Cathe Road Trip 2010

I had an absolute blast at the Cathe Road Trip this weekend! The energy you feel when you are surrounded by so many people that love fitness is amazing! I met a ton of wonderful people that I can now call friends. If you ever get a chance to go to a weekend like this, do it!


 Cathe and I at the Saturday night dinner.

  

My big win!

This was right before the first class. 

I met quite a few women at the registration alone and knew this was going to be so much fun. 

My friend Sarah and I with Wendy. 

The courtyard where we had many of our meals. 

Group photo time!Our fearless leader, Cathe!Here I am having a ton of fun! 

Keeping up : )  

Getting ready for stretch class, ahhhh....

Our fabulous DJ, Tim.

If you've never stayed at the Loews Coronado Resort, it's fabulous! Everyone said the food was fantastic and it looked great! The views are amazing too. Water views from every room! I am so glad I went and that I went with such a great friend! We definitely needed time away and this was just what the doctor ordered. If Cathe ever comes our way again, I'm there!

Here is  a breakdown of the weekend:

Friday

1:00-3:00   Registration
4:00-5:00   First Class w/Cathe (Step)
6:00-8:00   Dinner
8:30-9:30   Second Class w/Cathe (Stretch)
9:30-?:??    Q & A w/ Cathe

Saturday

6:30-7:30   Breakfast
8:30-9:30   Third Class w/Cathe (1/2 step, 1/2 kickbox)
10:00-11:00 Q & A w/ Chris Williams (Cathe's business partner)
11:15-12:15 Fourth Class w/Cathe Legs, youch!
1:00-2:45   Lunch
3:00-4:00   Fifth Class w/Cathe ( Upper Body and Step)
4:00-6:00   Me Time : )
6:00-10:00 Dinner and Dance Party ( I won a yoga mat!) 

Sunday

7:00-8:00   Sixth Class w/Cathe (Bootcamp on the beach)
9:00-10:30 Farewell Breakfast 

I loved that everything was scheduled so well. You never had to worry about where you should be because the schedule was very detailed. That kind of detail is my comfort zone for sure : )

Cathe, you're welcome here in San Diego anytime!

Nicole

Fitness Weekend!

About 8 years ago I was fat and miserable. I didn't want to go anywhere, I didn't want to see anyone and I was generally unhappy. I was browsing the web(which may have been part of my problem;) and came across the Video Fitness Video Exchange. Their site allows you to exchange workouts you either don't like or just don't want anymore, for videos you may enjoy. I had quite a few workout DVD's collecting dust so I posted them on the exchange. I had a few bites and one of mine I exchanged for Cathe's Cardio Kicks. This is Cathe's original kickbox workout. I didn't have any of her workouts and thought kickboxing would inspire me to get moving. I made the exchange. Well folks as they say, the rest is history! I have since acquired every one of Cathe's workouts and she has changed my view on fitness forever. She's the reason I now call myself The Fitness Freak!

Every year I have watched her Road Trip in New Jersey come and go and every year I have wished I could attend. New Jersey was a bit of a stretch but I thought, maybe. one day. In November, Cathe decided to take her Road Trip "on the road". Her first stop was Daytona, FL. Since she only announces the locations about 3 months prior to the date, I was waiting with bated breath to see if she would come closer to California. Guess what? She is not only coming to CA, she's coming to my town, San Diego! Needless to say I was waiting at the computer the second the registration opened and was 11th in line to register for the weekend. My friend, also a Cathe fan, is going with me. A three day weekend with a great friend, workouts with my favorite instructor, 75 degree weather and alone time? Now that's what I call PRICELESS!!!!

I'm so excited to take pictures and share with all of you the fun I know I will have! Stay tuned!

