I have now completed each workout at least 1x. There is endless variety with this series. Each disc has dozens of premixes, a few bonuses, and a 100 rep challenge. The upper body workouts complement each other perfectly. Discs 1 and 2 do not repeat any sets and work the muscle groups in rounds. The premixes allow you to add core, break the workout in half or do extreme versions etc... the 3rd disc has 2 workouts on it. the upper body work goes by one muscle group at a time and you do 3 sets of each exercise and completely fail one group before moving on to the next.disc 4 is supercuts and is a total body low impact circuit workout that is full of new moves and variety. disc 5 is legs. She uses light weights for the standing portion but oh my,.... do not let that fool you. the sections are standing, barre, ball/chair, and floorwork. There is a bonus rear delt workout on this disc.
Disc 6 is another leg workout. It alternates between plyo and wt work. Cathe does use heavy wt but she doesn''t go overboard on reps. I mainly felt this workout in my hamstrings the next day. It was fun and nothing was repeated, which is kinda the theme of this series.
The rest of the discs are cardio workouts. I love Hardstrikes the most. The music just rocks and I love the premix that includes the heavy bag tabata bonus. the other 2 cardio workouts are HiiT and Tabata. Great thorough and challenging cardio work in this series. I don''t have the Ride disc. So can''t share on that one.
I have been using this series exclusively this month and love the variety and the fun. Who knew working so hard could be fun? Cathe is a 5 star instructor and truly knows how to lead you to results.
This program has nine complete workouts that can be used as part of Cathe''s Xtrain program or as stand alone workouts. Each disc has several options that pop up in the main menu. All you have to do is choose your option and press play. The workout is seamlessly played. The sound quality is superb, the camera work very effective and thorough. Cathe''s cuing is dead on, and she and her crew of workout partners show consistent good form. And they are really doing the work!
You will need equipment for this program. A stability exercise ball is an absolute must. (A note here: make sure you get the right size for your height.) Resistance bands, the kind with handles, in a couple different resistances are needed. Cathe uses a step bench with five risers per side. I only have four for mine and I am quite tall, so I may need to get a couple more. I use The Step and am pleased with it. Cathe also uses something she calls Firewalker bands which are closed elastic loops used around the calves or thighs for additional resistance in some exercises. She uses gliding discs under her feet in some work as well. I was unable to find the exact discs she uses but found that the large discs used for furniture moving work well. A pair of boxing gloves are recommended for the boxing workout. They aren''t necessary, but, boy do they add to the effectiveness! The same disc has a workout with a heavy punching bag which I do not have, but it sure looks like fun. The mainstay equipment needed for this program are dumbbells. Lots of dumbbells. It seems unlikely that most of us have a tower of dumbbells in different weights in the corner of our livingroom. I use adjustable dumbbells by BowFlex. When choosing adjustable dumbbells for this program, it is important to get a set that can be very quickly adjusted and has a wide range of weights, because you will lift heavy on this program. For lighter weights, the BowFlex seem awkward to me, so I have separate sets in 5, 8, and 10 pounds. You can see that to have all the equipment for this program will set you back more than $600.00, but the truth is, most of us who have been working out at home have been acquiring these things for some time. And storage space requirement of all this equipment is actually quite minimal.
But the workouts....get to the workouts already! These discs are listed as being for the "advanced" level of fitness geek. I doubt that I am really advanced, but certainly this is not the program to start if this is your first foray into exercising. It is hard. Every single disc is hard. You will be sweating. You will get sore. You will get tired. But if you stick with it, you will get very strong. And your cardio endurance will skyrocket. And you will have fun. Because fun is a key component of this program. Cathe switches things up all the time. It is not boring in the least. Take, for example, the workout for biceps and triceps. Round after round of exercises just for your arms that switch from bicep to tricep and back again, each exercise just a little different from the last. Your arms are toasted. And then the next day you''ll do one of the cardio workouts. You''ll sweat and gasp and maybe reach for the remote pause button a few times. But there is a kind of beaming that comes from working that hard. If you choose to follow Cathe''s 90 day program which is outlined in the handbook, you will work six days a week. Each day is 35-80 minutes of work. She has taken the guesswork out of what to do when, how much to do, what order exercises are done. It''s a complete program.
