Cathe Live Review: 40/20 Low Impact Hiit (#325)
40/20 Low Impact Hiit is a really fantastic and fun cardio workout, which is packed with variety, so the time just flies by! I really loved this routine and it was exactly what I needed today. I haven’t been very well the last few weeks and so haven’t been able to do any impact at all (hence why the reviews have slowed down) so this was absolutely perfect. I got a great workout but didn’t impact my painful joints at all. This workout was the ideal level for me today, given that my cardio endurance is on the floor right now, but you could easily up the intensity by making it higher impact or going faster, bigger ranges of motion etc.
The workout is supposed to be structured into 1 minute segments so you do 20 seconds of one cardio move, then 20 seconds of another cardio move (or do the move on the other side of the body) and then have 20 seconds of rest. The reality is a little different though, as Cathe doesn’t have a stopwatch or the list of exercises close enough to read from a distance so she goes for roughly 20 seconds then you get a little break before the next 20 seconds of work, as she often needs to consult her exercise list again. In addition, she sometimes forgets when she should be going straight into another exercise and when she should rest so you often get longer rests in between intervals. Cathe does try to make up for this by going longer on the next interval so I guess it evens out overall.
There are twenty-seven of these pairings so that’s fifty-four exercises in total! So tons of fun to be had, as they are all different so you don’t repeat anything. However, there are a few variations of three moves so, for example, you do mountain climbers three times but they are all different. The first set is traditional with knees coming in under the body, the second is toes facing in and the third is using the gliding devices. Therefore, there is no dread factor or boredom with this one – I absolutely loved it! The moves are all very familiar, from Cathe’s other low impact workouts, and there are also quite a few moves from her new series Perfect30: Low impact Hiit (review HERE) so if you have done that one you will definitely recognise them.
As the intervals are timed, you can go at your own pace and decide how fast or slow you want to go. Cathe keeps it all a more reasonable pace and this worked well for me today but I could see myself really going for it, on this one, when I feel better. In addition, I would also have the exercise list in front of me so I could go straight into the second interval each time, without having to wait for Cathe to start it. This would also help to keep the intensity up a bit more too. No equipment is required for most of the routine and there is just one section, of eight exercises, that are done using the gliding disks in the middle of the workout. You could easily do these without though, if necessary, and just add impact (jumping jacks, burpees etc). The routine ends with a double shot of the last exercise - double hop into fighter stance – so you do 40 seconds straight, which was a nice way to push through to the end.
Overall, a wonderful low impact cardio workout that is also a great travel routine, as you only need gliding devices and these are optional. This is definitely one I will return to often.
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The Workout
40/20 Low Impact Hiit is a pure cardio interval workout consisting of two intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds rest.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
40/20 Low Impact Hiit is 42 minutes long and originally aired on 10th December 2020 (#325). The workout starts with a 4:30 minute warm-up, before moving into the first interval.
The intervals are listed below. You perform two exercises for approx. 20 seconds each before a 20 second rest.
Galloping jacks
Long reach lunges
Squat digs
Touch down reaches
Fred Astaire
Attacks
Windmills
Windmills (other side)
3 Rope climb & 1 elbow strike
3 Rope climb & 1 elbow strike (other side)
Mountain climbers
Explosive side to side lunges
Side lunge & knee to elbow
Side lunge & knee to elbow (other side)
Lateral skates
Ice breakers
Football run (swinging arms)
Mountain climbers – toes in
Pull & pound
Pull & pound (other side)
Apple pickers
Travel bob & weave
Forward leaning lunge & jump shot
Fred Astaire – two gliding devices
Mountain climbers – two gliding devices
Disk jacks – two gliding devices
Squat thrust & 2 moguls (bringing feet into shoulder on one side then other) – two gliding devices
Hip twists – two gliding devices
Rapid slide outs (1 leg at a time) – two gliding devices
Squat thrust – two gliding devices
Swim lunges – two gliding devices
Puddle jumpers
Forward leaning lunges
Heisman rock & run (Heisman to side x2 then lift each foot hopping side to side x4)
Kick outs (in plank position; kick leg out under body)
Hammer punch lunge & knee pull
Scoop water out of the pool (line taps w/ scooping arms)
Hi-lo punches
Halo slams
Step together & jab
Rear lunge into forward hop squat
Rear lunge into forward hop squat (other side)
Wind sprints (suicide runs)
Wind sprints (other side)
3 Lateral skates & lift on toes
Double pulse insole snap ups (2 squat pulses & lift insole to opposite hand)
Shuffle, shuffle, drop
Football run forward & back (touching floor at each end)
Wide knee march
Prisoner line taps (hands behind head)
Grounded star jacks
Double hop into fighter stance – done for 40 seconds
The workout ends with a 3:30 minute cool down and stretch.
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If you liked this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Crush It: Low Impact (#38) – HERE.
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