Cathe Live Review: Upper Body Circuit w/ Hiit (#216)
Upper Body Circuit w/ Hiit is a cardio and strength workout focusing on the upper body. This was a really enjoyable and fast sweat-fest with some nice upper body conditioning included. I was pretty drenched by the end of this one and felt nicely worked. As Cathe mentions, at the start of this workout, this is more upper body focused than Hiit focused - as there are only seven cardio drills in the whole workout.
The cardio drills are straight forward plyometrics – just one or two moves repeated for a period of time. Some of them are done for quite a while and they will definitely get you breathing, particularly the snowboards and the air jacks! Each cardio drill is then followed by a number of upper body or compound moves. All of the strength moves are done at a faster pace with slightly lighter weights. I was definitely feeling some of the upper body moves, particularly triceps, which are worked a lot! Cathe does say, at the start of this workout, that she is using lighter weights and that if you want to use heavier weights you would probably need to slow the pace a little to keep good form. This workout is definitely more of a metabolic strength workout than one focusing on building strength. However, the moves are reasonably high rep so you are getting some strength endurance work in there too. You also move from one thing to the next, pretty quickly, and that also helps to keep the heart rate elevated throughout.
The whole workout flew by and because none of the drills are repeated there is no dread factor with this one. I really enjoyed it! The workout starts a little easier but soon picks up and my heart rate stayed elevated throughout.
Overall, this was a really nice and effective metabolic cardio and strength workout and one I will be returning to frequently.
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The Workout
Upper Body Circuit w/ Hiit is a cardio and strength workout focusing on the upper body. The workout consists of 7 rounds of one cardio drill followed by a number of upper body exercises. Cathe and class used lighter weights for this workout as the pace is faster than usual.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Upper Body Circuit w/ Hiit is 43 minutes long and originally aired on 20th September 2018 (#216). The workout starts with a 4:30 minute warm-up before moving into the first cardio drill.
Round 1
Hi-lo jacks the stay with low jacks
Rear lunge with 1 arm front raise (dumbbell held vertically) & shoulder arcs – two 8# dumbbells
Upright row & rear delt flys – two 10# dumbbells
Round 2
Squat Digs & attacks
Sumo squat & 1 arm upright row to overhead press – two 10# dumbbells
Front swing & chest press – two 10# dumbbells (Cathe starts with 8# dbs but changes to 10’s after 2 reps)
Round 3
Line taps
Sumo squat to back & 1 arm overhead press / 1 arm tricep overhead extensions – one 10# dumbbell or one 12# dumbbell (Cathe starts with a 10 then during the tricep ext’s change to a 12. I stayed with one 10# db)
Bicep curls & front kicks / standing curls / standing curls with knee lift – two 10# dumbbells
Round 4
Snowboards (32 reps)
W curls (both & single arms) – two 12# dumbbells
Bicep circles (curl dbs in towards the body in a circle) – two 8# dumbbells
Round 5
Shuffle, shuffle, drop
Squat thrust / 2 plank jacks / 1 tricep push-up (slow) / 2 plank jacks / 1 tricep push-up (slow) / jump in & up
Tricep kickbacks – two 12# dumbbells
Tricep overhead extensions – two 12# dumbbells
1 Arm side lying tricep push-ups – mat (Cathe does 16 reps the 1st side & 20 reps the 2nd)
Round 6
Mountain climbers
Rear lunge curl & press – two 10# dumbbells
Squat drop, curl & tricep overhead extensions – two 10# dumbbells
Curl & press (x3 & singles) – two 10# dumbbells
Round 7
Air jacks / jacks (4/4 x4, 6/2 x2, 7/1 reps)
1 Arm row – two 12# dumbbells (I used one 20# db)
Eccentric push-ups on the toes (start in straight arm plank, touch body down to mat, sit back to child’s pose & back to straight arm plank) – arms start wide then change to narrow for triceps - mat
Push-ups on knees – start with narrow arms & change to wider arm position - mat
Chest flys with leg extensions – two 12# dumbbells & mat
Straight arm plank with knee circles - mat
Supermans (arms in goal post position & legs lifted off the floor) - mat
Superman swimmers (lift arms & legs off floor, extend arms forward & back while moving legs out & in) - mat
The workout ends with a 3:30 minute cool down and stretch.
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If you enjoyed this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Breathless Upper Body - HERE.
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