This post is entitled Insanity Cardio Recovery.

Pre-warning: I know a bunch of you bloggers are linking to my articles such as this one Insanity Cardio Recovery, I see the stats. This is not an article where I give it rave reviews. Consider yourself pre-warned.

Insanity Cardio Recovery

Disappointed! Is the first thing that comes to mind now that I have done the workout. Before I get into the actual review of the workout, let me tell you why I’m disappointed.

Oh, where to begin. Let’s start with “Recovery.” What is recovery?  Recovery is something you don’t “do,” to rest for when you have to “do.” At night when you go to sleep, you are recovering from a day of “doing.” It is not a good idea to go for a brisk walk around the block instead of getting the 4, 5, 6, or even 8 hours of sleep you’re supposed to get each night. Why is it not a good idea? Because you are not recovering  – you are doing activity when you should be doing inactivity. You follow me right? Good.

The Story of Sally

Back in 1998, Sally smoked two packs of cigarettes per day, every day; she smoked religiously. She smoked them morning, noon and night. She even set her alarm to wake her up at 3 a.m. every morning just so she could smoke a cigarette. This went on for 10 years. But one day, Sally decided that she was going to quit smoking, so she asked some dude name Charles Lloyd who ran a fitness website on the internet for some advice.  Here is what Sally asked:

Hi Charles, I have a question.  I have been trying to quit smoking on and off for the past few years; sometimes I am successful, sometimes I am not. Do you have any advice?

Charles: Sally, What is not successful?

Sally: Well, I talked to a friend of mine and he suggested that I smoke cigarettes with low tar and nicotine, to wean myself off of them.

Charles: There is your problem; you don’t become a non-smoker by smoking. That’s stupid. You become a non-smoker the day you decide that you are a non-smoker. Smoking is no longer an option. There isn’t “I have not smoked in “X” amount of days.” It’s, I DON’T SMOKE, PERIOD. Smoking is not an option.  No type of cigarette, whether it be low nicotine, low tar, no filter etc., is an option. You quit smoking by not smoking.

So what does this have to do with Recovery?  Everything!

You don’t recover from a cardiovascular workout by doing “light” cardiovascular work or stretching or weight lifting. You recover by not physically doing anything. This is why you sleep. When you don’t get enough sleep, you become bothersome and cranky. You don’t do stretching for 8 hours per night instead of sleeping. Why? Because that’s not recovery… that is stretching. You recover from a long day of work by sleeping. Sleep is what your body wants; sleep is what your body needs.

The Holy Bible example

In the Holy Bible, Genesis 2:2 reads like this: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”

Whether you are a Christian or not, the point here is God rested. Nowhere in this verse does it say that God did yoga, or God went to do a light workout, or God cleaned up some loose ends from the week.

Now let’s talk about this DVD; the title is an oxymoron. Cardio and recovery don’t belong in the same sentence. They are the complete opposites. It is as far away as East is to West. You can travel North on this planet until you reach the North Pole, but after that you are going south. On the other hand, you can travel east for the rest of your life and never go west until you turn around.

Now that we got that out of the way; on with the review.

Insanity – Cardio Recover – Review

First we start off with a warm-up. This consist of various Yoga type of stretches, lunges and loosening exercises that stretch out your lower back, hamstrings, calves and other muscle groups. This is very short and only a few minutes, as it should be.

Rest – 25 Seconds

Plank Work

This is the first “Recovery” exercise. This starts off with you inhaling and bringing your arms straight up in the air, then dropping down into a plank position.  Your legs are straight back and your butt is NOT pointing towards the sky; with your knees together, jump back into a crouching position, then roll yourself back up into a standing position.

  • Repeat Plank Work – Make sure you keep your butt out of the air
  • Repeat Plank Work, but this time jump 2X with your knees, meaning instead of coming up after you jump in, jump back out. When you rise up, do 3 inhale arm stretches.
  • Repeat Plank Work – 3 jumps and 3 arm stretches
  • Repeat Plank Work – 4 jumps and 4 arm stretches

Rest – 10 seconds

Plank Pulses

This exercise starts off the same as the Plank Work you just did; however, when you jump down into a plank position, lift one leg up and pulse that leg up and down for 8 pulses. Jump back up and do your inhale with arm stretches.

*Make sure you keep your butt down, and your Shoulders, Elbows and Wrist lined up – This is good form*

  • Repeat Plank Pulses  with opposite leg – Keep good form
  • Repeat Plank Pulses  with 16 pulses – Keep good form
  • Repeat Plank Pulses with 16 pulses with the opposite leg – Keep good form.

Downward Dog Stretch

  • Go into a downward dog position and hold it there for 25 seconds. When you start to come up, go into a hamstring stretch and hold it there.
  • Go to your right leg and hold it there.
  • Go to your left leg and hold it there.

Rest – 40 seconds

Slow Squats

  • This is one of the basic moves, but you move slowly instead of going fast. Do 16 slow squats.

*Be sure to keep your knees over your ankles. – This is good form*

*Make sure you keep your back straight – This is good form*

  • On your last slow squat you are going to stay in the down position and go into your next exercise

Squat Hold and Pulses

  • In your down position, ideally with your quadriceps and calves at a 90 degree angle, you pulse your quadriceps up-and-down a few inches. Personally, I like this exercise, but it is NOT a “recovery” exercise.
  • Do 16 squat pulses

Rest – 40 Seconds

Lunges

  • Imagine a straight line between the top of your head and the bottom of your right knee cap. Now lunge into that position. (Start with your right leg forward and you left back back) Do not lean forward or lean back. Keep your body straight up; your left leg should make a perfect 90 degree angle to support your body.  Your right knee should be only inches off the ground. Now grab your wrist with the opposite hand and bring your arms up to another 90 degree angle with your torso. This is the basic lunge position.

*Watch your 90 degree angles – This is good form*

*Never let your knee hit the ground – This is good form*

  • Repeat lunges for 14 reps.
  • On your last rep hold the down position.

Lunge Hold and Pulses

  • Just like the pulses we did earlier, you move up and down only a few inches.

*Watch your 90 degree angles – This is good form*

*Never let your knee hit the ground – This is good form*

  • Repeat Lung pulses for 16 reps.

Rest – 10 Seconds

Squats

  • Now you are going to go a tad faster – You see why this is not a recovery workout now?
  • Repeat Squats for 16 reps – Make sure you keep good form.

Squat Hold and Pulses

  • Repeat Squat Hold and Pulses for 16 reps.

Rest – 10 Seconds

Lunges

  • Now go to your opposite leg and repeat the lunges you did earlier.
  • Repeat Lunges for 16 reps.

Lunge Hold and Pulses

  • Repeat lung hold and pulses for 16 reps.

Plié Yoga Stretch

  • A plié yoga stretch is a combination of a plié squat and a yoga stretch. So what is a plié squat? Like a normal squat except in a plié squat you angle your toes outward, adding a bit more inner thigh work than you would with a normal squat. With the plié squat, you only want your knees to go out as comfortably as you can while still being able to do the exercise. *Keep your knees behind your toes.*

I’m not going to go into the different yoga poses, but if you are in this position you can pretty much figure out what you need to do.

Quadriceps strengtheners

  • This is an interesting exercise. First you start out on all fours, meaning you are on the floor with only your hands, knees and toes touching the ground (make sure your back is straight). Then bring both knees up off the floor about three inches. Now you are going to take one foot off the floor like you did earlier in your plank pulses and pulse your leg (your opposite knee stays bent and in the same position). This is a quad strengthener.

*Keep your shoulders, wrist, legs and toes in-line – This is good form*

  • Repeat quad strengtheners for 16 reps.
  • Rest-Stretch out your back by going into a child’s pose (a yoga stretch).
  • Repeat quad strengtheners 16x with the other leg.

