Cardiovascular Training

07

Jul

FitnessDTV Effective Exercises – Level 1 Drills

By Aaron Potts Posted in Body Weight Exercises, Cardiovascular Training, Exercise, Exercise Database, FitnessDTV, Insanity, Upper Body Exercises / No Comments »

In this edition of FitnessDTV, the effective exercise we are demonstrating is called Level 1 Drills, and it is from the Insanity 60-Day Total Body Conditioning Program .

Level 1 Drills are a multi-stage movement that include upper body work, core work, and cardiovascular conditioning. As always, proper form is key to getting the most out of the movement. Even if you are really tired – and you WILL be during Insanity – do your best to get the most out of the movement by keeping your form as much as possible.

Click on through to learn more about the incredible Insanity 60-Day Total Body Conditioning Program. Insanity consists completely of body weight exercises, so you can do it anywhere, and you do not need any equipment at all.

04

Nov

Review of Insanity – Max Interval Plyo

By Aaron Potts Posted in Cardiovascular Training, Exercise, Fitness Programs, Insanity, Interval Training, Plyometric Exercises, Weight Loss / No Comments »

Save 25% or even 50% off of Insanity by clicking right here!

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

In this on-going review of Insanity blog series, the truth behind the Insanity 60-day weight loss program is revealed with a play-by-play description of what the program is really like – and more importantly – if Insanity really works!

The Insanity Max Interval Plyo workout is a combination of hardcore cardiovascular training, resistance exercises, and, of course, plyometrics. Done properly, this workout hits you hard, and it keeps you directly on track for great results.

Insanity – Max Interval PlyoThe Max Interval Plyo routine is made up of two full interval sets, as well as one final set at the end of the workout that is shorter than the other two sets. Considering the raw intensity and challenge-level of the exercises in the first two interval sets, however, having that shorter set at the end of the workout does not in ANY way detract from the effectiveness of this routine.

Circuit #1

Each of the first two interval circuits in the Max Interval Plyo video contain 4 exercises that are done for 45 seconds each without a break, and then you get a 30-second break after doing all 4 exercises back to back. That 4 exercise/30-second break series is repeated three times during the circuit, and then a “bonus” exercise follows the third series, and it is done for 1 minute.

In the first circuit, you use your legs – especially your quadriceps (top of the legs) – during every single exercise. Most of the exercises include at least a squatting movement of some kind, if not a leap into the air as well.

If you’ve never done that type of plyometric training, the bottom line is that it is REALLY intense, it cranks your heart rate up quickly, and then keeps it there. That type of intensity really gets the job done when it comes to weight loss and cardiovascular fitness, however, so it is worth the effort.

Circuit #2

The consistently high heart rate continues during the second circuit, although the upper body is hit quite a bit harder in Circuit #2 than in Circuit #1. There are two push up exercises in Circuit #2 that will push the limits on anyone’s ability to keep going, even if they are really good at push ups.

Again, however, don’t let the intensity of it all scare you off. The RESULTS that people are looking for from Insanity come because of these types of high-tempo, high-intensity exercises. No one loses weight by kicking back and doing workouts that don’t challenge whatever their personal level of fitness is.

However, that being said, even during a program as challenging as Insanity, the responsibility to exercise at a proper level of intensity falls to each individual person. Anyone is capable of over-doing it or under-doing it, regardless of what the people in the exercise video are doing.

Get with your Beachbody Coach for some free advice if you’re not sure what to do.

Circuit #3

The final circuit in the Max Interval Plyo workout is a combination of 4 exercises that you only do one time. There are 2 exercises that are more geared towards muscular training, and 2 that are primarily going to keep your heart rate up in the fat-burning zone.

One cool thing about this circuit is that the first exercise is going to be brand-new to most people, so Shaun T takes a full minute or so to explain it. During that time you get to catch your breath, which – up to this point – you haven’t been able to do during the entire workout!

Conclusion

The Max Interval Plyo workout is basically “intensity personified”. It’s hard, it’s intense, and it pulls no punches. You are expected to work hard, and the layout of the routine gives you plenty of opportunity to put your money where you mouth is if you think you are in pretty good shape.

As with all of the Insanity workouts, you could slack off if you really wanted to, and no one would know but you. On the other hand, you could DIG DEEPER, as Shaun T is fond of saying, and you will see some amazing weight loss and physical fitness results.

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03

Nov

Review of Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning

By Aaron Potts Posted in Cardiovascular Training, Exercise, Fitness Programs, Insanity, Weight Loss / No Comments »

Save 25% or even 50% off of Insanity by clicking right here!

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

In this on-going review of Insanity blog series, the truth behind the Insanity 60-day weight loss program is revealed with a play-by-play description of what the program is really like – and more importantly – if Insanity really works!

The Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning video is an awesome cardiovascular workout, with plenty of weight loss potential, and it really gives you the chance to both realize and extend the limits of your present level of physical fitness. The Insanity 60-day weight loss program is primarily a cardiovascular program overall, although it includes plenty of muscle building movements as well.

The Difference

Insanity – Max Cardio ConditioningThe difference between the cardio conditioning workouts and the other Insanity videos is primarily that all of the exercises are done back to back with very little rest in between. In the circuit training workouts, several exercises are done, a brief rest is given, and then the exercise session continues.

The Max Cardio Conditioning routine starts out with a full 11-minute warm up followed by a 5-minute stretch before diving into the rest of the workout. Take advantage of the warm up and the stretch, because once the stretch routine is done, it is NON-STOP work for the entire rest of this video!

The Exercises

There are a total of 21 different exercises that are included in the workout portion of the Max Cardio Conditioning routine, and all of them are done for a full 1 minute. During the Insanity circuit training videos, most of the exercises are only done for 45 seconds, so the additional 15 seconds per exercise in this video immediately cranks up the intensity.

In addition, there are several exercises that are done first on one side of the body, then on the other. This adds the benefit of not only having more total time spent burning through bodyfat, but the one-sided movements also help you to improve your balance and agility, even while you are extremely fatigued from the other exercises.

The hardest part about the Max Cardio Conditioning workout is not getting any real breaks to speak of once the warm up and stretching part of the video is done. The Insanity exercises are hard – that is beyond debate. They get your heart rate up, and you sweat profusely. It can be a challenge during this workout to keep on going without being able to take 30 seconds to wipe the sweat off your face, and to get a drink.

On the other hand, not taking a break is one of the reasons why the Max Cardio Conditioning workout is so effective for weight loss and increased physical fitness. If you took a break every few minutes, you wouldn’t get nearly as much out of it.

The best way to deal with the non-stop action during this workout is to simply grab a quick break whenever you truly need one, just as the video advises you to do. Don’t milk it, though! Grab a drink, wipe the sweat off, and then get back to work quickly.

Conclusion

The Max Cardio Conditioning routine is a very effective part of the overall Insanity program. It is challenging, it burns a lot of calories, and it enhances your fitness level and cardiovascular endurance, which means that you’ll be able to work harder, and ultimately see more weight loss.

In addition, the format of the workout is quite a bit different than the format of most of the other Insanity videos, and the break from the “norm” is a nice change of pace, but without sacrificing results in the process.

Buy Insanity Now!

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Become a Beachbody Coach and save 25% off of Insanity and all Beachbody products, supplements, and equipment!

12

Oct

Review of Insanity – Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs

By Aaron Potts Posted in Abdominal Exercises, Cardiovascular Training, Core Training, Exercise, Fitness Programs, Insanity, Interval Training, Weight Loss / 13 Comments »

Save 25% or even 50% off of Insanity by clicking right here!

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

In this on-going review of Insanity blog series, the truth behind the Insanity 60-day weight loss program is revealed with a play-by-play description of what the program is really like – and more importantly – if Insanity really works!

Insanity Pure Cardio
and Cardio AbsMost of the Insanity workout routines consist of a similar and very effective format: Warm-up, stretch, an intense interval training circuit routine, and then a quick rest before continuing with on-going interval training circuits for the entire workout. That format repeats until the end of each workout, and then a thorough – and very welcome! – cool-down stretch finishes out the exercise session.

In the Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs routine, however, the format is quite a bit different, and quite the challenge as well.

The routine starts out with a warm-up and stretch, just as the other DVD’s do, but once the stretches are done and the actual exercises start, they never stop until the entire workout is done.

Most of the Insanity workouts are based on high-intensity interval training followed by brief periods of rest, back to high-intensity, then rest, back to high-intensity, and so on. It is that “reverse interval training” that makes Insanity different than any other home workout program on the market right now.

In the Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs routine, however, once the high-intensity starts, there are NO BREAKS of any kind. You just keep “pushing through” as Shaun T calls it, and you don’t stop exercising until you get to the cool-down stretch at the end.

The period of time that you do this constant exercise is approximately 20-minutes, which doesn’t seem like much when you see that number in black and white. However, this is the Insanity 60-day weight loss program that we are talking about, not some mamby-pamby, ineffective workout program. The Insanity exercises are all challenging, effective movements, and they all share a similar trait:

The better you are at the movements, the harder they are and the more benefit you get from doing them!

In other words, Insanity isn’t one of those routines that you can “conquer,” and then have to move on to something more challenging later on down the road. People don’t conquer Insanity – they survive it!

Cardio Abs

The Cardio Abs routine is actually a separate workout than the Pure Cardio routine, but if you follow the Insanity workout schedule – and you should – then the Cardio Abs workout is done immediately following the Pure Cardio routine.

