Cardio Circuit Challenge Express is a short but sweet little metabolic weight training workout. It alternates between strength work and cardio, but overall is very cardio heavy. Use heavy enough weights and you might feel you got a decent total body workout, too. I came at this workout as a cardio workout so I used the same weights as Cathe for nearly everything. In 38 minutes I only burned 236 calories–so not a super intense workout. I’ll be honest, it felt like I worked harder than a mere 236 calorie burn, but it also didn’t feel like a super intense workout. So who knows? It is just a Fitbit. I still liked it and found it a very good workout.
I have been doing a lot of Cathe DVDs lately (in addition to 1-3 Cathe Lives a week) and this morning I did notice the difference between this [live] workout and her metabolic strength DVD workouts. You did less reps of everything in this one than you do in a DVD workout. You do enough to get your heart rate up and get a good workout, but you will have to heavy up if you want this to count as real strength work. The final exercise is a great example. She does the same ankle grabber/push up combo in two other DVD workouts. In Super Cuts you do 8 sets and Hard Strikes you do 6 sets. In this one? You do 5. She initially makes you do 4, then after a rest you do another set. You do the actual ankle grabber/push ups at a slower pace than you do in the DVD workouts, plus in the DVDs you get zero breaks! You do 6 or 8 sets–fast! This is an “express” workout, so maybe that is why everything is so condensed.
Cardio Circuit Challenge Express is 38 minutes long; 5:30 minute warm up and 2:15 minute stretch. Equipment needed: sets of 8, 10 and 12 pound dumbbells. It aired live on 8/27/15 and here is the video clip.
- X jacks (jack forward then jack back)
- Quarter turn jump squats
- Static lunges w/ overhead tricep extensions, 8# DBs
- 3 leaps to side (while abducting one leg) and a jack
- Long reach lunges
- Squat w/ overhead press, 10# DBs
- Jog in place; transitions into jog 3x and hike one knee up; transitions into rocking horse; transitions into a pendulums
- Lunge forward w/ read delt fly, 8# DBs
- Straight arm lateral raises, 8# DBs
- Repeat #8 & #9
- Apple picker jumps
- Twist hops to side + 4 jacks
- 4 regular jacks + 4 air jacks
- Rear lunges w/ bicep curls, 10# DBs
- 4 power hops forward, 4 block jacks back
- Burpees (thrusting feet on a diagonal and alternating sides)
- Plie squats w/ upright row, 12# DBs
- You hop while doing all of the following: Double knees; add speed bag arms to double knees; transitions into one knee and one kick; transitions into 4 insoles alternated w/ 4 straight kicks
- Squats in a box (squat jumping in a box pattern)
- 2 plie squats to side + bicep curl to a 2/2 count, 12# DBs
- 4 plie squats to side, 12 # DBs
- Repeat #20
- Hammer curls to 2/2 count, 12# DBs
- Deadlifts, 12# DBs
- Jumping jacks (change directions every 4 jacks) alternated w/ scissors
- Snow angel jacks, 2 sets of 10 reps
- Kettlebell swing (w/ one DB) into one arm overhead pull down; Cathe uses 10# DB, I used 12# DB
- Tricep push ups on knees while alternating raising one leg as you do the push up
- 5 ankle grabber sit ups and 5 push ups; 5 sets
Tempted by the live workouts…. Do you have the WORKOUT BLENDER? That concept seems AMAZING! If I sign up…not sure if I should just do the live option or the on demand with the Blender.
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No, I have not done workout blender–but I plan to! Just not yet. Probably sometime at the end of the year. I have to take some time to figure out what part of what workouts I want to put together. I know I want to create a single workout from all of the Muscle Meltdowns. But I’m not sure what else yet. It will take some time to decide! But right now I’m just working my way through Cathe Live. I still have a long list of Live workouts I still want to sample as well as returning to the ones I’ve already done because I love them so much! Plus–she keeps doing new ones that look awesome.
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