Oblique Work

  • This exercise starts off exactly the same as the last exercise. However instead of pulsing your leg up and down, you are going to bring your leg as far to your shoulder as you can in a controlled manner.

*Keep your shoulder, wrist, legs and toes in-line – This is good form*

  • Repeat oblique work for 16 reps.
  • Rest-Stretch out your back by going into a child’s pose.
  • Repeat oblique work 16x with the other leg.

Go into a downward dog and walk your hands back up so you are almost standing up straight.

Hip Flexor stretch – then combine this with another yoga stretch.

Table Top Balance Pose

  • A tabletop balance pose is exactly what it sounds like; you balance on one leg and make the rest of your body like the top of a table – flat and horizontal.
  • Do your table top on one leg
  • Switch legs

Knee to Chest

  • Yeah, do that while standing straight up. Keep your core tight. Do one leg then the other.

Knee to oblique

  • Yeah, do that while standing straight up. Keep your core tight. Do one leg then the other.

Hamstring stretch to Hip openers

  • Hip openers is just what it sounds like, you are in a squat position and use your elbows to open up your hips as wide as possible.

Insanity Cardio Recovery

This get a 0 out of 5 Charles faces.

0face

The reason for this is not because it’s a “bad” workout per se, but it’s not a recovery workout AT ALL. It’s like having a really good meat loaf sandwich and calling it smoked salmon. Even though the meat loaf is good… it’s not smoked salmon.

I would be way more satisfied if they just showed the presenter lying in a bed for the length of the DVD. THAT would have been a cardio recovery, which is both true and entertaining. I feel like this was just a filler DVD. I suggest they change the name of this DVD to something like Insanity – Stretch & Yoga or just completely take the DVD out. In most instances, like this one, less is more.

 

Yes, it is a matter of semantics. But what isn’t? So that is it for Insanity Cardio Recovery.


Charles Lloyd
Charles Lloyd

Self processed fitness missionary and author of most of the ridiculous fitness articles written on Charles Lloyd Fitness.com. I am not really a writer, but a workout fiend who happens to have a blog. The single mission of this website is very simple: Get You In Shape. I have been blessed with the gift of good health and want to share it with you. Join Me.

    123 replies to "Insanity Cardio Recovery – Review"

    • Al

      Lol @ Shaun T chilling out on the couch for 33 minutes.

    • matt

      so because you dont like the name it gets 0 faces? its still a good, valid lower body workout. And besides, he says that its Cardio Recovery… as in your cardiovascular system gets to recover… there is no heavy breathing, etc. He never says its a muscle recovery.

    • Charles Lloyd

      That is correct. If you order BBQ ribs at a restaurant, it better taste like BBQ otherwise Im going to complain on Yelp 😉

    • Michaela

      Lol. When it says cardio recovery, it means that you’re getting a break from all the intense cardio. When compared to the other workouts in Insanity, it’s definitely a recovery. Next time you should spend less time whining about the name and more time contemplating the actual workout. And what’s with all the lame analogies? Come on, you compared it to meat loaf.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Um, no. You obviously don’t know what recovery is. Comment on what you actually know about. You don’t recover by doing more work, thats dumb, you “recover” by resting. Resting is recovering.”Next time you should spend less time whining about the name and more time contemplating the actual workout“. Last time I check this was my website….Wait let me look again….Yep, still my website….even has my name on the marquee! So when it comes to MY writing on MY website “contemplate” what that means.

      Next time why don’t build a website and inform the world that recovery is NOT resting. Better yet go to any hospital “recovery room” and tell them they aren’t doing enough work “When compared to the other days” of their normal life.

    • Rich

      You obviously don’t know but there is such a thing called active recovery. Rather than taking a day of complete rest you do some lower intensity exercise, studies have actually shown that active recovery can be more beneficial than complete rest.

      Maybe you should take a break from giving ratings on things that you clearly no very little about and stick to something you actually know something about.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Thats pretty good Rich, since I clearly don’t know what this “active recovery” thing is, please do enlighten us. Better yet tell everybody when exactly we are supposed to conduct this “active recovery”.

      Do we “actively recover” while we are in high intense exercise maximal to promote recovery, or do we “actively recover” the day after (or whenever) we are in high intense exercise?

      Since I have no idea what I’m talking about, please enlighten the world, of the Lactic Acid threshold of both fast/slow twitch muscle fibers, better yet, tell us all how long Lactic Acid stays in the blood stream after intense exercise. If my Pre-School Crayola Coloring book that I colored this morning has anything to say about it, if we are not “actively recovering” from lactic acid, what are we recovering from? Tiredness? Please bestow your knowledge on us.

    • Rich

      You can always google active recovery to find pages of information on it’s benefits yourself but i’ll explain brielfy what active recovery is for and when it should be done.

      Active recovery helps clear the body of lactic acid, increases blood flow to the muscles helping to deliver more nutrients to them, also studies have shown it to have positive effects on psychological recovery by improving relaxation.

      Active recovery can be done during, after and between workouts. I’ll give an example of each.

      Recovery during a workout would be say doing interval training, so if you were doing sprints instead of taking complete rest between sprints you would walk or do a slow jog.

      Recovery after workouts is also know more as the cool down, instead of just finishing your workout and leaving it at that you do a small amount of slower less intense exercise.

      Recovery between workouts, would be instead of on a rest day doing nothing you do a session of exercise that is a lower intensity than what you would normally do.

    • Charles Lloyd

      “Active recovery can be done during, after and between workouts.” WHAT?!?

      Active recovery clears lactic acid out of your body, the only active recovery there can possible be is during intense exercise, WHEN there is a lactic acid build up in muscles. That is the definition of active recovery. Recovery to clear lactic acid out of the blood stream. Once lactic acid is cleared out of the blood stream, how can you still be in active recovery?

      Furthermore how can you be in “active recovery” *between* workouts, WHEN there is no increased lactic acid build up? If anybody did what you said, you would have to be in “Active Recovery” E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E D-A-Y. Because if you workout ANYTIME, everyday is “between” workouts. Therefore ZERO REST is ever required and only “active recovery” is required.

      I see you are using the term Recovery and Active Recovery interchangeably per your definition block examples. Up top you said “Active Recovery” can be done during workouts. Right below that you said “Recovery” can be done during, after, and between workouts. “Recovery” and “Active Recovery” are not the same word, nor do they have the same definition.

      The name of this DVD is not Insanity – Active Recovery, Its Insanity – Cardio Recovery. The term Cardio Recovery is non-sequitur, which is exactly what I said through out my review.

      You have argued my point about “Recovery” in this DVD, then you turn around and prove it with your own words. Thanks.

    • Rich

      If you actually read what I said you would see that the removal of lactic acid is not the only thing active recovery is for, I guess you’re blind as well as stupid.

      And yes I know there are more than one type of recovery, passive recovery is also just as important as active recovery. In you review you said “I would be way more satisfied if they just showed the presenter lying in a bed for the length of the DVD” Great that would show people how to take complete rest but I’m sure people already know how to lie in bed, so why not give them something more useful like a DVD on active recovery… oh wait that’s what he did.

      Also going back to your bible quote from genesis “he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” and your comment on this was “Nowhere in this verse does it say that God did yoga, or God went to do a light workout, or God cleaned up some loose ends from the week.” hmmm so what do we do on the seventh day in Insanity when God was resting… oh look it says the word Rest there as clear as day, not yoga, or light workout or clean up some loose ends, not that the bible should have anything to do with a workout review anyway.