Pure Cardio is just about 40-minutes long, and the Cardio Abs routine is about 16-minutes long. The total exercise time on the day that you do Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs will be just under 1 hour.

The Cardio Abs routine itself is a good combination of intense cardiovascular movements along with effective abdominal exercises. The ab movements are meant to target not just your “visible” abdominal muscles, but the inner muscles as well, collectively making the workout a core training workout, not just an ab routine.

For anyone who has done the Ab Ripper X routine in P90X, the Cardio Abs routine is not as difficult from a purely abdominal training perspective. However, the combination of intense cardiovascular training along with intense ab and core movements makes Cardio Abs every bit as challenging as Ab Ripper X, just in a different way.

Conclusion

Overall, the Insanity Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs workout routine is at the same time a welcome break from the format of the other workouts, yet it is also just as challenging as the other routines.

There are no Insanity workouts that don’t leave you dripping with sweat and feeling a serious sense of accomplishment, and in that regard, the Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs routine gets the job done just like the rest of the Insanity workouts.

Buy Insanity Now!

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23

Sep

Review of Insanity – The Fit Test Week 2

By Aaron Potts Posted in Cardiovascular Training, Exercise, Health and Fitness Product Reviews, Insanity, Weight Loss / 8 Comments »

Save 25% or even 50% off of Insanity by clicking right here!

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

In this on-going review of Insanity blog series, the truth behind the Insanity 60-day weight loss program is revealed with a play-by-play description of what the program is really like – and more importantly – if Insanity really works!

Back when I first started the Insanity 60-day weight loss program, I did a review of the initial Fit Test that you take at the beginning of the program, and I just finished the 2nd of those Fit Tests. There was a lot of improvement, to be sure, and in a nutshell, I couldn’t be more happy about the results that I’ve achieved in just 15 short days.

Cardiovascular Improvement

My cardiovascular endurance has increased so exponentially that I am now wishing that I had found some way to scientifically measure it before I started the program. It is hard to accurately describe an increase in cardiovascular endurance other than to say that I can exercise harder, I can exercise longer, and I can get more out of every single exercise session as a result.

Getting more out of every exercise session means faster weight loss, as well as more rapid results in every other area of health and physical fitness.

Muscular Improvement

Although Insanity definitely hits the cardiovascular training hard and heavy during most of the workouts, that is not to say that there isn’t plenty of muscular work as well. Push ups, lunges, squats, and dips are all mainstays in the Insanity program, and there is an on-going pile of abdominal and core work that is done almost daily as well.

In addition, rather than more “standard” types of resistance training, Insanity makes you push your muscles up to their limits and beyond AFTER you are already very fatigued. That system equates to not only visible results and strength improvements, but to increased muscular endurance as well.

I have made improvements in every single muscular/resistance exercise that I have seen so far in the Insanity workouts, and you can check out the impressive numbers below.

Weight Loss

Being an ex-personal trainer, I don’t focus on some random number on a scale, because I know that what is in the MIRROR is more important than what the scale says. In that regard, my mirror is showing me visible improvements after only 2 weeks with Insanity.

I have visibly lost body fat from my legs, stomach, and chest, and even though my arms are by no means in need of trimming up, I can even see some additional body fat loss there as well.

I am looking forward to the 30-day point in the program because it is the exact mid-way point when the 3rd Fit Test is taken, and it is also when Insanity switches to the Month 2 format, which – if it’s even possible – is said to be even more challenging than Month 1!

The Numbers

Each of the exercises in the Fit Test is a serious challenge, and you are given 1 minute to do each movement, then 1 minute to rest before doing the next one. If you want a detailed description of what each movement is, check out my Week 1 review of the Fit Test. Here are my week 1 and week 2 numbers:

MOVE	DAY 1	DAY 15	DAY 30	DAY 45	Day 60
Switch Kicks	110	124	132	140	145
Squat Jacks	31	50	56	63	69
Power Knees	49	68	78	88	94
Power Jumps	25	32	33	37	41
Globe Jumps	6	10	10	12	13
Suicide Jumps	11	15	16	18	19
Push Up Jacks	22	32	34	37	42
Low Plank Obliques	28	51	58	60	67

As you can see, the improvements are definitely there! Also, there is one other improvement that is not measurable, but is nonetheless still very valuable – self confidence!

When you do a program as intense as Insanity is, and you consistently push it to the max during every single workout, other challenges in your life suddenly don’t seem as tough anymore.

If you can take your body to its absolute limit – despite how intensely difficult it is – that type of confidence stays with you long after the workout!

Buy Insanity Now!

OR
Become a Beachbody Coach and save 25% off of Insanity and all Beachbody products, supplements, and equipment!