Cathe's Web site had advertised this tape as appealing more to her "intensity fans" than her choreography fans", and indeed the choreography is less complex than most of her other tapes. The choreography is more linear, with short patterns rather than longer combinations. I am one of Cathe's "choreography fans" who also happens to appreciate the intensity of her workouts. Predictably, this workout didn't rank as high on my personal "fun scale" as some of her more choreographically challenging workouts, but it certainly ranks up there on the intensity scale. I definitely liked the video, but PowerMax still reigns supreme as my favorite Cathe cardio tape.

The warmup is quite basic, and flows seamlessly into the hi lo. The hi lo section consists of a short low impact section (about 4 1/2 min.), a medium impact section (5 1/2 min.) and a longer high impact section (maybe 15 or 16 minutes). I'm told by Step N Motion that Cathe made a concerted effort to keep the routine within a small workout area so that home exercisers who are "space-challenged" could still do the routine. The effort shows--you really don't need any more space for this than you would for a step workout. I tend to like to move around more during hi/lo workouts, but with my 25 foot living/dining room area I am probably in the minority here. My point is that if your space is normally too small for hi/lo, you can probably manage nicely with this workout.

My heart rate didn't rise at all until the medium impact section, so I would consider the low impact stuff, which consists of moves like grapevines, L-steps and scoops, to be more like an extended warm up. After that, though, the intensity got going, and the music helped pump me up, too. I would say the "medium impact" section is comparable in intensity to most CIA hi/lo work. The high impact section was quite a challenge. Some moves, like "jumping rope", high knee jogs, and a very long series of jumps in the air, are true tests of the cushioning on your aerobic shoes! Other high impact moves include plyo jacks, boxer shuffles, twists, up and backs, and scissors.

Overall, I found the hi/lo moves a bit repetitive, but again, I'm one of those complex choreography freaks, especially for hi/lo. Despite that, the intensity level remains high, especially in the high impact sections. The driving beat of the music also kept me interested and motivated. It's similar in flavor to PowerMax's music, maybe even more upbeat. As I'm not up on pop music, I asked Step N Motion what songs people might recognize. They are:

1)Unbreak My Heart
2)Don't Cry For Me Argentina (OK--I did recognize that one...it plays during the cool down/stretch)
3)Love Rollercoaster
4)Fired Up
5)I Wish/Stevie Wonder remix

I really enjoyed the 35 min. step workout. Again, the choreo is more linear, with shorter patterns that aren't linked together until the very end. The "rock press" is back, as are the "up and backs" from Step Fit, and the "explosion" repeater move from section 3 of Step Max (also seen as the "power circle" in PowerMax, I think) is back in sets of 7 during the interval blast. There's a new sashay repeater move--a big move that I found awkward at first, but it's challenging.

Like in PowerMax, there is no "down time" where the intensity lags in this video, once you get past the low impact section. In order to accomplish this, there is less instruction. People who are familiar with Cathe's style and choreo won't be lost, but those new to Cathe might have a few bewildered moments the first few times through. For example, those up and backs come in early on in the routine (I really like this particular pattern), but Cathe doesn't break down the move much at all. Overall, I would say the intensity on the step section is comparable to PowerMax throughout, except for the last interval section, which, if you have the energy left to go all out, is more intense.

The final 5 minute "interval blast" was placed at the end so that those who find it too intense could FFWD to the cool down easily. It's a tough one, and in this initial viewing I couldn't help but wish it had come earlier--I was tired! There are 3 intervals, I think--I forgot to time them, but they seemed a little longer than those in Intense Moves, though not as intense as most in IM. Cathe does a squat/over-the-top move is part of the interval pattern--it reminded me of one of the IM intervals. Other moves include power jumps with both feet up onto the step, a "jump rope" double hop up, pump circle runs and the power circles.

The cooldown is very basic--grapevines, side steps, L-steps that mimic the warm up. The stretch was nice--Cathe holds the leg stretches longer than usual, which I definitely liked after all those high impact moves.

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