Hardcore: High Step Challenge

Cathe Friedrich
Year Released: 2005

Categories: Total Body Workouts


I’m reviewing this workout after doing it twice (except the stability ball abs segment, which I haven’t done).
Since others have already broken down the video, I’ll just add a few thoughts.

The cardio step portions are enjoyable. Cathe doesn’t pause to break things down much, so this may mean a bit of a learning curve for those newer to step, but the flip side is that you don’t have to slow down and wait for the breakdowns once you’re familiar with the routine. The combos are fairly basic in terms of choreography but not so simple that you’ll have time to get bored in the four rounds (two on each side) of repetition that each cardio combo undergoes. There’s no TIFTing (‘taking it from the top,’ or stringing the combos together).

I like the overall format except the repetition of (usually) the exact same lower and/or upper body strength exercises right in a row, just with different equipment. Since the reps are already on the high side, this just makes them even higher, and without any real rest period in between this workout ends up being much more about endurance. (This is probably a plus for some folks, but I’m moving more and more away from higher and higher reps.) It can be a little tricky to choose the right weights, because ideally you want to be able to make it through all of the reps with the dumbbells but still have something left for the reps with the band.
As you might guess, there’s a lot of work for the lower body, especially the quads, and the shoulders definitely get more than their fair share. I would like to have seen Cathe use the band to even more advantage by including something stronger for the back, like a seated row. This is light on the chest work, but considering Cathe and other video instructors tend to overwork the chest in relation to other muscle groups that’s not such a bad thing - unless this is the only strength video you ever do.

Familiarity with basic step and strength exercises is needed, so I wouldn’t recommend this to beginners. That said, this is a great “Cathe for the rest of us,” you know, those of us who can’t or don’t want to pull out an IMAX or Bootcamp daily. You get out of it what you put into it, so if you use appropriate weights and give your all to the cardio intermediates to int.+ will find this a solid 45-50 min. of suitably challenging exercise. I consider myself an int./adv. in both cardio and strength, and I found this a decent workout, a good choice for those days when I’m looking more to maintain.

I acquired this workout after some smart VFers suggested one could use a BOSU with it. Specifically, I used my BOSU in place of the high step (which I don’t have) during the strength segments and just used my regular step during the cardio portions (although if I felt braver I might try doing it all on the BOSU). One benefit of using the BOSU in place of the high step is that you’ll get additional balance challenges. One obvious disadvantage is that you’ll need more space than if you just used a high step (because otherwise the workout is relatively compact).
Like others, I used heavier dumbbells than what Cathe and crew used and used different weights for different body parts (this seems to have been made about the same time as Cathe’s other beg. / int. workouts, where she also uses 3 lbs. throughout). I also used the tubing that came in my Cathe step kit, which is probably of mediumish (although perhaps on the low side of that) resistance. As I find with most videos using this piece of equipment, the tubing gave me an appropriate amount of resistance on some exercises but too much or too little on others; I personally would have liked to have a couple of options for tubing lying around.

Instructor Comments:
I agree that Cathe seems subdued here in comparison to some of her other videos, but as usual she cues well enough, is encouraging, etc.

KathAL79

09/16/2008