Cathe Friedrich Reviews

A Review of Ramped Up Cardio and Weights from Cathe Friedrich Live

December 1, 2016

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Hello!

Cathe Friedrich calls this routine ‘random’ but you’ll call it really hard (and effective).

Nine rounds of compound exercises with weights.

45 minutes.

Here’s a peek at Ramped Up Cardio and Weights:

I’m going to tell you what equipment you’re going to need and exactly what you’ll be doing in Cathe Live Ramped Up Cardio and Weights.

You’re Welcome.

Tip-If you’ve just tried to find this routine on Amazon let me help you out.  To access Ramped Up Cardio and Weights you’ll need a membership to Cathe Live.

If you want to know more about Cathe Live I recommend you read, How to Sign Up for Cathe Live or Cathe on Demand.  It’s completely worth signing up (I recommend you try Cathe On Demand + Cathe Live) for at least a month to try out as many workouts as you can.  (If you don’t love it you can always cancel after 30 days.)

Let’s get started…

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.

a screen shot of Cathe Friedrich doing the Ramped Up Cardio and Weights routine

Instructor-Cathe Friedrich

Category-Cardio + Strength

Equipment

10, 12, 15 lb. dumbbells

a mat (if you do push-ups on your knees)

Length-45 minutes

HRM-294 calories

Choreography-Simple

My rating- A

TIP-The right dumbbells make a difference!  Here’s a link to my favorite dumbbells.  And check out A Woman’s Guide to Buying Dumbbells to find out exactly why I love them.

Important Stuff about Ramped Up Cardio & Weights

Cathe describes this workout as ‘random’ and having an ‘unspecified format’.  Don’t panic when she says that.  There is a pattern to this workout. 

There are 9 rounds.  Each round has a short cardio section followed by upper and/or lower body strength training with dumbbells.

Most of the sculpting work is compound weight training where you use more than one muscle group at a time.  This is harder, more efficient and burns more calories.

There’s no ab section but you’ll be engaging your core for all that compound weight work so there’s no body part that gets left out of this routine.

*I’ve done Ramped Up Cardio & Weights twice and had technical difficulties both times (I use Bluetooth to stream the workout from my iPad to my TV and somehow they didn’t pair correctly.  I could hear Cathe talking about each exercise in real time but my video was a few seconds late so it looked like a badly dubbed foreign film).  I’m going to assume this issue has something to do with my personal tech equipment and internet connection but I guess it could be this recording so I thought I’d mention it.

Cathe doesn’t always tell you what size weight she’s picking up to do the exercises.  I’ll tell you exactly what you need for each move but this cheat sheet will help, too (for every Live Cathe Friedrich workout).

Cathe Live Dumbbell reference guide

Warm-Up

The warm-up is a little over 6 minutes long.  The moves are simple and low-impact.

Main Workout (The Exercises in Ramped Up Cardio & Weights)

ROUND ONE

Cardio

Jack/Jab

Jumping Jacks with Wide Squat Touch-the-Floor

Long Reach Lunges

*Now you understand what she meant by ‘unspecified format’

Sculpting

Grab 12 lb. DB’s for Lateral Walks.  There are 32 reps.  You’ll change direction after every four.

Rear Delt Flys are next.  Keep your 12 lb. DB’s.  Cathe does 3 sets (10, 10, and 8 reps). The tempo is a little fast for me to keep good control of the weight but try not to bounce or swing.

ROUND TWO

Cardio

High/Low Jabs with a Vertical Jump

Squat Digs

Sculpting

Rear Lunges with Bicep Curls (this is your first compound exercise) using 10 lb. DB’s.  Cathe prompts you for pattern changes. 

The camera-man wanders away from Cathe during this part so watch her team and just listen to her cues (I don’t think her camera-man has ever done a workout video.  He always pans away from Cathe at the moment she changes the exercise.  Bad timing.)

