I was very proud of myself as this past Wednesday I did Cathe's new Greatest Hits Vol. 1 step for the second time. And noticed some more cardio improvement. And again it hit the spot for my aerobics as it's a great compilation of my favorite step routines and is a great mix of steady state and high intensity intervals. And man, I'm really starting to finally notice some cardio improvement in quite unusual ways.
The Marathon Dash
When I was in Miami I was tearing down Dadeland Mall on a marathon run through the mall. Going from one end to the other in a crazy dash. Because we were literally doing some marathon shopping before we had to get back to the hotel to get ready for a cocktail party. It was hysterical! And I noticed that I was not breathing heavy at all. Not even a little bit. It was like I was just taking a leisurely stroll meanwhile I was literally running, yes you heard me, running through the mall from one end to the other and back again, at one point. Thank goodness I could do this because it was the week day and it was practically empty. Love that! And I was astounded at the improvement cardiovascularly. It was so noticable. Yeah!!
... so practice marathon shopping and all is coming.
... with Cathe's Party Rockin Step 2 again just last Monday AND I broke my workout barrier by doing Low Max Step in it's entirety!!! Unheard of for me. You see I've always had challenges with stamina (left over chronic fatigue reminders) and actually rarely have completed a FULL Cathe DVD ever. Yes, I'm a cheater. Ha! So, you can imagine my shock and awe when I finished the complete Low Max workout last Wednesday which is a 70 minute high intensity low impact step workout with 7 combo's combined with 7 HIT blasts after every combo. I felt on top of the world! After the 4th combo/blast I kept psyching myself up with "come on, don't stop at your usual spot you can do another." And I did another and another and another! WooHoo!! I was a very sweaty proud mess at the end.
I decided to do a low impact step as my achilles were acting up a bit but still wanted to get in some much needed fun cardio and still keep my goal of building my cardio capacity. I love this workout because it's so much fun, the music is great and it's deceiving. The intensity sneaks up on you and by the 3rd combo/blast your huffing and puffing and feeling the quad burn. Cathe is a master at ramping the intensity up in her workouts and she didn't disappoint here. She uses alot of quad work in this to ramp the cardio up and go anaerobic on you. She even teeters after a blast because she just burnt out our legs big time. It's hilarious to witness because we all swear Cathe is made of steal. Lol!
A Party Rockin Step #2 P.S. ...
I recant my previous "Happy Thanksgiving ..." post where I said Party Rockin Step #2 wasn't as intense as her other blastier type step workouts. What was I thinking??!!@@ When I did it again last Monday for the second time, I realized how intense it was! And I did more combo's that time too. I actually liken it to her Intensity DVD but a more toned down, balanced, dancier version. If that makes any sense. I find this the PERFECT balance of dancier step/blasts/plyo to use for really ramping my cardio capacity. As it allows for just the right amount of mini recovery within the plyo moves and blasts.
Can't Wait For Party Rocking Step #1
I just previewed Party Rockin Step #1 and I can't wait!!! It's prancier, dancier, twirlier and more low impact than #2. Perfect for my naughty achilles. And has rockin techno music to boot. The jokes on me because when I bought it ~ it came as a package with Step #2 ~ I wasn't impressed by the choreography in the online preview. Really NOT impressed. I thought it looked cheesy, awkward and forced in it's complexity. Was-I-wrong. Upon previewing the whole dvd the other night I realized how much fun it is and how the moves go great with the funtastic techno music. Man, I LOVE workouts where it's challenging and FUN with a capital F. And Cathe hits the mark every time!!
... so practice, have FUN with a capital F, and all is coming.
Had a busy day today bringing my sweet furry Maine Coon of a cat home from exile at my Dad's, picking up litter (huge bags, wearing wrist braces no less), her food, and all sundries home. Lots of stops and lugging of heavy things. Yet I was determined to do my Insanity step DVD back to back with 4-Day Split's biceps when I got her settled in with my two other adorable Tonkinese platinum mink boy beauties of which now that both have finally grown out of kittenhood and are the same size (one is 7 months older than the other yet they're brothers and the younger one is the uncle of the older one, try to figure that one out! lol!), I can hardly tell them apart visually, especially when I want to place them fast. What a conundrum! Next time I'll get a platinum point so I can easily tell them apart. Didn't think it through the first time. Haha! Anyways don't judge, they're oodles of animal lovers in my building with multiple households of 2-3 dog owners, or one dog with one cat, and my many friends with 2 or 3 cats in tow. So please no labelling allowed. lol! But I digress ...
Intensity and My Baseline
Anyways, I was determined to do Cathe's high octane step workout as I wanted to go out with a bang before my Corneal Cross Linking (CXL) and PRK on my eyes on Friday. With that I won't be able to lift weights and step for about a week. Woe is me! And the CXL for one of my eye's has the potential to knock me out with fatigue for a good two months. But I'm really hoping that with the improvement of the procedure, it's much shorter in duration from 30 minutes to just 10, I'm crossing my fingers it will be less intense. We'll see. No pun intended. So Intensity was in order. I wanted to give it all I got just in case. And what fun it was! But make no mistake about it, it was INTENSE!! It's like Cathe mashed together high intensity step along with plyometric blasts, along with high intensity interval training put together without any breaks. Holy green smoothie Batman, it's CRAZAY! This was way advanced for me! I had to break to a side step ALOT though I was very proud I kept on going. And even though it really was too advanced aerobically for me I had to admit sheepishly, but my legs could actually keep up with the plyometrics really great it's just my aerobic capacity could not YET. And I say YET with emphasis. As I'm using the breaks as my baseline and plan to do it at least once a month to check how I improve, hopefully taking less and less of them. Also, I like to make the excuse that I use two risers to Cathe and crews one. Which I like to say does make a difference. So there take that for advanced! lol!
