Cathe Live Review: Ramped Up Total Body (#281)
Ramped Up Total Body is a really wonderful, total body strength workout that’s packed full of variety. I absolutely loved this routine and it is definitely a new favourite!
The workout consists of four giant sets of six or seven exercises. The first and third set is for upper body and the second and fourth for lower body. None of the exercises are repeated and Cathe uses various equipment and focus, for each set, so that it really keeps it interesting and fun. The whole workout also has a pretty good cardio effect as you are moving quickly from one thing to the next. It isn’t the toughest total body workout but it did hit all of the muscle groups, at least once, and I felt nicely worked by the end.
The workout starts with an upper body giant set using dumbbells and a stability ball. I found these exercises fairly challenging, as the reps are pretty high and starting with biceps means your muscles are already pre-fatigued, before you move onto the other exercises. It’s worth noting that the rep counts are very random, throughout the workout, as Cathe just seems to do as many reps for each exercise as she feel like! Cathe used more moderate weights, as much of the work is done on the ball, so I increased on a few (shown below). Each giant set then ends with a core exercise, which has a focus on the same muscle groups. For example, in the first upper body set the core exercise is roll-outs, using the ball, so you are really challenging your upper body as well as your core.
You then move onto a lower body giant set using gliding devices and dumbbells. This again was pretty high rep and I was definitely starting to feel it by the time we got to the mountain climbers and ski hops for core.
The second upper body giant set uses tubing, dumbbells and your own body weight. As usual, with the band work particularly, it is generally quite high rep so you will start to feel these, although they are not as brutal as some of Cathe’s strength workouts. The final lower giant set uses dumbbells and a stability ball. This was a nice mix of different exercises that ended with floor work, including roll-ins and outer thigh lifts, so you are challenging your body in a variety of different ways. The core work here also uses the stability ball and these moves worked nicely to finish out the workout.
Overall, this is a really fantastic, fun and effective total body strength workout that I will definitely be returning to frequently. The variety of equipment challenges the body in different ways and the lack of repetition makes the workout fly by.
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The Workout
Ramped Up Total Body is a pure strength workout for the whole body. The routine consists of four giant set of six or seven exercises. Each giant set focuses on upper or lower body and ends with a core exercise. Cathe used light to moderate dumbbells, two gliding devices, a stability ball, medium tension resistance tubing (I used a resistance band) and a mat for this workout.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Ramped Up Total Body is 56 minutes long and originally aired on 23rd January 2020 (#281). The workout starts with a 4 minute warm-up, before a quick water break, and then moving into the first exercise for upper body. You will need to ensure that you have all of your equipment handy, as you will be moving quite quickly from one thing to the next.
Giant Set 1 – Upper Body
Seated bicep curls – two 12# Dbs (I used 15’s) & ball – 18 reps
1 Arm row – Cathe used two 12# Dbs in one hand (I used 1x 20) & ball – 16 reps each side
Pullovers – two 12# Dbs (I used 15’s) & ball – 4x 4/4 count & 8x 1.5’s
See saw push-ups – ball & mat – 8x 2/2 count, 4x 1.5’s & 1x 3 partials
Narrow grip chest press – two 12# Dbs (I used 15’s) & ball – 28 reps
Incline front arcs (both arms) / 1 arm front raise – two 8# Dbs & ball – 3x arc, 4x front, 4x arc & 4x front
Core: Roll-outs – ball & mat – 4x singles, 2x 1.5’s & 8x singles
Giant Set 2 – Lower Body
Side slide pick up lunges – one 12# Db & one gliding device – 20 reps (1st side) & 22 reps (2nd side)
Alternating rear slide lunges – two 10# Dbs & two gliding devices – 28 reps
Side slide lunges – one 15# Db & one gliding device – 7 sets (1x 2/2 count & 2x singles) each side
Sweeper lunges – one 15# Db (on end to place hand on) & one gliding device – 64 reps each side
Warrior lunges – one gliding device – 8 reps & 14 reps (staying low, arms folded) each side
Core: Gliding mountain climbers / ski hops (start in plank & bring both feet into one shoulder, back out, then bring both feet in under body, then out & other side) – two gliding devices – 40 reps (climbers) & 8 reps (ski)
Giant Set 3 – Upper Body
Bicep curls – two 5# Dbs & resistance tubing (I used 2x 12# Dbs only) – 6 sets (1x both & 2x 1 arm), 4x both, 7x pulses (held ½ way), 2x both & 7x pulses (held ½ way)
Narrow grip band pulls – resistance tubing – 126 pulses
Push-ups – mat – 8 sets (1x 2/2 count & 2x singles)
Lateral raises – two 5# Dbs – 8x singles, 4x 1.5’s, 4x singles & 2x 1.5’s. Then 4x singles, 2x 1.5’s & 4x singles & 2x 1.5’s
Tricep kickbacks / straight arm presses – resistance tubing – 16 reps (kickback) & 48 reps (press)
T-Band pulls – resistance tubing & mat – 16x pulses. 14x singles. 8x pulses & 8x singles.
Core: Sit-up & overhead press – two 8# Dbs (I used 10’s) & mat – 16 reps
Giant Set 4 – Lower Body
Front sumo squats (Dbs held between legs) – two 15# Dbs – 16 reps
Alternating front lunges – two 10# Dbs (I used 12’s) – 30 reps
Alternating side to side sumo squats – one 15# Db – 32 reps
Deadlifts – two 15# Dbs (I used 20’s) – 16 reps (2/2 count)
Hamstring roll-ins / roll-in & hip lift – ball & mat – 16x rollins, 4x hip lift, 4x rollin, 4x hip lift, 4x rollin & 2x hip lift
Outer thigh lifts (leaning on ball) – ball & mat (I used ankle weights & no ball) – 32x toe pointed, 32x flex & hands lifted off ball), 8x forward circles & 8x back circles (1st side). 32x pt, 40x flex, 8x fwd circle & 8x back circle (2nd side. On this side you get quick breaks between the sets).
Core: Windshield wipers (lying on back, ball between feet (straight legs), lower legs down to one side & back up over to other side) / banana holds – ball & mat – 8 sets (4/4 count windshield wiper) & 4 sets (banana holds - 2x 3 second hold & 2x 8 second hold)
The workout ends with a 2:30 minute cool down and stretch using the ball. However, Cathe didn’t really stretch out the upper body very thoroughly so I added a few extra stretches on the end.
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If you liked this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Total Body Giant Sets 2 (#214) – HERE.
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