Gloved Up and Sweaty

Gloved Up and Sweaty is a cardio kickboxing workout from Cathe Friedrich. Cathe recently came out with 4 stand alone workouts that are not part of a program/series. Initially I wasn’t going to buy these workouts but after spending 6 months doing (and loving) her STS 2.0, I changed my mind. Since I am currently in the middle of Caroline Girvan‘s CGX Iron Program, I am only doing this workout for now. I will do the strength workouts in February after I finish the Iron Program. I also finally bought a pair of boxing gloves! In the past, I always just wore weighted gloves for cardio kickboxing workouts. Boxing gloves definitely change a kickboxing workout but more on that in a minute. You can get this workout on DVD or download or stream it if you are subscribed to Cathe’s On Demand streaming.

This was a very enjoyable kickboxing workout. Cathe puts together lots of fun combos that are not complicated or confusing. Since it is all cardio, I will share how many calories I burned–490 according to my Apple watch. I did the premix that included the jump rope bonus, so that calorie burn is for the main workout + the bonus. I also spent a total of 6 minutes in my peak heart rate zone. Though this is not a low impact workout, the majority of it is easily modifiable if you don’t want impact. This was also the first time I have worn boxing gloves for a workout so I did not consider the logistics of it until I was getting ready to start the workout. First, you can only secure the velcro on one glove! Once the gloves are on both hands, you have no fingers to manipulate things! You also have to turn the workout on before putting the second glove on for the same reason–to work the DVD remote (or whatever you are using if you are streaming). But the good news is, the gloves fit well without tightening the velcro so that wasn’t a deal breaker. Besides, if they are both secured with the velcro–how would I have gotten them off?!? Once the workout starts there are other issues. During any workout that makes me sweat, I do two things during short breaks: I wipe away sweat with a towel and get sips of water. Impossible with the gloves on. So I had to pause the workout briefly to do those things. That kind of irritated me because I rarely pause a workout. And finally, my hands were sweating in those gloves. It wasn’t as noticeable on the hand that the glove remained on the entire time but the glove I took on and off a few times in the course of the workout it was very noticeable. However, I really like what the gloves added to the actual workout. They are lighter than the weighted gloves I usually use but I guess their size makes up for that.

This workout also has an intense HIIT level bonus called Jump Rope Bonus (scroll down for the break down of the bonus). It is done interval style and you alternate jump rope intervals with floor cardio intervals. You can use an actual jump rope or you can pretend you are jump roping by just hopping and doing jump rope arms. Or, if you’re like me and you own weighted cordless jump rope handles, you can use those. The bonus is not low impact nor is it easily modifiable. I mean, you are “jumping” rope. It is fun, too. The floor cardio intervals are less intense than the jump rope intervals so they act as a kind of (very) active recovery. But you do get real recoveries between each interval and the recoveries get longer as the bonus progresses.

Finally, there are premixes that mix things up. Scroll to the very bottom of this review for those.

Gloved Up and Sweaty is 39:27 minutes; 9:35 minute warm up and 3:10 cool down/stretch. Equipment: boxing gloves.

