LITE stands for Low Impact Training Extreme and it is the newest workout series/program from Cathe Friedrich. The base program contains 7 workouts and you can also get an 8th bonus DVD called Pyramid Pump. You can also purchase each workout in the series separately. Cathe considers this an intermediate level series like ICE, but this one is all low impact (except for the Calorie Crush bonuses). Just like ICE, this series contains bonuses to make the workouts more advanced. And just like ICE, you always have the option of using heavier weights to make the workouts more advanced. Just reading over my review for ICE that I wrote 3 years ago, it is clear I am in a very different place fitness-wise now. Back then, I feared ICE would be too easy for me. Which is a joke now. After cancer claimed my 2018, the ICE workouts are the Cathe workouts I do the most now! Treatment has dropped my fitness level so far that when she announced LITE in the summer of 2018, I rejoiced! And pre-ordered. As you can see from clicking the link, these workouts are much more expensive now. That is the value of pre-ordering (or waiting for it to be one of Cathe’s Daily Deals)–I got this series for half the price it is now.
This is a review of the workouts as a series, not of each individual workout. The workouts are reviewed individually on this blog as well (and links to those reviews are at the bottom of this review) but this review focuses on the series as a whole. I will also be comparing this series to Cathe’s ICE series. I am doing that because they are the only intermediate level fitness programs she has created at this point in time and there are a lot of similarities between them.
LITE is another amazing series. It contains four strength workouts (5 if you get the Pyramid Pump bonus), one metabolic workout and two cardio workouts. Of the strength workouts, 3 are total body and 2 are muscle splits (one upper body and one lower body). Of the total body workouts, one is a travel/resistance band workout. In addition, you get 14 bonuses!! The bonuses are included in premixes and the Pyramid Pump bonuses are all collected together on a single bonus DVD. You can buy the entire LITE series with or without the Pyramid Pump bonus DVD. But even if you do not get the Pyramid Pump Bonus DVD, each individual Pyramid Pump muscle group circuit is included somewhere on the other 7 DVDs in the series. I got the Pyramid Pump bonus DVD–to me, that is one of the best things Cathe did with this series. I wish she would go back and do the same thing with ICE and make a Muscle Meltdown DVD. I would buy it.
Here are all of the bonuses. Two core workouts, two extended stretches, 4 Calorie Crushes (more advanced bonuses to add on to 4 of the workouts to make them more advanced–they also are high impact/plyometric) and 6 Pyramid Pumps–one Pyramid Pump circuit for every muscle group (chest, back, biceps, triceps, shoulders and lower body). That’s another thing she did better in this series. The Muscle Meltdowns in ICE are awesome but they are all upper body. In LITE, we also get the lower body! Before ever doing a single workout in this series, it was obvious to me this would be even better than ICE (which is awesome) and probably my favorite series to date.
If you purchased this as a program you will also want to check out the LITE User’s Guide. It is digital and free to anyone. When purchased as a program you receive all of the DVDs except the Pyramid Pump bonus DVD in a nice clamshell case. The Pyramid Pump Bonus comes in a separate DVD clamshell. All together, between all 8 DVDs, there are 177 premixes! The LITE User’s Guide contains an overview of the program, the equipment needed, and a summary of each workout. Since every workout and bonus in this series is chaptered, she also breaks down the chapters of every workout and bonus. She provides 4 month long rotations, lists every premix contained in the series and provides you workout cards for the strength workouts (to keep track of the weights you are lifting so you can continue to challenge yourself by lifting heavier when an exercise becomes too easy). Of the rotations, one is LITE only, one is LITE and ICE, one is LITE and Strong & Sweaty workouts and one is LITE and Ripped with HIIT.