    • Tommy Titz

      You’re a moron and it’s a disgrace this stupid blog even comes up when you search for insanity. Go tear your quad, dummy.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Yep, Google totally knows nothing about quality content. I have the some of the top pages for both P90X and Insanity! Yet people like you comment on my blog and guess what your comments –IMPROVE– my blog ranking. You will be back and I will get bigger. Get use to it because thats how it works.

    • chris

      Congratulations, your a well known moron.

    • Austin

      re·cov·er·y
      [ri-kuhv-uh-ree]
      1.
      an act of recovering.
      2.
      the regaining of or possibility of regaining something lost or taken away.
      3.
      restoration or return to health from sickness.
      4.
      restoration or return to any former and better state or condition.
      5.
      time required for recovering.
      6.
      something that is gained in recovering.

      That’s funny there is nothing about sleep in its definition. I agree with the others you are a moron. You are an extremely uneducated person.

      Yet people like you comment on my blog and guess what your comments -IMPROVE- my blog ranking.
      Good for you you moved up from the 100 billionth most popular blog to the 99.999999 billionth most popular blog thanks to my comment.

    • Charles Lloyd

      You copied and pasted a dictionary reference. Yet I am a moron. You can do better than that. Your reply would be valid yet the name of this video is “Cardio Recovery”, not Recovery.
      You did not apply the word cardio to your response. The word “Cardio” short for “Cardiovascular” which pertains to the heart and blood vessels. Therefore how can the heart “recover” from exercise if it is working, which is part of your #5 definition of “time required for recovering.”

    • David Carrico

      Would you recommend a ‘do nothing’ day in place of this workout? I am just starting Insanity and after first 2 days would think it a good thing to give my legs a complete break for one day to recover from the onslaught they just endured…
      I am just trying to understand if your hangup is with the description? or the fact semi-intense workout is scheduled after 2 days of intense legs/cardio?
      thanks!

    • Charles Lloyd

      Thanks for subscribing David. I do recommend a “do nothing” day, just not in place of this workout. The workout itself is valid, however, please do misinterpret this workout as a recovery because I do not believe it is, and I btw am a Beachbody “Coach”.

      My issue with this DVD is the name and calling it something it is not. It would be like me giving you a big bag of grapefruit and calling it a filet mignon. Now granted the grapefruit maybe great, but if you call it a filet mignon, it will be hands down the worse steak you ever had in your life.

      These Insanity DVD’s are HARD and there is a level of pain you have to push through, but by all means you know yourself and your limitations. If not doing a workout will server you better than doing a workout, you will do your body good. I have done both ways, both worked out when I shouldn’t have and not worked out when I should have. Missing an occasional workout usually does more good than harm if you are on a regular cycle. Hit me up if you have any questions.

    • Patrick

      I hate to beat a dead horse, but you’re blog came up in my google search for Insanity, and Charles, you are mistaken about what recovery is, and how to use it. Also, Rich is correct in his “active recovery” statement, and that is the purpose of this workout.

      The workout itself is not only solid but absolutely does what its advertised to do. If this workout is too much for you or anybody else, then perhaps you should be giving a second thought on whether you are physically fit enough for the program.

      I don’t know who you are, or how old you are, etc. But if you take some exercise science classes in college, you’d see the benefits of active recovery.

      Everyone’s entitled to their opinions, but what you are stating as factual are wrong and that can get people in trouble/actually hurt some people and no one really wants to see that.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Patrick, you would be right had this video been titled Insanity “Active” Recovery, but it’s not that it’s titled Insanity “Cardio” Recovery. Active ≠ Cardio. Thanks for dropping by Patrick, I appreciate it 🙂

    • Sal

      It really IS semantics.
      I certainly need this little ‘break’ yet also continue to welcome the ‘activity’. My former life was extravigantly sedintary.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Totally, If you are interested in Insanity Sal, why don’t you become a coach and make some money while you are at it? It’s pretty easy, especially since you are already doing the program.

    • gregorio

      Well i just did cardio recovery, and this is what i came up from it. It does help heart relax. Cardio Recovery to me is more like slow down from insanity to gym class. lol 😀 i do feel rested. But yet i don’t feel like i wasted a day without exercise. So it works for me and i mean is not like you are not goign to sleep later at night.? So i mean don’t be lazy he told everyone on the commercial somethign about short periods of rest with long periods of exercise, if you can’t HANDLE it don’t do it nobody is making you.

    • MBarthicus

      You ALL are correct (or wrong). It just depends how you look at the wording. Cardio Recovery: Are they implying you are recovering from cardio or using Cardio to recover? Yeah, they should have named it something different, but it is what it is. Now can we all just hold hands and dance around the Insanity box (would that be considered active recovery)? Thanks Charles for this blog. Good descriptions of the exercises. I’m a smart ass myself, so I like you style!

    • Kpurn

      What the hell did you expect? Pop in the DVD, and see Shaun in his pajamas going “night night”? That’s rediculous, it’s called cardio recovery, in which you recover from cardio, not workout recovery, not full body recovery, CARDIO recovery. Not saying you don’t know anything just think your looking at it wrong. I have personally done this exercise, and it is not easy by any means, yet it is not as hard as the other exercises, and there are no cardio exercises whatsoever…. And I have to admit I felt pretty good afterward.

    • Charles Lloyd

      You are late to the party Kpurn! Yeah Shaun in his pajamas, that would have been entertaining and true.. No, just like I told the other people here,you do not recover from Cardio by doing more Cardio, that does not make sense.

      If you want to use that logic then, go to your nearest drug rehabilitation and recovery hospital, and tell a “recovering” heroin addict, that the best way to recover from a heroin addiction is by doing more heroin.

    • Fox

      Charles, I’m surprised. You provide, all in all, quality information and advice. Yet you’re arguing about points you clearly don’t quite understand. I know your bio said you only went to 1 semester college and I think you should you go back and continue to improve yourself. Physical education, sports psychology, nutrition…any of those I think you’d excel in if you applied yourself to your studies. Yes, this is about “active recovery” and I’m suggesting that your comments mar an otherwise useful site. You said “Comment on what you actually know about” and really, you should take your own advice. Continue your education and don’t be so afraid of the dictionary.

      Also, you taunt one of your critics by saying “this was my website…why don’t [you] build a website”. Charles, your review is partially about how you don’t feel the title of the workout is honest and accurate. And then you go and make the same mistake!

      You didn’t “build” this website. It’s a Site Build It website. I’m sure you did a lot of work (that much is clear) but you didn’t build the website. I know something about websites…and I have many friends who actually do build websites. Don’t oversell yourself and claim things that aren’t true man. You didn’t build the site Charles. Site Build It did that work for you.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Fox: You paid attention in Speech & Debate 101 Class Tuesday – Thursday 10:05 ~ 11:30. Start out with a complement then go on to say why they are wrong, and be sure to give bullet points, and a concise closure. :p

      There have been plenty of people who have tried to prove me wrong, but no one has been able to, I have seen dictionary references, people calling me a moron, etc. I have proven what I have said as true numerous times, and the only thing I have heard was “No, you are wrong” without substantiation, actually no different then what you have said.

      2nd: I absolutely built this website. This website is not a Site-Build-It website, and hasn’t been for years.

      3rd IRT: Education, since you are a through reader, I take it you missed these post http://blog.charleslloydfitness.com/2010/07/20/civil-disobedience-by-any-means-necessary/
      or http://blog.charleslloydfitness.com/2009/11/14/men-womens-health-magazines/ which were college essays. However what I am really amazed by is you can ready my bio then know my level of complete level education based on something that happened in the early 90’s. Amazing.

      Thanks for the comment, pissing people off enough / information so good people take time out of their day them to leave a comment, means what I am doing works.

      Pissing off “legalist” puts me in a good humor.

