Cathe Live Review: Cardio Kickboxing & Cardio Barre (#197)
Cardio Kickboxing & Cardio Barre is a cardio workout with a little bit of barre work sprinkled in towards the end. This is a really sneaky workout – it started off fairly low key and then suddenly I was breathing hard and sweating like crazy! It is a combination of cardio kickboxing / hi-lo type moves (no complex choreography though) and cardio moves with barre work.
The first section starts with a slightly less intense warm up - so not so much hopping to start with, as Cathe often does, for a kickboxing workout. You then move straight into the cardio kickboxing – this is generally a combination of some kickboxing with some hi-lo cardio moves. You are hopping continuously throughout this section. You then take a quick water break before going into the next section, which is a few kickboxing combos and cardio drills. These are then usually repeated, on the other side of the body, along with the cardio drills. By the end of this section you are definitely working hard! The kickboxing combos had some different combos that I haven’t seen Cathe do before – many familiar moves but just ordered / combined slightly differently. So you will need to be paying attention, as it did take some thought to make sure I was moving in the right direction! They sometimes felt a little awkward to start with but you soon get the hang of them.
The cardio drills are straight forward hiit-type moves, such as, burpees, attacks, hi-lo punches with jumps etc. These are not too high rep but enough to get you working.
The final section is cardio barre. To be honest this was much more cardio than barre. You only do a few barre exercises and these are not high rep so this is definitely not her typical barre endurance type workout. I think the barre moves are there more to give you a little breather from the cardio and provide a little lower body work, rather than provide real endurance training.
Overall, this was a fun, high energy workout that I really enjoyed. It has a real nice feel-good factor to it - so you feel energised rather than drained by the end. I will return to this often – although I would only use it as a cardio workout rather than a cardio and strength routine. As a side note, this would also be a great travel workout, as it doesn’t use too much space and only needs a chair and optional boxing gloves / wrist weights to complete it.
(For more information about Cathe Live, how to sign up & to see all of my Cathe Live reviews, click HERE).
The Workout
Cardio Kickboxing & Cardio Barre is a cardio workout with a few barre exercises sprinkled in the last section. Cathe and class wear boxing gloves for the first two sections and then remove them for the barre work. I wore my wrist weights and this added nicely to the intensity. For the barre work you will need a chair. Cathe and class use the ballet barre and if you have a Fit Tower you could obviously use that here too.
What You Need to Know
(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).
The Moves
Cardio Kickboxing & Cardio Barre is 47 minutes long and originally aired on 10th May 2018 (#197). The workout starts with a fairly low key 11 minute warm-up before moving straight into the cardio kickboxing. The kickboxing combos are taught in layers but only the finished combos are shown below.
Hi Lo Cardio Kickboxing
Jabs
Shuffle x4 & 2x jab, cross
Jab, cross, slip, upper
Side step, cross & side kick, cross back & jump up
Jump ropes
Repeat other side
2x Heels (hopping) & punch up / speed bag arms / both arms up
Heels forward (hopping) & bicep curls
Low fast straight leg front kicks / fast straight leg back kicks (soldier kicks)
Pendulums (arms up & down)
Shuffle & hook / back fist
Repeat on other side
Jab front (hopping) / jacks
Quick water break at 23:47 minutes
Kickboxing Combos & Drills
Jab, cross / 2x slip & upper / hook, upper
Knee pulls
Back knee lift, front kick, back kick, squat
Jab, cross, 2x slip & upper, hook, upper, back knee lift, front kick, back kick, squat
Jump ropes
Touch down jacks
Repeat on other side
Jabs walking forward & back / slow burpee (jumping at the top)
Quick water break at 30:20 minutes
Repeat Jabs walking forward & burpees (starting on other side)
Jump forward & back / 2x attacks – 4 sets & 4 sets
Hi lo punches (jumping) – 32 reps
Quick water break & get out chair or Fit Tower / Barre (at 33:20 minutes)
Cardio Barre (at 34:20 minutes)
Squat to lunge combo – 16 reps
Power scissors – 2 sets of 16 reps
Repeat above on other side
Step out squats – 6 sets
Jump wide & cross jump (hopping twice) – 14 reps (18 reps on 2nd side)
Plie pulls (hopping) – 2 sets of 16 reps
Crossback lunge & knee pull – 16 reps
Repeat above on other side
The workout ends with a 3:30 minute cool down and stretch. (Cathe’s comment on twerking here did make me smile!)
Take Action
Try it today! Find out more about how to subscribe and to check out all of my Cathe Live Reviews - click HERE.
If you enjoyed this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Cardio Barre & Core Meltdown - HERE.
If you enjoyed this review, please share it using the links below.
I really liked this workout, though if you subtract out the WU and CD its only about 33-34 minutes. I wish it had some heavy bag Tabatas in there. Nevertheless: weaty, fast, doable.
My Modifications: I skipped the burpees and improvised other moves. I wasnt in the mood for burpees. Also, I didn't use a barre/Fit Tower for the Barre section- I don't like the feel of equipment near me during cardio. I just did them as blasts.
Overall, a good fun workout.