Hardcore: IMax 3

Cathe Friedrich
Year Released: 2005

Categories: Step Aerobics


IMAX3 rocks - 1st impressions!!!!

I LOVED this workout. To me it was a party in a box, the entire way through.

Now I just jumped (literally) straight into the workout without previewing it (I do Cathe pretty much exclusively these days so thought this would be fine), and I also used an 8" step.

The warmup was good as it gradually increased the heart-rate and Cathe used both the floor and the step. I especially liked the dynamic stretching which meant that my heart-rate didnt plummet too much.

I found the choreography more challenging than Cathe's previous work as she had a few new tricky moves indispersed with old classics (the reverse turn manbo on the step springs to mind). She doesnt break down the choreography which I personally liked because although there is a learning curve initially, this keeps the intensity up nicely. i found I picked up 98% the first time though.

Being an intensity junkie, to me it was what IMAX 2 tried to be but didnt quite succeed. My heart rate stayed at the upper end of my anaerobic range durning the intervals and then dropped into my aerobic zone during the aerobic portions. It seemed very much like IMAX1 in terms of intensity. Even the aerobic portions got the heart rate up! There are a mixture of floor and step intervals and the recovery periods are quite short in places.

This is definately a workout that I see myself growing with as I did find it extremely challenging, those last intervals were really really hard as I was so tired! I did enjoy the stretch segment at the end as Cathe seemed to hold her stretches for longer than usual (perhaps becuase this time around she has done a stretch workout)?

I ADORED the music also. On my dvd player it was on a par with the level of Cathe's voice so this was fine for me. The tracks were really upbeat and suited the choreography.

Instructor Comments:
Cathe is her usual motivating upbeat self in this workout. She does tend to cue more as she's doing the moves in this workout which those new to Cathe might find a challenge.

K irsty

02/23/2005