    • Heather

      I read about the workout prior to putting in the dvd, so I knew that it meant a recovery from the intense cardio, not a rest-type recovery. perhaps you would have liked the name “Recovery from Intense Cardio” or “For this one you won’t be out of breath the whole time”.
      I understand that this is your website, and you are entitled to your opinion, but when you open it up to comments, well, then we are entitled to our opinions as well.

    • Charles Lloyd

      No one said that they weren’t entitled to their opinions Heather, That is the reason why I leave them up here unedited, uncut, and uncensored.
      As you said this is my website and I can delete or edit anything I choose, comments included. But why would I do that when the people who write on my website LOVE me, nobody forces them to write here. But I DO NOT BELIEVE in the whole *LETS ALL JUST GET ALONG* agreeable theory. If people want to challenge me, then they better bring their “A” game, because 9x out of 10 my opinion is stronger than theirs and I am going to voice it.

      Thanks for the love Heather.

    • Justin Anton

      Charles,

      Your site came up on my search about “Cardio & Recovery”. my question(s) are about “Insanity” as an overall program. I’ve done two days (The fit test and Ply Cardio Circuit.)
      Is this program as successful as it claims? As in, you see the before picture of the over weight guy and 60 days later he has 6-pac abs… I guess it would depend on how “deep you dig” but for me (5″10 211lbs) I can do the workouts but not the eating plan, as I am in Afghanistan and limited on what I can eat in the chowhall on base. But if I do the program, and eat as well as I can… what realistic results will i see?

      I feel like i will not get the full impact of the program as my cardo just flat out sucks… i am tired after the warm-up! is that normal for people just starting? I see the people on the video getting tired, but is there any point in the next 58 days that i should be able to do this w/o stopping?

    • Charles Lloyd

      Justin, the program works very well, but just like going to a bank, you can only get out what you put in, those pictures that people are rare cases, in the real world most people do not see those kind of gains/losses because of the mentality that goes behind weight loss. In my experience weight loss is something that is “ideal” and not a necessity, there is a huge difference between your doctor telling you you have to lose 60 lbs or you will die, versus you wanting to look good at the beach next year in Mexico. Most people approach weight loss is they want to buy some sort of pill they can buy that will *block fat* or *speed up your metabolism*.

      Insanity is a program that is for people who are already in decent shape, the program you need is Power 90, but since you already have the Insanity program you may as well use it, and modify it to suit your fitness level, if you cant do all that they are asking, do ONLY what YOU can do, just make sure you do the maximum you can possibly do AND complete the whole 60min workout.

      The thing is EVERBODYS cardio sucks, you will always find someone who’s cardio is better than yours or someone who is strong than you, getting in shape is not a zero sum all or nothing game, its a marathon that you are running by yourself, that is very hard and very painful.

      The key here is to follow the program, THE WHOLE PROGRAM especially the nutrition aspect AND DO NOT QUIT. Hit me up if you have any other questions.

    • cheese

      you are such an idiot

    • Charles Lloyd

      Somebody – Hey Charles some person named “cheese” on the internet thinks “you are such an idiot”.

      Charles Lloyd – “I’m crushed, and my feelings are hurt”.

    • cheese

      was there ANY cardio in the “cardio recovery” video? NOPE. therefore, you recovered from cardio, hence the title of the video.

    • Charles Lloyd

      There wasn’t ANY cardio in this video?!!!? Now THAT is the best comment yet.
      Thank you for your contributions cheese, THAT comment completely satisfies my heart.

    • Kyle

      It isn’t called just “recovery”, its called “CARDIO recovery” hence why he doesn’t do any fast paced CARDIO workouts during the entire video. Your reference to the woman quitting smoking was trying to do exactly that, QUIT. Are you saying in order to recover you have to quit Insanity cold turkey?

      It seems as though you’re either, out of shape, or for some strange reason have the expectation that Thursdays (Cardio Recovery day) should be the same as Sundays (REST day). It’s perfectly fine to work out 6 days a week. And then on Sunday, you get the much needed recovery you speak of with “No physical activity”.

      Please stop misleading others who might be new to the fitness world and happen to believe reviews like yours. Its CARDIO recovery. Not the allotted REST day that you get once a week.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Q:Are you saying in order to recover you have to quit Insanity cold turkey?
      A: No

      You claim that I shouldn’t “mislead” people that may be new to the fitness world.
      A. Why would someone new to the fitness world start with a dvd set named Insanity when I clearly, on numerous occasions have said that people new to working out should NOT start out with Insanity.
      B. Why would someone new to the fitness world workout 6 days per week, since according to you “It’s perfectly fine to work out 6 days a week”?
      C. I live and work with real people in this industry and anyone “new” to fitness that works out 6 days per week at the INSANITY level, WILL NOT BE working out 3 months from now.

      You remind me of one of those guys who will read 2 pages out of Ivanhoe then suddenly you are a Eton College graduate with a Masters in Classical Literature.

      Nothing is misleading. I have been in fitness more than some of my readers have been alive. This website and my reviews are on the first page of Google because they are truthful, honest and helpful. It stays on top because “smart” people like yourself keep commenting and keep it on top. Thanks Kyle:)

    • Fez

      You sound like a moaning bitch. If you can’t handle it, go sit down.

    • Jason Hill

      I liked this review, Charles. Also, thank you for the tips on good form that you included as you described the exercises. You are right, it is not a “bad” workout. After the first two days my body was ready for this lower-cardio, stretching-focused session.

      Of course, I like meat-loaf sandwiches, too 😉

    • Charles Lloyd

      Oh man! Finally someone actually gets it! Aren’t meatloaf sandwiches great? Especially if they don’t have any filler bread in it….and topped off with BBQ sauce and salmon 😛

    • Kyle

      Just noticed you responded. I also noticed how you focused on two sentences out of my entire comment. The first about quitting cold turkey, and the second about being “new” to the fitness world. Way to go.

      My comment merely stated that your reference to the smoker was a bad one, it doesn’t relate very well to exercise routines. After reading your comment I regret saying “new” to the fitness world. Although I would consider myself somewhat “new” to the fitness world in the sense that I am following a video workout rather than just going for a run, bike ride, or playing sports.

      Some people are in great physical shape but might be “new” to fitness concepts. You ask: “Why would someone new to the fitness world start with a dvd set named Insanity when I clearly, on numerous occasions have said that people new to working out should NOT start out with Insanity.”

      Maybe it’s because not everyone that decides to get a beachbody or other workout program consults your blog before they buy it? Ever thought about that?

      As I read over these comments its very easy to see a trend of people disagreeing with your concept about “CARDIO recovery”. Go to any other half-way decent fitness blog and they have a decent amount of comments praising the writers help and guidance.

      I’m sure you’ll respond to this with your usual crap about how “Ohhh, it’s not real recovery if your heart is still working”. Or you’ll put another Q & A section choosing only the parts you think you can twist around to make you sound better. So I’m not even going to bother checking for a response.

      Have a great day.

    • Charles Lloyd

      You just wrote me a big long paragraph to tell me that you are not coming back? That is more or less the High School break-up letter that says “I’m soooooo over you right now”.
      Here is what John Chow has to say about people who say they are not coming back.

      People Who Say They’re Leaving Don’t

      No one really completely leaves a site. They may not visit as often as they used to but it’s rare for anyone to never come back. I’ve had commentators post that my blog had changed for the worst and they’re leaving and never coming back. The next day, they’re flaming me again for another post.

      http://www.johnchow.com/secrets-to-getting-blog-comments-part-3/

      You WILL be back. You have to come back, I am the #1 guy on the internet for this keyword and a whole bunch of Insanity videos, I didn’t get to the top by accident, most people dont comment, but link this post to their friends and voila #1 status. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=insanity+cardio+recovery

      Thanks for the warm regards.

