One cardio routine that I hadn’t done in awhile was the Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning workout with Shaun T. This routine is one that doesn’t include built in “water breaks” like most of the others in Insanity except Pure Cardio. Since I always enjoy doing throwback workouts from Insanity, I figured I’d do this one again and write up a review. The last time I had done this routine was about a week ago because I planned on doing a thorough breakdown and analysis then, but got lost in a mental haze of TV, fantasy football, and other sports. On the day before Thanksgiving I did the Crossfit Murph workout which was awesome, but hadn’t really done a good ole fashioned cardio routine since I ingested that Tryptophan packed turkey.
No water breaks... Dat's what I'm talking about
The day after Thanksgiving I made myself do The Asylum Strength workout – which was plenty difficult. Today I was experiencing major lag and could barely get my ass to roll out of bed. When I got up today, I watched college football (Badgers owned up), the movie Fast Five (which was action packed), and played table tennis with my bro. Anyways, before I ate dinner, I made sure to: A) Get my ass up, B) Get my workout gear on, C) Set up shop, and D) Ball out and complete Max Cardio Conditioning. I would definitely say that after finishing this workout, I felt great – no complaints about being tired, just felt relaxed and like I am keeping myself in good shape.
Although I knew this workout wouldn’t include “water breaks,” I made myself push though as hard as possible. I ended up taking only a couple of quick water sips when Shaun T was explaining some of the exercises, but started every single move whenever the Insanity crew did. I honestly think that today was one of my best experiences with Max Cardio Conditioning ever! When I did this routine last week, I felt like it was straight up nasty, but today instead of rolling myself in the grave, I slayed this routine like a troll trynna slap me up in Skyrim.
Insanity: Max Cardio Conditioning Review
Warm Up
The warm up during Max Cardio Conditioning is probably my favorite warm up out of any of the Insanity routines. Although many of the exercises are the same, the way Shaun T runs it is different than what most people expect. Normally you do the same set of moves during all three rounds of the warm up and pick up the intensity with each round. In this warm up, you only do the same moves during the first and second round. The third round is shortened to slightly over one minute and you do a different set of familiar moves.
Round #1 & Round #2
- Jog – For the first two rounds of the warm up, you keep your core contracted and jog in place. During the first round, you do a light jog, and during the second jog you pick it up so that you’re actually running.
- Jumping Jacks (Arms Up) – After the jog, you do straight arm jacks, which are slightly different from regular jumping jacks. Instead of swinging your arms up overhead to meet in the center, you punch your arms straight up towards the ceiling each time you jump to wide feet.
- Jump Rope S-S (Side to Side) – For the side to side jump rope, you keep your body square to the front, legs together, and you jump side to side. Your arms cycle back and forth across your body so that they move to the opposite side of your legs with each jump.
- High Knees (Arms Out) – Here is where you may feel your core working harder if you are doing the move properly. You run in place with high knees (knees above your hips) and focus on consciously picking up your knees with your core. Keep your arms and fingertips extended straight out to the side as you run.
- Switch Kicks – You should know the switch kicks if you have been going through this 60 day series in the proper order. You tuck your elbows in by your sides, keep your hands up, and switch off kicks. So you throw a right kick, then a left kick while hopping back and forth between legs. Make sure that during the second round you pick it up and go for more speed and height with your kicks.
- Hit the Floor – This is another common move that Shaun T frequently uses. You basically do a lunge or mini-lunge to one side, touch the floor with the hand of the side that you jump towards, then you jump up and do a mini-lunge to the other side. You continue to do this at a fast pace and you should be jumping with arms up in the air during the transitions.
- S-S Floor Hops – I have seen a lot of people cheat at the “side to side floor hops” and it pisses me off because they aren’t getting a proper warm up. Anyways, to do these, you put your hands on the floor in line with your shoulders, and you kick your feet up together – hopping side to side. If you aren’t using good form during these or are cheating yourself, these will seem easy. If you are doing them correctly, they should be pretty tough during the second round.
Round #3
- Sprint – Instead of doing the “jog in place” you need to sprint like your life depends on it.
- Jumping Jacks – Instead of straight arm jacks like you were doing initially, Shaun T keeps it old school with the regular jacks. You need to be absolutely flying during these – if you don’t know what qualifies as “flying” – watch Shaun T.
