Question about Cathe's XTrain rotation

[nevertoolate]

I'm tempted by Cathe's XTrain set on sale at Collage. I had been interested in the Low Impact HIIT and Super Cuts dvds from reading prior reviews, but never thought I'd want an entire set. I've got a couple of early, easy step dvds and her stretch dvd, but other than that she's always kind of intimidated me. Too advanced, too much equipment, too much space, and too long and hard.

So why am I interested now? I dunno, really. Maybe I just want to see what she's like and if her workouts would work for me. I like incorporating heavier weights into my workouts. I finished the first 2 phases of Drop 2 Sizes and really liked that. But then work and time got in the way of the hour long workouts and I fell back on Jessica Smith and others where I can get done in 45 minutes or less.

So back to XTrain. I wish I knew more about how Cathe structures her systems. Can any of you who do XTrain give me an idea of how the rotation works for the first few weeks? In what order does she have you doing the workouts? How many days per week, etc.? And how does she suggest people use the vast array of premixes? Maybe part of what's intimidating is that there is just so much there. And then the fact that some have given her up because she beats up your body too much also gives me pause.

Maybe I should just go back to Drop 2 Sizes or finally try out JMBR or JNL Fusion. I appreciate anyone who will share their thoughts on XTrain and details on the XTrain rotation. I don't want to buy another system impulsively just because it's a good deal, LOL!

Thanks.

Ann

[HRCFitness]

Hi,
I really liked a number of the DVDs in X Train. I think the series is good and I would recommend it.

I ordered the series from Cathe and it came with a user guide that had a number of different rotations including some that mix the low impact series.
Here is an example week:
Chest/Shoulder/Back
Cardio leg blast
Hard Strikes
Bis/Tris
Legs
All out low impact.


I'm not sure what you meant by Cathe "beating up your body"? I've been doing her DVD's for years 5 or 6 days a week and I have never felt beat up??

Good luck!

[deineira]

Hi Ann,

One thing I'll add about Cathe is that she is the queen of pre-mixes, so even when the full workout is an hour (or more in many cases), there are always a lot of premixes on her DVDs, and many of them are shorter than the regular workout. That might meet your need for 45 minutes or less. Cathe's workouts are also getting shorter and shorter as the years go by, as she gets a lot of requests/feedback that folks just don't have time to do 75 minutes of exercises every day, and her last few series have been consistently under 60 minutes. Some of her workouts now feel pretty short for those who have been doing them for years.

As someone who has done Cathe for 10 years, I do understand what you mean about being beat up. For me, years of heavy lifting and high impact really started to add up, and I've been enjoying less impact and a break from heavy weights for a while. That said, I have trained with Cathe for many years and she has gotten me in pretty good shape.

I think Xtrain is a good place to start as it has some good weight workouts and some nice lower body workouts, as well as a lower impact HIIT workout that's nice. You can also modify Hard Strikes to take out the jacks to make it a solid intermediate boxing workout. Tabatacise is pretty high impact, but as the name implies, that's meant to be a very intense workout.

You might also think about getting the Low Impact Series that she put out a few years ago. These workouts are very challenging but have little to no impact in them, and are a thorough system. I really leaned out my legs doing a two month rotation of those.

[Candiceena]

I will second what Deneira has said, not from personal experience, but rather from repeatedly, from tons of gals on here and on Cathe's forums, hearing the same thing about Xtrain. It is supposed to be a fabulous system. If I hadn't just bought the Zip Trainer I would have sprung for this as a way to get back into Cathe. I regretably sold all my Cathes and now really regret letting go of the LIS (which is supposed to be amazing too, just like Xtrain).

[Tugger31]

I really enjoy XTrain and its variety! The book that comes with it has many different rotation options that I believe are all 6 days a week. I never have time to workout 6 days a week so I just use her workouts as a guide and do them in order though my "weeks" are off, no biggie. I don't own a gliding disc as for me it's a bit too much strain on my knees, but I've done both XTrain and her LIS without a disc and still feel thoroughly worked out. I have all of the workouts in both series except Slide-n-Glide, the cycling workouts and Hard Strikes (that one just didnt appeal to me). I think these last 2 series of Cathe's are like Cathe-lite as far as impact goes but still not lacking intensity at all (with the exception of Tabatacize).

I say go for it! You can modify anything that seems too much!

[andtckrtoo]

I think the great thing about the XTrain rotation is that a lot of the cardio workouts are 30-45 minutes long. This is the first Cathe series I bought in toto, and I'm really happy with these.

[nevertoolate]

Thanks to all of you for your input. I may give this set a try.

Originally Posted by Tugger31

I don't own a gliding disc as for me it's a bit too much strain on my knees, but I've done both XTrain and her LIS without a disc and still feel thoroughly worked out.

Tugger31, how do you modify the parts where she uses a gliding disc? I don't have them either and would rather not have to buy them.

Ann

[Tanja]

Originally Posted by nevertoolate

Thanks to all of you for your input. I may give this set a try.



Tugger31, how do you modify the parts where she uses a gliding disc? I don't have them either and would rather not have to buy them.

Ann

I am using large generic "moving man" disks and they work like a charm on my puzzle mat floors.

[bubbles76]

Originally Posted by Tanja

I am using large generic "moving man" disks and they work like a charm on my puzzle mat floors.

Do you think they would work on carpet? I've tried Slide and Glide with frisbees, and it doesn't work.

[Gibbee]

Originally Posted by bubbles76

Do you think they would work on carpet? I've tried Slide and Glide with frisbees, and it doesn't work.

Absolutely!!!! They are super slick. Or you can pick up the booty slides at Walmart now for $5 or the golds gym version for $9.99 in the sporting goods section at Walmart.