    • Ceaser

      Wow.. what an idiot..

    • Fitness Fun

      Charles Lloyd, you seem to be acting very immature when replying to your comments. Remember that people will always have different opinions from each other, but that doesn’t mean one opinion is right and the other is wrong. I know it’s *your* website where you have the freedom to express *your* thoughts, but remember you have a comment section where readers can express *their* thoughts as well. Just ignore the rude comments and keep a positive attitude!

    • Charles Lloyd

      Fitness Fun, What makes you think I don’t already know this? Its pretty easy to see that I am using WordPress as my CMS, do you know about WordPress. If you dont I have full access EVERYTHING, meaning I can edit, delete any comment, post or page I want to. If I have pissed people off enough for them to take time out of their day and write on my blog, I have done my job. Controversy and blog post create traffic and $$$.

    • Edwin Mak

      Hello Charles,

      I was curious about the effectiveness and purpose of the insanity cardio recovery sessions so I came to check out this review. I am somewhat new to the fitness so I can’t really comment on the misnomer being mentioned in your review. I do however, think its better than doing nothing and that is probably what I would be doing instead.

      I do want to know however, if resting without any form of workout be better than doing the insanity cardio recovery. Again, I am not a expert by any stretch of imagination.

      By the way, I wanted to post on your blog because I’d like to commend you on your maturity in handling opposing opinions. After reading some disappointing arguments between people on the internet, this was a breathe of freshair.

    • Sherri

      Charles,

      Thank you. Thank you for creating this website. I have so many questions and I appreciate you “sharing the knowledge. I had the same question after comleting this workout. Its another workout and it has nothing to do with recovery. I would have preferred a day of rest after the 1st three days on this program because I am sore as hell today.

    • j

      I have full access EVERYTHING, meaning I can edit, delete any comment, post or page I want to. If I have pissed people off enough for them to take time out of their day and write on my blog, I have done my job. Controversy and blog post create traffic and $$$.

      ^^^ your words.
      I use to follow your blogs. I thought you were posting these reviews for the good of the people. but by your comments you seem heartless and sort of a dick.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Yep my words. Please do “unfollow” me, heartless would not be me, nobody who dedicates this amount of work to help people get in shape *for free* with his/her blog is heartless, sort of a dick…now that would be true.

      Had I been the “Everything is great guy” that would be boring and *you* would not trust me. Being a dick but telling the truth is why this blog succeeds. My reviews are for the good of the people.

      For the same reason why I tell you that this video sucks, there is also a reason why good parents tell their kids not to eat ice cream for breakfast before you go to school, and it has nothing to do with being “heartless and sort of a dick” its the absolute opposite reason, its because they love you and actually give a damn.

    • John

      I agree about the recovery….Let me ask you a question. What would your rating be on this DVD as a workout or a yoga DVD.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Great question John! It would be an OK light workout DVD. As for a Yoga not so much, the P90X Yoga X Dvd would workout a lot better.

    • Dan T

      I don’t understand why everyone is getting all up in arms here. All he’s saying is that cardio recovery is improperly named – it isn’t recovery, per se, but instead, a less intense workout. He’s not bashing the insanity program or the workout itself.

      “The reason for this is not because it’s a “bad” workout per se, but it’s not a recovery workout AT ALL.”

      As you can see on the Insanity workout schedule, there is an actual recovery workout on Sunday. It is titled “OFF.”

      To sum it up, if you need assistance reading the review, I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) that it goes like this. Insanity works as is, and the workout has its place in the program, but cardio recovery is misleading and improperly named, which is the defect and the reason for the 0 out of 5.

    • Sarah

      When they decided on “Cardio Recovery” I think they meant a recovery from all the cardio. So there isn’t any cardio in the video.

    • Richie

      I know I’m late to this discussion but I would like to add that I do like this site and will continue to come back to it and read your workout reviews. I’m educated enough in life and fitness to take what information makes sense and if something doesn’t fit my beliefs then I’ll toss it in the basket. The part I’d like to point out is your rating… 0 out of 5 means you liked nothing about the workout just because of the name…yet in your Max Recovery review you give a 3 out of 5. Same concept yet a favorable score…? Please explain…. Thanks again for the site and keep up the good work.

    • Ken

      I think people are just getting worked up about the semantics. Charles probably should have given his rating based on the workout rather than the name of the DVD but does it really matter? He gave a very good review like all the other ones and calling people morons doesn’t really do anything does it?

      Thanks Charles for the blog I really enjoy all the well thought out reviews!

    • Charles Lloyd

      Thanks for stopping by Richie.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Thanks for dropping by Ken

    • Ken

      Hey Charles got a question for you. I haven’t been resting on my rest days and kind of “saving” it when I am too busy to workout. Do you think I need to rest those days and forget this idea of saving it?

    • Charles Lloyd

      Hey Ken it really depends on your body. If you feel good then go for it, if not then rest. Your body goes through a periodization where sometimes even though you think you should rest you feel great (and can continue your workout), and other times when you think you should go for it but you really should rest. I have a 15 minute test. What I do is workout for 15 minutes and if im not feeling good or tired then I will just stop.

      But to answer your question, you can’t really “save” a rest day. Honestly you just have to REALLY just listen to your body and do what it tells you.

    • J

      You are a complete idiot. I can’t believe I actually took the time to read this garbage

    • Charles Lloyd

      Not only that, it was so bad that you even took time to respond AND read more of my articles. Thanks for the comment.

    • Megan

      I understand what Charles and others are getting at, but maybe it’s all relative. I just finished this one and couldn’t help giving Shaun T dirty looks and saying, “Recovery, huh?” during those squats, but I was glad to have something to do. After the first two days of Insanity, I would have felt a little forgotten/lazy taking a break on the third day. Also, my calves were sooooo tight, and now I can walk without limping.

      So I thought it was needed, and my muscles appreciated it. With working that acid out and the stretching, it was recovery for me. For people who are in better shape, maybe not as necessary.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Megan, The voice of reason shows up, where have you been when I have been fighting off these monsters? 😛

    • Megan

      Haha, glad to help! 😛 I’m heading into “recovery week” in a few days and then onto the second month. I feel like a powerhouse already!

      PS Love your story! I know what you mean about not being able to find weights in Asia. My husband and I live in China, and it’s impossible to find a good set of weights.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Isn’t is crazy that the people in Asia eat so well, but its like pulling teeth in order to find a decent set of weights or even a gym?

    • Jen

      I LOVE this review! I read it back when I was doing Insanity (I read your blog everyday to prepare myself for what was to come), Now on days when I need a good chuckle, I re-read this post…cracks me up every time!

    • Charles Lloyd

      FINALLY some people actually “get it”. Thanks for dropping by Jen. Appreciate it! I just dropped you an email!

    • Nick Rodriquez

      This is my first comment on this blog.

      Love your reviews and, yes, I fully agree that Beachbody has made a mistake labelling this DVD. While it is not a big issue for regular Insanity followers, new “recruits” might have trouble handling a recovery day which actually includes a workout (and mind you, it’s not an easy workout)! In fact, the Cardio recovery day in Insanity is as intensive as a regular day in other programs, say P90X, minus the weights, of course.

      I cannot help laughing at the posters above who have continuously tried to mock Charles for his honest and unbiased review.

    • Niral Ramesh

      You obviously are an uneducated, stupid moron who should spend less time whining about the names of DVDs. No one else whines about such dumb things like that. After all, stretching is a welcome break from insanity interval training. As a result, this video does technically give you a break. Retard.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Its comical Nick. Straight up comical!

