Cross Train Express: Kickbox

Cathe Friedrich
Year Released: 2000

Categories: Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts


I really enjoyed this workout, but it was not at all what I was expecting. To me it was more like a "kickboxing lite" workout.

The beginning of the video is a bit of a space hog as Cathe has you doing grapevines and side steps in a big diamond pattern. I have a fairly large workout area and used pretty much every bit of it. It would be easy to just do them side to side for those with space constraints.

The intensity was intermediate to me, and there was a lot more arm work than there were kicks. Cathe does everything slowly enough that you can concentrate on what you are doing and really make yourself work. This workout kept my heartrate in the moderate zone, but it was pretty consistently in the same range.

There is a segment where Cathe does "jumproping" but without a rope- she states that many home exercisers are unable to use jumpropes. I liked this section, which was moderate impact and fun to do. I did not do the power scissors though because I know from trying them in other videos that my knees just can't handle those due to how fast you are jumping. Instead, I did crosscountry skiing, and heel digs.

The arm drills are very intense and really give a great arm workout. I felt this through my shoulders, forearms and back afterwards. I won't make the same mistake of doing this tape in the evening after having done the PS Chest/Shoulders/Triceps in the morning! The biceps work was stuff Cathe does in her other upper body workouts- crazy 8s and lots of curls.

The one thing I REALLY didn't like about this video is that during the ab work you do planks that really engage your arms. My arms were wiped out from all the arm drills earlier in the tape! I don't know the name for the moves, but first you are raised on your arms with the arms straight in a plank. My arms were shaking so badly I could not keep it up. Then you turn over and do a plank the other way, with your body supported by straight arms, face up. Again, this was a killer after the arm work. The rest of the abs were crunches and variations there of, and did a good job on my abs.

Couple of other minor negatives:

  • The music that seemed recycled from the other CTX videos.
  • One of the background exercisers is obviously a beginner on kicks and punches as she looks very awkward doing all of these and does not always have correct form.

Cathe seems really challenged on this tape, which is far from her most intense workout. She also uses lighter weights than usual on the biceps work-she actually used 8 lbs on concentration curls while I was able to stay with 10.

Overall a solid A, and definitely a keeper for me. I like having a less intense kickboxing video too- AND you don't use a step. It is hard to believe there is actually a Cathe tape with no step to be seen!

Tara Whitmore

04/19/2001