Flex Train will sculpt your body. Get ready for a fast-paced total body toning routine.

Here’s what Flex Train looks like:

Cathe Friedrich never hesitates to pick up a heavy weight and Flex Train is no exception.

I’ll tell you which weights to have ready if you want to do the program exactly like Cathe, but make sure you’re prepared to go down in weight (or number of reps) when you need to.

By doing compound exercises with dumbbells at a fast tempo you’ll feel completely satisfied with your workout by the time Flex Train ends.

Let me explain exactly what you’ll see in Flex Train with Cathe Friedrich…

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Instructor-Cathe Friedrich

Category-Strength

Equipment–

5, 8, 10, 12 and 25 lb. dumbbells

fitness band

exercise loop (you can use the band for these moves if you don’t have a closed loop)

discs (sliders)

mat

Length-56 minutes

HRM-380 calories

Choreography-Simple

My rating– A

The Important Stuff about Flex Train with Cathe Friedrich

Flex Train is all about heavy weights and high reps.

Cathe does a lot of compound moves so that you’re usually working more than one muscle group at a time.  Form is so important when you’re doing compound moves.  Don’t use more weight than you can handle.  You must be able to maintain good form.

All the premix routines (extra programs) on this video are shorter versions of the main workout. That means this review covers the premixes as well.

I always use the same weight as Cathe when I do Flex Train. There are a few places you may want to be prepared to go up or down in weight (depending on your fitness level) and I’ll mention that in this review.

Read to the end for tips on each section in this workout as well as links to several different places you can compare prices for Flex Train.

Warm-Up

The warm-up is thorough.  It raises your heart rate and warms your muscles.  A warning: there are push-ups in the warm-up.  (I always want to know when there are push-ups).

Main Workout (The Exercises in Flex Train with Cathe Friedrich)

LEGS & SHOULDERS

Squat Press with 8 lb dumbbells

Cross-Back Lunges with Overhead Press

She uses 8’s on these.  I always want to use more weight on this exercise but she goes fast and you could hurt your back if you pick a weight too heavy.

Sumo Pull-ups with 10’s

One-Arm Snatch

She uses one 10 lb. weight for the one-arm snatch.  Sometimes I do these with a 12 lb. dumbbell.

Arm Raises

There are 3 different styles of arm raises.  She does them in sets of 8 and repeats them all one time.  Try not to bounce or swing.

Simultaneous Overhead Press

She uses 8’s.  The 8 lb. weights are plenty.  There are a LOT of reps.  Keep your core tight.

Rear Delt Fly

Grab your 10’s.  There are 2 sets of 16 reps.  Listen to her form tips.  The 10’s are pretty heavy for this exercise.  Do as many as you can with good form.

BACK

One Arm Lat Row

Attention: Cathe uses a 25 lb. weight for the one-arm lat rows.  That’s heavy, girls!  I use the same weight but I barely squeeze out that last rep every time.  There’s no shame in going down in weight for this exercise.  You have permission to use a 20 lb. weight on the second set.  Form is important.  Don’t round your back.

T-Band Pulls

Get out your mat and long band.  You sit on the mat for the T-band pulls.  She crosses her band for this exercise but my band is shorter so I don’t cross it over my feet (I recommend the longer band like Cathe’s).

Double-Arm Rows

Stay on the mat and do these with your band.  Make your band short and sit up tall.

LEGS/BICEPS

Sumo Squat with a Bicep Curl

Use your 8’s.  These have a jump in them.  Keep your core tight and your head up.

Alternating Back Lunges with a Hammer Curl

Keep your 8’s for these.  She does a few shoulder shrugs and then repeats these exercises.

Bicep Curls

You may want to grab your 10’s for this exercise but I can’t do the whole set with more than the 8’s she uses.

This is a long set of bicep curls with a long set of pulses in the middle while balancing on one foot.  Don’t worry if you have to put your toe down.  Just keep your arms pulsing.  She repeats all those reps on the other foot next.  The 8’s get really heavy.

CHEST

If you’ve done a few of Cathe’s workouts before then you know she loves push-ups.  Well, get ready.  There are a bunch coming up in this section.

Burpee into Push-Ups on the Discs

Drop Set Push-Ups

Holy hell these suck!  You do 12 push-ups then rest for barely a second and do 10 more, then 8 and finally 6.  Cathe is a beast!  Don’t beat yourself up if you have to go to your knees before you finish all these push-ups—Cathe can do more push-ups than most men—just get on your knees and keep going.

LEGS

Lunges

Get out your discs for several sets of lunges.

She does 16 slide-out lunges on the right, then 16 on the left, right into back lunges in the same pattern.  Be careful.  As your legs fatigue you could lose your balance.  There’s no break in between any of the sets.

TRICEPS

Overhead Tricep Extensions

She holds two 8’s together for these.  If you find that you’re pulling/pinching your hair with the two weights (like I do sometimes) then switch to one 15 lb. weight.

Kickbacks in Plank

Get out your mat (if you’re not on carpet) and keep your 8’s.  These are really tough because the arm doing the kickback is obviously working but the arm supporting you in plank is also working.  It’s hard.  Keep your core tight and your hips aimed straight at the floor (not twisted).  If your support arm starts to shake then get on your knees.

If you’re me you suddenly realize this video has music when Staying Alive starts blaring in the background while you’re in plank.  Funny.

Like most of these exercises, she repeats the overhead extensions and kickbacks.  I use the same weights for both sets. 

It feels like triceps should be done but they aren’t.  There are two more tricep exercises that she does…and then repeats.

Triceps Dips

She does these on the floor.  There are 24 in both sets.

Triceps Push-Ups

Thankfully, all of these are done on your knees so you have no reason not to do them all.  There are only 8 but she goes slow so they last longer (ugh).

LEGS

Sumo Plié Squats

There are no weights for these.  You have to do a little jump/lift while you’re in a plié.  Your legs will burn and tremble because there are a bunch of them.  Everyone is burning and trembling.  You’re not alone, I promise.

Outer Thigh

She does walks with the loop around her ankles.  You can tie your long band around your ankles and hold the extra in your hands if you don’t have a loop.  Don’t cheat.  Make these big.

CORE

Grab an 8 lb. weight and your mat for abs.  Have a 5 lb. weight close by for the overhead press sit-ups.  If your arms are fried at this point you may want to use the 5 instead.  This move is tricky and you risk hitting yourself in the face if you can’t control the weight.

She does some creative ab moves that are really effective.  She also does some traditional crunches that seem to go on forever.  I’d swear my abs are bleeding at one point.  Just keep going.

Stretch

Do the stretch.  You need it.  Flexibility is important for your overall fitness and helps to prevent injuries.

Now What?

Congrats!  You’re a badass.  Flex Train is hard.

When you’re done you’ll feel bulked up to the size of a small refrigerator (you’re actually stronger but not bigger, I promise).  You’ve just completed a routine that will get you sculpted and sexy.

You can find Flex Train on Amazon, Cathe’s website, and over at Collage Video.

And you can find every single Cathe Friedrich workout (including Flex Train) with a membership to Cathe on Demand.  It’s how I access all of Cathe’s programs these days.

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

Thanks for reading!