What are Cathe Friedrich’s Fit Tower Workouts?  (Barre routines? Yoga? Or Pilates?) Stay tuned and I’ll give you all the information you need before you buy/try this program.

“The Fit Tower workouts include elements of yoga, ballet, Pilates and traditional strength exercises that will keep you both challenged and engaged as you advance through the program.”—Cathe Friedrich, Fit Tower series

The Fit Tower series is the latest set of workouts by Cathe Friedrich.

If you’re like me then you get pretty excited every time Cathe Friedrich releases a new routine.

It’s because she’s done an incredible job of building a trusting relationship with her fans.

We all know at this point that Cathe Friedrich doesn’t produce junk.  Every single program she’s ever made has been a fun challenge.

And the Cathe Fit Tower workouts are no exception.

Now, I know you’ve got to be wondering if you really need that fit tower to do these routines. 

I’m going to tell you that as well as what (other) equipment you might need, how long each workout is and everything else you need to know about the Cathe Fit Tower series before you buy.

Here we go…

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What are the workouts in the Cathe Friedrich Fit Tower series?

There are 4 routines in the Fit Tower Workout System series—Boot Camp, Legs, Glutes & Core, Total Body, and Bonus Abs.

The style of every workout has a focus on sculpting and shaping.

The only program with a true cardio component is Boot Camp.

There’s no choreography to learn in any of the workouts.

Each video has a ton of premix routines included*.  (A premix is an extra workout using the main routine as the backbone.)

*I haven’t done every single premix yet so when I talk about the calories I burn and the equipment you’ll need I’ll be referring to the main workout on each video.

Each Fit Tower workout is fun.  I wouldn’t put any of them in a special category of the ‘funnest’ workouts I’ve ever done but it’ll never be a drag to do one.

Cathe stays true to her advanced workout style in each of the programs.  You’ll be challenged with each of these workouts.

The main workout is under an hour in each video.  However, the premix libraries offer shorter (timesaver) and longer (over an hour) versions of each program.

The crew in the Fit Tower series includes a few you’ll recognize (Jai and Amanda) and some new faces (Jen and Julie).

Fit Tower Bonus Abs

There are 7 exercises in this 12 minute routine.

Cathe uses a medium-resistance band and the Fit Tower in the first 3 exercises.

She uses the Fit Tower in 6 (out of the 7) exercises.

DO YOU NEED A FIT TOWER TO DO FIT TOWER BONUS ABS?

Yes, you really do.

I always have a hard time modifying all of these exercises on the fly.  It can be done but it takes a little ingenuity to decide how to do the modification on a few of them.

It’d be much easier to have a Fit Tower to do this routine (than to try and modify almost every exercise).

MY RECOMMENDATION FOR FIT TOWER BONUS ABS…

Don’t purchase the video by itself.

You can find all of the Bonus Ab exercises in various premix routines included in the programs below, so use your money buying one of them, instead.

Fit Tower Boot Camp

Boot Camp is 51 minutes long (remember that’s the main routine, there are longer and shorter options of Boot Camp in the premix section).

If you’re looking for a Fit Tower workout that’s not just sculpting then this one (Boot Camp) is for you.

Out of the four Fit Tower workouts, you’re going to burn the most calories doing this one.

There are 6 rounds of exercises.

In each round you’ll start with a cardio blast and then do a lower body, upper body and finally a core-focused exercise.

CALORIES: I burn about 402 calories doing the main program on Boot Camp.

EQUIPMENT: Cathe uses a mat, a medium-resistance closed loop (click on the link to see one), a medium-resistance exercise band (click the link to see one like I use) and the Fit Tower in this workout.

DO YOU NEED A FIT TOWER TO DO BOOT CAMP?

The only exercises you can’t replicate (in the Boot Camp routine) without the tower are the pull-ups.

In round 4 of Boot Camp she does 2 different styles of pull-ups using the fit tower.

I don’t have a fit tower but I have a pull-up bar (CLICK the link to see one like mine).

If you have a pull-up bar (and don’t have a fit tower) then you can use it for the pull-ups.

Fit Tower Boot Camp is an incredible routine (my favorite of the set) but I wouldn’t buy a fit tower just to do those pull-ups.*

MY RECOMMENDATION FOR FIT TOWER BOOT CAMP…

Buy Boot Camp but invest in a closed exercise loop and exercise band, rather than the Fit Tower.

Fit Tower Legs, Glutes & Core

Legs, Glutes & Core is 47 minutes long.

This is how Cathe Friedrich describes Legs, Glutes and Core:

“This high rep, high pulse lower body and core routine will include elements of ballet, Pilates and yoga to tighten and shape your legs, glutes and core while also focusing on posture and endurance.  This routine starts with standing and side kneeling exercises and then moves to the floor for some tough core to strengthen your center.” –Cathe Friedrich

That explanation tells you everything you need to know about this routine—there are 3 sections (standing, side-kneeling and floor work) and every exercise is a high-pulse sculpting move.