All of the above was written before doing a single LITE workout. The remainder of this review is written after doing all of the workouts. This review is posting before the individual workout reviews because I want to do all of the workouts (except Bodyweight & Bands) twice before posting the review. In addition, there are so many bonuses on each DVD that I want to make sure I have done every single bonus before posting each individual review. My favorite part of this series are the strength workouts and the bonus Extended Stretches. I personally will probably never use the Pyramid Pump bonuses that are included on the other 7 workouts, but I will definitely use the premixes on the Pyramid Pump bonus DVD frequently. I liked the cardio workouts–and I include Metabolic Blast in that category. I didn’t like them as much as I like the cardio workouts in ICE but they were all solid workouts. I also didn’t like the Calorie Crushes as much as I like ICE’s Blizzards Blasts. The reason for that is that most of the Blizzard Blasts are appropriate for the workout they are associated with. If you use weights in the workout then you use weights in the Blizzard Blast. With the exception of the Bodyweight & Bands Calorie Crush, the Calorie Crushes are just HIIT level (for me) cardio tacked onto the end of the workout. They have no real association/similarity to the workout they are paired with–again, I am excluding Bodyweight & Bands from that assessment. Although it, too, is a cardio add on and the workout itself is a strength workout, at least you used a band in that Calorie Crush. The fact the other Calorie Crushes are nothing like the workouts they are tacked onto is not necessarily a bad thing but I do prefer how the Blizzard Blasts in ICE flow nicely from the main workout. The strength workouts in LITE are excellent in my opinion and I love them. I also love ICE’s strength workouts and I think ICE and LITE work well together. However, IMHO, LITE strength workouts are more focused and comprehensive than ICE’s (which is why, again, the two series work so well together). And still, the best thing about LITE (to me) is that Cathe collected all of the Pyramid Pumps onto a single DVD. I wish she would still do that with ICE but I know she never will. If she did, that would probably be the ICE workout I revisit the most! Although I did enjoy Bodyweight & Bands, I’m not a fan of pure band workouts so I will probably use that the least. However, in the coming year, my job will require me to travel so Bodyweight & Bands will definitely be used when I am living out of a hotel.
The thing to keep in mind about everything I have written is that I am not an advanced home exerciser anymore. If you are, you may have a different opinion. Though personally, I think the strength workouts can grow with you by just lifting heavier dumbbells, but again, just a personal opinion. It will be a long while before I am an advanced exerciser again so these workouts will be getting a lot of use in 2019. I am planning to do a big push right before major surgery in mid-April, but after the surgery I will be starting over again and these workouts will serve me well.
A little bit more about the bonuses. I found both 6 Pack Ab workouts challenging but doable. I really enjoyed them both. I am thrilled with the Extended Stretches. Some of the Cathe workouts in my library that get used the most are her STS Extended Stretch and her Total Body Stretching. I have been tacking them on to the end of workouts for years. So the fact Cathe created and included extended stretches on these DVDs is wonderful to me. They are both great. They both start out with an easy flow so they continue the cool down after you complete a workout then they move into static stretching.
The consensus for me is that this is a wonderful series that I will continue using for a long time and will get a lot of use from this year.
Here are the individual workouts in the LITE series.
Strong Body Stacked Sets: Upper
Hello again. Just checking out your blog (as usual) while planning my next workouts and thought I would let you know that the link to LITE Strong Body Stacked Sets Lower Body on your does not go to that review. Just thought you might like to know.
And just as a general comment, I have been enjoying your Cathe Live reviews in particular lately – I noted on one of Cathe’sFacebook posts recently that she responded in a comment that she plans to do more Live heavy weight workouts at some point, which makes me very happy, so I just thought I would share that info with you, given your CL Heavy Weight rotation. Cathe did not mention a specific date though, so it is wait and see I guess.
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Thank you for the heads up–on both things! I fixed the link. I am very excited about Cathe doing more heavy weight workouts. I use the ones she has already created more than any of her others now. In fact those, along with her Burn Sets DVD and her Perfect Pump DVD, are main strength workouts now.
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Thanks for fixing the link, I tried scrolling to find your original post, but it was way too distracting as I found myself stopping to read reviews along the way 😁. And the Cathe Live heavy weight workouts are excellent- I bought several of them during the Black Friday sale and use them all the time now. I also checked out the ICE Muscle Meltdowns and the (original) Pyramid total body workouts recently thanks to your reviews. I definitely have to take 48 hours between my weight workouts, because I go as heavy as I safely can (neck and shoulder issues) and happily these workouts have allowed me to lift safely.
I really hope Cathe does make more heavy weight Live workouts as they fit into my rotation fairly easily. Thanks again for updating the link so quickly – I am trying to use some of the more recent Cathe workouts with an Upper and a Lower to combine for a full body workout – just have to figure out how heavy I can go on them. The LITE Pyramid total body version is definitely on my to do list, and potentially the Stacked Sets as well.
