Cathe Live: Crossfire Express

Crossfire Express is a short but intense workout based on one of Cathe‘s DVD workouts Crossfire. And Crossfire is one of my all time favorite HIIT/metabolic strength training workouts. So I was both excited and apprehensive to try this one. Excited for obvious reasons, but apprehensive because I love the DVD version of Supercuts but Cathe Live Supercuts w/ Cardio Blasts was a disappointment. However, Crossfire Express did not disappoint! It was very intense and lots of fun. It can be split into two parts. The first part is 3 “tabata” circuits and the second part is lower body strength work alternated w/ cardio blasts. I put the “tabata” in quotations because they are not all true tabatas. Cathe doesn’t appear to actually be timing any of them. She seems to just have a general idea of how many reps 20 seconds of a high intensity move is and she gives you very little recovery. Not even 10 seconds (I timed it while writing this review–you get at least 20 seconds of work, but frequently less than 10 seconds of recovery!). BTW–in case you didn’t know, that is what a tabata is. A HIIT circuit in which you work all out for 20 seconds and get 10 seconds of recovery. 8 of these 20/10 cycles equals one tabata circuit. Now, tabata circuit #1 and #3, Cathe was clearly working for true tabata circuits. But #2 was more of a HIIT circuit in a loose tabata format. You get longer recoveries and the HIIT seemed to go on a longer than 20 seconds.

Overall this was an excellent and intense HIIT + metabolic strength training workout. I loved it. It was similar enough to Crossfire that it deserved the name, but different enough to not be boring. I will definitely be returning to this one. As a note, the music stood out in this workout. It was very good and motivating for such an intense workout.

Crossfire Express is 36 minutes long; 5 minute warm up, 15:30 minutes of tabata/HIIT circuits, 11:30 minutes of metabolic strength training and 3 minute cool down/stretch. Equipment needed: 15 pound dumbbells, a mat (for a marker) and a firewalker. Since you are doing deadlifts I suggest also having heavier dumbbells available. I also used 25 pound dumbbells for the deadlifts. It aired live on 4/09/15; here is Cathe’s forum post and video clip.

As mentioned above, your mat is used for a marker in this workout. You only use it for the first tabata, so after the warm up you will be laying it on the floor.

Tabata #1:

1. Half circle shuffles around mat
2. 10 wide stance burpees w/ tuck jump (straddle mat)
3. 3 lateral hops + 1 tuck jump (jump over the width of the mat)
4. 16 high reaching pop squats (straddle mat and do 180 jump squats)
5. Repeat 1-4

Put mat away.

HIIT #2

1. Shuffle, shuffle, drop
2. 12 quarter turn jump squats (actually 180 jump squats)
3. 32 squat digs
4. Suicides
5. Repeat 1-4

Tabata #3 (put firewalker around ankles):

1. Plie jacks
2. 3 jacks + 1 tuck jump
3. 20 air jacks
4. Side-to-side reaching jump squats
5. Repeat 1-4

Take firewalker off.

Metabolic Strength Training (for all of the strength exercises Cathe uses 15# DBs):

1. Strength: Squats
2. Cardio: Drop squat + 2 jump ropes
3. Strength: Pivoting Sumo Squats; first you pulse 3x w/ each sumo then you do singles, end w/ 15 pulses
4. Cardio: Frog hops (wide hop squats forward and back)
5. Strength: Static Lunges
6. Cardio: Split Jumps (same leg as #5)
7. Repeat 5 & 6 on other leg
8. Strength: Deadlifts
9. Cardio: Ice Breakers
10. Strength: Wide stance deadlifts
11. Strength: Squats
12. Cardio: Snowboards