Y’all, I have something to admit: I am a Cathe Friedrich junkie.
Yes, it’s true – I absolutely love her workouts. I remember when I first discovered her on FitTV (when it still existed) and could not believe how such a tiny and sweet little woman could kill my muscles so badly. It was love at first workout! There was one point where it hurt to wash my hair for almost a week; granted there’s a little user error there since I didn’t pare down the weight when I needed to, but by the end of that summer I had arms that I loved!
Anyway, when I found out through FitFluential that Cathe had come out with a new series called XTrain, I jumped right it and signed up.
As a side note, I really love working out – getting in shape strength-wise has never been my problem as far as losing weight goes. For me it’s always been about eating right, which can be hard when you’re a food blogger (shocker, right?)! Even though I’m not a personal trainer anymore, I really love getting my workout on and have to watch it or else I could literally do it all day long. Really, I’m that girl. These workouts are not only difficult, but they’re a lot of fun! My favorites are the chest/back/shoulders workout, supercuts, legs and tabatacize DVDs – I think I have been doing the bonus Barre workout every day!
From Cathe’s site:
XTrain is the ultimate total body fitness conditioning program that has been designed to crush calories, incinerate fat and work and tone your muscles like never before. XTrain comes with four different workout programs ranging from 30 to 90 days, but XTrain has also been uniquely designed by Cathe to fit almost anyone’s hectic schedule. With over 140 Premix workouts there are hundreds of ways the XTrain program can be done no more excuses!
Ever since having Weston I’ve been exercising regularly, and I love how the XTrain series has rounded out my workouts and made everything more interesting. The great thing is that you can do the full 90-day program or you can use the workouts to supplement what you’re already doing – either way you’re winning! With the system you get:
- 9 or 10 (deluxe set) calorie crushing workouts
- 142 Premix Workouts
- The most detailed Chapter Menus in the industry
- 2 Bonus Core Workouts
- 5 Bonus One Hundred Rep Challenges
- Bonus Rear Delts Workout
- Bonus Barre Workout
- Free STS Full Color User’s Guide packed with four rotations and detailed XTrain workout details. (*must purchase either the XTrain 9 or 10 pack DVD series for free User’s Guide. Download customers will receive a free digital version of the User’s Guide)
- Vocals Only option on every DVD
- Free XTrain Online Tools & Workout Cards
Now that I’ve mentioned how awesome it all is, let me just throw this in there: this system does require quite a bit of equipment. To perform everything exactly as it’s done on the DVD you need to have a range of dumbells, a step with 5 risers per side, a stability ball, slide & glide discs, resistance bands, Dixie cups, resistance band loops, and boxing gloves. Let me tell you this: I only have the dumbells, one resistance band, and the Dixie cups, so I improvised using a sturdy chair for the step, the floor for the stability ball, no resistance band loops, socks on a wooden floor for the discs (BE CAREFUL IF YOU DO THIS, please note that I am not recommending this), and hand weights instead of boxing gloves. I know it sounds crazy, but with a little bit of creativity I was able to get the same results without having to go out and blow all my money on extra equipment. And you know what? Even if you don’t have any of the equipment you’ll still get a crazy awesome workout. Just had to warn ya’ 🙂
As always you should consult a physician before starting or making changes to any exercise program, and since I am not a certified personal trainer you should not take this post as advice from a professional. BUT if you’re cleared to do so, this is a fantastic way to get away from the 90-day workouts that are out there (not to discount them, it’s just a lot of the same if you ask me). It’s fun, it’s powerful and it works!
I was given these DVDs to review by Cathe Friedrich through FitFluential to review; however, all opinions are my own.
hey i loved when cathe was on fittv! i still have some of the workouts dvr’d and saved – and my children have been threatened about deleting them! haha. i didn’t know about the xtrain, but i’m going to look into it. sounds awesome!
I SOOOOOOOOOOOO wish I hadn’t deleted them! Even though we don’t have the same service anymore…but I LOVED her on FitTv!
I’m loving this series – though, I pretty much love all of her workouts. I do agree that it does require more equipment than past DVDs, but I love that you can get the downloads and take to the gym if you don’t have the equipment or room.
YES! I love all of her workouts too…she really is one of the best!
I’ve heard Tina Reale talk about Cathe too, but never used her videos. Sounds tough!! (but in a good way)
She is tough, but she does the workouts right along with you! I have to say that’s one of my favorite things about Cathe is that she’s not running her mouth the whole time and not doing the same thing she’s telling us to do 🙂