Cathe Live: Cardio & Weights (upper body)

The (upper body) in the blog post title is not part of the actual title Cathe gave this workout; I just added it for my own information. It is a Cathe Live workout called Cardio & Weights and I love it. Yet another excellent cardio + strength workout from Cathe and I especially love that it is upper body focused. She has a lot of cardio + strength workouts that are lower body or total body focused on Cathe Live, this is the first cardio + strength workout I’ve come across that is upper body focused. As for her DVDs she only has one (Ripped w/ HIIT: HIIT Upper Body Circuit). So this one is special (to me) since the combo is kind of hard to come by. I want to be able to locate the review for it quickly and easily. There is some lower body work, but it is minimal compared to upper body, plus it is there primarily to keep the strength portions of the workout metabolic rather than to give your lower body any focused strength training. Excellent, fun, keeper workout. I love it!

Cardio & Weights is 54 minutes long; 4:30 minute warm up, 5:30 minutes of core work and 2 minute stretch. It aired live on 5/29/14 and here is a video clip. Equipment needed: a resistance tube, a mat, and various dumbbells; Cathe uses 8, 10 and 12 pound dumbbells. I used 10, 12 and 25 pound dumbbells.

1. Jumping Jack series: different arm movements and directions, scissor legs, and plyo jacks
2. Squat w/ Overhead Press; 10# DBs
3. Front Raise; one 10# DB
4. Repeat #2 & 3
5. Shuffle to side 4x then jump 2x
6. Quarter Turn Jump Squats
7. Repeat # 5 & 6
8. Plie Squats w/ Upright Rows; 10# DBs
9. Rear Delt Flys; 10# DBs
10. Repeat #8 & 9
11. Twist Hops w/ arms up and down
12. Butt kick runs, high knee runs, pendulums
13. Scissor legs alternated w/ jump lunges
14. Rear Lunges w/ Bicep Curls; Cathe starts out w/ 10# DBs but changes to 8# DBs; I used 10# DBs the whole time
15. Hammer Curls that rotate into tradition curls at top; Cathe uses 8# DBs, I used 10# DBs
16. Repeat #14 & 15
17. Hold DBs halfway (isometrically in the middle of bicep curl) and add alternating front kicks while holding isometrically
18. Grab resistance tube and hold, palms up, w/ about a foot of tube between hands; while doing a boxer shuffle, pull band out to side, keeping elbows in to sides
19. Lay band straight on floor as a marker; jog around it 2x then high knee jog behind it
20. Band still floor; 3 power hops while straddling band and 4 jacks, turning during jacks to repeat in the other direction
21. Ice Breakers
22. 16 Single Arm Back Rows; Cathe uses two 12# DBs, I used one 25# DB
23. Alternating Overhead Press; 12# DBs
24. Repeat #22 & 23
25. Band still on floor: band hops (front, back, front, front, back, front, back, back; keep repeating while traveling the length of the band and back)
26. Scissor hops over band
27. Wrap band around hands so there is approx 18 inches between hands; pull arms wider than shoulders and hold isometrically while doing a reverse lunge w/ front kick
28. 16 Push Ups; 2 sets
29. Shuffle 3x to side and drop squat
30. Lateral Skaters
31. Repeat #29 & 30
32. Overhead Tricep Extensions w/ band
33. Tricep Dips
34. Scorpion Presses (tricep push up w/ leg lift; you will do a tricep push up on your knees but you start on all 4s (rather than a straight bodied plank) and as you lower into the push up, raise one leg (alternate legs))
35. Repeat #32, 33 & 34
36. Cathe stretches out upper body muscle groups

Core:

1. Lay on stomach w/ goal post arms; raise and lower arms/shoulders and legs
2. Straighten arms and hold them out wider, legs wider too, so body is in an “X”; raise and lower arms/shoulders and legs
3. Butterfly Sit Ups (lay on back, soles of feet together, knees bent and open; full sit ups in this position with arms overhead and touching feet at top; then change to arms behind head)
4. Sit Ups w/ 2 Punches at top; this changes to speed bag arms
5. Lay on back, knees bent and raised, ankles crossed, hands behind head, and neck/shoulders raised; raise and lower hips