Cathe Live Review: Bring it Bootcamp
Bring It Bootcamp is a Cathe Live cardio and strength workout that consists of rounds of cardio, strength exercises for upper / lower (or both combined) and then a core move. The core moves often include the use of gliding devices to make it a little more challenging.
Overall, this was fun workout, full of variety and the time flew by. However, this did seem at a more intermediate level, in terms of intensity, and Cathe gave far longer breaks than she usually does. Now she often gives longer breaks in Live than her DVDs but this was even longer than that! I barely raised a sweat throughout this workout and if it had been my only workout of the day, I think I may have been a little disappointed. This definitely didn’t challenge me in the way I expected it to – particularly given the title of the workout! For lighter days or for those just starting out this is probably perfect but I needed to do something else to feel like I had used my workout time effectively. So I followed it with another Cathe Live: Lower Body Hiit with Abs (for a detailed review click HERE) and that rounded out my workout perfectly.
Each of the cardio moves are done for approx. 1 minute and the first 3 rounds use the step in some form. This doesn’t involve any choreography – they are just blasts e.g. power 7’s or box jumps onto the step. I would hesitate to call this a total body workout, as the reps are not very high and not all body parts are worked. For example, back is missed out completely and even the body parts that are hit are not worked very comprehensively. So I would use this workout more just to get the body moving than as a focused cardio and strength routine.
The moves included were all very familiar but the variety made it more fun and the fact that you are sometimes doing upper, sometimes lower body or compound moves kept your muscles (and mind) guessing on what was coming next.
Overall, I really enjoyed this workout and although I did use heavier weights for some of the exercises and jogged during the breaks, it still wasn’t enough to elevate this workout to a more advanced level. However, for a lighter day this is a nice, short routine.
(In case you are not familiar with Cathe Live - it is a streaming service from veteran fitness professional Cathe Friedrich, where she provides access to her live classes filmed at her gym in Jersey. Currently, there are over 230 workouts available in the archive, which you can access at any time and a new class is recorded nearly every week. More details are provided at the end of this article).
The Workout
Bring It Bootcamp consists of 5 rounds each consisting of cardio and strength moves and ending with a move to target the core. The strength moves are sometimes focused on lower body, upper body or more compound moves. The first 3 rounds of cardio use the step and the remaining two are done on the floor. The workout starts with the step with 2 risers on each side and after round 3 you raise it to 3 risers. So the step is at 8” for the cardio moves (although Cathe obviously says you can have it at 6” if you prefer).
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Bring It Bootcamp is 43 minutes long and originally aired on 10th January 2019. The workout starts with a 6 minute warm up on the floor before moving straight into the first step blast – power 7’s. The step is set at 8” (2 risers each side) for the first cardio interval.
Round 1
Power 7’s & plyo jacks – step with 2 risers
Lateral walks – two 10# dbs
3 Curls & 3 overhead press – two 10# dbs
Straight arm plank, hands on step, & slide 1 leg out & across under body, back out & change sides – step with 2 risers & 2 gliding devices
Round 2
Plunge lunges & swim lunges – step with 2 risers
Push dips – two 12# dbs & step with 2 risers – 16 reps
Lateral raises – two 5# dbs
Gliding mountain climbers with hands on step – gliding from one side to the other – step with 2 risers & 2 gliding devices
Round 3
4 Box jumps, ski hops & plyo jacks
Touch down jacks
Crossback lunges – one 15# db – 16 singles, 7 pulses x2, 3 pulses x4
Hammer curls – two 12# dbs (I used 15’s) – 10 reps
Bicep curls – two 10 dbs (I used 15’s) – 10 reps
Hammer curls – two 12# dbs (I used 15’s) – 5 reps
Bicep curls – two 10# dbs (I used 15’s) – 5 reps
Squat thrust into 2 plank push-ups (hands on step) – step with 2 risers & 2 gliding devices
Change step height to 3 risers each side (10”).
Round 4
4 jacks & 4 low jacks
Squat off side of step – one 15# db & step with 3 risers – 24 reps each side
Tricep dips – step with 3 risers – 32, 24, 16 & 8 reps
Tricep push-ups (start in straight arm plank, drop knees to floor, 2/2 count tricep push-up then back to plank on toes)
Round 5
3 Icebreakers & 1 elbow strike – 8 reps each side
Side slide lunge – one 15# db & one gliding device – 1x 2/2 count & 2 x singles – 6 sets each side
Leg abduction & upright row (off side of step) – one 10# db & step with 3 risers – 16 reps each side
Rear lunge & torso twist (holding dumbbells horizontally) – two 8# dbs (I used 10’s)
Long arm circles (holding one dumbbell horizontally between both hands start at the top with arms overhead and circle down to the floor & up the other side keeping arms straight) – one 8# db (I used 10)
The workout ends with a 3 minute stretch and cool down.
Take Action
Try it today! Cathe Live is a streaming service available from Cathe.com – you can subscribe to monthly ($9.99 pm), six monthly or yearly plans and has over 230 live workouts in the archive for you to access at any time.
If you enjoyed this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Bootcamp Strong - HERE.
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