Fitness Destinations | Beach Body | Home Exercises | At Home Workouts » Cardiovascular Training

FitnessDTV – P90X Kenpo X Intensity Tips

Aaron Potts — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:23:13 +0000

The P90X Kenpo X routine is a fun, calorie-burning workout that goes by quick because you are having such a good time. You can make the P90X Kenpo X routine even more challenging to burn more calories by following the tips in this video.

Kenpo X is done on Day 6 during most weeks of the P90X program, which means that it is right before the rest day, so the more intense you make the workout, the more you will be able to crank up the intensity when you start the following week of P90X.

If you’re willing to take on the P90X challenge (and get the best results of your life!), then grab your copy of P90X so Shanna and Aaron can Coach you to success!

© Aaron Potts - visit Fitness Destinations for more great information about weight loss, health, and overall fitness!
Fitness Destinations is proudly sponsored by the incredible products and services provided by Team Beachbody!

FitnessDTV Effective Exercises – Level 1 Drills

Aaron Potts — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:03:03 +0000

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.

Review of Insanity – Max Interval Plyo

Aaron Potts — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:37:49 +0000

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.

Review of Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning

Aaron Potts — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:18:19 +0000

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

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!

Review of Insanity – Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs

Aaron Potts — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:02:51 +0000

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

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!

Review of Insanity – The Fit Test Week 2

Aaron Potts — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:41:03 +0000

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

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!

Review of Insanity – Cardio Power and Resistance

Aaron Potts — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:43:31 +0000

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

Day 3 of Insanity was just as intense and mind-blowing as the Plyometric Cardio Circuit workout was, and it was also a lot of fun, which was a total bonus! The Cardio Power and Resistance routine does a great job of marrying up extremely high-tempo cardiovascular training with plenty of great resistance training at the same time.

Insanity Cardio
Power and Resistance The workout starts out with a similar “warm up” routine as the other workouts, and just as with the others, the warm up alone will leave you winded, sweaty, and wondering what you have gotten yourself into! Nonetheless, it is easy to see even during the first few workouts of Insanity that the cardiovascular and muscular endurance needed to really excel and get great results will come sooner, rather than later – just due to the sheer intensity of the program.

After the heart-pumping intensity of a 10 1/2 minute warm-up, the video goes into a 7-minute stretching routine to get you ready for the rest of the workout. The stretches are a challenge, though, and Shaun T constantly reminds you of the necessity of stretching, as well as how to get the most out of each movement. Also, the stretching routine does cool-down your heart rate a bit in order to get you prepared for the serious challenge of the remaining part of the workout.

Cardio Power and Resistance

The first wave of exercises include a very effective combination of cardio and resistance. In order, the first 4 exercises are: Power Jumps, Belt Kicks, Hit the Floor, and V Push-ups. Power Jumps are especially difficult and will wipe out your air supply in under 30 seconds, but then you’ve still got 3 more exercises to go before you get a break.

The first 4 exercises are each done for 30 seconds, back-to-back, leaving you with 2 solid minutes of intensity that will probably seem at first like it lasts a lot longer than 2 minutes… Once you survive that first wave, you only get a 30-second break before you repeat that sequence even faster than the first time, then you repeat it yet again at an even higher level of intensity.

As if over 6 minutes of all-out intensity wasn’t enough of a challenge, after finishing all 3 sets of the first wave of exercises, you then do a full minute of challenging Tricep exercises that will leave the back of your arms on fire.

The Next Wave

By the time you get to the second wave of exercises, you are pretty much wiped out and ready to go hide in a cool, dark room with a ceiling fan and an air conditioning unit, but this workout still has several more minutes of intensity left before the fun is over.

The next wave of exercises includes Hurdle Jumps, Globe Jumps, Moving Push-ups, and Floor Sprints, all once again done back-to-back before getting a 30-second break. The jump movements are as hard as they sound, Moving Push-ups make an already awesome exercise even more difficult, and by the time you get to Floor Sprints, it’s more like “floor walks,” because you can barely even hold yourself up off the floor, let alone do any actual sprinting.