    • Charles Lloyd

      Since you are obviously a fitness professional and a scholar Niral, please enlighten me on the Postactivation Potentiation effect that recovery has on the CNS. Also school me on the effects of cardiovascular “recovery” in relation with the article I wrote. I’ll even link to the specific article *just* to to help you out. http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/postactivationUNM.html.

      Also feel free to site the New England Jornal of Medicine article from October 28 1999 where specifically talks about heat-rate recovery just to drill it into my head, because after all I am “retard”…let this retard help you out again http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199910283411804#t=articleDiscussion Go ahead and send your enlightenment into the New England Journal of Medicine also (from your gmail account none the less) because they also “whines about such dumb things like that” when “No one” else does.

    • Nick Rodriquez

      Niral had to just come here and post a stupid comment. Playing by the same rules, why don’t you [Niral] stop being a douche bag by spending less time whining about this post and actually taking an initiative to read other posts on this blog which have tonnes of fitness tips.

    • Niral Ramesh

      “they also ‘whines about such dumb things like that'” is incorrect grammar. Maybe you should go back to elementary school where they teach you plural and singular verb agreement, retard.

    • Charles Lloyd

      ROFLMAO….LOL I can’t buy comedy this good. It really does not get better than this! LOLLerskates. On everything I love I didn’t touch ANY of Niral’s comments!!! LOL LOL LOL
      —————
      —–/\-O–/—
      —-/–/-\/—-
      ——/——–
      —–/–\——
      —-/—-\—–
      –LOL—LOL—
      —————
      …….lol!!!

    • Niral Ramesh

      you can’t buy comedy this good because you are a poor unemployed fool

    • Garrett

      I came across this article because the one thing that’s bothered me about this DVD is the deep squats and lunge pulses. My legs are very sore from the Insanity workouts and to hold those lunge pulses seems to be making me feel worse and not recover. Was interested if anyone had any info on the theory for why Shaun T does these moves in lieu of a P90x yoga style workout? Would it be ok to swap this out for YogaX?

    • Charles Lloyd

      Garrett, The premise of Insanity is High Intensity Intervals Training…or what we call H.I.I.T. It was mean for people that want to lose weight through this style of training. P90X purpose is to build lean muscle strength, through power, balance and flexibility, 3 core “ingredients” of the P90X system. Different philosophies of two different styles of workouts to achieve different results.

      There are lots of people who have done a hybrid P90X/Insanity workout. Feel free to incorporate/substitute what you feel necessary as everybody’s body responds differently to different things. Have fun!

    • Jeromy K.

      Charles, I’ve been reading your reviews my whole entire time doing insanity ( 25 pounds lost so far), and I agree with you on this one. People forget your review is your opinion. Everyone’s body is different and Shaun T even says in one of the videos, ” Do what you need to do for your body”. To be honest the recovery days hurt my joints so I go for a 45 min walk. Thanks Charles.

    • Jeromy K.

      Charles, I’ve been reading your reviews my whole entire time doing insanity ( 25 pounds lost so far), and I agree with you on this one. People forget your review is your opinion. Everyone’s body is different and Shaun T even says in one of the videos, ” Do what you need to do for your body”. To be honest the recovery days hurt my joints so I go for a 45 min walk or jog instead. So thanks Charles. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one against recovery days, but I still love insanity.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Jeromy, Good deal man, stick with it, but dont kill yourself in the process….Insanity is brutal.

    • Jay

      Hey there, I have one question about Insanity in particular!

      So, I have a pretty average build, with some fat clinging in places I don’t like. I’d like to keep my current muscle, and possibly build some more in places that are lacking, but I also want to get rid of this garbage that’s hiding my muscle. I hear that doing cardio for too long is not good for muscle growth, so people say that you should only do it for 20-30 minutes. I’m attempting (or rather, starting) to do a P90x/Insanity Hybrid, but I looked at some before and after pictures of some people who did it, and I do not want to become that skinny. However, I do like to play sports, and I don’t want to just become bigger without gaining any endurance in sports such as basketball, football, and (possibly, if you consider it a sport) ping-pong. I was wondering what you would recommend as a good duration for any of the workouts from Insanity?

      And, I was reading through some of the arguments that people had about your review and I couldn’t help but facepalm. You are right in your opinions, so I think the only reason why people argue is that you’re opinions are very expressed (and maybe aggressive) and some people in this world think that they have to argue back.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Hey Jay,
      From what I gather is that you are neither a Ectormorph (skinny guy) or Endomorph (big guy who holds a lot of fat), that would put you right in the middle as a mesomorph (neither skinny or fat, but can build muscle fairly easily, but losing fat is not easy). So if your goal is to build muscle there is one of two ways you can do it.

      The first way is to do what is called a ‘cut’. What this means is you are going to eat and workout like you are trying to lose fat, which in consequence means you are going to also lose a slight amount lean muscle mass but also but a ton of fat.

      The second way is to do what is called a ‘bulk’. What this means is you are going to eat and workout like you are trying to gain muscle mass. which in consequence means you are going to gain muscle mass but you are also going to gain some fat in the process.

      The two ways have two different nutritional and workout plans and are completely different in how you workout and what you eat. Let me know which one you want to do and we can proceed from there.

      Interesting observation about the comments here, I pretty much though the same thing but never worded it in my head the way you did. I think that we live in such a PC environment/society that anytime somebody has some very solid and outspoken opinions it goes against the grain of “everything in moderation”….”don’t try and hurt anybody’s feelings”….”lets all just get along” mantra that is advertised, preached and shoved down our throats 24/7. That when somebody goes against this flow, people want to rein me back into the groove. I have yet to read a valid point in any of the comments left here. I actually “want” someone to prove me wrong, but all I mostly get is…”you are a moron”,”you are stupid”, “you are (insert negative connotation)”. And will completely ignore that I am one of the *very* few people on the internet that actually gives a non BS review about the product, and am not just trying to position myself for a Beachbody paycheck. Thanks for the comment Jay!

    • Jay

      Hey, thanks for the quick reply!

      I think, for now, I would prefer to cut. I don’t have as much muscle as I’d like, but I’m not looking to be huge so I guess I’m okay with where I am now. I am able to complete all the p90x resistance routines without any problems, but I went to the gym for the first time with a friend who asked me come with him the other day, and was shocked by how much more distance I have to cover to become as strong as I’d like (especially with the bench because I’ve never benched before). However, since it’s pretty close to summer, I think I’ll cut just so I can achieve a decent shape for the duration of the summer. I actually tried my first Insanity workout (Plyo Cardio CIrcuit) today and I got my ass handed to me at the 12 minute mark as I could not only barely breath, but also getting cramps from probably drinking too much water during the breaks.

      And yes, I believe the reason that people make insults over the internet is a result of them denying something about themselves. Usually, if it were not over the computer, the people who say these things probably wouldn’t be saying anything. As for the name of this workout, I do agree that it’s not fitting, but as for the example of quitting smoking… I think that it is true that the only way to “quit” or to “stop” or in this case, “recover” is to simply just not do it. However, a lot of people are incapable of just “stopping” so they need to do something more progressive. Like if someone plays video games too much, it is very hard to just make them stop, so they could progressively recover from their addiction by playing less and less games over a period time until they are able to control themselves or stop playing at all.

    • Charles Lloyd

      I haven’t forgot about you Jay, I have been out of town and will still be until Sunday!

