Let the recovery week begin!

Today is the first of 6 days in a row of performing Core Cardio and Balance.  The purpose of this workout is to give your muscles a break, while still getting a good workout to get you ready for Month 2.  Overall I liked this workout and it is a refreshing change.  I was able to do almost everything, except holding on a few poses (more on that below).  The heart rate definitely does not get too elevated in this workout either.  Part of the reason I like this workout also is that it is full of new exercises.

The entire workout is about 37 minutes long, so right on par with the rest from Month 1.  You start out with a warm up, but it is a less intense warmup than you have gotten used to by now.  The exercises in the warm up are:

  • Switch Heel Kicks (pretending you are jumping rope touching your heels)
  • Mummy Kicks – we know these :-)
  • Football Shuffles (going right to left).
  • Over the Log (jog in place, then jump over the log).
  • 8 High Knees/8 Power Jacks – a bit of a variation on high knees
  • 8 Fast Feet/8 Hooks

Then of course comes the stretch, which is also scaled down and does not take too much time.  After the stretch we get into the heart of the workout.  The workout is a series of one minute exercises sort of like Pure Cardio is (but don’t get scared, it’s nothing like that!).  Each exercise is a minute each, but you pretty much rest in between each exercise and he explains the next one.  I don’t think there are any scheduled water breaks though.  Most of the exercises were doable, but there were a few that made the muscles burn.  What would an Insanity workout be without a little muscle burn?

The first series of exercises are all pretty familiar and not too intense.  I had trouble with the high jumps, not because I couldn’t jump, but because my ceiling is too low!  I had to bend my arms on each jump.  Anyways, after these initial 10 exercises, you get into some muscle burners.

The Hip Flexor Burners is where it really started to get me.  basically, you are simply balancing on one leg and lifting the other kneed to your chest using your core . . .  ok not too bad.  Then you hold it (burn starting), then you do a series of pulses (burn intensifying), lastly you hold your knee up while straightening your leg out in front of you (lava now being rubbed on parts of hips and legs you never knew had muscles!).  Then switch to the other leg :-)

The Shoulder Burners in Plie are the final series of exercises, which also cause lava flow in your muscles, this time your shoulders! What you do is squat into a plie stance and hold your arms out wide.  Then you begin a series of exercises of either pulsing, rotating in circular motion, or lifting the arms.  Never do you get a chance to drop the arms until the exercise is over.  It sounds like it would be easy, but it really burns!

Overall, this is a nice routine and I look forward to performing it all week.  I imagine that by the end of the week I will be quite familiar with the moves and will have improved.  Now I have to mentally prepare myself for the Insanity that ensues in Month 2!

Day 28 – Happy Valentine’s Rest Day

Filed under: Workouts

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