Customer Reviews

Cathe Friedrich's Slow & Heavy (3 workouts on one DVD)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This series is unlike anything else that I have or have seen anywhere else. Cathe Friedrich has come up with a workout series that is designed to build maximum muscular strength, using a slower lifting style. This series is great to use if you have reached any fitness plateaus or just want something different to shake things up. This series is broken up into 3 workouts, legs & shoulders, chest & back, and triceps & biceps. Many of the exercises are done in 3 sets of 8 reps, using a 6-2 count. Training in this manner eliminates most of the momentum, which is great for building strength. Each workout also has it's own warmup and cooldown/stretch, plus they clock in at around an hour. For this workout you will need a barbell and assorted dumbells, which can be substituted if you do not have a barbell. A step is also used for some of the incline upper body work.

The first workout is legs & shoulders, starting with a warmup then moving into leg work. You will warmup or pre-exhaust your legs with a set of front lunges before moving into 3 sets of squats, then you will do a set of reverse lunges, preparing you for 3 sets of static lunges. Side lunges are next, again preparing you for a some heavy plie squat work before finishing out with some weighted calf work. Shoulders follow the leg work, gone are the pre-exhausting sets though, just strictly slow/heavy for this and the rest of the upper body workouts. For shoulders you will do front raises, side lateral raises, rear deltoid raises and seated overhead presses. Finishing out this set are a set of side lying external rotations which target the rotator cuff.

The second workout is for chest and back, for chest you will see mainly bench presses and pec flies, but both are done on a flat surface first, then in an incline position. Finishing out this muscle group are a set of slow/heavy pushups. The back exercises include double arm rows, pullovers and deadlifts, plus some non weighted exercises such as supermans and plank work. The planks are tough as they are held for quite a well, they are done in three different positions, though Cathe will give modifications for those who need them.

The final workout is for triceps & biceps. The tricep work consists of seated overhead presses, lying tricep extensions, kickbacks and tricep dips, the dips are especially tough after all the preceding work. For biceps you will do tradition dumbell curls, hammer curls, barbell curls and then some forearm work with barbell wrist curls and reverse curls.

Overall this is a great set if you are looking for something different, it does take a lot of mental focus as you have to concentrate much more on what you are doing. Cathe herself even recommends that this series is done in shorter rotations because it is so mentally taxing. Cathe does a excellent job instructing, she is great at form pointers and well as showing modifications and alternate options. This series is a little older than Cathe's current offerings (2001) but I think it's one of her best. 5 stars for this one.

If you want a good workout - you got it with this. This is tough and challenging but WILL give you results for sure.
There are three super challenging workouts here and each targets specific body area using heavier weights than normal, but slow repetitive movements. This is done to really fatigue the muscles and make them work harder. You aren't using momentum but instead concentrating on intensity and that's how you get the results. There is a Legs and Shoulders workout, a Triceps and Biceps one and a Chest and Back. There is no way possible you won't get results if you do this often. It is tough but it's worth it and worth every penny spent. She is an outgoing and motivating instructor and you are bound to love this dvd.

This DVD is for anyone who's looking to break through a fitness plateau. Throw this video in for a couple weeks and see instant results! I originally followed this series on Fit TV, but made my husband buy me the DVD for a birthday gift. I personally saw results after only a few run throughs. The excercises are incredibly easy and done so slowly that even novices should have few problems. Cathe talks you through the entire process, offering advice and encouragement as you go. She also includes a killer ab routine that never fails to leave me groaning. Her slow counts make you aware of your form and eliminate swinging the weights to get through all those reps. I love this series!

Teedums already gave a fabulous breakdown of each of the three workouts, so I'll just add that out of the many weight-lifting DVD's I own, this series and Cathe F's Gym Styles series are my favorites -- Cathe makes weight-lifting fun and enjoyable.

Although Cathe recommends doing these workouts for three weeks at a time because of their intensity, I've gotten my best results doing them for four to six weeks, with two or three days of cardio thrown in. The Slow and Heavy series has given me more strength and definition, and I can also feel a "hardness" to my muscles after doing these workouts for an extended period.

Some people have complained about the slower pace of this series, but I really enjoy the slow pacing since it allows Cathe time to give wonderful form pointers. If you're at all worried about this, though, you might try previewing some clips of the workouts (which you can find on-line) to see if you'll enjoy these.

Cathe F. is my favorite instructor, and the Slow and Heavy series delivers great results!

I had never heard of Cathe Friedrich before I saw her on FitTV. I liked her cuing and personality right away. My husband used to work as a trainer and I have learned a lot from him, and on my own, about exercising correctly. I think Cathe is an excellent trainer and she makes me confident that if I follow her routines,I will get great benefits, while not hurting myself. I had only gotten back into exercising seriously a short time ago, and I love weight training, but I didn't want a workout that was too straining and I also didn't want any added jumping around for cardio. This video seems perfect. You can be a beginner or advanced and still do the exercises, all you need is less weight. There is no jumping cardio included! Be aware though,this is not your twenty minute exercise video, it's long.

The slow and heavy method of strength training really works! You lift to a slow 6 count.

Why I loved this workout:

**it's a fun and intense way to mix up your strength training. After all, there are just so many ways you can do a bicep curl.

**the slow pace really allows me to focus on the muscle being worked and to focus on my form.

**my muscles really feel worked out afterwards.

**there aren't a lot of equipment changes, like in so many of Cathe's other workouts.

Some things to note about this workout:

**it is not for beginners. Sure, you can lift lighter weights than what Cathe uses, but this workout requires so much concentration that it can be overwhelming for beginners.

**you really have to enjoy strength training to like these workouts. This workout is so unlike Cathe's usual endurance, fast-paced weight training. Her STS series is most similar to this. This slow and heavy training method is intense and requires a lot of determination.

**Cathe doesn't always mention what weights she's using. I know we're supposed to lift what's best for us, but it's helpful to know what Cathe is using for a guide.

**Cathe doesn't count the reps out loud. Sometimes she'll let us know when we have two more reps left. It's hard to count when you're focusing on lifting the weights slowly so the sets can seem endless.

**Cathe talks a lot during the breaks. There's about a minute break between sets, which can seem like a long time if you're more used to endurance-type workouts. If you're truly lifting heavy and focusing, you really need these long breaks.

**put your ego aside. I am an advanced exerciser and I couldn't come close to using the same weights as Cathe for the upper body exercises.

I would highly recommend this series for anyone who is serious about strength training and who wants to mix up their program.

She talks a LOT and sometimes hollers during each exercise, and sometimes doesn't tell you how many reps your about to do on each side. The music is really annoying. She also makes it seem very hard, which is a little distracting. I like The Firm videos better. You actually feel sexier after doing the Firm videos, and isn't that kind of what it's about?