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Cathe really has so many excellent workouts, it is hard to return to them as frequently as I want. Especially now that I have found a rebounder trainer who does excellent strength workouts (Naomi Joy). Its so hard to squeeze it all in. You mentioning that makes me want to return to the Stacked Sets and Pyramid workouts again. I haven’t visited them in a while and they are all excellent. And this morning I did one of Cathe’s Fit Tower workouts and OMG I had forgotten how excellent those were! Now I feel like I need to do Fit Tower workouts more frequently. Too many workouts (and trainers) and not enough time.
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First of all, your courage and strength are amazing. I have been reading your blog for years, have commented previously and have appreciated your reply. I am a huge fan of yours and truly respect your opinion. Thank you for being who you are!!! I have been sending prayers and hopes for peace and healing. I have secretly been waiting for your review of Lite as I am sitting here putting it into categories as a I am creating an 8 week metabolic rotation. Thanks for continuing to share your knowledge and reviews.
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Thank you so much Michelle! I appreciate your prayers and I am so glad my blog has been useful to you. I am loving Cathe’s LITE series! It could not have come at a better time for me!
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My eyes are burning for you, and I really depend and hope that you have the best possible outcome. You are so amazing, and I know you have so many fans like me, who (even though we have not met you personally) are pulling for you every day!
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Thank you so much!
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Hi, I haven’t done all the LITE workouts yet. I did enjoy the upper/lower body and the kickbox. That is all I have done so far. I consider myself on the low end of advanced. My knees aren’t what they used to be so I can’t do high impact anymore. I did have to go up on the weights compared to what Cathe uses in the video. It will be nice to see your review of the individual workouts. Prayers for a quick recovery of your surgery in April. I had to go back for a 2nd mammogram today. Thankfully, after doing that and the u/s they determined it was just a lymph node. It was a scary experience. God bless you as you continue to recover and Stay Strong!
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Hi Rene! I also lifted heavier than Cathe on a lot of the exercises but what she is using is just a guideline anyway. People should always uses a weight that challenges them not what she uses (unless that’s what challenges them!). I don’t have any problems with high impact but I do find myself resistant to some plyometrics, and I never used to me. Hopefully I will eventually return to not thinking twice about it! I have done all of the LITE uts at least once and am now working through doing them all a second time,so the rest of the reviews will be going up in the next week. I was actually not impressed with the kickboxing workout. At least not the first time through. We’ll see if I change my mind the second time. I do love the strength workouts tho! Thanks for your prayers. I just want this nightmare to be over. After April maybe I can finally return to a normal life. So glad your second mammo turned out fine. It is very scary. I do want to share my experience tho. I don’t want to scare you, I just want you to be vigilant. In August 2017 they saw something suspicious in the my right breast and sent me back for a second diagnostic (3D) mammo. They decided that whatever they say was benign and that I just had dense breasts. In January of 2018 my breasts because swollen and painful for several days and I noticed an odd lumpiness in my right breast. I went to my PCP and she sent me for another diagnostic mammo. The rest is history–my fun 2018. From August 2017 to January 2018 seven tumors grew in my breast. I have a hard time believing that what they saw in August wasn’t the beginning of what they found in January. So just be vigilant.
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Wow, I am so sorry that you have had to go through all of this. I will remain vigilant. You are strong and will get through this. My hubby had stage 3 colon cancer at 41 and he is cancer free at 56 so I know what you are going through to some degree. BTW, I love Cathe’s ‘live’ kickboxing classes best. Some of them are really good but not sure if you have had a chance to work through most of those. Keep the faith!
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I did all of her Live kickboxing workouts through mid-2017 when I stopped subscribing. She had a lot even then. And I did love them. Thanks for sharing about your husband. I do go through periods of anxiety because mine was stage 3 and the breast cancer stats that are always quoted do not break it down by stages or types, and when you do that, the percentages change. I try to remember that I am doing everything in my power now to make it stay away but in the end, no one knows what truly causes breast cancer or how to make it stay away forever. So I just have to live and stop thinking about it. I hope me and your husband–and you–stay cancer free!
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