Nicole

Workouts in Review- MMA: Fusion

Well, I'm still working through my 10 new STS Shock Cardio DVD's that I purchased from Cathe. I am totally LOVING them all! I have just one left to try so I'm making headway. This series has 11 new workouts 3 of which are MMA DVD's. MMA: Kickbox, MMA: Boxing and MMA: Fusion which I'll be reviewing today. As you all may know by now I absolutely LOVE kickboxing (as posted HERE) or any type of martial arts workout. Cathe did not disappoint me with these latest workouts. I know I will be reaching for them often!

What is it?

MMA: Fusion is a 50-minute high energy, fun workout. I kind of felt cool doing it. You know, like I could defend myself if I had to. Now that's not saying this is any sort of self defense training workout but it did make me feel strong. She has some martial arts moves mixed in with plenty of core work plus there are several sports based, cardio drills.

Who is this workout for?

I would say MMA: Fusion is an intermediate/advanced workout. There are some high-imapct moves but they could be modified if needed. I would highly recommend this workout for anyone who loves martial arts style workouts.


What to expect?

The moves were fairly easy to master but this may be because I have done so many kickboxing workouts in the past. I didn't find myself getting lost or frustrated, I was just having a lot of fun and sweating while I was at it. The cardio in this is not as challenging as some of Cathe's other kickboxing DVD's but that was okay with me because I managed to burn almost 400 calories doing it, yippee! My abs were sore the next day because of all the core work in this workout, which was a great plus!

Click HERE for a clip.

Nicole

Workouts In Review: HiiT- High Intensity Interval Training

So, you all know that I just received the latest Cate DVD's last week and guess what? I LOVE them!!! The best thing about the latest batch is that 5 of the workouts were easily done with just a quick preview. Usually I have to preview Cathe's cardio workouts several times before I feel comfortable enough to do them. In this batch of 5 basic choreography workouts is the Hiit workouts. Oh boy, they pack a punch and in a short amount of time!

What is it?

Hiit is compiled of 3 different workouts.

The first Hiit workout is 30/30. It is 28 minutes long and consists of a 30-second plyo/cardio burst and a 30-second rest. This pattern is followed for 16 intervals and ends with a short cool down. This is the easiest of the three workouts because you get a longer rest between intervals. I really like this one because you can get in and get out and burn almost 300 calories in just 28 minutes, nice!

The second workout is 40/20. This workout is 29 minutes long and it's tough! I'm sure you see the pattern here, this workout consists of 40 second cardio/plyo intervals followed by 20-second rests. There are also 3 additional i-minute breaks spaced throughout the workout. Just like in the 30/30 program you run through the intervals 16 times. You will burn a little over 300 calories in just 29 minutes, awesome!

The third workout is Double Wave Pyramid. The toughest of these three workouts this one checks in at 30 minutes flat. It's easier if I let Cathe explain this one: "In this workout you’ll do two rounds of intervals separated by only a one minute rest. In each round, you’ll follow a pyramid cycle of nine intervals, in which you’ll start your first set with a 20 second interval, and work your way up to the top of the pyramid, increasing each interval by five seconds as you go. Then you’ll work your way back down the pyramid decreasing each interval by five seconds." This workout burns a little over 300 calories just like the 40/20 workout.

Who is it for?

This is an advanced workout but the choreography is basic. In short, if you have two left feet but still want to get a kick-butt workout this is your DVD!

What to Expect?

Well I think you can guess what you will get out of this workout, 3 intense but short routines that burn a bunch of calories. These will be my go-to workouts for sure! I love that I can get in and out yet really feel like I worked hard. I hope you will all consider this DVD the next time you're ready to purchase a great workout. It is such a deal since you get all 3 workouts for under $30.

Click HERE for a clip.

Nicole

Look At What I Got Today!!!!

I patiently waited at the gate for my friendly UPS driver to show up. I waited for 6 hours! ; ) Hey, I was excited, I have been waiting for Cathe's Shock Cardio series for the last 6 months. I pre-ordered them before they were even filmed so I was anxious for sure! I'm sure it will be worth the wait. I'll let you know. HERE is a link to some of the video clips.

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!!

Nicole