Sherry Catlin
I'm not a huge Sherry Catlin fan, but I enjoyed this
tape. It is more of an endurance tape than a
body-building one, but I feel I got a good workout
with it. It is very easily adaptable to using with
dumb bells too which is a nice bonus. You might need
to go one notch lower if you modify it that way to
preserve form on some of the exercises because using a
bar reduces wrist strain on some of the lifting
exercises and you would need to compensate for that.
Most of the work here is pretty standard: upright
rows, squats and the like. The upper body is
definitely favoured, although this is supposed to be a
total-body tape. Most of the lower work was in
compound movements like tacking on squats while you do
something else. Biceps and triceps got very little
attention, but this tape is short enough that you can
tack on a segment from another tape. Overall, a nice
change of pace workout, but I wouldn't recommend it if
it's going to be your only strength work.
Joanna C
1/07/01
Sherry Catlin presents clearly defined movements. She is a model of focus. There's a kind of slow burn fire under the ashes feel to her that I like.
definite keeper
beth lee
Instructor comments:
This is an efficient and elegant 30 min body bar w/o that uses every second of the half hour. There is a short warmup that goes right into shoulder work (the shoulders are worked a lot), Since there are no pauses, you’ll want to select your bb weight carefully. That thing will get heavy fast! You do different shoulder & back exercises (overhd presses, lat raises, front raises, combos, clean & lift, etc.), squats & plié squats, delts, biceps, triceps, with some nice if momentary stretching. There is a quick bit with pushups, and just as quick with abs, but we’re not really there for those. As Joyce T. pts out in her review, the “killer part” is that you do a set of 8 reps, then 8 reps pulsing at different heights, thus working everything. A couple of times, Sherry says, “Are you awake? We’re awake” or “Are you dying? I’m dying,” and that was right when I was. It’s a tough, quiet, quite satisfying workout. You could also do this with dumb bells.
I should say I haven’t done this on its own. I like to do cardio, especially a kickbox or boxing oriented w/o, and then finish with this. For me, it pairs really well with something like CIA 2203 Cardio Kick It!, or Fit To Kick, or TKO.
The camera work is good. You can see what each of the three of them are doing (LaShaun and another woman are there), and a couple of times, there were very useful overhead shots to show the movement.
beth lee simon
bsimon@locl.net
3-11-03
With strength work, I am an intermediate exerciser, who doesn’t really want to move up to advanced work. I have really enjoyed getting into workouts on the ball as an alternative to traditional strength training and Pilates. Recently, I have also been getting into shorter full-body workouts so I can get my strength work in. I’m more into cardio, so I try to use videos and instructors that don’t discourage me from doing weighted strength workouts.
I received this video in a trade and wasn’t really expecting a lot. It was the first Sherry Catlin workout I have tried and the first body bar workout. But, I figured it was worth checking out and I am SO glad I did. Overall, it’s a good full-body strength workout in 30 minutes – although I have some reservations about it. But, I would recommend it to people looking for short strength workouts.
There was no discussion that I saw on what weight to use. And, there is little to no time between exercises to switch weights. I stopped it a couple of times to do that and grab dumbbells. Most of the time, I used my 12-pound bar, but upped the weight on the back and chest exercises. She gives LOTS of form pointers and descriptions of the moves and what it should feel like.
In this workout, she has lots of moves for the shoulders, back and triceps. The lower body is a little on the short side, although she does include squats – and they burn! For chest, she just did push ups and I substituted chest presses (due to hand and wrist issues). She ends with a short abs section.
I felt very worked out at the end of it and was surprised at how much she packed into 30 minutes. I also liked all the form pointers. It is a pain when an instructor assumes you will use the same weight through an entire workout, but I figure that’s what the Stop button on my remote is for.
Instructor comments:
She is very descriptive of the moves and gives lots of form pointers. She also motivated me to stay with her. I liked her straightforward approach.
Laura S.
May 2, 2005
