XTrain - Hard Strikes

Cathe Friedrich
Year Released: 2012

Categories: Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts


I think this is an awesome dvd for those days when you have lower body DOMS or don't want a weighted lower-body workout. The 1st section (warm-up/cardio boxing/kickboxing) somewhat mixes plyometrics/standard cardio with boxing/kickboxing moves. Some examples of plyo/cardio: squats (pulses, full-range, traveling wide-stance), jump rope, jumping jacks, jumping scissors, running in place, hopping foot to foot. Some boxing moves you'll see: boxers shuffle, jab/cross/knee smash, speed bag upper cuts. Nothing too choreographed, no long combinations, more of a drill-style.

The conditioning section is a great little upper body burner: overhead press, bear crawl, biceps/hammer curl, side plank with dumbbell press, triceps dips, sit ups (with jab/strike, speedbag, pushups). If you tack on the Bonus 100 Rep Biceps Challenge and the Bonus Burn Sets Tris, you'd get a heavy duty 30 minute upper body blaster! (In fact, this is probably one of those many premixes included on the dvd.)

Here are some time breakdowns (approximates):
Warmup/cardio: 31 min
Conditioning: 12 min
cool down/stretch: 4 min
Bonus core: 10.5 min
Bonus BURN SET Tris: 14 min
Bonus Heavy Bag: 13 min
100 Rep Challenge Biceps Curls: 7 min.

Instructor Comments:
As always, I'm impressed by Cathe's production values, attention to detail, professional instruction style, and numerous premixes (23 on this dvd!!). The only thing I would wish for is a low-impact modifier shown. As it is, I made AMPLE use of my rebounder because I do NOT do jumping/bouncing!

Alisoncooks

02/03/2013