- Heisman – You bring your knee to your chest while doing a wide sprint and transferring your weight from side to side. You need to be sprinting as fast as possible here and engaging your core as well as your arms.
- 123 (1-2-3) – You know this, take three quick steps to the right, do a Heisman, take three quick steps to the left, do a Heisman and repeat the process.
- High Knees – You sprint in place for the last 15 seconds doing high knees. If you want to know how fast you should be going, watch Ariel – she’s like the vanilla female Usain Bolt beta trial version with an Insanity twist.
Water Break – Shaun T always gives you some time for agua after the warm up.
Stretch
- Inhale / Exhale – Inhale up, exhale down, and repeat. You bring your arms up and down in tandem with your breathing.
- Flat Back – Go into flat back with your arms out by bending forward and looking down. Your spine should be as straight as possible.
- Lunge – You do a lunge to the right side and then do a lunge to the left side to loosen up your groins.
- Hip Flexor Stretch – Keeping your core contracted, do a hip flexor stretch to the right and the left. You do a twist to the back of the room with one palm on the floor, and then twist to the front of the room with your other palm on the floor. This loosens up all kinds of muscles in your core and legs.
- Deep Lunge – You go into a deep seated lunge on each side to stretch your groins and quads a little bit more.
- Open Hips – You open up your hips by going into a squat and pressing open with your elbows inside of your knees.
- Quad Stretch – Shaun T calls this the “flamingo stretch,” which is a cool name. You grab one foot, pull it to your butt and balance on one leg as you stretch your quad on one side. Then you do the same to stretch your other quad.
Water Break – Quick get some water to hydrate before the workout starts. Seriously, listen to Shaun T and get some water because you will NOT get any breaks during this workout. I made it through the workout without taking any water “breaks” but I did take quick sips of water while he was explaining some of the moves so that I could stay as hydrated as possible.
Max Cardio Conditioning Workout
High Low Jab with Squat
You start out the workout by doing a basic high low jab with a squat. So you start in squat position, jump up and throw a punch while at the top of your jump. Then as you land, you go into a squat and throw another punch. You continue to throw a punch each time you jump and each time you go into a squat. Shaun T emphasizes the importance of using good form, and he’s right – always use good form over speed. But if you want to make this workout as intense as possible from the very beginning, I suggest going for high speed while using good form. You end up changing the arm that you throw punches with halfway through and turn your body to evenly work both sides.
After MCC, my sweat killed Kenny...
Football Runs
Just like normal football runs that you have done in the past with Shaun T, you sprint in place with your hands out to the side of your body and fingertips pointed up with open palms. The difference here is that Shaun T will yell “hit it” at you to drop down into low plank (chaturanga) position and you have to go from a sprint to low plank as fast as possible. He will yell at you again (“up!”) and you need to get back up and kick your ass into sprint mode again. This will hit you hard if you aren’t ready to work hard, so make sure you push hard. I always think that this move seems to last a long time because when Shaun T says “you’re halfway” I always think it’s about to end. I wonder how tough this would have been if he had included it at the end of the workout? I’m thinking that someone’s arms would collapse and they would eat the gym floor, so that’s probably why this is the second move.
Basketball Shot with Squats
This move involves dropping down to squats and doing jump shots. You get into a squat and do 4 jump shots (jumping up from squat position with each shot), and then you hop 4 times to do a 180 degree turn of your body. After the 4 hops, you do 4 more jump shots with your other arm. You repeat the entire cycle by doing 4 hops to a 180 degree turn and continuing the shots. If you want to make this harder, you can certainly go at a faster pace than the crew on the DVD – but always make sure you are getting low in your squats and are jumping at a good height. Just don’t go overboard though because there is plenty of workout left and there aren’t any water breaks in this routine.
Right & Left Kicks
You keep your elbows tucked to your sides just like the kicks that you were throwing during the warm up. But this time you keep one foot locked on the ground for half of the time so that you isolate the burn to a single leg at a time. You quick step back, kick, quick step back, kick, and do this as fast as possible to get in a lot of kicks. You switch the foot that is throwing kicks after a full minute. In this exercise, you need to focus on going as fast as possible – in other words, go for maximum speed the entire time. It’s not too complicated, so make sure that you keep up with Ariel and throwing kicks like Bruce Lee on crack.