ROUND THREE

Cardio

Flying Angels with Alternating Front Kicks.  Thankfully there are only 8 of these.  (I’d swear she says ‘up next are front kicks’.  I never hear her mention flying angels so I’m always sad when I realize those are part of this combo. *Flying angels are hard.  I don’t love them.)

Sculpting

Squats with an Overhead Press using 10 lb. DB’s. There are pattern and tempo changes for this exercise.  This set lasts a while so keep your core tight so you don’t hurt your back.

ROUND FOUR

Cardio

Knee/Kick/Jump, Jump (just watch her, I don’t know a good way to explain this exercise)

Full disclosure-I screw this up every time.  It’s annoying.

Sculpting

Front Raise with one 15 lb. DB

Static Lunges with one 15 lb. DB

Repeat Front Raise with one 12 lb. DB

ROUND FIVE

Cardio

Burpees with a Jump

The first set is 8.  The second set has 4 reps.

Sculpting

Plié Squats with Upright Row with 12 lb. DB’s

Cathe will prompt you for the changing arm patterns while the legs keep going on the first set.  On the second set you take out the plié squat and just do the upright row.

Forward Alternating Diagonal Lunges with 12 lb. DB’s

There are 20 reps (10 on each leg)

ROUND SIX

Cardio

3 Rope Climbs with an Elbow Strike

Cathe walks around the class while this is going on and loses count.   There are 10 reps on the first side and 8 on the other.

Sculpting

Overhead Tricep Extensions with 12 lb. DB’s (10 reps)

Kickbacks with 10 lb. DB’s (12 reps in set one and two)

ROUND SEVEN

Cardio

Explosive Lunges with one 10 lb. DB

Keep your core really tight on these (or you’ll hurt your back)

Sculpting

Diagonal Wood Chops with one 10 lb. DB

ROUND EIGHT

Cardio

Mountain Climbers (3 sets)

Squats (between sets of Mountain Climbers)

Sculpting

Marching Sumos with one 15 lb. DB

There are about 48 little pulsing marches.  You know how to do this.  Stay low the whole set.

Grab 12 lb. DB’s for a Bicep Hammer Curl with and Overhead Tricep Extension

The tempo is really slow for this one.  Don’t get ahead of Cathe.  You work your muscles in a different way when you change tempo.

ROUND NINE (about 10 minutes left)

Cardio

Lateral Squat Thrusts

Forward/Back Attack

I thought I knew every exercise Cathe had in her arsenal but this one is new to me.  Tip-You stay in place to do the hopping chop.

Sculpting

Side Bends with one 15 lb. DB

There are 12 reps on the first side and 16 on the second (you can go back and add 4 reps to the first side later)

One-Arm Lateral Row with the 15 lb. DB

There are 20 reps on each side in the first set. She throws in one more set of 12 on each side when you think you’re done.

You’ll move right into the row from the side bends.  Listen to Cathe’s cues.  She changes the position of the arm on the rows.  And she jumps immediately into the side bends on the other side with no break after the rows so be ready for that.

Front Swing with a Side Pull with one 10 lb. DB

(My hands get tangled on this exercise. Sometimes I have room for both hands on the weight and then some days it’s like my hands are suddenly two giant clumsy mitts.)  Be ready for a set of slow side pulls (no swing) when you think she’s done.

Plank Walk Push-Ups (Finale Exercise)

There are 8 sets of the push-up pairs (so 16 reps)

Then 12 single push-ups to finish the workout

Cool Down/Stretch

There’s a short (but good) stretch at the end.  You’re not allowed to skip this.

Now What??

I love doing workouts that combine cardio and weight work.  There’s nothing better to make you feel like you’ve done it all.  Cathe does a good job of packing a ton of exercises into this 45 minutes and you don’t need to pull out a lot of equipment.

I definitely recommend Ramped Up Cardio and Weights if you’re looking for a total body workout with simple choreography and minimal equipment.

And if you’re loving your Cathe Live or Cathe On Demand + Live Membership but still have some questions about how to get the most out of it then here’s a helpful post:

How to Use Your Cathe Live and Cathe On Demand + Live Membership

Thanks for being here!

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