XTrain Workouts: Week 1

Today is supposed to be my “rest” day.  Hehe… right.  For the last week I have been hopping, squatting, lifting, and pushing myself through XTrain workouts with Cathe Fendrich.

Thanks to my ambassadorship with FitFluential, I was sent a full set of Cathe’s latest workout series to review, and took it upon myself to complete the 30 Day Cardio + Strength Program.

For the entire month of March, the only full workouts I will be doing will be in my basement, accompanied by no one other than yours truly.

(Hi there!)

I received the videos and user’s guide a few weeks ago, and decided that now is as good a time as ever to start investing in equipment for a small home gym.  I stuck to only buying the essentials, and now have enough stuff to complete my program.

Today marked the end of Week 1 of 4, and is supposed to be my day to rest.  Well… since I was not feeling very well on Tuesday, that became my default rest day and I finally caught up with where I am supposed to be this afternoon.

So how has it been going? Let’s talk about it!

XTrain Workouts: Week 1 Check-In

Whenever I hear about a video workout series, one of following two things enter my mind:

1) Hot Sundae girls from Saved By The Bell singing “Go For It”. <- You’re welcome for bringing that memory back.

2) Challenging, intense, crazy sweaty, I kind of want to quit but won’t workouts like Shawn T.’s Insanity.

Lucky for me, Cathe’s workouts have been somewhere in the middle.  Challenging, but also entertaining enough to push me through!

Don’t let that cheesy grin fool you.  I had Scott take that photo at the beginning of my workout, and it was during the warm up.  It got a lot harder.

Every workout that is part of the program has a coordinating page in the user’s guide to assist you.  It gives an overview of what to expect that day, a breakdown of the exercises, and an equipment list.

Like I mentioned before, I only have a small amount of equipment available to me at home, so I improvise from time to time.

Most workouts require a few sets of dumbbell weights, a step, and a set of glider discs (or in my case paper plates!).

I start every workout by gathering equipment and warming up with Cathe.  There are a variety of different workouts that require different things.

During the one week I have been working out, I have used every piece multiple times, which is something I like and appreciate.

The program I am completing incorporates a lot of cardio into weights and strength training.  It involves a good number of HIIT workouts – which I explained in an earlier post is short for high intensity interval training.

This type of working out incorporates constant movement at different levels like jumps to squats.  Intervals are short, but intense with minimal rest time in between each set or series.

This week was the first time I have ever tried Tabata, which is a shorter, but (in my opinion) an even more intense version of HIIT.  I liked that it threw in some kickboxing, jumps and did not slow down one bit.

After an hour long video, I was one sweaty, sweaty girl.

Week 1 Thoughts

During the first few workouts, I was convinced that Cathe wanted to bulk me up, with the focus being on my legs.  As a dancer, I am not comfortable with that end result, and actually started to become a bit worried that I am missing out on my vital and usual cardio and core routines.

Worries cleared after Days 4, 5, and 6 when Cathe proved me wrong and cardio kick(boxed) my booty.

The workouts now include added core videos (if you chose to select them), constant movement, and arm workouts I have needed for quite some time.

Most workouts entail a lot of squatting, jumping, and kicking, so my legs are not getting left out of the party, either.  All in all, I am very happy with how my first week of XTraining went, and am curious to see how Week 2 compares.

Feeling stronger already!

*Disclaimer: The XTrain Workout Series DVDs were provided to me, free of charge, from cathe.com through my ambassadorship with FitFluential.  I was not compensated in any way for this review, and simply exchanged sharing workout experience for product.  As always, all thoughts and opinions in this series of reviews are my own.  Please see my full dislaimer before starting any kind of new workout routine.