Cathe Live Review: Total Body Blast (#289)
Total Body Blast is an excellent, fast paced cardio and strength workout. This is a pretty tough routine and was exactly what I needed today!
What with everything that is going on in the world right now and the fact that Cathe’s gym is closed, I was wondering if there would actually be a Live class this week. Fortunately though Cathe decided to do the class on her own. So not only do we have another new workout to try but even better it’s like personal one-to-one training with Cathe! There is one other class, in the archive, with Cathe on her own (Long & Strong Legs #35) and I love that one too. It’s just so nice to be able to see Cathe all the time without the camera constantly moving to the class. In addition, Cathe was really funny in this routine, she has loads of energy and often stops to talk to the viewers at home, while you continue working, or even high-fives imaginary people in the class at one point, which did make me smile. She also has someone, off camera, who is helping her to count so this keeps things on track and the reps even from one side to the other. For me, this is the best version of Live.
So on to the workout and we finally get a more challenging routine, after so many of the recent ones being at a more intermediate level, so I was very pleased. This really worked me well and I was definitely breathing hard during the cardio sections. The whole workout moves at a rapid pace and the rest breaks are reasonably short or even non-existent during some of the cardio intervals!
The routine is structured into rounds of three exercises for lower body, three cardio intervals and three upper body. Cathe says she was going to do three rounds but then at the end decides to add on a bonus round so it is four in total. I loved this format it was so much fun and provided lots of variety. Apart from two of the cardio moves nothing is repeated, unless it needs to be done on the other side of the body. The cardio moves are all high impact moves and although they are not too high rep you do go straight from one thing to the next so they are fairly challenging.
The strength moves are all fairly fast paced too so they keep the heart rate up throughout and make the whole workout pretty metabolic. Due to the nature of the workout, I generally used the same weights as Cathe and this worked well for me. The reps vary and all of the muscle groups are hit at least once, including the core. The squat with 1 arm overhead press I did find rather challenging, at the speed Cathe did them, with a 15 pound dumbbell. She did say she was going to go slow but then did them really quickly so just something to be aware of.
(Note: There are two other Live workouts with this title in the archive – Total body Blast w Step #168 (review) and Total Body Blast w Step & Ball #215 (review) and they are all very different workouts, which target the whole body).
Overall, this was an excellent and challenging, total body cardio and strength workout, which is packed full of variety and is one I will return to frequently.
(For more information about Cathe Live, how to sign up & to see all of my Cathe Live reviews, click HERE).
The Workout
Total Body Blast is a cardio and strength workout targeting the whole body. The routine consists of four rounds of three lower body, three cardio and three upper body moves.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Total Body Blast is 53 minutes long and originally aired on 19th March 2020 (#289). The workout starts with a 6 minute warm-up, before moving straight into the first exercise for lower body. You will need to ensure that your equipment is handy, as you will be moving quickly from one thing to the next. Cardio moves shown in bold italics below.
Round 1
Lateral plie walks (4 side steps) – two 10# Dbs – 8 sets
Alternating side to side lunges – two 10# Dbs – 22 reps
Squat & twist w/ knee lift – one 10# Db – 24 reps
4 High jacks / 4 low jacks – 6 sets
1 Arm burpees – 14 reps
Icebreakers – 16 reps
Squat (partial) & 1 arm overhead press (fast) – one 15# Db – 15 reps each side
Overhead tricep extensions – two 12# Dbs – 12 reps
Crazy 8 bicep curls – two 10# Dbs (I used 12’s) – 2 sets with 8 bicep curls after each set
Round 2
Static lunges – two 15# Dbs – 16 reps each side
Deadlifts (you go straight into this move after lunges) – two 15# Dbs – 16 reps
Touch down lunge & knee lift w/ 1 arm overhead press – one 5# Db – 16 reps each side
Air jacks – 15 reps
Squat digs – 16 reps
Quarter turn squat jumps – 16 reps
1 Arm row – Cathe used two 12# Dbs in one hand (I used 1x 22) – 16 reps each side
Tricep kickbacks – two 12# Dbs – 16 reps
Rear delt fly / curl press – two 10# Dbs – 4 sets (3 of each) & 4 sets (1 of each)
Round 3
Crossback lunges – two 15# Dbs – 16x alternating, 4x 3 pulses (each side) & 8x alternating
Back lunges – two 12# Dbs – 16x alternating, 4x 3 pulses (each side) & 8x alternating
Marching sumos – one 15# Db – 38 reps
Half circle shuffle sprints (shuffle, shuffle, drop around mat) – mat – 24 reps
High reaching pop squats – mat – 3 sets of 10 reps
Lateral skates (moving forward & back) – mat – 56 reps
Push-ups – mat – 3 sets of 8 reps
Chest flys w/ leg extensions – two 15# Dbs & mat– 16 reps
Sit-up & overhead press – two 10# Dbs & mat– 8 reps
Round 4
Squats / calf raises – two 15# Dbs (I used 20’s)– 8x 1 of each (fast) & 4 sets (4x squat & 7x calf raises)
Side to side sumo squats – one 15# Db – 16 reps
Alternating front lunges – two 10# Dbs (I used 12’s)– 24 reps
3 Alternating twists / 1 tuck jump – 2 sets of 8 reps
Plyo jacks – 16 reps
Hi / lo punches (jumping) – 32 reps
W Curls – two 12# Dbs – 32 reps
Lying 1 arm tricep push-ups – mat – 16 reps each side
Tricep dips –mat – 20 reps
Supermans – mat– 24 reps
Breaststroke swimmers (lying on your stomach with arms & legs raised off the floor; do slow breast stroke action moving both arms & legs) – mat – 8 reps
The workout ends with a 3:30 minute cool down and stretch.
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If you liked this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Cardio Muscle Fusion (#249) – HERE.
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