    • Ashley

      Ok, I am doing the insanity work out and have had great results. I can honestly say that this is not an easy program, but this DVD is not really Cardio and it is no where near the intensity of the other DVDs…that’s why it’s called CARDIO Recovery…because it’s not cardio. The day for rest is the day marked on the calendar that says REST. This is designed to stretch your muscles and keep you from getting too sore.
      Look at the majority of programs, on off days they will say something like “Stretch and Rest”…this is stretching with a little bit of strength and core building. I don’t know about you but I was really sore when I first started doing the work out and having a good stretch made my sore muscles feel much better.
      If you want two days of rest a week, then maybe you should pick a different program that isn’t quite as intense.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Good stuff Ashley, thanks for dropping by.

    • Niral

      you know, i wonder what u uneducated freaks do with your life, making lame analogies and acting like, i guess that’s true for all people like you, Charles

    • Paul

      Hey Charles I want to say first off I agree with you 100% but we cannot only say this about the Insanity workout as not being cardio. This has been a problem of mine with other programs as well. It says recovery week yet the workouts are still workouts. Like you said recovery is resting. Maybe you go for a light walk or a short bike ride. This would not translate very well on a DVD thought would it. You would lose a lot of people on their recovery week because they might stop exercising all together. I agree with you though. Recovery is resting not working out. I had a problem with this as well. This routine is far from recovery. Its a full workout just not as fast as other Insanity workouts. If you are educated in fitness you understand the need for the body to have time to repair itself. The general exerciser does not get this though. In fact they don’t want to take any time off and just go go go. In reality they will get stronger if they rest but they don’t think that way. Thanks for the post I enjoyed it.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Good stuff Paul. Agree 100%, always doing more, more, more in reality gets you almost nowhere. Its hard for people to understand that you don’t grown when you are working out but during your hours of rest you become stronger, gain flexibility, strength etc. BTW I got your email and will be replying shortly. Thanks for dropping by Paul.

    • Emily J.

      Lol WOW…this one got a lot of feedback! People just love to argue on the internet!
      Anyways….love your reviews! I read them every day before my work out so I know what I’m gettiny myself into!
      The Cardio Recovery may not be very impressive lol but MAN, I NEEDED IT!! My calves are KILLING me!! lol
      I don’t know if I could have taken another day of super intensity. The break came right in time for me!
      Today was only day four for me…damn!
      I’ve just recently completed P90X, effing loved it. Jumped right into Insanity a few days after completing P90X.
      When I finish Insanity, I can’t wait to do that P90X/Insanity hybrid!
      Thanks for all the reviws, they’re really helpful!

    • Charles Lloyd

      LOL thats the Internet for you Emily…a place of social unrest. How did you end up doing P90X at first and what made you decide to do Insanity?

    • Drew

      The specific workout is called Cardio Recovery not Recovery, its simply a marketing ploy. Do you drink “recovery” formula, powder, juice, or whatever it may be called? Because your performing the act of drinking you are not at rest, hence you are not in recovery. That’s the logic behind your review, which is simple minded. The main reason your getting complaints on the site is because your rating of the program is the complete opposite of your rating of the workout. Did you factor in the meal plan for the day? That’s likely a simple “Nope”. Did you have a bad mental day at work, dealing with people, etc.? Possibly. This can sway ones judgement easily. I’m sure with the pre-stretch warm up you started complaining that there was some or too much cardio involved, which clouded your judgement when it came time to review it. To give this a 0 is simply foolish.

    • Charles Lloyd

      The problem here Drew is like most of the people here, you have no platform to say what is good and what is not good about this workout or this review.

      The reason you are even reading this blog is because I AM ONE THE FOREMOST EXPERTS ON INSANITY AND MY opinion matters, and it matters to thousands of people link to this very article and email me for advice on this workout and other Insanity workouts. It even matters to you because you are commenting on it, and you will be back to see what I had to say!

      People complaining about this article is like some guy in Alaska sitting on his couch drinking a beer saying that Kobe Bryant needs to step up his low post game.

    • Jeff

      Charles: I am a 3rd year medical student and I’m loving insanity because it kicks my butt without taking up too much of my time.

      I happen to think “Cardio Recovery” is perfectly named. I never once am out of breath on Thursdays– in fact, it’s all stretching and resistance based exercises. I will say those Squat and Lunge pulses are tough though!

      Based on your review of the actual workout (not the many inaccurate analogies that precede the review) it seems as though you enjoyed it. Yet you give it a “Zero” rating. I think this is what perplexes people the most besides your lack of ability to comprehend the title of the workout.

    • robert

      I give this review a 0 out of 5

    • Mike

      Iv just started the insanity program, and I can’t wait to see the result when iv finished it!

      Charles, your cocky and funny lol

      Legend

    • Tyler

      Not sure why you’re getting all the haters in the comments. I agree with you for the most part. I personally think it’s a good workout. But in my opinion, it’s vital to the DVD set. Most people who buy Insanity don’t know how to properly loosen up their muscles. Flexibility is key in plyometric exercises. When you are doing things that are so dependent on form, you need to be able to make the shapes.

      But like it’s NOT recovery. It’s stretching. Athletes know the difference. When your muscles are in a position where you need a full-on recovery, this kind of stretching is not something you want to do. And for all of those that say it’s “cardio recovery” because you’re not heaving and breathing like a banshee, well, they just don’t understand that your heart is actually working when you stretch too. It’s just a different type of work.

      I like a good honest review. You’re not writing to promote the product. You’re just sharing your professional opinion. It is appreciated.

    • Bob P.

      And you are an idiot! Bet you don’t even work out. You probably just watch the video and google your comments. You don’t look like you can even do a single push up. Recovery does not mean you don’t do anything…. dumb ass….

    • Marc

      I agree with the author of this article. The DVD is labeled cardio recovery and Shawn T mentions in the beginning that this work out is supposed to give your muscles time to recover from previous work outs. However with the lunges and squats it does anything but this. This is simply a lighter workout in comparison to the other work outs during the week. Of course I believe the whole Insanity work-out itself it misleading. It is marketed as a total body work out that will increase lean muscle mass while burning fat. In reality Insanity is an intense cardio workout that focuses on hamstring and quad muscle development and neglects most of the major muscles in the chest, shoulders and arms. Don’t get me wrong these are intense work outs that will burn fat and build some muscle, but it will not make your upper body ripped. I needed a good leg workout routine and needed to work on my cardio but I am disappointed in how a majority of the work-outs only work on legs. I have noticed DECREASED muscle definition in my abs, chest and shoulders while an increase in my lean muscle mass in my legs and an increase in endurance since starting this work out three weeks ago. I am not complaining about the actual work-outs as I believe I am being challenged and making progress. I am disappointed that my upper body is suffering as a result of this. I guess it is my own fault though for not researching the product enough prior to purchasing it. Once I am done with Insanity I will switch to PX90 since it targets all muscles equally.

    • Graham

      You keep saying that recovery means resting, but that’s simply not the case. It used to be the case, before anyone knew a lot about sports performance. But now every single athlete who has ever had an injury knows that you can recover better if you actively recover. Stuff like rehab with resistance bands, body-weight exercises, low-resistance pool training, etc. Pull a hamstring, do nothing for 4 weeks, then sprint and let me know how it goes. “But a pulled hamstring isn’t the same as doing Insanity.” In a way, yes. But muscle soreness and pulled muscles are both forms of muscle tears, small and large respectively. And I know for a fact that active recovery is better for muscle tears than passive recovery is.

      As for your argument about sleep, it’s a logical fallacy. No one is asking you to do this workout instead of sleeping. This is part of a program designed to get you in amazing shape in 60 days. You don’t get that by taking 2 days off per week. If you define sleep as recovery, shouldn’t you be doing a recovery workout every night? And what about the parts of your day that aren’t spent working out? By your definition ( I specify “your” because there’s a very large body of athletic training science that disagrees with you) recovery is ” something you don’t “do,” to rest for when you have to “do.”.” So aren’t you “recovering” for Insanity for 23.5 hours per day?