Diamond Jumps
Diamond jumps are one of the hardest exercises in this entire routine, but if you focus and invite the burn, you can make it through these. I was able to make it through without taking any breaks, but it was fucking tough. I usually end up having to take a quick 5 to 7 seconds to regain my breath and get back into it. Today I happened to be feeling exceptionally good and was able to make it through without any stoppage time. To do this exercise, you jump up while swinging your arms overhead and kicking your feet up to your butt – as you land, you go back into a squat (get down lower for more burn). You want your knees pointed slightly out to the side so that when you are at the top of the jump, your body literally looks like a diamond. I have done this routine where I go all out for maximum diamond jumps and whenever I go for maximum speed, I have to take a few spurts of like 5 seconds to regain my breath. Today I did them at the same pace as the Insanity crew and was able to last the full time, but it was very tough for me. Oh and if you thought these were mind-blowing, you will have nightmares if you do Vertical Plyo from The Asylum.
In & Out / Push Up Jacks
These are one of my favorite moves from Insanity, but they will definitely knock you out of commission flopping around in your sweat if you aren’t already in relatively decent shape. As someone who loves push ups, these are still fucking wicked when your heart rate is ridiculously high from the diamond jumps. To do the “In and Outs” you simply start in plank position and hop in and out 4 times. After 4 reps, you do 4 push up jacks. To do the push up jacks, you start in plank position and you hop your feet wide as you go down into the bottom of your push up. Then you hop back up and your feet move from wide back together in the middle. My advice here is to invite the pain and do as many reps for speed as you possibly can. I usually end up doing a couple more rounds through these than the Insanity crew because I move at a faster pace – do what you can based on how well you feel.
Suicide Jumps
You will literally feel like you are committing suicide via workout by the time you are done with these. The only reason I was able to make it through the entire round without taking a break is because I saw Tania working hard and refused to let her do more reps. At one point I’m pretty sure she took a quick break and I said fuck a break, I’m going to kill myself as long as I beat Tania…haha. Seriously though I think Tania is cool, plus she motivated me to actually do better than I would have without seeing her. I was seriously lagging by the time the time expired though – my last three reps were pretty slow. To do these, you basically do “burpees.” If you don’t know what those are, you just jump back into plank position, jump back up so that you’re standing upright, and then jump straight up (e.g. do a power jump) with your arms in the air – then you repeat the entire sequence for as many reps as possible.
High Knee / Low / Floor Sprints
This exercise is pretty easy to follow, but tough to survive when you just made it through the Suicide Jumps. I was really tired during the suicide jumps and I believe I had a quick sip of my water during the 10 second window that Shaun T took to explain this move. To do this exercise, you start out by sprinting in place with high knees for 8 reps (e.g. your knees come above your waist 8 times), then a sprint in place with low knees for 8 more reps, and finally you drop down to plank position and do 8 reps of floor sprints. You repeat this entire sequence over and over again until you feel like you are going to pass out.
Ski Abs
Shaun T doesn’t mess around because you should already know this move. You go into plank position, hop to the side, back to plank, hop to the other side, back to plank, and repeat the process. You need to use your core here to take some of the pressure off your arms. I had to take a couple breaks here to shake out my arms because they got raped. At this point in the routine you should feel exhausted, but make sure you get in as many reps as possible before the timer runs out.
Kick Step Back
This is a “recovery exercise” so you get to take your heart rate down a little bit here during the middle of the workout. Although this isn’t a “break” it’s as much of a break as you’re going to get. Make sure you use good control, and do this at a moderate pace just so that you are keeping your body active. If you have done Interval X Plus, I’m pretty sure Tony Horton swag jacked this move from Shaun and renamed it “Charleston Kicks.” Anyways, to do this exercise, you keep your elbows tucked by your sides, throw a kick with your right foot, step back so that your feet are even, and then take a big step back with your left foot. Then you step up with your left foot so that your feet are even, and throw another kick with your right foot. After doing this for a minute on one side, you switch so that your left foot throws the kicks and your right foot steps back.
