Cathe Live Review: Compound Hiit (#173)
Compound Hiit is an express cardio and strength workout that alternates cardio Hiit with strength training. This was a fast and pretty tough workout but for some reason I didn’t find it as enjoyable as many of Cathe’s other Hiit workouts. Some of the strength moves seemed a little awkward to me and it just didn’t flow as nicely as some of her other programs.
The routine consists of ten rounds of cardio hiits followed by one compound strength move. The cardio drills are often repeated for 2 or 3 sets so you will be breathing hard on some of these. They are a mix of slightly lower and higher intensity drills so it is not ‘all out’ for the whole workout. Many of the cardio drills also use the resistance loop around your ankles. For some of these moves I modified without the loop as, for example, I find doing air jacks, with the loop, very awkward. Therefore, rather than compromise the intensity of the drill I just do them without and that works better for me.
The strength moves are all compound moves incorporating both upper and lower body. As mentioned, I found some of these a little awkward. They are standard Cathe moves but they are sequenced slightly differently and just felt a little ‘off’ in places. This was particularly so with the pivoting sumo squats with hammer curls and the squat press with lunge back. This may just be me though! The strength work is fairly high rep and I was definitely feeling some of the work here.
Overall, this was a quick and pretty intense cardio and strength workout. However, it is not a favourite for me and I probably won’t return to it very often as there are so many more fun Cathe routines to do!
(For more information about Cathe Live, how to sign up & to see all of my Cathe Live reviews, click HERE).
The Workout
Compound Hiit is a cardio and strength workout that alternates rounds of cardio hiit with one compound strength exercise. The routine consists of ten rounds and uses moderate dumbbells and a resistance loop.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Compound Hiit is 37 minutes long and originally aired on 16th November 2017 (#173). The workout starts with a 4:30 minute warm-up before moving straight into the first cardio drill. However, as it is only one set of apple pickers you are not going all out immediately. Cardio moves shown in bold italics below.
Apple pickers – 24 reps
Squat press & lunge – two 10# dumbbells
Icebreakers (rope climbs) – resistance loop around ankles - 2 sets of 32 reps
Back lunge & lateral raise / back lunge & 1 arm front raise (dumbbell held vertically) – two 8# dumbbells
Frog jumps (heels in) - 3 sets of 10 reps
Crossback lunges with bicep curls – two 10# dumbbells
2 lateral hops, 1 jump up & 1 air jack – 8 sets & 4 sets
Overhead press & tricep extension then lunge back – two 10# dumbbells
180 lunge jump with pulses – 2 sets (16 & 12 reps)
Deadlift & upright row – two 15# dumbbells
Plie jacks - resistance loop around ankles – 3 sets (24, 16 & 8 reps)
Alternating sumo squat with hammer curls – two 10# dumbbells
High knee runs – 2 sets of 32 reps
Side lunge, crossback, side lunge & knee lift with arm raised – two 8# dumbbells
3 jacks & 1 tuck – resistance loop around ankles – 2 sets of 8 reps
Squat & knee lift with front jab – two 8# dumbbells
Touch down squat jumps - resistance loop around ankles – 2 sets (24 & 21 reps)
Kettlebell front swing & double arm pull down – two 8# dumbbells (I used 10’s)
4 jacks, 4 air jacks - resistance loop around ankles – 1 set of 7 reps
Hip hinge into 3 tricep kickbacks & stand – two 10# dumbbells (I used 12’s)
The workout ends with a 3 minute cool down and stretch.
Take Action
Try it today! Find out more about how to subscribe and to check out all of my Cathe Live Reviews - click HERE.
If you enjoyed this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Sweat Blast - HERE.
If you enjoyed this review, please share it using the links below.
A fun workout! Sweaty and compact-- just perfect. There is an awkward move to look out for: alternating sumo squats with hammer curls. The fix for that is to just change the hammer grip position to the classic anatomical position hand grip-- which is what I did. It's all good.
No modifications except as noted above.