Once again, Shaun T throws in a final knock-out punch at the end of the workout, just in case – by some wild chance – you aren’t already feeling like a heart attack might be in your near future…

The final exercise is a series of 8 Hop Squats followed immediately by 8 Push-ups, and you do that series 3 times in a row with no break. Between the hopping up and down and the Push-ups, the final exercise uses your entire body, and every ounce of oxygen that you have left as well.

Conclusion

Overall, Cardio Power and Resistance is a very intense workout, it is very effective, and it – like other Insanity workouts – is mercifully short. Despite the fact that it will leave you exhausted and gasping for air, and despite the fact that it does a great job of working your body from both a cardio and a resistance perspective, the whole disc is only about 40 minutes long.

That leaves you plenty of time to lay on the floor in a pool of your own sweat, just happy to be alive!

Buy Insanity Now!

INSANITY!

Aaron Potts — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:03:21 +0000

Beachbody’s latest home exercise program looks to be the best yet – if you can TAKE it, that is!

Shaun T (of Hip Hop Abs fame) has taken his already impressive game to a whole new level with Insanity™, and this program has got RESULTS written all over it.

Beachbody has a veritable arsenal of great exercises videos, products, and supplements, but Insanity™ has one MAJOR thing going for it that even P90X doesn’t have - you don’t need a single piece of exercise equipment!

One of the biggest reasons why people don’t work out at home is because they feel like they have to spend a fortune – and then find a place for – a lot of exercise equipment. With Insanity™, all you need is a towel to wipe off the sweat, and a nearby bottle of water!

Check out the videos below, and judge for yourself. As for me, I’m sold, and I already have my copy of Insanity™ at home. For my wife and I, today is Day 1 of 60. I will be posting my thoughts on the program as I go along, and will be posting before and after pictures as well.

C’mon aboard and try Insanity™ for yourself – if you’re brave enough!

Click each picture for a short – but intense! – video

Get ready for the most intense workout program ever put on DVD. INSANITY™ is the 60-day total-body conditioning program that will push your limits. Want to find out what you’re made of? Get ready to dig deep. Get ready for INSANITY™.

In her 40′s, Alysia who has 5-year-old twins never thought her stomach would be taut. But after Insanity, her upper abs are the best they’ve ever been. And that’s without having done any crunches in the program! No weights, no gimmicks – just sweat.

Working out with Shaun, Rachel pushed herself every day. And when she thought she had no more to give, Shaun assured her that she did. It’s that sort of dedication to dig deep in the workout that has Rachel’s size 6 jeans now falling off of her.

In the Army for ten years, Lloyd thought he was fit. That was before Insanity. Getting into his first day, Lloyd was drenched in sweat and admitting that, “this is really intense.” Then he realized all he had finished was the warm-up!

Doug is excited having lost 30 pounds and 30 inches of body mass, 6.5 inches around his waist, from Insanity. He says he is “shocked” comparing his before and after photos. It’s like he’s in his 20′s again! And he’s not done yet.

Though he was a serious athlete, running in marathons and triathalons, Chris E. wasn’t prepared for the results he was going to get from Insanity. After 60 days, Chris knows a new level of fitness and is ready to tackle his 40′s and beyond.

So what about YOU? Are you crazy enough to tackle Insanity™??

Buy Insanity Now!

How to do the Air Bicycle Abdominal Exercise

Aaron Potts — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:03:15 +0000

Done properly, the air bicycle abdominal exercise is a very effective movement because you are engaging your upper and lower abdominal areas at the same, while simultaneously exercising your hip flexors.

Although there is really no such thing as the “upper” and “lower” abdominal area, there are certain exercises where you will feel the burn in one area more than the other, which is what makes the air bicycle movement so effective. By keeping your shoulders elevated, you are tightening up the part of your abs that are closest to your chest while at the same time moving your legs which targets the hip flexors and the lower abdominal area.

The keys to this movement are:

Don’t stop until you feel the burn, and even then try to go for more reps
Support your head with your hands, but do not pull on your head
Bring your knees up as far as you can on each repetition
Focus on every repetition rather than just getting into a “groove” of back and forth movements

Air Bicycle Abdominal Exercise

For an incredibly effective abdominal training routine, be sure to check out the Ab Ripper X portion of the P90X Extreme Home Training Program.

