This is a fun 44 minute circuit workout that uses all types of exercises to keep your heart rate up. Any of the strength moves included are more for cardio effect, rather than strength building, so I categorize this as cardio more than a strength circuit.

Equipment: Med-ball, Step with 4 rises on each side, Band, 15 lb dumbbell and set of 10 lb dumbells

Format:
~ 6 minute warm-up
~ 6 circuits of 4 exercises each. Cathe's description say: a) cardio, b) cardio/legs, c) compound exercise, d) core work. I actually didn't notice that while I was doing the workout. The core work was mostly either pushup/plank work or med ball work.
~ 6 min cool-down/stretch

Music: Didn't make much impact. It is non-offensive, but a little boring. I wish it was better, but it is not a deal-breaker for me.

Impact: There are some very high impact moves in here. HOWEVER, there are also a lot of great lower impact but high intensity moves. She does some burpee/terminator variations and also uses weights to keep the intensity up. Also, some of the really high impact moves are very short! The first one is over so fast, I was shocked we were done. Sometimes she does something like 4 jumps, then a little bit of a shuffle, then repeats that a few times. The longest number of reps was 10 I think. It seems to me there is on average 1 high impact move during each of the circuits. The rest the intensity comes from using weights, speed, or your entire body in burpee type moves.

I know some are reluctant to jump onto their step. The first time I saw her do the moves in STS Plyo legs, I was scared myself. But I started with a lower step and moved up to 4 risers. Now I love those moves. They are not as hard on the joints if you have a full step. And if you jump down carefully, they can be OK. They are done in a controlled manner, so it just feels like some good plyo fun to me.

Intensity: Mostly pretty high for me. It may not be intense enough for the Insanity fans - I'm not sure, because I haven't done those workouts. It was slightly uneven - there are some moves where your HR will drop - mostly when she explaining the next move. I think in some cases, if you don't like that, it would be easy to keep doing the previous move, or the next move (once you know it.) I don't mind the uneven intensity - my HR never dropped too much. She mostly keeps things moving.

Modifications: Cathe demonstrates modifications before many of the exercises. I understand a lot of people prefer that someone is actually doing the modification during the exercise instead, so that isn't enough for everyone. But I think she does a good job of presenting alternatives. Honestly, in many of the moves where you might want a modification, you can't even look at the screen, so I'm not sure how much it would help. The hardest thing to modify will be the box jumps. A rebounder might work here though.

Fun factor: High! I really enjoyed this workout. It is a little bit like Drill Max, but it felt quite different to me. The drills are much shorter, so even if you hate a move (I didn't hate any of them) you are moving on to the next quickly. Also, I think this has more of a cardio factor than Drill Max. There are definitely some moves in here that she hasn't done before.

I think this would be hard to fit in if you are doing a 3 or 4 day strength split (like STS!) It can't count as strength work really, but there is enough work in there, that would make it hard to do after a strength workout. But I think it will fit in nicely with some total body strength workouts.

This might be the first Cathe workout were I didn't notice a single isolation move. It is time-efficient, fun and probably effective as a calorie burner for many.

Lisa C