CALORIES: I burn about 165 calories when I do Legs, Glutes & Core.

EQUIPMENT: Cathe uses the a mat, the Fit Tower, a medium-resistance exercise band and a medium-resistance loop to do this workout.

DO YOU NEED A FIT TOWER TO DO LEGS, GLUTES & CORE…

There are 3 places I have to modify the Legs, Glutes & Core workout (because I don’t have a Fit Tower).

This sit-up exercise she does called a roll down/roll up criss-cross.

I just do V-up crunches while she does the criss cross sit up exercise.

Also, I modify the side-kneeling exercises to a standing position.  Here’s how Cathe does them:

I stay standing and do the same exercises just fine.

I tried them kneeling over on my aerobic step (with my arm on the step and my knee on the floor) but it hurt my knee so I just stand for this entire segment (in fact, Cathe actually says to stand up and do the exercises if your knee is hurting, but she doesn’t say that until halfway into the set).

And finally, during the core section Cathe does glute squeezes with her heels on the tower like this:

But I put my heels on my exercise platform (or just on the floor).

In summary, you don’t need a Fit Tower for Legs, Glutes & Core.  In fact, you could do this entire routine with no equipment and still get a pretty good workout done.

Cathe only uses the long band for a few core exercises.  If you don’t have a tower then you can modify with the band or just not use any exercise tools at all.

MY RECOMMENDATION FOR FIT TOWER LEGS, GLUTES & CORE…

Go ahead and buy Fit Tower Legs, Glutes and Core if you like doing barre routines that focus on sculpting but you really don’t want to invest in any equipment.

Fit Tower Total Body

Fit Tower Total Body is 51 minutes long.

This is how Cathe Friedrich describes Fit Tower Total Body:

“This routine will surely put your muscles to the test.  Prepare yourself for an intense mix of single-focused heavy exercises, lighter compound movements and resistance band bonus burns to keep those muscles guessing and working hard.”–Cathe Friedrich

Because Fit Tower Total Body has exercises with heavy weight done at a faster tempo, as well as several compound exercises, the routine will raise your heart rate and burn more calories than the Legs, Glutes & Core video but not as many calories as Boot Camp. 

CALORIES: I burn about 314 calories when I do the Total Body routine.

EQUIPMENT: Cathe uses a mat, the Fit Tower, a medium-resistance band, a barbell*, various DB’s* (dumbbells) and a step with 3 risers under each side to do this workout.

*Barbell weight Cathe uses-25, 30 and 45 lbs.

*DB’s Cathe uses-8, 12, 15, 20 and 25 lbs.

DO YOU NEED A FIT TOWER TO DO FIT TOWER TOTAL BODY?

No, you don’t have to have a Fit Tower to do the Total Body routine.

The only exercise you will have to completely modify (if you don’t have a tower) will be the pull-ups.  She does 2 different kinds back to back.

Here’s how she uses the bar to do them:

MY RECOMMENDATION FOR FIT TOWER TOTAL BODY…

Honestly, this is a great routine.  If you have the DB’s Cathe uses then you can do every exercise (except the pull-ups) using no other equipment.  I wouldn’t recommend that anyone invest in a Fit Tower just to do the Fit Tower Total Body workout.

HOW MUCH IS A FIT TOWER?

While writing this post I discovered that the Fit Tower isn’t sold on Cathe.com.  You have to buy the Fit Tower direct from the manufacturer or on Amazon.

As of the time of writing this post the Fit Tower System (the unit, a mat, 3 DVD’s and a resistance band) was priced at $199.95.  (I didn’t see a way to purchase the Fit Tower unit by itself.)

CLICK HERE to see what the latest price is (of the Fit Tower System).  The manufacturer also offers a payment option of 4 installments.

*The 3 DVD’s that come with the Fit Tower System are actually not sold on Cathe’s site (but you can buy all 10 videos on the Fit Tower site).  The additional videos sold only by the manufacturer look like this:

DO YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FIT TOWER WORKOUT SYSTEM?

Cathe Friedrich’s Fit Tower FAQ’s

FAQ section from the Fit Tower site

NOW WHAT?

If you love Cathe Friedrich but don’t want to purchase a Fit Tower then I’d purchase the Legs, Glutes & Core video.

TIP-If you like this routine then you’ll also love Turbo Barre by Cathe Friedrich.

And compare prices at:

Cathe’s site

Fit Tower site

Collage Video

If you love Cathe Friedrich AND you own dumbbells and a resistance band then I’d definitely purchase the Boot Camp AND Total Body workouts from the Fit Tower series.

Compare prices for Boot Camp at:

Cathe’s site

Fit Tower site

Collage Video

And Compare prices for Total Body at:

Cathe’s site

Fit Tower site

Collage Video

The last option for getting access to ALL 4 FIT TOWER WORKOUTS I describe in this post is via a membership to Cathe on Demand.  That’s how I access them.  I love it.

You can learn more about Cathe on Demand here.

Thanks for reading!