Cathe Live Review: Jabs & Abs (#166)
Jabs & Abs is fun cardio boxing routine that ends with a fairly tough core section. This routine isn’t as tough as some of Cathe’s boxing / kickboxing workouts but did provide a nice cardio workout. There isn’t as many high intensity drills in this but it still got my heart rate up nicely without really challenging me.
The workout starts with a fairly active warm-up before moving into the main routine. The first section is cardio boxing mixed with cardio drills. There are some lunge kicks but other than that it is all punching and cardio intervals. For pretty much all of this section you are hopping, shuffling or jumping so it got my heart rate up nicely. However, the intervals are not too tough and not that high rep so it’s not going as all out as some of Cathe’s other workouts. The punching is all fairly straight forward so nothing too complex here in terms of choreography. Cathe used boxing gloves for this workout and I wore wrist weights – I think these are pretty critical for this one, if you want a reasonable workout, otherwise it would probably be much lower intensity.
The second part of the workout is using the heavy bags. I don’t have a heavy bag so just shadow boxed (as per the first section) with no issues. As I was wearing wrist weights this still worked me well. This section is a mix of punching combos, on the bag, and intervals. Cathe says they are tabatas but they are generally longer than 20 seconds but are based on the same concept of going all out for a period of time. These definitely had me breathing a little harder.
The final boxing section is just one long, fairly complex punching combo. Even Cathe struggles a little bit on this one! It is still amazing to me that she can find combinations we haven’t seen from her before but these are a little different! You then start to cool down with a few more punches and a plank move.
The routine ends with an interesting, fairly tough core section. I really liked this section as there is so much variety and you work all angles of the core. You start the section with a flowing plank to downward dog combination, before doing push-ups and more plank moves. You then move into more crunch style exercises but these all flow nicely together and provide a good challenge for the core. The section ends with 24 leg thrusters and by this point I was feeling them!
Overall, this is a really nice, fun cardio boxing and core workout. It provides some good cardio for a slightly lighter day and will definitely challenge your whole core. This is one I will return to whenever I want a nice, feel-good workout.
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The Workout
Jabs & Abs is cardio boxing and core workout. Cathe and class used weighted boxing gloves for this workout. I used wrist weights instead and they worked nicely.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Jabs & Abs is 52 minutes long and originally aired on 21st September 2017 (#166). The workout starts with a 7:30 minute warm-up before moving straight into the main routine. Cathe has her boxing gloves already on at the start of the workout. The main moves are shown below and are usually repeated on the other side.
Cardio Boxing
Walk forward & back punching / icebreakers
Slow burpee (standing at the top) & 4 jabs
Jabs to side
Jabs (turning to each side)
Lunge kicks
Jacks / travel scissors
Jab, cross, reach & pull knee
Knee pulls
Upper cuts / flurry upper cuts
Attacks / speed bags with step taps
Quick water break at 17 minutes
Shuffles & hook / back fist
Touch down jacks / jump ropes
Double hops (forward, middle & back)
Mambo front & back with jabs
Jabs shuffle (moving back) / 4 jacks
Pendulums
Jog / high jog
Heels forward (hopping) / fast feet shuffle / soldier kicks
Quick water break at 25:15 minutes
Heavy bag Section at 25:50 minutes
Jabs
Air squats
Tabata run – punching fast & running the feet
Air squats
3 Jabs & cross
Tabata run – punching fast & running the feet x2
Cross & punch
Tabata run – punching fast & running the feet
Move back to Cardio Boxing (away from Heavy Bag) at 31:45 minutes
2 Punches high & 2 punches low / 4x jab, cross / back weave & cross, jab, cross (fast) & 2 squats
Walk forward & back punching / hooks
Slow hooks
Upper cuts
Hooks / upper cuts
Bob & weave
Step back to straight arm plank & tap toe to shoulder
Quick cool down at 37:40 minutes
Get mat out for Core & do quick stretch on mat
Downward facing dog, plank, lower down to upward dog & push back to downward facing dog
Walking planks with toe taps (straight arm plank & walk down to elbows & back up, tap each toe towards shoulder)
Push-ups (2/2 count)
Elbow plank – swim arms & then legs
Rotating side planks (start in elbow plank & rotate to side plank, dip elbow to floor, rotate to other side)
Crunches (with feet on floor & knees bent)
Sit-up & jab
Crunches (with feet on floor & knees bent)
Bike manoeuvre
Pulsing crunches (knees elevated)
Reverse crunches
Crunches (with feet on floor & knees bent)
Rope climbs
Seated 1 arm V-Ups (straight legs & bent legs)
Leg thrusters
The workout ends with a 2:30 minute cool down and stretch.
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