Cathe ICE series updates, shipping, reviews

[Jennifer P.]

I haven't had time to even view much of this series, but it seems to me that when Cathe does a series, she has tons of rehearsals before the workouts are actually filmed. There should have been plenty of time to come up with modifications. Just saying...

[angie_nrs]

While I agree with the no modifier complaints here, it's not a deal breaker for me. I do hope that those at Cathe.com do listen though as it is an pretty big issue for some. Having a modifier in the workouts (even advanced workouts) costs them nothing but brings value to those who use/need it. Sometimes folks just need those modifiers on low energy days or perhaps even due to minor injuries, if not to adjust for their personal fitness level. Intense Moves by Gin Miller is excellent at this and sets a great example. It just seems to me that it would be a "no brainer" to put in all workouts to extend the appeal of the workout and reach a more diverse market. It doesn't seem to adversely affect those who don't use it, so why not?

I've only done bootcamp, to the mat, and low impact sweat so far...all with blizzard blasts and some meltdowns. Is it my imagination or do the blizzards seem to have better/funkier music than the original workouts? Thus far I am uninspired with the music. I hope the others fare better in this regard.

[wendy2]

I just finished Low Impact Sweat #1, plus the Muscle Meltdown Back and Icy Core 2.

I really liked how even though these were drills, they definitely seemed intermediate in intensity--and not just because they were done for less time than her usual drills and were low impact. Those factors add to the intermediate-ness of them, but just in general they seemed like less intense moves to begin with. Some of them at the end seemed downright easy, actually--but that's the kind of cardio my body needs sometimes, so I liked it! Easy enough to add some impact to make them harder...

I liked the Muscle Meltdown Back a lot. Love the 12 reps and relatively slow speed of the MMs so far, and it's so easy to stop after one or two rounds if need be. I'm going to love blending these well chaptered segments into other workouts with the Workout Blender.

Icy Core 2 was good. A little bit of targeting the upper, mid, lower and obliques--no overkill on anything. The rests between were a little long but not too long. This seemed very intermediate to me--I could have gone longer, but I work my core a lot and it's nice to have less intense stuff. I have a feeling I will feel it tomorrow--it seemed the slow pace was maybe working me in a way I'm not used to--or just the sequence or newness of some of the moves. Again, will be mixing up some of my own core work premixes with this and Icy Core 1, which I have yet to do.

[LynnO]

Originally Posted by suzannaerin

I think Bearcatfan might be on to something. Either Amanda did not get specific direction to modify or it was too hard for her to do it, meaning that she's in such great shape that she somehow couldn't make herself modify. Not a criticism, Amanda certainly is strong and works hard. I second Bearcat's self nomination to modify in the next series! I also agree that Lauren is a tremendously gifted modifier and she does so without significantly impacting the pow factor of an exercise. I wish Kelly would go back to using her regularly.

I've done two so far and watched a third (metabolic, first sweat cardio, watched a blizzard) - I actually didn't notice modifications. I did see someone doing something a bit different and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Amanda. It actually just seemed like a little bit of bad form slumping.

[Fitstick]

Originally Posted by bee

I did my first workout today: the metabolic one. Perfect for me! Did anyone else have problems with the stretch chapter skipping? I see no scratches on my dvd, but it seemed to skip a little bit in the middle of the stretch.

I just finished the metabolic workout and towards the middle of the stretch, it pixelates. Anyone else have this problem?

[dbclark44]

Originally Posted by wendy2

The lack of modifications is something that is going to bug me in this series. Not because I need to see a modification (I have come up with lots of my own over the years), but because the moves that should have been modified are so obvious that it seems like Cathe and/or Amanda just ignored the fact that there was supposed to be a modifier. I get annoyed by lack of attention to detail--why doesn't Cathe remember that about me??!

Take out the impact and lower the step height. That's basically all they needed to have Amanda do, and there would have been consistent modification. All jacks should have been modified to another move that doesn't involve impact. Jump kicks should have stayed as regular kicks. Don't show them once and then switch to the regular move. Urgh. It's just annoying at minimum, and a potential deal-breaker for those who need to see the modifications.

I'm sure I'll get over it, but I think I'd be pretty disappointed if the advertised modifier had been a selling point for me.

Are you reading this, Cathe.com?

I feel the same way!!!! And I was thinking the same thing as I was reviewing some of them. You should jump over to Cathe's site and post this Wendy. That's where it needs to be.

[suzannaerin]

There are probably people who preordered because of the promised modifications. People who have issues that preclude doing impact. So basically, it seems like a bait and switcheroo. Don't get me wrong, I love what I've done so far with the ICE workouts but it's disappointing that the modifier concept was halfhearted at best. If you're expecting modifications, you shouldn't have to make up your own. I just wish they'd have thought it through more carefully. Of course, I might have missed it in the preorder mania.

[marmact]

I love Cathe but I think her personal opposition to modifiers (she has always said she doesn't like having anyone out of sync) is mainly what I get from the modification of this series. Much like my kid, who does a poor job of cleaning his room in hopes that I'll stop asking him to do it, lol.

I think the series looks great otherwise and is probably the most excited I've been about a Cathe release since... STS, maybe. I've really enjoyed the workouts I've done so far. I do need to modify at some points but I'll just choose my own mod and ignore Amanda in future because I find it very disconcerting to be doing a mod with someone and then they switch the camera view and come back and she's not doing the mod any longer.

This does make me wonder about the role of the producer, though. Doesn't Greg also produce KCM workouts? Shouldn't part of his job be making sure that the modifier is modifying and is consistently shown? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a producer actually does, though.

[eyefit]

I agree with those of you who have described Amanda's modifications being half hearted at best. It was quite inconsistent, imo. Sometimes she would start modifying and then I would catch her doing the regular move. I still don't see why Cathe would mention doing the Bootcamp with 1 riser instead of 2 and then have the modifier do it on 2 risers. For some reason that just really bugged me. It definitely isn't a deal breaker for me. I don't need to see the modifications I just do my own when I need to. I can definitely understand the people who want that, though. I'm hoping Cathe starts using a modifier more going forward and learns from this experience. Like others said, I don't see any reason why a modifier couldn't be present in all the workouts, including really advanced ones. Where is the harm in it? I don't think it will cause advanced exercisers to slack off. When someone wants to push themselves, they will. JMHO

Like I said, definitely not a deal breaker and I have loved almost all of the workouts in this set! It bums me out that some people may not give it a chance because of this issue or they are afraid it will be too hard for them. I really think most people could really enjoy these workouts and make it work for them. I hope it doesn't deter anyone from giving these workouts a shot. They are fantastic!

[eyefit]

Originally Posted by marmact

I love Cathe but I think her personal opposition to modifiers (she has always said she doesn't like having anyone out of sync) is mainly what I get from the modification of this series. Much like my kid, who does a poor job of cleaning his room in hopes that I'll stop asking him to do it, lol.

I think the series looks great otherwise and is probably the most excited I've been about a Cathe release since... STS, maybe. I've really enjoyed the workouts I've done so far. I do need to modify at some points but I'll just choose my own mod and ignore Amanda in future because I find it very disconcerting to be doing a mod with someone and then they switch the camera view and come back and she's not doing the mod any longer.

This does make me wonder about the role of the producer, though. Doesn't Greg also produce KCM workouts? Shouldn't part of his job be making sure that the modifier is modifying and is consistently shown? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a producer actually does, though.

Bwahahaha!