Cathe Live Review: Total Body Barbell & Bands (#95)
Total Body Barbell & Bands is a very challenging, high rep strength workout. Wow did this routine fry my muscles!
The workout starts with lower body then upper body, back to lower body before finishing with shoulders and then a short core section on the floor. The strength exercises are done using a barbell and resistance tubing. As I find some moves with the band really awkward, I just used dumbbells instead, where necessary, and this worked much better for me. However, this was still not the most enjoyable workout for me and at 73 minutes, it is Cathe’s longest live workout, there is a little bit of dread factor coming into it.
This is a tough workout, where every exercise is very high rep, so you will need to play around with your weights to ensure you have the right ones to get the most out of it. I would suggest having a notebook and pencil to jot down what worked and what didn’t so you know what you need next time.Cathe used a barbell at 35, 25 and 15 pounds, a resistance loop and resistance tubing. I used dumbbells and a 35# kettlebell (for plie squats but you could use dumbbells) instead of the barbell and a resistance band rather than tubing. For some exercises I used similar weight to Cathe, some a little more and some a little less. This generally worked quite well but I did find on the bicep curls that the second set I did have to change to a lighter weights, towards the end of the set, as my muscles were too fatigued. Some of the moves were really challenging, particularly the bench presses, as there are so many and they are pretty fast, also the lying triceps and narrow grip chest press set is just a really long continuous set and I was really starting to shake towards the end. Some of the tubing exercises were also pretty tough, particularly the band pulls - as Cathe starts counting to 100 after she has already done 70 reps!
The workout finishes with a short core section using the resistance loop. This was quite a relief after the rest of the workout and was definitely not as high rep as the rest. This just worked the core nicely without being really challenging.
Overall, this is a tough strength workout that will burn out every muscle groups. If you are looking for a tough total body challenge then this is a great one to try and can easily be done with dumbbells, if you don’t have a barbell.
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The Workout
Total Body Barbell & Bands is a pure strength total body workout that ends with a short core section.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Total Body Barbell & Bands is 73 minutes long and originally aired on 31st March 2016 (#95). The workout starts with a 6:30 minute warm-up, before moving into lower body strength moves. The barbell, if you are using one, is set up at 35 pounds at the start of the workout. The full size step, with three risers, is set up horizontally in front of you and is only used as a weight bench.
Lower Body
Squats - 35# BB (I used 2x 20# Dbs) – lots of reps (different tempos)
Deadlifts - 35# BB (I used 2x 20# Dbs) – 20 reps (2/2 & 3/1 counts)
Plie squats - 35# BB (I used 35# kettlebell) - lots of reps (different tempos)
Deadlifts - 35# BB (I used 2x 20# Dbs) – 7 reps
Back
Deadrows - 35# BB – lots of reps
Change barbell to 25 pounds
Pullovers - 25# BB (I used 2x 15# Dbs) & step – 22 reps (4/4, 2/2 & 3/1 counts)
Band pulls with resistance loop around wrists (at different levels – low, middle & high) – resistance loop – 48 reps & 3 sets of 16 reps
T-band pulls – resistance tubing & mat – 20 reps, 4x 3 pulses & 2x 7 pulses
Triceps
Lying overhead tricep extensions / narrow grip bench presses - 25# BB (I used 2x 12 Dbs) & step -
Tricep dips – step – 28 reps (1 leg out for some reps) & 25 reps (other leg out for some)
Tricep kickbacks / straight arm kickbacks – resistance tubing – 12x tricep / 32x straight arm (1 set) 4x tricep, 1x 15 pulses triceps / 24x straight arm
Change barbell to 35 pounds
Chest
Bench press (knees raised & 1 leg held out for some reps) - 35# BB (I used 2x 15# dbs) & step – 32 reps & 24 reps
Push ups – mat – 3 sets (1x 2/2 & 2x singles) & 16 x singles (Cathe did singles on her knees. I stayed on my toes)
Change barbell to 15 pounds
Biceps
Bicep curls - 15# BB & resistance tubing (I just used 2x 15# dbs) – 17 reps (various rep patterns)
Bicep curls & isolation holds - 15# BB (I started with 15# Dbs & dropped down to 12’s) – lots of reps
Single arm bicep curl (tubing looped under 1 foot & both handles in 1 hand) – resistance tubing (I used 1x 12# Db instead of tubing) – 16 reps each side
Lower Body
Static lunges - two 10# BB plates (one in each hand. I used 2x 10# dbs) – 16 reps, 1x 15 pulses, 4 reps, 1x 7 pulses, 2 reps, 1x 3 pulses, 2 reps, 1x 3 pulses, 2x 3.5’s (Add in two extra sets of 1x 3 pulses for 2nd side)
Single leg deadlift & 2 straight arm front raises (palms facing down) – 15# BB (I used 2x 10# dbs) - 4 sets & 4x deadlift only each side
Side steps with resistance loop (Firewalkers) / 4 steps moving forward & back (on diagonal) – resistance loop – 12x 4’s, 8x 2’s & 16x single / 6 sets / 4x singles (to side)
Hamstring press (toe flexed & push back) / hamstring curls (toe pointed towards glutes) – resistance loop (I also used a chair for balance) – 32 reps / 48 reps (1st side) 48 reps / 48 reps (2nd side)
Shoulders
Close grip band pulls – resistance tubing – 170 reps!
Alternating straight arm lateral raises – resistance tubing (under feet) (I used 2x 5# dbs instead of tubing) – 20 reps (alternating), then on one side – 4x 3 pulses, 2x 7 pulses, 1x 3 pulses & 2x singles. Then repeat on other side from the 4x 3 pulses.
Upright rows / overhead presses – 15# BB (I used 2x 10# dbs) – 28 reps / 16 reps (1st set) 8 reps / 18 reps (2ndset)
Clean & press - 15# BB (I used 2x 10# dbs) – 7 sets
Quick stretch & get out mat for core (have resistance loop handy) at 61 minutes
Core on mat
Oblique twists (leaning back w/ resistance loop around wrists arms straight out in front; twist straight arms down to side & up overhead) – resistance loop & mat - 8 reps each side & 24 reps (side to side)
Put resistance loop around ankles. Loop stays around ankles for rest of the workout.
Frog style sit-ups – resistance loop & mat – 19 reps
High pulsing crunches – resistance loop & mat– 44 reps
Rope climbs - resistance loop & mat
Pulsing crunches (hands towards knees / behind head) - resistance loop & mat
Seated 1 arm knee pulls / 1 arm V-Ups (lying on side of one cheek, bring elbow to bottom knee / raise & lower straight legs towards 1 arm) – resistance loop & mat – 8 reps / 8 reps / 6 sets (alternating the 2 moves) - 1st side) 12 reps / 8 reps / 6 sets (alternating the 2 moves - 2nd side)
Elbow plank step outs & marching - resistance loop & mat – 2 sets (4x step outs & 8x march)
The workout ends with a 3 minute cool down and stretch.
Take Action
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If you liked this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Barbell Total Body (#259) – HERE.
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