Best Margaret Richards

[spotted zebra]

Originally Posted by Taramisu

Cathe is known for her advanced hard core workouts. I used her DVDs a lot from 2004-07 but after a while just burnt out on them and sold most of them off, just keeping a couple and honestly they haven't been used much.

Not that long ago, she released her ICE series which is Intermediate Conditioning Extreme. I took a chance and bought it. I really like it, there are 7 workouts but there are loads of premixes and add ons as well (Blizzard Blasts, Icy Cores and Muscle Meltdowns). I am going to get a ton of use out of this series. I hadn't bought a whole series from Cathe before, I made a good choice with this one.

Cathe also has a few workouts that are beginner/intermediate level. I recently reacquired her High Step Circuit, Total Body Sculpting which is on her Low Impact Step DVD. There is also Body Fusion which is with her Basic Step DVD. Some of these are step which might not be what you are looking for.

Lots of people like her Muscle Max workout, Push Pull which is on the same DVD as Supersets which some consider to be intermediate. She has put out quite a few of those Metabolic workouts lately too (Flex Train, Super Cuts, etc). She has a lot and it's not easy to know where to start. One of my all time favorites is her Pyramid workout which you can tailor to your level. She does reps in the pyramid format, 12 with the lightest weight, 10 in a medium weight and 8 in a heavier weight. It's really more of an endurance workout but there are premixes to shorten it, plus there is a total body premix as well.

I like Cathe but without the dread factor. So the fact that she is releasing more intermediate workouts is good news for me.

She also has the Xtrain series which I have read is kind of a sister series to ICE, I am actually looking at some of those workouts myself, mainly Low Impact HIIT and the legs one. There is another series that has no name that includes FlexTrain, Great Glutes, Lean Legs, I believe those may be more intermediate in level though I haven't tried them.

You can do a search too, there are tons of Cathe threads with suggestions. Being that I have hardly used her stuff for the better part of the last 10 years I am not quite sure what to suggest. I would maybe start with the ICE series though, you can get the individual DVDs instead of the bundle pack. Metabolic Total Body is a really popular one. There is also Boot Camp Circuit, Low Impact Sweat, Rock M Sock M Kickbox, Chiseled Upper Body, Chiseled Lower Body, and To the Max Legs and Glutes. To the Mat is all floor work. Bands and a stability ball are used, I did the band premix yesterday and I enjoyed it.

Cathe's website has nice video clips www.cathe.com. Total Fitness DVDs does as well. Take a look and see if there is anything that you might like.

Thank you so much. This is all very helpful!

[ealakey]

Since lower body is usually my main focus, I've only tried the xtrain legs. I think it uses a band, the slide n' glide and there is some floorwork. I've done so many Cathe leg workouts they tend to mesh together in my mind.

When I was in my 40s I did two rounds of STS and probably looked my best. I think it's one of the best gym style workouts ever put out. But now I don't feel like dragging out heavy equipment anymore or 60-70 minute workouts from one program. That's why I wanted to try Cathe Live. I've read there are some really good total body ones in the mix, as well as lower body.

I want to mostly stick to Margaret for a good month or so and evaluate the results. I feel like I have more energy, am less hungry, and am still toning using her workouts. I try to start off with heavier weights and usually have to go down in weight, and this may helps fatigue the muscles.

~Beth

Originally Posted by Taramisu

I should be doing Margaret workouts right now, but I can't pry myself away from ICE. I will have to try. I lost some weight a few years back and have kept most of it off but some pounds are creeping back on. Maybe I need to do Margaret, walking and some simple step for a while and see what happens. My back end also needs serious aid right now, Margaret might just be the RX!

I have been looking at Xtrain, and am moderately interested in the Legs, Cardio Leg Blast and Low Impact HIIT workouts but am going to try and wait a while. I thought about SuperCuts but don't think I need it and I am not sure I would use the others anyway, definitely not Tabatacise. Which are your favorites from Xtrain?

Since I have ICE I don't think I really need any of them, SuperCuts is similar to Metabolic Total Body and MTB I think is more a fit for me anyway. Low Impact HIIT is probably quite similar to Low Impact Sweat, which I really like. And not sure I really need any more leg workouts, for CLB I probably would skip all the blast exercises anyway. So I will probably wait a while, technically I should be on a no buy for the next year anyway. But I am still curious which ones you like and if any of them are similar to ICE.

[ealakey]

I also wanted to show this amazing article. My girls have gone to school with this gentleman's grandkids. https://www.google.com/amp/www.teleg...e-was-ama/amp/

His workouts are lighter weight high rep. Very inspiring.

~Beth

[Cher]

In case anyone is interested, I just got an email saying they are having another sale.....all dvds $15. When you add it to your cart, it changes the price to $15.

[Pat58]

Originally Posted by Cher

In case anyone is interested, I just got an email saying they are having another sale.....all dvds $15. When you add it to your cart, it changes the price to $15.

I might get one, thank you!

[FitBoop]

My favorite is Raising the Bar. I also like All My Best, volume 1 and Sculpture for upper and lower body.

[DawnP]

I am tempted to take advantage of MR's sale, but I've never done any of her workouts.

i much prefer KCM's style where you do compound exercises and get everything done in 30 min. Neverending reps with small weights is not my thing.

Are there any MR workouts that either use compound exercises or they alternate upper & lower body exercises? I am especially interested in intermediate to advanced weight workouts.

Thanks a bunch!

[ddj]

Originally Posted by Karen Beckwith

I think it's part of the Classics DVDs - one of the four.

Are the classics no longer available? I can't find anything with that title.

ETA: Never mind, I found it.

[sherry7899]

Dawn, I don't think Margaret does compound moves, but I could be wrong. Her dvds are chaptered really well-usually by individual exercise, so you could easily alternate between upper and lower body. The dvds are not programmable, though.

Sherry

[nevertoolate]

I'm going to pick up a few of Margaret's streaming workouts at this current sale. To those of you who have experience with her workouts, what do you think of Triple Threat? I don't think I've seen it mentioned in this thread.

Pros? Cons? Alternatives?

Thanks for your feedback.

Ann