      I’m not necessarily saying that Shaun T has the scientifically perfect way to recover your muscles and cardio-vascular system through this workout. But the idea that a “recovery” workout means taking a day off is an antiquated notion that ignores thousands of man-years of scientific research and real world application.

    • don

      Charles, you are kind of a tool and for no good reason..some of the posts were very logical and on point yet you seemed to come unhinged..thanks for the review though…doing that cd tonight. try decaf coffee…cheers

    • Rachel

      Hello
      Stumbled upon your page while looking up what was in store for me tomorrow. I’m really enjoying the workout so far but I am ready for a stretch and Pilates yoga kinda relaxing feel day. I think you might have
      Perceived the title a bit wrong, I thought of it as a recovery from intense cardio. To each their own everyone perceives things differently, but there is one day off a week, so a nice break half way through is appreciated. Why I
      Commented however is from reading the comments. Are you a beach body coach? And by your recommendation to sal it implies getting paid for being a coach. If you are indeed employed by the video that is supposed to help you better yourself and give you confidence I would hope they would
      Employ someone with self control . It seemed like you flew off the handle about the comments and became cocky and self entitled . Having someone like that as a spokesperson for a company is not good pr. Also implying that it is fairly easy to become a coach Doesn’t put much faith in the coaches knowledge

    • Kyle

      Hello… My name is Charles and I think that I am a fitness expert because I do a couple workout DVDs, read some blogs, and can be called a fitness coach because I paid for a couple business cards with my name on it. Although there are many little things to point out with the insanity program, any fitness professional understands the physiologically benefits of an active recovery from exercise.

      The only benefit of your blog is that shows the sequence of exercises. Apart from the bold headlines, you are not worth reading another sentence. Instead of being a cocky douche, why don’t you go educate yourself. Get a real fitness certification and maybe you will understand more than one theory of fitness.

    • TYLER

      O I get it your just a snide bitch that doesn’t have anything better to do than complain about insignificant things in the world like the title of a workout.

    • Janelle

      I’m not really sure why anyone comments negatively on any blogs. If you don’t like it don’t read it simple as that. Charles, I read all of your blogs and I love them so everyone else can take their damn comments elsewhere and go do insanity like they should be instead of bitching about nothing

      Therefore go workout it creates endorphins which make cranky people like the majority of you happy

      Thank you – from a nurse who was in med school for 8 years and actually knows what she’s talking about 🙂

    • Jessica

      Like others have said before its “cardio recovery” because your not doing cardio. It seems that you think cardio exercise is exercise in which your heart rate raises but that is not true. Every exercise including “strength exercises” raise your heart rate. Hell when I carry my laundry up from the basement i raise my heart rate but its not a cardio exercise but rather a cardio activity. To be defined as cardio exercise your heart rate must raise 60-70% it’s normal rate. If your heart rate raises that much by doing this exercise you are EXTREMELY out of shape and should not be doing insanity in the first place.

      Thank you

      Ps. I’d recommend taking an anatomy class…my high school anatomy taught more than what you know and if your going to be a beachbody coach you’d really benefit from the college anatomy classes…yeah I took those to 🙂

    • Recovering

      You’re dumb

    • YoGabbaGabba

      If anyone wears a heart rate monitor when they workout they will know you may not be breathing heavy, but your heart rate is going up because you are working the larger muscle groups, so you’re still getting an aspect of “cardio” since your heart is still working pretty hard to pump blood and oxygen through your body into these muscles. It’s been known that someone has collapsed in doing this kind of recovery due to the heart being worked too hard.

      I love insanity…well it’s a love hate relationship we have

    • Natasha

      My god you are an idiot and a moron. How dare you inform people that this is not, in fact, a recovery(like an x stretch from p90x), but is in fact still a work out, just without the extreme cardio. Yeesh. All jokes aside, I came here to find out what to expect in this work out(I was hoping it would just be a nice light stretch, as my legs are sore as hell-I thought Id be stronger after finishing p90x a few days ago), and you gave me a detailed description of what was to come, and you didn’t sugar coat it. Great work out, deceiving name. Thanks doll!

    • My Names Not Bob

      So I just ran across this site. Damn Charles, you’re a quality dumb-ass. Normally I ignore and move on but you’re worthy of the 30 secs it took to write that. A rare combination of dumb (like Forest Gump dumb but without the unintentional wisdom) and arrogant that’s mind bending. An entertaining idiot though.

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    • Damian

      But it says “Cardio” recovery which is why there was no cardio involved… that’s why there’s also a rest day involved in the schedule where you actually do nothing. So if the title just said “Recovery” then you’d be correct.. you get me?

    • Juliah

      Wow I didn’t know adults could get so ignorant… But I agree, even the name, its CARDIO recovery. It’s not freaking body recovery, that would be.. something. It’s a recovery for your CARDIOASCULAR system. I’d hope you weren’t gasping for air during the video, I’d be worried for you. And why were you disappointed? Would you have been happier with the video if it was half an hour of sit down and eat chips? All previously stated, but I’d like to add you argue like some of the guys at my high school. Good day.

    • EC

      Looks like a lot of readers dont approve of your rating but after all, it is ‘your’ rating and you gave a perfectly good reason why it got a zero. Thanks again for yet another great review. I truly enjoy how you incorporate your own opinion and not just the same old recycled jargon that makes up much of the internet. Keep it real CL.

    • AdamP

      It says Cardio Recovery. You get a recovery from cardio while you’re doing this. Literally, there’s nothing wrong with the name whatsoever.

      Your stupid analogies and complete misinterpretation of what this is supposed to be is hilarious. We get it. You think something specified quite clearly as a recovery from cardio is supposed to be a recovery from everything. Lets just ignore that point and assume you’re right, which is absurd.

      Did you expect it to be a half hour of laying on the floor sleeping? I mean, recovery is doing absolutely nothing, right?

      I like your reviews, but on this one, you’re wrong. Period.

    • AdamP

      Since you seem to be so fond of analogies to drive home points that, to you, are completely obvious, let me use one to show you exactly why what you’re saying about this workout is incorrect.

      First, cardio recovery… You get a recovery from cardio by not doing cardio. In this workout you’re not doing cardio. That means you’re not doing cardio. So, it’s a cardio recovery.

      Lookat your smoking analogy. So say Sally stops smoking but starts drinking. Your thoughhts about this workout would be like saying she can’t recover from smoking because she’s drinking, and the only way to recover from smoking is by doing absolutely nothing.

      I don’t know how to make it more clear.

    • AdamP

      Lastly, Yeah.. cardio is short for cardiovascular… and you can’t completely get a cardio recovery if your cardiovascular system is working.. I think that’s an accurate paraphrasing of your wording.. No? Well then, think about what that means. Your cardiovascular system is ALWAYS working…

      If you weren’t such an idiot, you’d understand that the implication you’re making is that the only way this video could have gotten a better rating is if everyone in it just laid down and died.

      You don’t have to like the video, but there’s no way anyone is dumb enough to actually have drawn the conclusions you have; your reasons don’t make sense… at all.

    • Pablo

      Great review man. I agree that the name is a little misleading, but its not a serious issue.

      Compared to other insanity videos this is a recovery. It is an insane recovery, but the after thinking about it, the name fits the program very well. I say 5/5 stars…

    • Chris

      Its not entirely fair that you slate the workout, just because you don’t like it. Of all of the workouts during the first month, I personally find this one the most difficult to complete. Its the certainly the only one that has so far left me unable to walk (rubbery knees). Granted, It doesn’t make you sweat nearly as much as the others, but it does make you work, especially if you are someone with poor balance and a weak core.

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