Cathe Friedrich is my favorite fitness trainer. I own everything she has created on DVD except for a few of her spinning workouts. I also subscribed to her Live workouts for about 18 months. During that period I did 127 of her Live workouts. So this blog reviews nearly everything Cathe has created. Cathe creates primarily advanced level home workouts. Her focus is strength training and plyometrics. Though that is not the only thing she does, it is what makes up of the bulk of her offerings. She has also created some beginner level workouts, some intermediate level workouts, kickboxing workouts, low impact workouts, step cardio workouts, even some yoga and flexibility workouts.
Cathe is my favorite trainer because she is one of the few trainers who delivers comprehensive home workouts for the advanced home exerciser. Her library of workouts is vast and there is something for everyone. Cathe has a very professional and friendly demeanor. She never shifts into pure trainer mode in her DVD workouts. By that, I mean, she never stops working out to illustrate form using her background exercisers like other trainers do. Cathe does every rep of every exercise. She usually uses challenging weights, which encourages the home exerciser to challenge themselves to lift heavier, instead of always sticking with 5 and 8 pound dumbbells. In addition, Cathe always demonstrates perfect form when she does each exercise and she does give verbal form pointers as she performs the exercise. With that said, she does shift into trainer mode in her Live workouts.
The majority (not all, but most) of Cathe’s workouts are equipment heavy. You will need a full step, a square step, lots of risers for both steps, a wide range of dumbbells, at least one barbell and plates, various resistance bands, tubes and loops, a sliding device and dixie cups. For some workouts you will need her Fit Tower and for her most comprehensive program (STS) you will need even more equipment! There are some substitutions that can be used for some of the equipment (a chair for the Fit Tower sometimes) but you will get the best workout (IMHO) by using the same equipment Cathe is using.
You can purchase all of her workouts (except her Live workouts) on DVD. Or you can download them, or you can subscribe to her streaming site and have access to every workout she has on DVD, plus her Live workouts, plus her Workout Blender.
Below you will find a list of all of the reviews of Cathe workouts that I have done. I have broken it down by series/program. If the workout was not part of a program, it is listed at the very bottom of this page. Cathe Live workouts have their own page so I linked directly to that and, finally, since STS is a huge, comprehensive program, I only linked to to the overview page since within that overview there are links to every STS workout.
Boss Bands:
Perfect 30:
Step Boss:
LITE Series:
Strong Body Stacked Sets: Upper
Strong Body Stacked Sets: Lower
Fit Tower Series:
Fit Tower (three approx. 30 minute workouts)
Strong & Sweaty Series:
ICE Series:
Ripped with HIIT Series:
Lift it HIIT it Chest, Triceps & Shoulders
Lift it HIIT itBack, Biceps & Shoulders
Xtrain Series:
Low Impact Series:
Shock Cardio Series:
High Intensity Interval Training
Hardcore Series:
Gym Style Back, Shoulders & Biceps
Body Blast Series:
Intensity Series:
Non-Series workouts: