Cathe Friedrich- Athletic Step
Equipment needed: step
Level: Intermediate/advanced
Bottom line: this compact step workout flows smoothly and has excellent choreography, albeit sparse cuing, as well as decent intensity.
I don’t pull out this workout often because of its short length and medium intensity- it’s not quite sufficient to fulfill my cardio requirement on a normal day. But on days on which I’m not feeling energetic, or when I’m working out late at night, this one fits the bill perfectly.
This routine is a little different from most of Cathe’s step workouts in that there is little to no breakdown of the moves, and the cuing is sparser than usual. However, this is very appropriate considering the compact nature of the workout, and I had no trouble with the choreography the first time through. I felt that the workout flowed very nicely, with no wasted time in between combinations, keeping the workout efficient, interesting and challenging. As usual (for Cathe), the production quality is excellent, and Cathe is in top form as an instructor.
The main reason this is not getting a higher rating from me is that I can’t imagine doing this workout on a regular basis. Although it makes me sweat, it would need to be either more intense or longer in order to provide the type of challenge I look for on regular cardio days. I would say that the intensity is fairly high, but 33 minutes of actual workout isn’t quite enough to challenge my endurance at that intensity.
Overall: this is a good little workout for days in which a longer workout doesn’t fit, or on lower energy days. It would have been better had it been slightly longer and had included shorter premix options, which would have rendered it more multi-purpose for advanced exercisers.