Cathe Live Review: Circuit S-W-E-A-T (#97)
Circuit S-W-E-A-T is an excellent and effective cardio and strength circuit workout using the step.
The workout consists of six circuits. Each circuit starts with a cardio blast, on the step, before moving into a strength move for lower body, upper body and ending with core.
The step cardio blasts are a combination of a few moves, using the step and the floor, which you repeat for a number of sets. There is no choreography here, they are all just straight forward moves, which if you have done any of Cathe’s other cardio step interval workouts will all be very familiar.These are all fairly high rep and often have jacks and / or plyo jacks, in between the sets of the different moves, as an ‘intermission’, as Cathe puts it. These really got my heart rate up nicely and with the step height at 8” (two risers per side), I was definitely starting to feel some of these.
The strength moves are a combination of exercises using dumbbells or your own bodyweight. Many of them, particularly those for the lower body, also include the use of the step, such as, elevated lunges and uneven squats.If you are using the right weights, you will start to feel the work here, as the exercises are reasonably high rep and often have varying rep patterns to keep things interesting. The core work is also very good and is a mix of standing and floorwork. Each of the muscle groups are hit at least once and I got a really good overall total body workout.
Overall, this is a fairly intense circuit workout that provides a nice total body challenge.
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The Workout
Circuit S-W-E-A-T is a cardio and strength workout consisting of six circuits. Each circuit has a cardio blast on the step and one strength move each for lower body, upper body and core. Cathe used a full size step with two risers on each side (but you can obviously use a lower step height, if you prefer). If you don’t have a step you could mimic the moves on the floor instead.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Circuit S-W-E-A-T is 48 minutes long and originally aired on 14th April 2016 (#97). The workout starts with a 4:30 minute warm-up, before moving straight into jumping jacks ready for the first cardio blast. The step, with two risers on each side, is set up horizontally in front of you at the start of the workout (the step height does not change throughout the workout). You will need to ensure that you have space around all sides of your step for this routine. Cardio moves are shown in bold italics below.
Circuit 1
16 Jacks (turning), shoot over step 4x, then power 7 – step - 2 sets
8 Jacks, shoot over step x2, then power 3 – step - 2 sets
4 Jacks / 4 plyo jacks – 4 sets
Alternating back lunges off step – two 10# Dbs & step– 4x 3 pulses, 4x singles, 2x 3 pulses, 4x singles, 2x 3 pulses & 8x singles
Bicep curls – two 15# Dbs – 14 reps & 4 reps
Standing side bend crunches – one 15# Db (I used 1x 20)- 16 reps each side
Circuit 2
3 Power turning squats, rock back / 3 knee repeaters or power 3’s – step – 4 sets
4 Jacks / 4 plyo jacks – 4 sets
Crossback lunges off step - one 15# Db & step– 4x 7 lunges, 4x 3 lunges & 16x singles
4 Hammer curls & 4 overhead press / 1 hammer curl & overhead press - two 12# Dbs – 5 sets / 4 reps (curl & overhead only)
Swimmer strokes in elbow plank & elbow plank marches / walking planks (walking up to straight arm plank & back down) – mat – 4 sets (4x swim & 8x march) / 4 sets (walking plank)
Circuit 3
Lateral step-hops over step length-wise x2 – step – 10 sets
Uneven squats (off side of step) - one 15# Db & step – 2 sets of 15 reps & 2 sets of 7 reps
Overhead tricep extensions - two 12# DBs – 16 reps
Alternating woodchops - one 10# Db (I used 1x 12)– 24 reps
Circuit 4
Box jumps on & off step x4 / ski hops x8 / power 7 & alternate knees – step - 2 sets (16x jacks) & 2 sets
Marching sumo squats - one 15# Db – 32 reps each direction
Push-ups – mat - 4 sets of 8 reps
Leg thrusters (sitting on end of step & leaning back, thrust feet out & in) – step – 20 reps (straight out) & 2 sets of 24 reps (legs angled to 1 side then other)
Circuit 5
Squats in a box – step – 8 sets each side
Rear lunge off step – two 12# Dbs & step – 16 reps each side
Rear delt flys – two 10# Dbs - 3 sets of 10 reps
Elbow plank hip raises – mat - 2 sets of 16 reps each side
Circuit 6
2 straddle jumps & 1 burpee – step – 6 sets
Elevated lunges (one foot on step behind you) - two 10# Dbs & step – 8x singles, 1x 7 pulses, 2x 3 pulses & 8x singles each side
Pullovers – two 15# Dbs & step – 3x 4/4, 8x 2/2, 2x 4/4 & 4x 2/2 counts
Butterfly sit ups (full sit ups with soles of feet together) - Cathe lays a 15# Db on her feet & mat - 24 reps
The workout ends with a 3 minute cool down and stretch.
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