Squat Twist
I absolutely love the Squat Twist – I think we did something similar in Pure Cardio, but my memory could certainly be fucking with me. Anyways, the reason that I love this move is because it is simple, a good recovery exercise, and still effective at working your body and core. To do the squat twist, you hop from close feet to wide feet like you would for a normal jumping jack, go down into a squat and twist to the right side – during your next squat you twist to the left side. During your twists, you touch your right hand with the left foot, and left hand with right foot. You should feel your core working during these if you are doing them properly. Oh and if you want more of a burn, go for maximum reps.
Over the River Hops
To do the “over the river hops” you balance on one leg, hop to the other leg across a small gap, and swing your arms naturally across your body with each hop so that you almost hug yourself. With each hop, you want to land softly, and focus on recovering from the intense cardio that you did earlier. After this move, you will be picking your heart rate back up again so you probably don’t want to be jumping super far or for height. Shaun T recommends hopping about 6 inches from side to side – I recommend at least double that because you want to actually do a “hop” instead of a “step.”
Attack
This is pretty much like a move that should have been in Kenpo X from P90X, but Tony left it out because it may have gotten Wesley Idol’s heart rate up too dangerously high…haha. Or maybe because Shaun T thought of it first. Anyways to do the “attack” you position your body so that one side is facing Shaun T and you do 2 squat jabs with open palms. Then you quick hop 180 degrees and throw 2 squat jabs with your other arm, and then hop 180 degrees back to the other side and throw 2 more jabs while squatting each time. Although it may seem easy at first, you actually need to be moving through these at a good pace and you have to keep it up for at least a minute – so get ready to knock someone out – be intense!
Power Knee
You should know the Power Knee from the Fit Tests that you do throughout Insanity. You reach out to the side at an angle with your arms overhead, and then pull them as you bring your knee up to your core to meet your hands. You do this motion as fast as possible, and Shaun T demands rapid-fire sonic the hedgehog speed, so make sure that you are ready to go ape shit bananas on these. Your supporting leg will likely feel just as much or more burn than the leg that you are moving and if you are doing these properly, your abs should be feeling the burn as well. I suggest that you watch Shaun T and try to keep up with him the entire time because he sets a good pace.
Ski Down Hooks
This is a move that I don’t mind because it is effective and won’t kill you in terms of cardio. You keep your legs together, and jump from side to side. As you land on each side, you go into a squat and you also throw a hook across your body with one arm. When you jump to the right, you throw the cross body hook with your right arm as you squat, and when you jump to the left, you use your left arm. Think of this just like the move “Ski Down” from Plyometric Cardio Circuit except you add arm hooks.
Belt Kicks
You should be familiar with Belt Kicks from the Cardio Power and Resistance workout, but if you aren’t, the move is pretty easy to figure out. You basically do a squat while stepping to the right, then throw a kick with your right foot. Then you do another squat, while stepping to the left and throw a kick with your left foot. Your kicks should come up to at least your waist or “belt” height; hence the name. This is kind of a recovery exercise, but nobody is holding you back from going at maximum speed – so do what you can at whatever pace you can handle. I had no problem here, but was obviously drenched in sweat while doing these from the previous moves.
Forward Back Suicides
Initially I forgot what this move was all about – I was thinking it was going to be similar to the “Suicide Jumps” that we did earlier. Thankfully it wasn’t, but it still was pretty damn intense. You basically sprint while taking short steps forward and backwards. While you are doing the sprints, you keep your arms extended overhead. After 4 steps forward, you touch the floor with your fingertips, and take 4 steps backwards, and touch the floor again with your fingertips. You do this as fast as possible. During the end of these I was a lot slower than the first 20 seconds of when these began, but I focused and pushed through while maintaining good speed.
Push Up Abs
Well damn, I knew something crazy was about to hit me again, and it did with the Push Up Abs. I tried to keep track of the number that I did here, but I was so exhausted that I lost count somewhere after 32 reps. By the time I finished my arms and upper chest was straight fucking decimated. But what do you expect during these? I had to take a couple mini breaks because I literally dropped after my first 30 some reps. The key during these isn’t necessarily speed, but range of motion. Make sure that you are going down all the way during your push ups and you will get better results than someone half assing their reps. To do these, you start out in plank position and as you do a push up, one of your knees comes up to meet your elbow while you are at the bottom of your push up (in low chaturanga). Then you push back up, move back to plank, and do the same thing with your other knee. You keep switching off the knees that you bring into your elbows at the bottom of your push ups.
