AngieFitnessTV: 5 Interval Cardio Step + Strength

5 Interval Cardio Step + Strength is another tough metabolic circuit workout from AngieFitnessTV. Just like in her Kickboxing Step Interval workout (which was also tough!), she actually means circuits not intervals. There are 5 circuits in this workout. Three circuits are done on a step bench and the last two circuits are done on the floor. However, every exercise that is done is time based so there are intervals as well. I’m not entirely certain but it appeared that you did each exercise for 45 seconds and had a 15 second active recovery. Sometimes that active recovery was just as challenging as the exercise. And sometimes you worked right through the active recovery. The key word is “active”–there were no breaks during this workout. I was working hard! I used this as a cardio workout, in spite of the use of dumbbells. I just didn’t try to lift heavy with my right arm. I still got an excellent and intense workout. I wore my 8 pound weighted vest for the first 4 intervals and also had my step at 8 inches. This is not a low impact workout. I think all of the impact moves are modifiable but you are definitely losing some intensity if you modify in this workout.

There were some sound issues in this workout. I had to really increase the volume to hear the music but then Angie’s voice was excessively loud. And there is some really good music, too! You even get some Metallica. A note on one of the exercises. The first exercise of the 4th interval is a fitness swing using a dumbbell. A fitness swing is just a kettlebell swing using a dumbbell. Angie even calls it a kettlebell swing but she is not doing a kettlebell swing. She is doing a squat swing. Proper form for a kettlebell swing is to hinge at the hips in deadlift fashion so all of the power originates from the hips. You cannot do that when squatting.

There is no cool down or stretch included with this workout. I workout for about an hour in the mornings. Since I used this as my morning workout, I added on one of Angie’s extended stretches to get in some extra flexibility today. I used her Stretch & Unwind workout from her Fit Over 40 program. It is a 20 minute stretch that cooled me down nicely and stretched out my entire body. It was a nice way to finish this off and round out my morning workout.

5 Interval Cardio Step + Strength is 30:55 minutes; 5 minute warm up (Interval 1 is the warm up) and no cool down/stretch. At the end Angie says she hopes to see you for the cool down/stretch then the workout ends. I searched her YouTube channel and there was no short stretch created around the time of this workout to add on to the end of this. In fact, her shortest stretch workouts are 15 minutes but none of them are associated with this workout in any way. Equipment: step at 6 inches and dumbbells. I had my step at 8 inches an also wore an 8 pound weighted vest. I used the same weight as Angie did for all of the exercises except the kettlebell swing.

Interval 1:

1. Corner to corner knee on step
2. Basic on step
3. Corner to corner hamstring curls
4. Basic on step
5. Corner to corner heels
6. Run basic on step
7. Charleston kicks on corner of step
8. Basic on step
9. Repeat #7 on other corner of step kicking other leg
10. Step touch side to side on floor
11. Jump on top of step then step down

Interval 2 (Angie is using 3# DBs for this entire interval):

1. Alternating forward lunge onto step w/ hammer curl into overhead press
2. Straddle step and hold both arms straight overhead doing small circles with arms/DBs
3. Stand on top of bench with legs together, squat, tapping ends of DBs to ground then jump feet out so you are straddling bench and squat again, tapping ends of DBs to ground (continue alternating squats on and off step always jumping to change position)
4. Standing on the bench, alternate tapping feet off bench, tapping end of DB to step when tapping one foot to floor
5. Squat with one foot on bench and one on floor, reaching DBs to ground when squatting, turn around to face opposite direction so foot positions are swapped and squat again, do an overhead press when changing sides
6. Pulse squat on floor, DBs held together in front of chest
7. Wide pile squats with alternating straight arm front raises
8. Hold wide plie squat isometrically while doing standing chest fly arms
9. Stand behind step with legs wide, do alternating stationary side lunges while reaching opposite hand/DB toward corner of step when lunging
10. Stand and do more chest fly arms

Interval 3 (set DBs aside):

1. Power knees on step (knee pulls while hopping on step)
2. Step touch on floor
3. Repeat #1 on other leg
4. Repeat #2
5. Stand beside step, one knee raise on side of step, tap down then hop step over step length-wise, alternate sides
6. Shuffle hop over step length-wide then lift leg closest to step straight out to side, alternate sides lifting one leg at each end of step
7. Step + front kick then step back off step with alternating front jabs when step kicking and punch down to step bench when stepping back
8. Repeat #7 kicking other leg

Interval 4 (put step bench away and grab one heavy DB; Angie is using one 12# DB):

1. Fitness swing (kettlebell swings with a DB) (I used one 15# DB)
2. Hinge forward at the hip, tapping DB to ground while lifting opposite leg up behind you, stand and do single arm overhead press (single leg deadlift)
3. Repeat #2 on other side of body
4. Single arm hammer curl
5. Hold DB in both hands, legs are wider than hip width, lower into a deep wide squat, do a bicep curl then stand and do an overhead press
6. Stand and do bicep curls (still holding one DB in both hands)
7. Get into a deep isometric lunge and do single arm bicep curls
8. Hold a partial hammer curl isometrically with one arm
9. Repeat #7 & 8 on other side of body

Interval 5 (swap out heavy DB for two 5 pound DBs and a mat):

1. Lay back on mat, a DB in each hand reaching toward the ceiling, do full sit ups from this position, tapping ends of DBs beside feet at top of sit up and reaching DBs toward ceiling at bottom; changes to reaching DBs in front of you with straight arms and raised above head on a diagonal at top of sit up then opening arms out to a T at bottom of sit up (when laying on back); return to first version of this sit up
2. Still doing a full sit up, this time raise both DBs straight overhead to ceiling at top of sit up (when sitting upright) and at bottom of sit up, reach them overhead so they tap the floor
3. Bent arm boat pose hold, arms/DBs extended straight beside legs, alternate raising and lowering DBs; continue holding boat pose but now arms are extended so DBs are hovering just above knees
4. (set DBs aside) Lay on stomach and do swimmers (flutter kicking arms and legs)
5. Get on all 4s and do bird dog holds–hold for a few seconds then bring elbow to knee under body 2x then hold again
6. Forearm plank hold; still holding forearm plank, rock body forward and back pushing with toes

For more info on AngieFitnessTV and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.