Insanity-Plyometric Cardio Circuit

This is pretty much the first DVD in the set and boy was I surprised how hard a 42 minute long workout was.  The Insanity workout begins with a warm up that  consists of 3 minute intervals.  These intervals are supposed to get your heart pumping and in the first 3 minutes I was pumping.  You warm up for 9 total minutes and each round consists of  jogging in place, Jumping Jacks, Heisman’s, Heisman 123, Butt Kicks, High Knees and Mummy Kicks.  You can easily understand a few but a Heisman 123 is going back and forth and then going into a quick Heisman pose.  Mummy kicks are kind of a joke but still decent cardio.  Start with arms straight out and as you shuffle your feet you have to cross your hands at the same time.  After all is done you get a quick 30 second break and holy crap that was just the warm up. 

So honestly before I go any further Insanity is not a joke people it’s the real deal.  I thought P90X was challenging but Insanity is challenging because there is a lot of non stop cardio involved.  So after the 30 second break the stretching begins and for 7 minutes it is a much needed break.  While stretching it’s good to have a towel because your constantly dripping sweat! Kind of gross!  The stretching seems to be the same in the first set of workouts and reminds me of Yoga X from the P90X workouts.  You are now almost half way through and as the stretching seems a little tedious I enjoy it as it is somewhat relaxing.  Shaun T gives a quick 30 second and then its time once again to go into the interval training part of the Insanity workout.  Get ready for another 23 minutes of crazy cardio!

A pretty typical Insanity workout consists of a two part interval training and in the second half you start your 2 minutes of Suicide Drills, Power Squats, Mountain Climbers and Ski Jumps.  I think we have all done a suicide drill and high school or college may bring some of those memories back.  That’s why you’re here right?  To get back into that college or high school shape.  I would say out of these drills the least effective for me was the ski jumps but if you focus more on the core it will be more effective.  My favorite is the Insanity power squat because it keeps my butt in check with my pant size.  It sounds like something a chick would say but after losing 28 pounds I don’t want to give it back.  When you start to think you’re last interval is done he surprises you with another minute of switch feet and football sprints.  I have this cool new phone called the “Incredible” and it is so easy to take video and download it so I have a short video below of this exact interval.   

So remember that you do 3 rounds of the intervals above with a 30 second break only at the end of the 7 minutes.  So by now I guarantee you’re hurting and probably already pushed the pause button once.  The first few times through this workout I couldn’t finish and  as I am writing this I can now say I can finish it.  I am in my recovery week which is week 5 and only 4 more weeks to go baby!

I hope you took advantage of your 30 second break cause this next round is so hard that the people in the video are screaming in pain and stopping.  Please don’t let this scare you as you will overcome this issue. The last 9 minutes are going to be brutal so just try and keep your own pace. 

The last intervals consist of Basketball jumps, level 1 drills(4 push ups, then run it out for 8 seconds), Ski Abs and In and outs.  Why is this so damn hard?  Well try the level 1 drills for 30 seconds.  Start in the standing position then jump down for 4 push ups and then in that stance run for 8 seconds.  Oh wait then there is ski abs which is kicking you’re legs in the cradle position from left, center, right.  At this point your arms are in so much pain that you begin to do knee push ups.  Should I even explain In and Outs?  Well stay in the push up position and get ready to kick your legs out then in crunching your abs.  I know it sounds as painful as it looks in the video above.  The funny thing is I didn’t tape myself in this round because I still struggle.  If you can still breathe at this point congrats your almost done so take a quick 30 second water break and get ready for  jabs, cross jacks ,upper cuts and open hand jabs.  The extra round reminds me of kenpo X so if you have done that workout then you know whats coming.  I believe there is 3 minutes of stretching but I haven’t had the energy to do it yet.  At this point you’re feeling like a rock star but extremely exhausted.  Remember to drink your recovery drink and use your shakeology to get all the goods in you.  Good luck and if you have made it this far then click below and buy it today.