Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning – Review

Okay folks I’m back at it again with another Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning Review. When I finish up with the insanity DVD set, maybe I’ll do Charlene Johnson’s Cha-Lean DVDs after that. Any of these beachbody, p90x or insanity dvd’s are about total-body conditioning. There is a lot of interval circuits, plyometrics and cardio in this workout program.

So Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning is about 45 minutes of a kick-ass workout. So this starts out just like all the other insanity videos, you warm-up, stretch, work out, then stretch again. Okay so before we get into the DVD let’s talk about the actual workout itself.

Seriously, the Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning – Review workout will break your ass in half – I just want to put that out there. Seriously, don’t think you are going to have a marginally good workout, because you’re not. If you put the work in, this might be one of the hardest workouts in the whole set. That said, it’s very hard to go to for 45 minutes  at full tilt – not to mean you should go half –assed to try and save your energy for the end of the work.  In general, don’t ever, in any workout, try to save yourself for later unless you are training for endurance. It’s always best to go as hard as you can while maintaining form. Once your form goes, so does your level of effectiveness. Let me stress that again – form first, everything else second.  Now on with the show.

Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning – Review

Warm-up:

*Jog:

Like a bunch of other insanity workouts, Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning we start with the jog. Okay now that I said you should go full blast with your workouts what I mean by jog, really is jogging not running.

*Jumping jacks – arms up

*Jump rope S – S (land softly to protect those knees)

*High knees – arms out –use your core to lift your knees

*Switch kicks

Hit the floor (keep your core tight)

S – S floor hops (don’t BS here. get those feet up and over) is as good as people think. Now you know.

Round two:  repeat the warm-up cycle again, but this time go slightly harder.

Round three: now you’re going full tilt.

*So for you instead of jogging, Sprint

*jumping jacks

*Heisman

*one – two – three

*high knees

*Water break

Stretch

*water break

Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning – Review – The Workout

High low jab with squat – the high low jab squat is exactly what it sounds like. You’re physically jumping into the air and jabbing the air and when you land you squat and jab again. With this exercise it’s not about how fast you go, it’s about doing the exercise correctly.  Do this exercise for the specific allotted time and then change arms.  Remember to a break when you need to.

 

*Football runs – these are basically modified burpies. Start out in your normal football runs (which are standing sprints) then when the signals given drop to a plank at the bottom position, when the signal’s given again jump back into your football runs. Remember what I said about form. Keep it tight.

 

*Basketball shot with squats-these are exactly what they sound like, you are a jump shot then getting into a low squat then you are forming a U as your squatting then you’re taking another basketball shot with the other hand.

 

*A Right– left -kicks: in this exercise you are just kicking with your left and right foot. The goal here is to keep that leg off the ground as much possible, so when you take a kick only bring your foot down to the ground momentarily, in this exercise speed is your friend.

 

*Diamond jumps – in this exercise you are making a diamond with your body. So when you jump in the air kick your legs in so that the soles of your feet touch and your arms form the tip of the diamond. When you land get into that deep squat then jump up and do it again.

 

*In – out push-up jacks – we already covered in – outs, now we’re just adding push-up jacks. Push-up jacks are just jumping jacks but in a push-up form. So when you are in a plank position when you drop into a push-up spread your legs like you’re doing a jumping Jack, when you go back up go into a regular plank. These are a bitch.

 

*Suicide jumps – I think we have done enough of these to commit suicide for the entire nation of Burma.

 

*High knee/low/floor sprints – high knees are pretty self-explanatory, low knees are the same, floor sprints are just mountain climbers. The key here again is speed and form.

 

*Ski abs – we have done 1 trillion of these and other insanity workout DVDs you should love them by now! If this is your first time on my website check out my other insanity reviews.

 

*Here start a recovery exercise – kick step back – this exercise is just like the title states, you kick out with one leg then step back with the opposite leg and touch the floor(when you step back you’re getting into a runners lunge). Repeat this exercise with the other leg.

*Squat twist – I don’t think we have done this exercise before. A squat twist is a modified jumping jack where instead of lifting your arms out and up over your head, when your legs jump out, take one arm and squat and twist so one arm touches the opposite leg. Jump back in then repeat to the other side.

* Over The River Hops – There are the same thing as speed skates that are done in P90X but not as intense. If you are not familiar with my P90X reviews, My Core Synergistics review is the #1 listing in Google (yes the entire world!). I have gotten a lot of review and feedbacks on this so please go check it out.

* Attack – Yeah I know, the name itself does not tell you much, so here goes. If I was standing in front of you , you would probably want to attack me. So stand so that your right side is facing me, now jump out like you are doing a jumping jack but your head is still facing me, now when your legs jump out, use your right palm to smash my nose in, when your legs jump back in reach back, now do that again. After you do that twice, do a complete 180 degree (in the air) turn and repeat that with your left palm.

