Of all of the six-pack, I expected to like this one the least since I am not a big kickboxing fan. In fact, I didn't even like Cathe's Cardio Kicks (takes up too much room and not intense enough, although I LOVE the drills). However, this turned out to be one of my favorites of the CTX series!

The cardio section starts with an active warmup including sets of progressively higher front kicks and side kicks, then you go right into boxer shuffles with jabs. Lots and lots of jabs - your arms will feel the burn. A long set of alternating front kicks and back kicks, then you repeat this whole section on the other side. Then you take a break from kickboxing with some intense high impact work. Different moves with a simulated jumprope (regular jumps, ski hops, front and back hops), then scissor moves, then a set of 32 power scissors - yow! Then you do that whole sequence on the other side. This section really gets your heartrate thumping. Then you do a few kicking sequences, then it is on to arm drills. These arm drills really burn, and if you really do them with power they do keep your heartrate up even though you are stationary. Then you cool down. At this point, I like to tack on the drills from Cardio Kicks to add 15 more super intense minutes. But if I don't have time I still feel like I got a solid cardio workout in 30 minutes.

The biceps section is good - I go lighter than I do for MIS or PS because it is designed as more of an endurance-builder. Two sets of crazy-eights, two sets of alternating bicep curls, two sets of hammer curls which turn inward, and then a set of concentration curls for each arm. I like to do my heavy lifting at the gym, so I really enjoy this bicep section as a compliment to heavier lifting.

The plank work for the abs is tough, but I really think it is a great challenge for the abs and back. That is followed by traditional ab work.

I really enjoy this video. It won't wipe you out, but the time flies and when you are done you feel like you got a great workout. As I said I am not a big kickboxing fan, but I like Cathe's style of mixing it up with high impact. And those arm drills make me feel so strong!

Grade: A-

Instructor Comments:
Cathe is simply the best instructor out there. It's true that she gives few form pointers, but she made it clear when she released these videos that the kickboxing is designed for people who have experience with kickboxing. That's exactly why I like Cathe's videos - she designs them for advanced exercisers so you don't waste a lot of time jogging in place while she explains a move.

Melanie H.