I'm not sure what I expected from this workout, but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the warmup song and the fact that it actually gave me a chance to warmup. I find this very important in the morning when I am barely awake, so I prefer warmups that start out slow.

I used the music louder option, which was really nice, although there was a lot of filler music, not quite the Top Ten blast she promised. Fast Car didn't bother me; it's still a rock song.

I loved combo one and actually harbored a small hope at that time that there actually might not be any lunges in this workout (a hope dashed in combo 2, but they were short and she didn't make me do them endlessly). I actually think Cathe breaks down the workout much less in this video than any other -- the total time is only 54 minutes, and the warmup and blast eat up more than 20 of that, which means she's taking about 11 minutes per combo, as opposed to 12-14-12 in Rhythmic Step and longer in earlier workouts. I think it shows. She may repeat each move a couple of times, but I found she put them together much more quickly than in the past.

When the step blasts came, I was ready for them and I think they helped break up the workout very nicely; I think the time flew by and I never say that for Cathe cardio (granted, this was the first time through). I liked the blasts and was happy they weren't identical to some IMax2 intervals. I think any combo plus the blast would make great short cardio.

Finally, I think that Cathe has really hit her stride with choreography in this workout. Even though there was nothing really new, it was a nice mix of fun and athletic and the moves really flow well together. The first time I did Rhythmic Step, I could never remember what move came next, because they didn't flow. I had no trouble with this at all; the choreo seemed to follow logically. I also think this is her most complicated choreo to date. Let me clarify: I don't consider a move like step-hop-repeater complicated. I think choreo gets complex when you add moves in quick succession, along with turns etc. That's when you really need to be coordinated.

Bottom line: This is my favorite Cathe step tape. Keep in mind that's probably pretty mid-range on a continuum of all step tapes, but I think it's a good workout with a higher fun factor than any of her other step tapes.

Donna Kahwaty