Cathe Friedrich Reviews

A Review of Circuit Blast by Cathe Friedrich (What You Need to Know)

May 8, 2019

should you set up your home gym in your garage? here's what you need to know

should you buy a peloton? here's how to decide

You'll also love

tell me more

I'm Mickie. Co-founder and CEO of One Strong Southern Girl. Our team is here for you. We want you to remember us because we helped changed your life. 

Hello!

Simple. Fun. Effective. Total Body Workout. That’s a summary of Circuit Blast. Here’s what it looks like…

The moves in Circuit Blast are simple, fun, and effective.  You’re going to burn a bunch of calories doing cardio PLUS sculpt/tone your body doing strength training with light dumbbells.

I predict Circuit Blast will be one of your favorites.

MY favorite part:  a ton of core work, but not one sit up!

Let me explain what you’re going to need and what you can expect in Circuit Blast with Cathe Friedrich…

This post may contain Amazon (or other) affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. You can get more information about that here.

Cathe Friedrich on the cover of the Circuit Blast video

Instructor-Cathe Friedrich

Category-Cardio + Strength

Equipment

aerobic step with 4 risers* (on each side)

dumbbells (10 and 15 lbs.)

medicine ball* (Cathe uses a 6 lb. ball, I use an 8 lb. med ball)

exercise band

*Don’t skip on this routine just because you don’t have 8 risers for your aerobic step.  You can do this routine with whatever number of risers you have.  If you want to buy some more, you can find extra risers here.

If you don’t have a medicine ball then just hold a DB for those exercises.

Length-44 minutes

HRM-317 calories

Choreography-Simple

My rating– A

✔ Pro Tip: This guide will be helpful if you’re in the market for an aerobic step: Your Expert Guide to Buying and Using an Aerobic Step

Important Stuff about Circuit Blast

Circuit Blast is made up of 6 Rounds.  Each round has 4 parts—cardio, legs, a compound exercise, and core.

The intervals go fast.  Have your drink close by.  You won’t have much time to go find one after you hit play.

There’s a LOT of jumping in this workout.  It’s hard.  But the routine isn’t very long (44 minutes), so don’t be a wimp.  You’re capable of more than you think.

There are 2 premix workouts on this video, too.  They’re shorter versions of the main program.  This is a review of the main workout.

Remember to read to the end of this post for tips on each interval as well as links to a few places you can compare prices on this video 🙂

Warm-Up

The warm-up is about 6 minutes of aerobics moves and squats/lunges.  You won’t need any equipment.

There’s no stretching in this part, though, so add a few stretches if you need them before you get started.

Pull out your step with all those risers (3 or 4 per side).  You’ll use it for the rest of the program.

Main Workout (The Exercises in Circuit Blast)

Round One*

*Round 1 is the easiest.  Don’t get too excited.  It gets a lot harder from here on out.

Remember the pattern for each round is cardio, legs, a compound exercise, and core.

Cardio-2 Lateral ski jumps with 1 vertical air jump and 1 air jack—repeat this pattern 4 times;

Legs-40 air squats

Compound Exercise-Get your 10 lb. dumbbells for a squat with an overhead press; ten pounds may seem too light but there are a lot of reps so I’d stick with the 10’s

Core-Cathe calls the ab move a T-Thrust.  You’ll be in a high plank position and shoot your legs out and back in following a T pattern.

Round Two

Cardio-3 sets of 8 frog jumps (when she says frog jumps you’ll envision yourself flexing your knees and squatting your butt to the ground—like a frog—but you’re actually going to be standing and jumping in the air and bringing your knees up and out in a frog position—you’ll wish it was the other frog jump)

Legs-Uneven squats over your step with one 15 lb. dumbbell

Compound Exercise-get your band out for a plié squat with a cross-body pull/raise

This exercise looks harmless but beware, there are a crap-ton of reps; notice the pull is when you go down on the first arm, but the pull is on the way up on the second shoulder (I’m not convinced the change in style is intentional but it doesn’t matter, both ways are really hard)

Core-alternate bringing your knees to your elbows while in high plank

Round Three

Cardio-10 box jumps with a plyo jack after each rep

Be really careful if you’re jumping up on 4 risers.  Imagine you’re jumping up onto something even higher (like your coffee table).  This will (hopefully) keep you from catching a toe on the step.

Legs-stretch your band out on the floor for band hops

Compound ExerciseTie your band around your legs and do lateral walks.

Core-12 plank push-ups

This is a balance move.  Keep your core tight and spread your feet apart.  That will help.

Round Four

Cardio-5 sets of four wide tuck jumps—SO.HARD.

Legs-3 power hops forward with block jacks back (8 times)

Compound Exercise-remove the top of your step to do this one—it’s a jump over your step/half-turn/plank push-up, there are 10 reps

I find it impossible to keep up with Cathe on this exercise.  Notice that you drop into the push-up immediately and pop back up for the quick jump over the step.  I get in my 10 reps but I finish after she does.

Core-12 push-ups on your medicine ball (you put one hand on the ball); the tempo is perfect, you can do these

CONGRATULATIONS!  You just finished the hardest round!  Keep it up!

Round Five

Cardio-lateral lunges with your medicine ball

Cathe has a 6 lb. ball.  I’m able to do this exercise with my 8 lb. ball.  Keep your core tight so you don’t hurt your back.

Legs-turning lunges with pulses

Compound Exercise-get one 15 lb. dumbbell for a 1-arm lunge with a squat and overhead press—pay attention to the arm position and form for this exercise.  Cathe explains it perfectly.  There are 10 reps per side.  The 15 starts to feel really heavy.

Core-wood chops with the medicine ball—don’t just swing the ball around, keep your core tight

Round Six

Cardio-10 wide box jumps with plyo jacks (very similar to the cardio move in round 3 except your legs are apart this time); remember to really go for it so you don’t kill yourself on this move

Legs-2 sets of 7 leg presses (per side) on your step with a 15 lb. dumbbell

Compound Exercise-back lunges with a band pull; try to keep tension on the band during the entire set

Core-10 squat thrusts with jack push-ups

Stretch

Cathe has a great stretch segment at the end.  Don’t skip it.

Now What?

The thing I really like about Circuit Blast is its creativity.  You work every part of your body in a unique way.  You’ll appreciate the originality in this workout.

You can find Circuit Blast in a few different places:

Cathe’s site

Amazon

Collage Video

With a membership to Cathe on Demand

Learn more about Cathe on Demand in this article, Everything You Need to Know About Cathe on Demand and Cathe Live.

Thanks for reading my review!

Blog_Signature

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

search the database!

Excuse me...Do you have any articles on...

get it now

Don't waste another minute trying to piece together all the right workouts and equipment for the 'perfect' plan. Download a blueprint with all the steps in one place.

Your home exercise roadmap.

free guide

Take me to the quiz

Get matched with the on-demand library that aligns with your workout style, equipment and goals by answering a few questions!

Have you taken our

Workout Personality Quiz?