So as a workout DVD acquisition addict, I am more than pleased with this set. While I do not follow the program exactly (I am also addicted to non-traditional forms of working out using kettlebells, sandbags, and battling ropes), I have found these DVDs easy to merge into my existing workouts. A good purchase for sure!
Buy Cathe Friedrich''s XTrain Series: 9 DVD Bundle set Now
I love this program. It provides a lot of variety to get in great shape. I''m 45 and workout 6 days a week so I get rather bored trying to choose what I''m going to work out to everyday. This program gives you so many options and premixes you will never get bored. It also challenges every muscle group. I highly recommend, it''s well worth your time and money.Read Best Reviews of Cathe Friedrich''s XTrain Series: 9 DVD Bundle set Here
I have almost all of Cathe''s workout Dvd''s and I have to say this series is my favorite! I have been looking for something new but didn''t want to stray to far away from a good old fashion Cathe style workout. I have been feeling like I was in a rut and not looking forward to working out anymore. This series brought me back. If I ever have the chance to meet Cathe I would be so thankful. I feel like she''s a long lost friend since I''ve started almost every morning with one of her Dvd''s. Thanks Cathe for the continued motivation and fun workouts. You are truly the best at what you do!Want Cathe Friedrich''s XTrain Series: 9 DVD Bundle set Discount?
I''m only a few days into a month-long XTrain rotation, so I will be sure to update my review as I use this series more and as I (hopefully!) continue to see results! In the meantime, though, I wanted to post a review to say how much I''ve been enjoying this set! I''m a huge Cathe fan (she''s my all-time favorite DVD instructor), but I felt like her last few series weren''t as much fun, and I find myself only using a few workouts from the Low Impact Series in a regular basis. With this new set, Cathe has brought back more of the "fun factor," and I''ve been enjoying this a lot so far!The 9-DVD set comes with the following workouts:
--Disc 1/Chest, Back & Shoulders -has a rep range of about 16 reps
--Disc 2/Bi''s & Tri''s [sic] -has a rep range of about 16 reps
--Disc 3/Burn Sets -three sets of 10 reps
--Disc 4/Super Cuts -a low-impact metabolic circuit workout with compound and functional moves
--Disc 5/Legs -contains standing leg work, stability ball work, barre work,and floor work
--Disc 6/Cardio Leg Blast -has weighted exercises, followed by plyo blasts
--Disc 7/All-Out Low Impact HIIT -includes three rounds of HIIT exercises
--Disc 8/Hard Strikes -boxing workout, with a heavy bag bonus segment
--Disc 9/Tabatacise -has five separate workouts that you can string together as your endurance increases
The tenth disk that comes optionally is Ride, a spinning workout.
To do the workouts, you''ll need a step, dumbbells, a stability ball, a resistance band with handles, a Firewalker band, Gliding Disks, and (optional) boxing gloves.
Each one is just under an hour, which makes them a lot more convenient to use than STS was. It also comes with a User Guide, which lists four different rotations you can use with this set, as well as detailed information about each workout. The four rotations that are included in the User Guide are:
--90-Day Undulating Workout Program
--90-Day Xtrain + Low Impact Series Workout Program
--30-Day Cardio + Strength Combined Workout Program
--30-Day Undulating + Ride Workout Program
If you go to Cathe''s website, you can also register for an account and use their Workout Manager to download the workouts and print workout cards that tell you what weights to use (after you do the One Rep Max tests).
The set includes about 142 premixes, as well as several bonus workouts. Amongst those bonus workouts are two core/ab workouts, and five 100-rep challenges, where you try to work to failure by doing 100 reps of some exercises.
The music is good, and, while Cathe is still a bit more serious in these than she used to be in her older workouts, they''re still a lot of fun.
As I mentioned, I''ll be sure to update this as I continue with the series.
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