout; and all my other circuit workouts were already scheduled in. Most of the time when I do this workout, I do the Timesaver Step Only option, which I like. The full workout isn't bad, it is just not one of my favorites. I think the lukewarm feeling I have about it comes from the transitions between the weight segments - the compound segment and the upper body segment. The problem is there is no transition and I often have to pause the DVD player to set up for the next exercise thus making the workout longer than 60 minutes. Anyway, the workout consist of 4 step combo routines and each routine is followed by a compound exercise and then an upper body specific exercise. Throughout the workout, Cathe hits all 5 upper body muscle groups, the legs and the core. I thought the music was good but not great

Low Impact Circuit is one of my favorite Cathe circuit workouts. However, that wasn't always the case. This workout definitely had to grow on me. Now I always loved the cardio, which consist of a series of three step routines, but now I like the weight work equally as well. The weight segments are mostly upper body and when the lower body is used, it is used in conjunction with an upper body exercise. Dumbbells and a band provide the resistance for the workout. The workout is about 75 minutes long. After (what seem to me a lengthy warmup), Cathe takes you into a series of step combo routine/low impact mini blast/lower body/ and upper body work. There are three rounds of this. The workout concludes with abdominals and a stretch. What I like least about the workout was the warmup - repetitive. What I like best about the workout was the music and how it really fit the choreography of the step routines. I also like the music louder option that came with the DVD. The DVD als

Cathe's Muscle Max is a 68 minute total body workout. This is my preferred method of doing weight training - total body workouts. With Muscle Max, Cathe works your large muscle groups first and then your smaller muscle groups. So you start with legs (squats and then lunges). You move on to chest (pushups and chest flys) and then back (barbell rows, 1 arm rows, and pullovers). I believe shoulders were next (lat rows, front raise delt squeeze). She then inserted legs exercises (plie squats, leg press) again. Following that, were bicep (barbell curls, dumbbell curls), triceps (overhead press, dips) and the workout concluded with core/abdominals. I probably miss something or got the order wrong but that was the gist of it. The workout moved at a nice pace. It is a workout that you can go heavy if you like. The music was nice with an upbeat tempo. It seemed to mostly be used to pace with the rep count. Along with an assortment of weights, you also used a band and the club step.

I absolutely love Amy Bento's All Cardio Hi-Low Knockout workout. The music is fantastic and the energy is throbbing. The main portion of the workout is approximately 69 minutes long and contains four combination with each combination followed by a Kickbox inspired "Knockout" drill. During the drill you will do kicks, punches, burpees, floor jacks and side shuffles The four combinations are mostly athletic in nature with a few "chasses" and "box steps" thrown in. After Amy does the first two combos and first 2 drills she combines them into one long segment for you to do. She does same after third and fourth combos and drills as well. Amy does use a modifier to show a less intense version of the move. Amy does cue as she goes or cues a whole sequence of steps ahead of time. I am so use to that now that it doesn't bother me. This is one of my favorite Hi Low Workouts. I am giving it 5 out of 5 stars

Circuit Max is a 60 minute plus workout that features cardio mostly and some weights. This is my second time doing this workout and I thought I had like the workout much better than when I did it yesterday. The problem with the workout for me is the weight work. Circuit Max is definately heavy on the cardio and the weight sections left something to be desire. First the organization of it - Cathe led us in 6 cardio segments and each cardio segment was followed by a upper body muscle group combine with a lower body exercise (compound movement). I believe the sequence went shoulder, shoulder, bicep, triceps, triceps and then bicep again. While you were doing the upper body exercise, you were combining that with lower body work such as squats, plie squats, lunges, static lunges etc. After the circuit part was finish, Cathe tack on a strength section, where you did "1 arm rows" to work the back, "pushups" to work the chest and plank work for the core. Then came t