4DS Fans - Please convince me I am not going to regret this purchase when it arrives!

[Debbie M]

Hi everyone,

I recently caved and bought Cathe's 4DS from advancedworkouts.com. It is enroute to Canada now.

I have never not preordered a Cathe strength workout but passed on this series because something about it just did not grab me. Then that vidiot collector in me took over and I felt that my collection could not be without the strength work at least!

My background with Cathe:

I hated CTX and sold all of my VHS tapes except Leaner Legs and then picked up CTX Upper Body. (Aside: I really really wish Cathe would release these on DVD, especially Leaner Legs, without having to buy the enture CTX set again on DVD!)

The moves in the 4DS clips looked "same-old, same-old" and I dislike any of her cardio that is extremely high impact and any step workout beyond her beginner series!

I am choreo challenged and thus have sold almost every cardio workout I have ever purchased for one reson or another. I also hate circuits. These are all the ones I owned and sold, donated, etc.:


MIC - dread factor, hated the but super high impact hi/lo
Cardio Kicks - too much space, too complex and too much hi/lo flavor (I do like KPC and Kick Max.)
Circuit Max - it is circuit!
Step Blast + Step, Jump & Pump DVD - too complex, on Cathe hi/lo
Cardio & Weights + IMax2 DVD - IMax 2 too complex, C&W just blah.

The only cardio of Cathe's I enjoy is her kickbox DVDs, her Basic Step, Low Impact Step and Low Max (still trip up the choreo on this one but enjoy it). I also like any drill type athletic sections of her other DVDs.

I love all of her strength workouts and own every last one all the way back to MIS and PS.

I am reading so much dissapointment here in various threads about this workout set and am having buyers regret before I have even tried them.

My concerns after reading endlessly here:

The cardio on the step workouts is too complex which I just did not expect....harder to master than Rythmic Step? OMG! I would never even buy that one.

The workouts are dull, too short, nothing new.....

I am ordering STS as it looks amazing and also know I will preorder her entire boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts series.

Did I waste almost 50% of my STS preorer $$$$$ on a pretty uselss workout series?

Help me justify!

Conversely, I could return it unopened as AW has a 100% satisfaction return policy if there is no way this was worth the big bucks!

Thanks,

Deb

[Sandi M]

Hi,

You say you love Cathe's strength work, kickboxing and drills.

The only parts you WON'T like are the two step workouts (more complicated than most of Cathe's step), and those make up a total of only about 1/4 of the exercise time in the set.

Bootcamp is a quick and fun drill workout (some high impact, but not as bad as some of her other stuff), Kickbox is typical Cathe kickboxing, and the strength work is slower and heavier than all of Cathe's previous DVDs, except for Slow and Heavy!

Hope you like them,
Sandi

[a_real_twit]

Well, Deb, I don't know that you are going to be happy with your purchase based on your background with Cathe. The step choreo (on both step workouts) is very complex and Cathe does not take a lot of time to breakdown the moves - she can't since the workout is only 30 minutes. You said you like drills, so you may enjoy bootcamp, but some of the drills take a "HUGE" amount of floor space - not all of them but some. You may also like kickboxing but I will warn you that the first half of the workout is mostly jacks and what Cathe calls "slides".

As far as the weight work, if you like lifting heavy, you will probably be happy. Some have complained that the weight work feels more endurance oriented but I do not agree with that. I had no issues with her cuing and I felt the weight work to be short, sweet and to the point.

Personally, I could not be more thrilled with 4DS but we appear to be opposite in a lot of things. I like complex step, I didn't mind the long warmups - in fact I welcome them, I loved the kickboxing workout, and I had no problems at all with Cathe's cuing.

[caligurl]

hmmmmmm not too sure about that....

i have a really easy learning curve on dance/cardio stuff... but cathe cueing is SO horrible in this set that i HATE both the step workouts! the kickbox is just MEH.... doesn't thrill me... too short!

bootcamp is fun

the weight segments are disjointed.... a little pyramid... a little endurance... a little heavy lifting....

i hate that she doesn't go to the beat of the music... you have to watch her to get the pacing right.... she should have picked music (like she does in EVERY other of her dvd's) that allows you to lift with the music.... heck... in the the high step one... THEY slowed down the music even!

i stopped using it after about 2 weeks and now it sits on my shelf looking purdy... (i do love the slim cases!)

[Debbie M]

Thanks so far...keep it coming.

It is sounding like a return so far.

I do like pretty cases! LMAO

I would get no use from the two step workouts, hate jacks taking up a large proportion of a kickbox workout!, don't like the sound of disjointed weight work, especially if there are no new twists to her standard weight exercises.

I have enjoyed some of her more recent releases because she finally added more variety to her choice of exercises, especially lower body.

I will keep checking back for more opinions!

I have $200 going to Cathe tomorrow, so if this set is not going to add any unique elements to my collection, it shoud go back!

Thanks again,
Deb

[hedygs]

Not a fan and based on what you've said I don't think you'll get enough use of this set.

HEY DEBBIE HI!!!

[jordan]

Based on your input, I think you may like KB & BC (both cardio), you won't like HIS or LIS (both step cardio), and you will like the weight work.

I had a bit of a problem with the step sections the first couple of times through, but I LUV them now. I really dislike athletic cardio except for Cathe's IMAX's and BC's. I've made good progress with the weight work in the 4DS and I'm ready for STS! You could probably get along without it but I'm sure happy with this purchase (& I wouldn't part with it).

jordan

[caligurl]

Originally Posted by Debbie M

I do like pretty cases! LMAO

[Shelbygirl]

You definitely won't like the step workouts - way complicated for someone who doesn't like tricky moves.

I really like the upper body weight work (haven't tried legs yet). I can see myself using the weight work a lot more than I'll ever use the cardio.

The kickbox was okay, but nothing overly exciting. Boot Camp I'll never do because upon previewing it, it looks like every single drill involves some sort of hopping. It reminded me of gym class in juniour high school. (Just not my cup of tea, I guess). I think I'll like Low Intensity Step once I get the steps down (one more try ought to do it). I don't know yet about High Intensity Step. It's way trickier than I normally like (Step Blast (which is my all time favorite step workout) is about as fancy as I get). But, it does seem like it will be a lot of fun once I figure it out.

The ab segments are good and the premixes look good.

I hate to say it, but based on your description, it sounds like it might not be the best series for you.

Shelbygirl

[AnMrsDe]

Debbie-

Thanks for posting this question. You (and all the responses) just helped me make up MY mind about this series too!