Cathe’s Bootcamp

Bootcamp was the first workout I reviewed when I created this blog. I knew what I wanted this blog to contain, but until 4/17/12 I had done everything on paper. So it took some practice before the reviews look the way they do now. So I decided that Bootcamp and Muscle Endurance deserve to be updated and redone. Rather than just going in and revising the originals, I decided to redo them and then link them so anyone who is interested can review the revised and the original review (here). I will not be doing this with all of my workouts! But since I am at a point where I am doing nothing but Cathe workouts, and this blog was created for the main purpose of being my personal workout database—I think these two workouts need to be reviewed properly!

I really, really love Bootcamp. It is one of my favorite Cathe workouts. It’s fun and effective. Plus, in general, my favorite workouts are cardio + strength. However, though it is a total body workout, I wouldn’t use this workout as your primary strength workout. Though Cathe makes a great effort to hit every muscle in the body, it is still unbalanced. You have 8 circuits, in every circuit your lower body and your core are worked, but only one upper body muscle group. You hit triceps twice, biceps twice, back twice, shoulders once and chest once. Though she picks excellent exercises for each muscle group, I want more strength-wise. I just do. Nevertheless, this is an excellent workout to do if you are doing strength work 3 times a week and your other two strength days are heavy and thorough lifting workouts. Or if you are doing split sets that hit each muscle group hard, you can end your week with a total body workout like this. And finally, you can make this workout a metabolic weight training workout. In fact, I think that is how Cathe intended it, judging by the weights she used. She went fairly light on all of the exercises. I lifted much heavier than she did. I did some digging on Cathe’s forum. Every month for the past decade she has put out a rotation calendar using her workouts. So I dug around, trying to find how she used Bootcamp. It seems she uses it both ways—when the workout first came out she structured it in a rotation as a strength workout (with at least 48 hours before another strength workout is scheduled on the rotation calendar), however in other, later rotations it is frequently used as metabolic weight training with heavier strength workouts done the day before and/or the day after. It’s a versatile workout, depending on the amount of weight you use.

Bootcamp is a cardio + strength circuit workout. 60 minutes; 6 minute warm up, 51 minute training time and 3 minute stretch. It is made up of 8 circuits and each circuit consists of 4 moves, each done for one minute: a cardio move, followed by a lower body move, then an upper body move and ending with a core move. Equipment needed: tall step (14 inches), barbell, dumbbells and medicine ball.

Circuit #1:

Cardio: jack variations

Barbell squats

Barbell rows (overhand and underhand)

Plank side twist

Circuit #2:

Cardio: sumo squats

Static barbell lunge

Push ups

Long lever crunch with medicine ball

Circuit #3:

Cardio: jacks and jabs

Barbell Plie Squats

Tricep dips (off high step)

Reverse medicine ball crunch

Circuit #4:

Cardio: speed skater

Leg press on tall step with medicine ball

Bicep curls with barbell

Plank/pyramid push ups

Circuit #5:

Cardio: “terminators” (squat thrust climbers)

Squat roundhouse calf pumps

One arm dumbbell row

Plank side hip raise with medicine ball

Circuit #6:

Cardio: power kicks

Front/side kicks

Military press with dumbbells

Oblique crunch

Circuit #7:

Cardio: knee up/kick/speed bag

Alternating lunges–first set front lunges, second set reverse lunges with dumbbells

Lying tricep extensions

Low plank hip dip

Circuit #8:

Cardio: ice breakers

Side lunge with medicine ball

Dumbbell hammer curls

Oblique twist with medicine ball

Premixes: Lower and Upper Body Only 24 minutes, Lower Body Only 10 minutes, Upper Body Only 10 minutes, Core Only 11 minutes, Cardio and Lower Body 34 minutes, Everything But Core 48 minutes, Kickbox Only 7 minutes and Cardio Only 20 minutes.

The premixes seem a little odd to me judging by their length. I have not done any of them yet, but I am assuming that several of them have no warm up/stretch—just judging by the length. The ones that look like they are probably “full” workouts (that include both a warm up and stretch) are: Cardio and Lower Body, Everything But Core and Cardio Only. But I don’t know actually that.

Now, there is something I did not realized was present until the most recent time I did Bootcamp. A bonus premix of Bootcamp and Muscle Endurance. OMG. I am so excited to try this. I have to re-review Muscle Endurance again first—so I will probably post the review of the bonus premix in that new Muscle Endurance review (which means it will take a little longer to re-post). What a little treat Cathe gives us! And I used to wonder why her workouts were so much more expensive than other workout DVDs. Because you get so much more! Not just the superior workouts, but all the extras!