Paring Down My Cathe Collection...

[Shelbygirl]

I got rid of a few of her extremely high impact DVDs where I felt all I was doing was modifying. Also, I traded away her DVDs that heavily use the gliding discs (I HATE the gliding discs). Other than those, I have kept pretty much everything.

There are a couple workouts from the more recent pre-orders that I doubt I'll ever do (like the yoga ones), but since all the workouts come in one case, it doesn't save me any room to get rid of them, so I keep them.

Cathe is my all-time favorite instructor, so it's definitely hard to part with anything.

Shelbygirl

[marmact]

I am one who feels completely overwhelmed when my collection gets too large. I started paring down last year. Honestly, as much as I love Cathe (she is my most-used instructor), I do not love all of her workouts. So I went through a period where I really thought about what I actually use of hers and got rid of pretty much all of the others. I also stopped pre-ordering, which was kind of key for me, because otherwise I feel compelled to keep a set together even when I do not use all of the workouts.

Here is what I kept:

A few of the early step workouts; I don't do step any longer, but I LOVED these workouts. I'm not sure if I kept them for nostalgia or a sense that I might want to do them again in the future. These include Rhythmic Step, IMAX 2, the classic DVD that includes PowerMax, and Body Blast (SJP and the other one whose name escapes me right now!). Also, StretchMax, my most used stretching workout.

A few of the early lifting workouts, including the Pyramids, Bootcamp/ME, and the Gym Styles. I also kept Push/Pull for a lighter workout if I ever have to go back to that. These are workouts I know I will use even if I am not using them right now.

4DS (love the weight work and kickboxing on this one) and two from the Sash series (B&G, DM)--all faves.

A couple from Shock Cardio (MMA Boxing and Kickboxing).

STS mesos 1 and 3. I doubt I'll use 3 again, so I keep hoping to trade it for 2. I also have Squat Rack Legs and STS Total Body. These are all highly used for me. (I did get really sick of STS at one point, traded it, and have been trading for it back.)

CrossFire, most of LIS (Afterburn, Athletic Training, S&G, Cardio Supersets, and Trisets), and all of Xtrain (which is a set that I don't want to break up even if I don't like all of the workouts). I still have her cycling workouts although they're not favorites. I also recently acquired X10 but I'm still on the fence over this one.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that I went through by series and kept only the workouts that I'll do now or might do in future. From the old stuff, I just kept the stuff that used to make me feel really happy. I think Cathe's demeanor is totally different up through the Hard Core series, so it's fun to revisit her once in a while. I did get rid of anything that I thought was really overkill and which caused me major dread. I know even if those are effective, I won't do them.

[eam531]

Originally Posted by Tugger31

I think it might be helpful to know why you can't do them so that we can help you choose what to keep. Is it the impact, the choreography, maybe a tweaky knee??

Way too much equipment needed. This seemed to get worse and worse as time went on. I work out at home so I won't have to buy a gymnasium's worth of equipment.

Way too much impact. I rarely did Cathe's cardio, for that reason.

I had some of Cathe's older workouts and the only one I have kept is Push/Pull.

[SherBear]

I too have nearly all Cathes. VHS tapes- I loved Slow and Heavy so much I bought the DVD. Heh, I remember when DVD option was first offered on Collage and I always chose VHS. Players were expensive and I didn’t see anything wrong with VHS format. We did a workout from Start to Finish – what other options did we need???

There are always certain tapes that turn me off to an instructor.
Karen Voight was all the re-labeling of her workouts. She put out the same workout under a different name. Pissed me off and I wrote her off for a loooong time.
Amy Bento – In the ring stuff. Never looked back
Mindy – All about ...legs/arms mini-series
Cathe - It seemed like her workouts were getting longer and more repetitive and higher impact. I skipped one pre-sale series.
Heh, that series was a hit. Of course. I continued to buy again and eventually bought the ones I missed. There are a few stinkers in all series but the good very much outweighs the bad.

I love her old stuff. Maybe because I was younger doing them. Cathe is a keeper, to me.

--Sheryl