Kathy Step Workout

[Guest guest]

Got this in this morning but only have time to type about it now at almost 5 PM! There are 3 workouts, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The beginner is about 12 minutes, the int. is about 13 I think and the adv. is 10 minutes. There is a warm-up at the beginning and cool down/stretch at the end (though I don't remember actually being led through an aerobic cool down now that I think of it, I think you have to do that on your own and I should have, my HR was still up there when the stretch started). After each workout you are directed to fast forward to the stretch if you are done. There are also 3 short workouts for upper body, lower body and abs. I did just the 3 cardio workouts since I did toning yesterday and had only the amount of time needed for the cardio (50 minutes for all 3 workouts plus warm up and stretch, it is another 20 minutes with the toning). I did all 3 workouts for the first time today though I've done the beginner workout a few times and might have done some of the intermediate at some point.

General comments: the music is pretty non-descript, not distracting but not exciting. The choreography for the most part is very basic, none of the workouts are THAT hard. A true advanced stepper would be really bored by these but a beginner or probably even an intermediate (I think that's where I fall, I'm not sure though) would do well with them. As a comparison, the choreography in all 3 workouts is less complicated than either of Kari 's Go: Step for Beginners workouts. There is a tutorial at the end (the DVD is well-chaptered so you can watch this first by picking it) that shows exactly how to do the basic step and a few others so a beginner can learn easily from that. There are 6 exercisers with Kathy (including 2 guys) and they have various amounts of risers, everyone has at least 1 and one guy had 4 on each side. After each workout there is either a heart rate check or perceived exertion check and you're advised to change your step height as necessary. I used one set of risers and for the most part that kept me in the upper moderate, low hard range and I didn't have any problem with fatigue for the 50 minute workout. I could see trying 2 risers next time (not that I want to be fatigued but a little more tired by the end wouldn't be bad). I burned 277 calories for all 3 workouts. Kathy's cueing is great for the step patterns but not so great for the arms. Sometimes she cues and sometimes she doesn't but with practice even I will eventually be able to coordinate my upper and lower body movements. She has three of the exercisers cue for short times, including both guys but they stay in place so it isn't too distracting. Kathy is low-key (for Kathy) in these workouts too, no screaming or goofing around.

Almost the entire beginner workout is just basic right then basic left but she does a lot of adding on and quick changes of upper body movements. A confused beginner can just ignore the arm movements until they are comfortable with the foot movements. I finally got comfortable with the changes and patterns this time through it. The first few times it was just too fast for me to follow and I had to just do basic alone or do my own version of the arm movements. If it were not for the upper body work this would be an extremely boring workout though (and probably will be for anyone who can coordinate upper and lower body better than me). The upper body does serve to move the heart rate too. You could probably make it more exciting by jumping instead of just walking up and down.

The intermediate workout seemed like it was harder than the advanced but still wasn't what I'd call hard. It did incorporate some higher impact/higher intensity moves but there is always a modifier in front showing lower impact/low intensity and Kathy mostly does the same. The choreography is more complicated but still quite simple overall. It has the same issues (for me anyway) with fast changes to the arm motions and lots of times I was doing my own thing. For a little while at one point I just did the lower body work without arms then added arms as I felt comfortable. This is a little more of a space hog with side leg lifts all over the place and I was a bit cramped (couldn't fully extend my legs). I will try to remember to turn my step on a diagonal next time and see if that helps.

During the heart rate check after the intermediate workout she tells you to turn your step so that you're working with it going vertically toward the TV. This one has more interesting choreography but my heart rate was higher during the intermediate workout. You do a lot of over the tops and they're shown with propulsion (I did them that way) with a modifier showing low impact. There's also work diagonal across the step a lot. I had my continuing upper/lower body coordination problems but less so with this one, it seemed less complicated that way, maybe because there was so much more going on with the feet and I'm more comfortable with the feet movements anyway.

The stretch is pretty good and obviously for the entire workout since she talks about stretching the triceps you just worked in the upper body toning segment.

Overall, I felt like I got a decent but not great workout. It might have been better with another set of risers though. It is great for days you really don't want to concentrate too hard on choreography, except the arm movements (which I suppose as long as you're moving them and getting your heart rate up you're doing what you need to do) and you can make it harder or easier by changing the amount of risers you use and the amount of propulsion you add.

Tomorrow is... I'm not sure. I had Lift Weights to Lose Weight upper and lower workouts down and might do that or I might do one of her circuit workouts I have that I've never done before. I'll see what I feel like tomorrow. I'm okay with not knowing for sure which workout I'll do because I know I want strength or circuit and that it will be Kathy so it will be pretty easy to choose (and I might look through reviews on the ones I have to help me decide tonight).

I'm super behind on reading group postings but needed to post this for my own accountability. Will try to read/respond to postings/email very soon!