Cathe Live Review: Scrambled Cardio & Weights (#105)
Scrambled Cardio & Weights is a pretty intense cardio and strength workout using the step.
The workout is a scrambled mix of cardio blasts and strength work, for the lower and upper body. There is no set pattern to it and so there is lots of variety and the time flies by.
The cardio is a mix of mainly step blasts with a few cardio intervals done on the floor (i.e. not using the step). The step cardio is all very straight forward moves with no choreography. It is just one or a few moves repeated, such as, 1 arm burpees or box jumps / power 7’s. You often do two or more different cardio intervals, one after the other, so they definitely get you breathing harder. I was pretty drenched by the end of this routine and my heart rate stayed elevated throughout. This is helped also by the fact that you are moving very quickly from one thing to the next and many of the strength moves are also pretty metabolic. You will need to ensure that you have all of your equipment handy, as you will need to grab it very quickly. Also if you went heavier, on some of the exercises, you may have to change weights very fast as Cathe, sometimes, just uses the same weights from one move to the next. I found having the list of exercises (‘The Moves’ below) printed out, with the weights I wanted to try, very helpful so I knew exactly what was coming and what weights I needed so I could switch more easily.
The strength exercises are a mix of upper and lower body moves using dumbbells, bodyweight and sometimes the step. These challenged me nicely and I got a great total body workout, as all muscle groups were hit at least once. However, there aren’t any specific core moves, in this one, but many of the strength moves work your core as well, such as, the leg abductions off the side of the step. Therefore, I did feel I got a fairly well rounded workout. Cathe used light to moderate weights and as mentioned I did go heavier on some of these, shown below, and this worked well for me. For me, this wasn’t the most fun routine, as I am not a huge fan on jumping on and off the step but it was definitely effective.
Overall, this is an excellent total body, cardio and strength challenge that will definitely get you sweating!
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The Workout
Scrambled Cardio & Weights is a cardio and strength workout. The routine includes cardio blasts on the step. Cathe used light to moderate dumbbells, a full size step with two risers on each side (you can obviously raise or lower the step height as you prefer) and a mat for this routine.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Scrambled Cardio & Weights is 51 minutes long and originally aired on 9th June 2016 (#105). The workout starts with a 7:30 minute warm-up before moving into jumping jacks and then the first cardio interval on the floor. 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 during the workout. You will need to ensure that you have space around all sides of your step, for this routine, and have all your dumbbells handy. Cardio moves shown in bold italics below.
Long reach lunges – 48 reps
Step knee touch back / power 7’s – step – 4 sets (of 4 reps) / 2 sets (power 7’s)
Up jack/down jacks & power 7’s - step – 2 sets
Side leg abductions (standing on side of step, tap down & abduct leg to side while waving arms side & overhead) – step – 32 reps each side
Plie squats & upright rows – two 12# Dbs – 16 reps, 8 reps & 8 reps
Alternating forward leaning lunges (onto the step) – step – 16 reps
1 arm burpees (hand on step) – step - 12 reps
Crossback lunges & overhead press – two 12# Dbs – 8 sets (3x pulse lunge & 2x overhead press)
Alternating 1 arm overhead press – two 12# Dbs – 16 reps
Incline push-ups (hands on step) – step - 3 sets of 8 reps (in between each set - jump rope / jacks)
Fast feet (tapping step) – step - 2 sets of 32 reps (jump rope / jacks between sets)
1 Arm front swing & side leg abduction off step - one 8# Db (I used 1x 10) & step – 16 reps each side
Slam Its – step – 20 reps (or 22 reps if you start with Cathe)
Squats & deadlifts – two 15# Dbs (I used 20’s) – 4 sets (2x squat & 2x D/L), 4x D/L (2/2 count), 8x squat & 4 sets (1x 3/3 count D/L & 2x squat)
Lateral thrust burpees (hands on step, legs shoot out to side) – step – 12 reps
Forward leaning lunges & rear delt flys – two 8# Dbs – 12 reps
Rear delt flys – two 10# Dbs - 2 sets of 10 reps
Squats & bicep curls – two 12# Dbs (I used 15’s) – 6 sets (1x squat & 1x both arm curl) & 4 sets (2x squats & 2x 1 arm curl)
Slow bicep curls (4/4 count) – two 12# Dbs (I used 15’s) – 4 sets
Plunge lunges – step – 56 reps
Straddle jump forward & back / jump onto & off step – step – 4 sets (jump fwd & back x3) & 4 sets (jump fwd & back x1)
Forward lunge onto step then pivot & forward lunge behind you – two 8# Dbs (I used 12’s) & step – 8 sets each side
Squats & overhead press – two 10# Dbs – 8 reps
Rear lunge & bicep curls – two 10# Dbs – 12 reps
Squats & overhead press – two 10# Dbs – 8 reps
Rear lunge & bicep curls – two 10# Dbs – 17 reps
Alternating side lunges – two 10# Dbs (I used 12’s) – 16 reps
Upright row & side leg abduction off step - one 10# Db & step – 16 reps each side
Swim lunges (alternate high & low lunges) – step – 88 reps
Jacks – 21 reps
Squats in a box – step – 6 sets each side (4 jacks in between sets)
4 Box jump on & off step & power 7’s – step – 4 sets
Pick up plie squats – two 15# Dbs – 28 reps
Single leg deadlifts & 1 arm front raises – two 8# Dbs (I used 12’s) – 5 sets each side
Front arc raises - two 8# Dbs (I used 10’s & had to change very quickly) – 10 reps
Lateral raises - two 5# Dbs – 4x singles, 2x 3.5’s, 4x singles, 1x 3.5’s, 4x singles & 1x 3.5’s
Tricep dips – step – 36 reps
Seated overhead tricep extensions – two 12# Dbs & step – 10 reps
1 Arm rows / 1 arm horizontal rows – one 15# Db (I used 1x 20) – 8 reps (fast) / 10x horizontal & 3 sets (1 of each) – 1st side. 10 reps (fast) / 10x horizontal & 4 sets (1 of each) – 2nd side
The workout ends with a 3 minute cool down and stretch. Cathe didn’t really stretch out the upper body very well so I added on a few extra stretches at the end.
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