Cathe Live Review: Opposites Attract (#331)

#Cathelive #cathefriedrich #workoutreviews #fitnessmystyle #fitnessmystylereviews

Cathe Live Review: Opposites Attract (#331)

Opposites Attract is a fantastic, total body strength, workout using supersets to work opposing muscle groups. I think this might be my new favourite strength workout as I really liked it! It is also a really flexible routine, which you can adjust using lighter or heavier weights, depending on your goals for any given day. As Cathe says, this one isn’t about the number of reps or the pace you go but just challenging yourself, as much as you can, in the way that works best for you. So if you want to use lighter weights and go at a faster pace you can or alternatively you can slow it down and use heavier weights instead - you just create the perfect workout for you.

The workout consists of four giant sets of exercises that are generally supersets – so for example, alternating biceps and triceps or chest and back. This isn’t exact though, as you do shoulders with core and the lower body set has a mix of different exercises to ensure you work the whole of your lower body well.

The exercises are a mix of more traditional strength moves with a few that have a slight twist on the usual. I absolutely loved the variety and every muscle group is hit multiple times but without actually repeating any moves so it’s a no repeat workout, which are definitely my favourite! This is also another nice long workout, coming it at just under an hour, which I also appreciate. Cathe uses slightly lighter weights but as mentioned encourages you to challenge yourself with heavier ones, if you want to. Therefore, she doesn’t really count reps but just keeps going for a while before switching to something else. For most moves, if you are following Cathe, it is around 20 – 24 reps so slightly higher than usual but you can always slow it down and do less reps if you are going heavier. I used heavier weights on several of the moves, shown below, and still stayed with Cathe’s pace and this worked well for me. I probably could have gone a little heavier on some, particularly lower body to really challenge me but wasn’t sure on rep counts the first time through. However, next time I definitely would as I didn’t find the routine that challenging overall.

The routine starts with upper body giant sets for chest and back, biceps and triceps, shoulders and core and finally you move into a longer set of exercises for the lower body. The exercises use a mix of dumbbells or resistance tubing and sometimes the stability ball. This definitely increases the core work, throughout the routine, as you are having to stabilise the moves more, such as, chest flys and pullovers. There is very little rest between the exercises so, with the right weights, you will start to feel the work compound towards the end of the workout. I didn’t get to burn out on most of the upper body exercises, except triceps, which is why I would definitely up the weights next time. For me, the most challenging section was actually the floor work for the lower body. I really felt the straight leg lifts, hamstring roll-ins and outer thigh presses, and these really burned out my legs nicely.

Overall, an excellent and fun, no repeat, strength workout that with the right weights will challenge the whole body.

(For more information about Cathe Live, how to sign up & to see all of my Cathe Live reviews, click HERE).

The Workout

Opposites Attract is a total body strength workout that focuses on supersetting opposing muscle groups. The routine consists of four giant sets of different exercises.

What You Need to Know

(Rating scale – 1= lowest & 5 = highest).

The Moves

Opposites Attract is 57 minutes long and originally aired on 21st January 2021 (#331). The workout starts with a 6 minute warm-up, using the resistance tubing, before a quick water break and moving into the first exercise. As you will be moving quite quickly, from one thing to the next, you will need to have all of your equipment handy throughout the routine.

Chest & Back

• Bench press – two 15# Dbs (I used 20’s) & ball – 24 reps

• Double arm rows (underhand) – two 15# Dbs (I used 20’s) – 26 reps

• Chest fly – two 15# Dbs (I used 20’s) & ball – 25 reps

• Seated T-band pulls – resistance tubing & mat – 22 reps, 4x 3 pulses & 2x 7 pulses

• Side to side push-ups (walk hands over to one side then other) – mat – 14 reps

• Pullovers – two 15# Dbs & ball – 18 reps

Biceps & Triceps

• Seated bicep curls – two 12# Dbs (I used 15’s) & ball – 20 reps

• Seated overhead tricep extensions – two 12# Dbs & ball – 14 reps

• Incline bicep curls – two 12# Dbs & ball – 21 reps

• See saw push-ups – ball – 8 reps & 5x 1.5’s

• Preacher curls – two 12# Dbs & ball – 17 reps

• Lying tricep extensions – two 10# Dbs (I used 12’s) & ball – 11 reps & 5x 1.5’s

Shoulders & Core

• Seated overhead press (palms facing forward) – two 12# Dbs & ball – 19 reps

• ‘Stir the fudge’ (tubing under 1 foot & held in both hands together; rotate arms round in a circle) – resistance tubing – 22 reps (1st side) & 23 reps (2nd side)

• Side leaning 1 arm rear delt fly (palm down / thumb down) – one 5# Db, ball & mat – 20 reps & 10 reps (1st side) & 25 reps & 8 reps (2nd side)

• Ball exchange (passing ball from hands to feet) – ball & mat – 26 reps

• Side to front lateral raise – two 5# Dbs – 8x alternating, 2x 4 reps & 8x alternating

• Plank roll-ins (shins on ball & hands on floor; pull knees in under chest) – ball – 16 reps

• Russian twists – ball & mat – 28 reps

Lower Body

• Close stance heel elevated squats – one 15# Db (I used two 20# Dbs) & two weight plates (to elevate the heels. I used 2x 5# Dbs) – 10x 1.5’s & 8x singles

• Deadlifts (toes elevated) – two 15# Dbs (I used 20’s) & two weight plates (to elevate the toes. I used 2x 5# Dbs) – 20 reps

• Sumo squat pulses w/ calf lifts – one 15# Db – 48 reps & 6x 1.5’s (no calf lift)

• Crossback lunges – one 15# Db – 20 reps each side

• Straight leg lifts (seated on mat w/ ball lying on shin of straight leg; lift up & down) – ball & mat – 16 reps & 32x pulses each side

• Hamstring roll-ins – ball & mat – 3 sets of 16 reps

• Heel walks on ball (in same position as above; lift one heel then other) – ball & mat – 28 reps

• Ball knee squeeze – ball & mat – 111 reps

• Outer thigh press (lying on back w/ legs straight up in air & tubing around bottom of feet; open legs out & in) – resistance tubing & mat – 25 reps & 10x 3 pulses

The workout ends with a 3 minute cool down and stretch.

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 liked this workout, check out my review of Cathe Live: Push Pull (#45) – HERE.

If you enjoyed this review, please share it using the links below.