Cathe Live: Low Impact HIIT Plus Upper Body

#175 Low Impact HIIT Plus Upper Body is a great idea and a very good workout. I wanted to like it more than I did. The workout starts with a very active warm up then you do 21:30 minutes of low impact HIIT cardio. The remainder of the workout is upper body strength and core. I loved the low impact cardio part, but I didn’t love the strength work. It was good, it worked me well, but I felt some of the exercises were done too rapid-fire (rear delt flys and some of the core work) and I would have liked more back work. Cathe hit every other muscle group nicely but I feel the back was shortchanged. All you got for back the back was 2 compound moves–no focused back work (rear delt flys and pullovers). The fast-pace of the strength work does keep your heart rate elevated after the cardio but some of the exercises are done so fast it is impossible to use heavier weights while maintaining proper form. So I’m actually disappointed since I was sure I would purchase this download until I did it.

You can do Cathe’s live workouts by subscribing to her streaming site or purchasing the individual downloads. Here is a video clip of this workout.

Low Impact HIIT Plus Upper Body is 53 minutes; 7 minute warm up and 2:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and mat. I used the same weights as Cathe unless otherwise noted below. I also did not separate the upper body from the core work in the breakdown since Cathe adds a core component to one of the final strength exercises plus there is no break after finishing the upper body strength work–you go immediately from your last strength exercise into core work.

Low Impact Cardio HIIT(21:30 minutes):

1. Split jumps (in stationary lunge do low impact lunge hops–heels raise but not toes–while pulling arms down overhead with each lunge)
2. 3 low impact rope climbs + one attack (in wide plie squat, do a low impact hop while doing rope climb motion with arms then pivot/hop into lunge while bringing fist and forearm down)
3. Hammer down knee smash (front lunge while hammering fist and forearm down then stand and do a knee lift, pulling arms down from overhead to knee as it raises)
4. Alternating side to side step out sumo squats; changes to sumo squat + side kick
5. High low jabs to side while also hop squatting
6. Long reach lunges
7. (lay mat on floor) Stand at one end of the mat and shuffle around it to the other end and tap the floor, continue shuffling end to end
8. Slam its (sumo squat hop to corner of mat, step back and sumo squat hop to other corner of mat)
9. Football runs (straddle the mat and run/shuffle forward and squat, tapping fingertips the end of the mat then run/shuffle backward and squat, tapping fingertips the other end of the mat)
10. Shuffle, shuffle drop (shuffle twice to side then drop into wide sumo squat reaching both hands to ground)
11. 3 lateral skaters over mat + one low impact hop
12. Hop abductions to corner of mat while circling arms 7x, alternate sides; hop abductions changes to knee pulls
13. Double puddle jumpers (two wide steps side to side while lowered into partial squat); changes to single puddle jumpers side to side
14. Mountain climbers angling feet toward opposite side of body
15. Spiderman mountain climbers (jump feet wide, outside of hands)

Upper Body Strength (starts @ 28:50):

1. Overhead shoulder press, 16 reps (Cathe is using 15# DBs)
2. One deadlift + 2 upright rows, 3 reps of this combo; changes to one deadlift + 6 upright rows, 2 reps of this combo (Cathe is using 12# DBs)
3. Bent over rear delt flys, one set of 10 reps and one set of 8 reps (Cathe is using 10# DBs)
4. Straight arm side lateral raises to pattern: one double arm raise + one single arm raise, alternate arms with a double arm raise between each single arm raise (Cathe is using 8# DBs)
5. Repeat #1 for 12 reps
6. One deadlift + 6 upright rows, 3 reps of this combo (Cathe is using 12# DBs)
7. Bent over rear delt flys, two sets of 10 reps (Cathe uses 10# DBs; I used 8# DBs)
8. Straight arm side lateral raises (Cathe is using 5# DBs)
9. Hammer curls, 8 reps (Cathe is using 15# DBs)
10. Sweeper/supination curls, 8 reps (Cathe is using 12# DBs)
11. Traditional bicep curls, 8 reps (Cathe is using 10# DBs)
12. Reverse curls, reps (Cathe is using 8# DBs)
13. Repeat #9-12
14. Tricep overhead extensions (French press), 10 reps (Cathe is using 12# DBs)
15. Tricep kickbacks, 12 reps (Cathe is using 10# DBs)
16. Repeat #14 for 8 reps
17. Repeat #15 (Cathe is now using 12# DBs; I used 10# DBs)
18. 8 push ups
19. 4 tricep push ups on knees to 2/2 count
20. Repeat #18 & 19
21. Pullovers, 14 reps (after 4 reps raise feet off ground with knees bent; after 2 more reps start extending legs out straight and pulling knees back into chest during pullover for the remainder of the reps) (Cathe is using one 15# DB; I used one 20# DB)
22. Chest flys with knees bent, feet raised off floor and ankles crossed, 8 reps (Cathe is using 15# DBs)
23. Pullovers to 4/4 count, 4 reps (Cathe is using 15# DBs)
24. Holding one 10# DB in both hands, lay flat on back, legs extended straight, DB held overhead, do a sit up, lifting one straight leg and reaching DB toward foot, alternate legs with each sit up
25. Still laying on back with legs extended, holding a 5# DB in each hand, do a full sit up with one punch at the top of the sit up, alternate arms
26. Russian twists with a pulse; changes to no pulses (Cathe is using one 10# DB; I used one 8# DB)
27. Lay on your back, plant one elbow on the ground with the fingers pointing straight up in the air, the other arm is raised straight to the ceiling, raise your torso while your other elbow remains planted on the mat, lifting straight arm’s hand toward ceiling
28. Leg shooters (sit on mat, lean torso back with hands on mat behind hips, thrust legs out then pull knees back in to chest)
29. Straight arm plank to forearm plank back to straight arm plank then tap one foot in under body then tap other foot in under body
30. Straight arm plank hold