How does P90X work? Part 2 of 12

Aaron Potts — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:58:21 +0000

If you’ve seen the P90X^® infomercial, gotten excited, and then asked yourself How does P90X work?, then this 12-part series is for you. Part 2 covers the P90X Plyometrics workout.

PlyometricsThe P90X plyometrics workout is considered by many to be the most intense and challenging of all of the P90X workouts. Considering that every single P90X routine is very intense and challenging, for any one particular routine to stand above the rest when it comes to intensity and getting results is definitely a feat!

The P90X plyometrics workout does such a good job of helping people get results because, in a nutshell, it’s hard! If you push yourself to do the best that you can do during this routine, it will absolutely wipe you out. Like any workout, you could “dog it” and not get that much out of it, but if you are the type of person who is going to only put forth a half-hearted effort, then you shouldn’t be considering P90X to begin with.

How does the P90X Plyometrics routine work?

Plyometrics is also called “jump training” by many people, although you can do plyometric exercises with your upper body as well. In plyometric movements, you basically “load” your muscles by contracting them, and then explosively expanding them in an all out, 100% effort.

Range of Motion

Unlike many exercises that have a very defined range of motion (R.O.M.), during plyometric movements, you can jump or push off as hard as you are able to, and as long as you have plenty of room to execute each movement, your range of motion is limited only by your level of strength and available energy for any given exercise.

If you refer back to the full P90X Plyometrics Review for a detailed overview of each of the exercises included in the plyometrics routine, you will see that it’s more about what you can put into each exercise, and less about any type of limit on your range of motion. Since your range of motion is not limited, you can BRING IT during the plyometrics routine, and do every exercise to the best of your physical capabilities.

Large Muscle Groups

Another secret to the effectiveness of the P90X Plyometrics routine is that you are using all of your body’s largest muscles groups during almost every single movement. Your quadriceps (front of the legs), your hamstrings (back of the legs), and your glute muscles (butt) are all part of the plyometric routine, and are used in almost every exercise.

Whenever you use your large muscle groups, you burn a lot more calories, and you also crank up your metabolism a lot more. This means that your body keeps burning calories even after the workout is over. In addition, by eating and resting properly whenever recovering from plyometrics (and all of the P90X workouts), you will create a faster-paced metabolism as your muscles demand more and more energy to both power and recover from workouts. In short, this means that you will burn more calories on an on-going basis, not just when you are exercising.

Very Little Rest

The P90X Plyometrics routine is divided up into several segments, and each segment has 4 exercises in it. You do all 4 exercises, you repeat those same 4 exercises again, and then you get a 30-second break before moving on to the next set of 4 exercises.

30 seconds is NOT a very long break, even if you weren’t working as hard as you will be when doing plyometrics. By the end of the 30 seconds, you have barely brought your heart rate down from way up in the rafters, and here you go starting another set of 4 exercises again.

In addition to the short breaks between the exercise sets, there are no real breaks to speak of in between the individual exercises, either. You might get about 10 seconds to wipe the profuse amounts of sweat off of your face, but that’s about it.

A Great Combination of Exercises

The actual exercises that this workout contains are very well chosen, and also spread out very well over the approximate 55-minute routine. Each set of 4 exercises contains at least 1 exercise that is REALLY challenging, and at least 1 exercise that is challenging, but not at the same level as the more difficult movements.

In addition, the harder exercises are put at the beginning of the 4-exercise set, directly after your 30-second break. Now, you don’t get that 30-second break before you repeat the 4-exercise sequence for the 2nd time, but by that point you are over the halfway point for that particular exercise set, so you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Conclusion

When it comes to raw intensity, and straight-up, no holds barred, effective, challenging exercise, the P90X Plyometrics routine is right up there near the top of the list. Every P90X workout has its moments of glory, but Plyometrics will always be an incredibly challenging workout, no matter how in shape you are.

As with all P90X workouts, however, always remember that P90X is a program that works because of the overall effect that the program provides, rather than just picking and choosing individual routines that you enjoy doing. P90X has 12 workout routines, and not only should you do them all, but you should do them all in the proper order as well.