There have been some very detailed reviews of what the workout itself contains so I'll skip that and just comment on what I personally thought of the video. If you are looking for an advanced workout that will work EVERYTHING and is extremely challenging even if you are very advanced than this is it. If you liked MIS but kind of found it boring or too long, you'll love this workout. If devoting your entire workout to a strength routine leaves you feeling guilty for skipping your cardio, this is the workout for you. Also, if you're very conditioned cardio-wise and have a hard time getting your heart rate up there, this is for you. And if you're a firmie, you'll love the diversity of this workout and will definately include it in your rotation. I do a lot of running so maybe that really conditions me, I'm not sure but I have a hard time getting and keeping my heart rate up and I'm also easily bored, not so with this workout. It went by really fast too. Even though the step portion was only 23 minutes, the intervals and lower body workout kept my heart rate up there. Oh yeah, if you were disappointed in the lower body workout in MIS, you won't be with this workout. Each time we did a lower body sequence, I was praying for the step drill thing to come. Then when that came I was praying for the leg sequence to come. It was very challenging because each segment pre-exhausted your legs. Towards the end, she tells you to lower your step all the way and says don't worry you'll keep your heart rate up there as she said that my monitor was beeping that I was coming out of my training zone, however, sure enough, as soon as we started going again, it went right back up there as we did lunges long ways across the board touching toe to floor.

The upper body section although similar to MIS was kind of different and seemed to go by quicker and seemed more light hearted, (I don't know why, it just did). I don't know if it was her sequencing or the fact that we seemed to do more reps with a little less weight but boy did I feel it. I think the cardio portion really pumped me up. It was enough to really get your blood pumping, challenge you, but not totally wipe you out that you couldn't give your all for upper body. When I used to do MIS in its entirety (before I started breaking it down), it was as if the warm up and then doing the workout just never really psyched me up but this work out definately does. Since you do so many different sets for each body part, you can use lower weight, truly focus on form and really exhaust the muscle. Also, Cathe's keeps the form pointers and comments to a minimum so when you do this tape, time and time again, you won't have to hear the same stuff over and over, assuming you are an advanced exerciser and pretty much know what you're doing. Just watching her form will show you, if you're not too sure. I had no problems.

Now on to abs. I do abs all the time. Mostly FIRM 5 days abs (old & new). I've done all 5 of the new FIRM 5 day abs in one session, I'm not bragging but just as a comparison, Cathe's abs, for some reason really got me feeling them right away, I had a hard time finishing. Very effective. But all in all, after one hell of a workout, I didn't feel that wiped out feeling that doing the entire MIS workout used to give me, I felt great, energized and real good. Definately a keeper! I'm so glad I bought this tape.

Instructor Comments:
I think most people who buy this tape are already familiar with Cathe's workouts. She's a fantastic instructor. Not one negative thing ever comes to mind when I think of her. Wonderful cueing, upbeat, in great shape, etc.

Sheila