Monday, April 14, 2014

Cathe Friedrich: Intensity (Review)

Always on the look-out for different and interesting cardio, I purchased Cathe Friedrich's Intensity (2010) DVD, having only seen some clips and positive reviews.


Cathe starts with a good warm-up and then moves on to cardio with a step.  Then, low-impact HIIT, high-impact HIIT, bootcamp with weights, and, finally, a stretch.  If you can get through the entire thing, which is doubtful for anyone, it runs 70 minutes.

I knew the main bulk (36 minutes) of the cardio required a step, but I was determined to modify it for non-step owners.  And it can be done quite easily.  I just jogged and jumped a bit more to add some intensity.  The step portion is just way too convoluted for me, though.  Cathe assumes you frequent step classes and know all the terms she throws out.  Since I don't, it's hard to follow along, even after having done it 4-5 times.  But, as along as I'm moving and can kind of follow along, I'm happy given I'm not used to step stuff.

For the HIIT portions, no step is needed.  The low-impact section is just that - fast squat dips, pulse lunges, etc, etc.  The high-impact section almost kills me - you will jump A LOT.  These movements are a lot like the "peak" moves Michelle Dozois uses in her Peak 10 workouts.  You will be sweating bullets and I highly recommend having a sweat towel and water near by.

For the bootcamp portion, you'll need weights.  You'll alternate between pretty basic weight movements and high-intensity cardio.  If you use appropriate weights, you'll feel the burn here!

I've rarely done Cathe's stretches, always prefering my own.  But they seem good. 

For a preview of this video, go here.  I can't say I look forward to Cathe's videos.  I know you'll get results with them but I much prefer more dance-centered workouts, like Michelle Dozois.  I hate dreading workouts and this one is a dread, though not as bad as Cathe's Cardio Circuit (ugh!).  I know she has a following, probably of steppers, but I'm not jumping on the bandwagon any time soon.

Bottom Line: For the intermediate to advanced, this is a great workout if you want to sweat!


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