Plank Punches
If you have done other Month 2 workouts, you know how wicked Plank Punches can be on your shoulders. To do these, you place your hands on the floor directly underneath your shoulders. While you are holding plank position, you throw a punch straight out (with power) while balancing on your opposite arm. You alternate arms in terms of balancing and throwing punches with each rep. Although I thought I was going to survive these for the full amount of time without collapsing (I was fighting like a crazy mofo), but my arms gave out. If you work really hard during the Push Up Abs, you may collapse here, but do a couple quick shakes and try to get back into these as soon as possible. The more pain, the more gain. Keep your core tight and try to keep up with Shaun.
8 Jump Ropes / 8 Hop Squats
This is essentially the last tough cardio move that you will do during this workout. You do 8 jump ropes and then 8 hop squats – and repeat this cycle until the time runs out. I usually can get in an extra set of these in comparison to the Insanity crew, but today I stayed pretty much on pace with them and decided to do 16 hop squats during the final set instead of 8 just to do a little bit extra. To do the “jump ropes” you basically do 8 power jumps while jump roping with each jump. If you want to make these a little tougher, try to do “double unders” with each of the jump ropes because they’ll make it tougher (even though the rope is invisible). You then do 8 hop squats which are basically 8 little hops while in squat position (with your butt down and back). When you finish all 5 rounds of these or so, you should feel pretty damn tired, but there’s only one more move!
Squat Speed Bag
I know this was probably unexpected, but you need to drop down into low squat immediately after you finish your final set of 8 hop squats. While you are in a low squat, you pretend that you have a boxing speed bag in front of you. Your goal is to throw as many cyclic speed punches as possible so that you finish the workout strong because this is the final move. Sweat will be dripping all over your face and you will feel like a dead boxer, but you got this shit – finish like a boss with max speed.
Cool Down Stretch
- Inhale / Exhale – You do the classic inhales and exhales to get oxygen to your muscles and bring your heart rate down after this routine.
- Open Hips – You open your hips back up with your elbows while in squat position to stretch your legs.
- Palms to Floor – While maintaining feet wider than shoulder width, you bring your palms to the floor to stretch your hamstrings. Then you isolate each individual hamstring by bringing your hands to each side and stretching some more.
- Single Leg Hamstring Stretch – You step out in front with one leg and pull on the toe to really engage the hamstring stretch. You then lift up, and bend at the waist to do the same stretch on the other side.
- Quad Stretch – Just like the flamingo stretch that you did in the warm up, you do the same thing on each side to stretch out your quadriceps one last time before you towel off and drink your recovery formula.
Max Cardio Conditioning Review (Conclusion)
I actually always enjoy doing Max Cardio Conditioning – it is probably my favorite routine in Month 2 of Insanity. Today I got an awesome cardio workout and was totally drenched in sweat by the time this beastly routine ended. One thing that I like about this routine is the way it is designed with a string of highly intense cardio exercises, followed by some less intense recovery exercises, and then more highly intense cardio to finish. The reason that there are a few recovery exercises sandwiched in the middle of this routine is because there are no “breaks.”
Since there aren’t any breaks, I suggest having water nearby so that when Shaun T is explaining some of the moves you can get a quick sip without missing any of the actual workout. I would say that this is probably the easiest of the three main routines during the second month. It is closest in difficultly to Max Interval Circuit, but certainly not as difficult as Max Interval Plyo. Some people have made the argument that this routine is actually the hardest Insanity workout, but I can safely say that it’s not. It can be tough as hell if you push yourself hard, but all of these workouts can be that way.
Another reason that this routine is tough is that there are NO breaks built-in like the other routines. If you want a 45 minute intense cardio workout, I would recommend that you do this one – it will definitely test your fitness and your lungs will go into hyperdrive if you are going at maximum speed. The bottom line is that this routine is one of my personal favorites and I highly recommend it. If you have the Insanity program – you should be doing the full 63 days in order. When you finish, use this workout whenever you want an exceptional cardio routine.