1. Hop while swinging bent arms/gloves forward and back
2. Attack (gloves are pressed together, hop while reaching arms/gloves overhead then pounding them down between legs–at bottom of hop you are in a partial sumo squat)
3. Hold stationary lunge while doing small hops, reach gloves overhead then punch downward with one arm (opposite arm as front leg)
4. Repeat #2
5. Repeat #3 on other side of body
6. Repeat #2
7. Double upper cuts, alternate arms
8. Repeat #2 & 7
9. Alternating upper cuts
10. Pulsing sumo squat with arms in guard
11. Legs still wide, place gloves on floor, jump feet back so you are in plank, jump feet back out wide, raise into sumo squat and pulse 4x
12. Step out to side into a sumo squat then step back in, alternate sides
13. Step one leg out into side lunge, as you raise out of the lunge, lift leg out to side (side leg abduction), lower back into side lunge then step feet together, alternate sides
14. Repeat #12 & 13
15. One knee raise (reach arms overhead and pull them down to knee when it raises) + one front kick (other leg)
16. One side kick + one cross punch (punch with opposite hand as kicking leg and punch to the same side that you kicked)
17. Combine #15 & 16 doing one rep of each
18. Repeat #1
19. Repeat #11
20. Repeat #15-17 on other side of body
21. Repeat #1
22. Double side step + one cross punch, alternate sides; side steps change to partial squat steps; double side step/partial squat changes to a hop step, reaching arms overhead
23. Turn torso to face the side (head still faces front), hook punch w/ back arm + knee raise with front leg; add a jump when raising knee
24. Repeat #23 on other side of body
25. Stand with legs wide, place gloves on floor, jump feet back so you are in plank, when you jump feet back in, jump and click heels together and when you land, do 8 alternating front jabs
26. Repeat #1
27. Turn torso to face the side (head still faces front), one hook w/ front arm + one hook w/ back arm
28. Front kick w/ front leg + back kick w/ back leg
29. Combine #27 & 28 doing one rep of each
30. Do #28 only while turning in a circle
31. Repeat #29
32. One double front kick w/ front leg + one double back kick with back leg
33. One rep of #29 + one rep of #32
34. Repeat #27-33 on other side of body
35. Repeat #1
36. Side shuffle 4x + jab-cross 2x, repeat to other side
37. Turn torso to face the side (head still faces front), jab-cross; changes to jab, cross, jab, jab
38. High + low cross punches (lower into lunge when doing the low cross punch)
39. Combine #37 & 38 (jab, cross, jab, jab, high cross, low cross)
40. Torso is still facing the side but now head is also facing the side, legs are wide with toes turned out slightly, lower into a sumo squat, then hop-turn into lunge to the front while bringing back elbow down as if striking something
41. Combine #39 & 40 (one rep of #39 and 2 reps of #40)
42. Repeat #37-41 on other side of body
43. Step out into sumo squat to one side, when you step out of sumo squat do one side kick, alternate sides
44. 2 knee raises (same leg) + one side kick (same leg); add cross punch after side kick
45. Repeat #44 on other leg
46. Turn torso to face the side (head still faces front), lower into a sumo squat, when you raise out of the squat, hop 2x while turning to opposite side and dropping into a sumo squat facing the opposite direction, continue changing sides
47. Squat jacks w/ 2 hops between each jack, tap one glove to floor while in squat
48. Combine #46 & 47 (one sumo to each side + 2 squat jacks)
49. Turn torso to face the side (head still faces front), one knee raise w/ front leg then walk forward while turning torso to face other direction and do a roundhouse kick with other leg, step backwards, returning to starting position
50. Repeat #49 on other side of body
51. Turn torso to face the side (head still faces front), jab, cross, hook, upper cut, 2 jabs + one squat + #49
52. Repeat #51 on other side of body

Jump Rope Bonus is 11 minutes; 30 second intro, no warm up or stretch. Equipment: jump rope.

1. Jump rope
2. Straddle run (lay jump rope on floor, run forward straddling the rope, when you get to the end, run backward beside the rope back to start and repeat
3. Repeat #1
4. Puddle jumpers/lateral skates (lay jump rope on floor, stand at one end of the jump rope and do wide side steps; add traveling forward and back stepping over rope; repeat the sequence except doing lateral skaters)
5. Repeat #1
6. One arm speed bag (shuffle step 3x to one side while doing a single arm speed bag, do one cross punch then hop step back to start w/ a singe knee raise)
7. Repeat #6 on other side of body
8. Repeat #1
9. Rapid run – tap the chains (wide leg fast feet to a 4 count + 4 wide leg jumps, reaching arms upward)

Premixes:

• Gloved Up and Sweaty + Jump Rope Bonus – 49:51
• Jump Rope Bonus + Gloved Up and Sweaty – 49:51
• Double Gloved Up and Sweaty – 74:41
• Gloved Up and Sweaty + Jump Rope Only – 44:02
• Gloved Up and Sweaty + Floor Cardio Only – 44:58
• Double Jump Rope Bonus – 21:06