* Power Knee – These are the same as the Insanity Fit Test. You can start with either leg, and then switch after the allotted time.  _Go At Your Own Pace_ Remember form first.

* Ski Down Hooks – Another Insanity favorite, the key to this exercise is to get that butt back and keep your form extremely tight. You can seriously hurt yourself if you don’t.

* Belt Kicks – Another oldie but goodie, make sure you get that butt back and that leg up. I was in serious pain (tired) after doing Ski Down Hooks, mainly because it’s a slower exercise and my body, once in high intensity motion, wants to stay there.

*Forward/Back Suicides – If you ever played basketball or football in high school, then you know what suicides are, or you have done them under another name. Suicides for the sake of this video are using fast feet; you take very quick short steps forward and touch the ground, then take the same amount of steps back and touch the ground again. Does not sound like much but these are a burnout exercise. *As in all exercises, be sure to keep those knees behind the toes.

*Push-Up ABS – These are also know as Spider-Man Push-ups in that, that’s exactly what you look like when doing them.  If you start out in a plank position and start to drop your chest into the floor use one leg to bring your knee to the same shoulder (Right knee-to-right shoulder, Left-to-left) For this exercise it’s not absolutely critical to bring your chest to the floor as this exercise is an abdominal exercise and not a chest exercise. BUT if you want extra credit and a silver star beside your name, bring that chest down.  Since my chest is one of the weakest parts of my body, I was straight up in the hurt locker for this exercise….yes and it’s NOT a chest exercise.

*Plank Punches – Just as the title says, get in a plank and alternate punches with one arm. And get that butt out of the air, I already know it’s up 😉

*8 Jump Ropes/ 8 Hop Squats – For your Jump Ropes, you are doing a double under, meaning if you had a jump rope in your hand, you would bring your rope under you 2x for every 1 jump you take (If you can). Your Hop Squats are the normal Hop Squats nothing new here. Form first. Take a break if you need to.

*Squat speed bag – While in a squat, pretend you have a speed bag in front of you and go for it, the key here is speed. Speed. Speed.  Make extra sure you are low with your butt back.

-Finished-

Yes, Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning is finally over.

This is without a doubt one of the best DVD’s in the whole set, rivals some P90X stuff, mainly because my body is use to a lot of cardio. If you don’t like cardio, you will despise this DVD. What you will learn is you don’t need any equipment, no gym memberships, no fancy clothes, the latest Nike Free’s, or some silly ass “Ab roller” that you’ve see on TV to get a great workout – only a will to bust your ass and eat correctly. To get in serious shape there are no short cuts, no hacks, no secret sauce, no machines, or fancy pills. No amount of money is going to help you here. Fitness, like time, is one of the few things in life that almost everybody is on an equal playing field with – if you eat crap and don’t exercise you will pay the price – if you bust your ass and eat correctly you will reap the rewards. That’s what this is about, That IS how it works.

4.5 out of 5 Charles Face’s

This has been a Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning – Review.


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.

    9 replies to "Insanity – Max Cardio Conditioning – Review"

    • will

      Charles – really love the blog. I’ve been doing insanity for over 4 months now and it really changed my life. I use your blog to get a run down of the punishment I’m in store for (LOL) and it’s very informative!

      Thanks for putting this out there!

    • Insane A

      Thanks for all your reviews 🙂
      I’m about to start my last week of Insanity. I both hate and love this program! My knees hurt a little but I’m feeling stronger both mentally and physically…plus I’m losing inches 🙂
      I’ll come back to read your other reviews.

    • flex belt reviews

      By the time they determine to have a revote it will be also late to
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    • Kelsey

      I love all these reviews! Thank you!

    • Caroline

      But how many Charles faces does this workout get?

    • Sarah

      Hi!
      I’ve been enjoying your blog. I started month 2 of Insanity this week, and it’s nice to know what to expect for tomorrow. I have to say, I am scared of this workout! 🙂 But I’ll dig deeper and get through it 🙂

    • christina

      Her name.is.Chalene..not.charlene…

    • Dominic

      Great review Charles. I’m doing my 3rd round of Insanity after a Summer of lockdown in England due to Coronavirus. I’ve been doing a lot more cycling and running recently and coming back to Insanity I’ve noticed that week 1 is a bit easier than on my previous 2 rounds. It’s still not easy – I just recover a bit more quickly but can do almost all of the exercises the first time. I agree with you about wearing a heart rate monitor watch – my Garmin is keeping me honest and helping me to dig deeper to beat my personal best.

    • Charles Lloyd

      Good job Dominic. Thanks for dropping by

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