Monday, January 12, 2015

Insanity Max:30 Review: Friday Fight: Round 2

The last new workout in Insanity Max:30 is Friday Fight: Round 2. Shaun T starts the workout by saying it's the hardest that he's ever created. Furthermore, the Beachbody Max Out Guide says, "The new 'hardest workout ever.' Every move is a minute in this ultimate challenge between your body and your mind. Who's going to win?"

All that combined made me a little bit nervous about this workout. I've found that month two has increased the difficulty quite a bit and Max Out Strength kicked my rear the other day. As it turns out, Friday Fight: Round 2 is not that bad. Sure there are a lot of cardio moves and the intervals, as well as the time spent on each move, are all longer, but it's all moves that you know from earlier in the program. I was able to make it to the Genie Tuck Jumps at 21:53 before Maxing Out -- that's way better than I've done on other workout the first time through.


Friday Fight: Round 2 consists of a warm-up and three rounds. You go right from the warm-up into Round 1 without a break, which means that you're working for 15 minutes straight through. The next round is 11 minutes, leaving you with just four minutes at the end of the workout. As I've said before, each move is done for a full minute. This is similar to Friday Fight: Round 1 but is longer than the time you spend on each move in the other Max:30 workouts. The other cardio workouts, in general, have you move from move to move at 30 second increments. The Tabata strength-based workouts are 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off in month one and 45 second on, 15 seconds off in month two.

Below is the moves list for Friday Fight: Round 2. You'll see that with the exception of maybe one or two moves, these are exercises that were featured in other Max:30 workouts.

Warm-up:
Med Ball Twist:  Jack the feet and bring hands (together) up and over the head in an arc to the left and right.
Hop Hop Knee: Hop twice laterally to the right, then raise the outside knee. Return to the left, hopping twice and then raising that knee. Alternate side to side.
Mountain Climber: Run with high knees. As you lift one knee, lift the opposite hand directly overhead like you are grabbing a rock above you. Run legs and alternate arms up.
Hit The Floor: Move laterally side to side quickly and tap the floor with one hand and then the other. Keep in somewhat a low stance.
Plank Walk: In plank, move left then right.
Repeat Series
(Note: There is no break between the warm-up and Round 1. You move continuously for the first 15 minutes of Friday Fight: Round 2.)

Round 1:
Iron Legs: Start in a squat. Jump into a left lunge. From there, jump into a right lunge. Then do a scissor jump. Return to the squat and repeat all four moves, jumping from position to position.
Floor Hops: In plank hop both feet to the side of your body, left and right, back and forth. When you are lifting your feet for the jump, do so quick high almost like you want to kick into a handstand.
Scissor - "X": Do four scissor runs where you ski your feet back and forth on the floor. Then do two "X" jumps, where you jump vertically in to the air from a demi-squat position with the arms extended above and the legs below, making and x-shape.
Plank Jack - Front Raise: In plank, jack the feet out and in. As you jack the feet out, lift on arm straight out, directly in front of you. Bring the arm down as you jack the feet in. Alternate arms side to side for the arm lift as you jack the feet out and in.
Plyo Hook Lunge: Start in a lunge position, jump the front leg to the back and the back leg to the front to switch the lunge. Jump back and forth changing your lunging leg each time. As you do this, do hooks, left and right, with your arms.
Hit The Floor - Tuck Jumps: Move laterally side to side quickly and tap the floor with one hand and then the other. Keep in somewhat a low stance. After each move to the side, do a tuck jump by jumping and bringing you feet under your glutes and your knees towards the chest.
Free Runner - R: Jump up and kick the right leg front and left leg back. Repeat.
Free Runner - L: Jump up and kick the left leg front and right leg back. Repeat.
Power Jump Dive: Do a power jump (where you jump from a squat into the air bringing your knees in towards your chest). When you land in a squat, lean forward and dive forward so you are in a full plank with straight legs. Walk your hands back to your feet and stand up so you are again in a squat position and ready for the next power jump.
Ski Down Abs: Start in a c-sit position and lift your feet off the floor. Alternate your knees left and right. As you are doing that twist your upper body in the direction opposite the knees in a skiing motion.
Lat Push-up - Alt: Starting in plank, move your right arm to the right side. Do a push-up where you engage that right lat and have the right arm stay close to the body. After you push-up, walk your hands back into a center plank. Now move to the left side and repeat the move on the left. Alternate side to side.

Round 2
:
Low-High Switch Kicks: Start by kicking your legs left and right fairly low to the floor, on cue begin to kick your legs left and right as fast as you can as as high as you can.
Slap Back Jump: Starting in a squat position, jump forward. As you do this take your arms, which are in down straight in front of you and bring them behind, slapping your hands behind your glutes and returning them to the front. Do the same move jumping backward. Repeat, jumping front and back.
Plank Jack Tap: Start in plank position. Jack your feet out and in. As you jack your feet out, take one hand and tap it to your opposite shoulder. Jack your feet in and return your hand to the floor. When you jack your feet out again, tap the other hand to the other shoulder. Continue jacking your feet out and in and tapping right then left hands to the opposite shoulders.
Jab - Speed Bag - R: In guard position, with your right leg forward, do right jabs. Then switch to a speedbag while scissoring the feet. 
Jab - Speed Bag - L: In guard position, with your left leg forward, do left jabs. Then switch to a speedbag while scissoring the feet. 
Plank To Squat: Start in a squat position. Lower your hands to the floor and jump back into plank. Then jump back up into squat. (Kind of like a burpee.) Repeat.
Lunge Punch Kick - L: Start in a lunge with the left leg back. Hop and kick the left leg forward. As you do so, punch with that side. Go back down into a lunge and repeat.
Lunge Punch Kick - R: Start in a lunge with the right leg back. Hop and kick the right leg forward. As you do so, punch with that side. Go back down into a lunge and repeat.
Genie Tuck Jumps: With your arms cross one on top of the other in front of your chest, jump from a squat into the air bringing your knees in towards your chest.
Wide Burpee Jump: Do a wide bupree by squatting, putting your hands on the floor, and jumping your legs back into plank, keeping the legs wide. Jump back into the squat and the stand, jumping vertically at the top of the move. Repeat.
"X" Abs: Lying supine with legs straight out and about four inches above the floor and your shoulder curled up, your arms will start on your stomach and then reach out to make an "x" shape above the head. Legs open as your arms open. Alternate the arms and legs open into "x" position and then closed.
Tricep Push-up Jack: Do tricep push-ups where you elbows go back, scrapping against your sides instead of outward. As you go down, you jack the feet out and then return them in when you push-up.
Dive Push-up > Child's Pose: This is done with arms like they would be for a tricep push-up. When you start in plank, move so you are slightly back on your feet. As you go down into the push-up position, lean forward so you are moving forward and back as you move down and up.

Round 3:
10 & 2 Punch: Do a twisting jump where you jump both feet between 10 and 2 on the clock. As you are doing that, punch the front arm on each side.
8 Jabs - 2 Diamond: In a squat position, do eight jabs to the front, left and right. Then do two Diamond Jumps. To do a diamond jump, start in a squat. Power your self up in the air bringing your feet together under your body with toes touching (to make a diamond with your legs). While doing this, bring your arms all the way overhead.
Burpee Punch - Alt: Fo a burpee by squatting down and then jumping back into plank. However, instead of putting both hands on the floor, only put down the right hand. The left arm punches straight ahead as you go down into the burpee. Jump the feet in, still with the arm punched forward and return to standing. Repeat alternating the hand that's on the floor and the hand that punches on each burpee.
High Knee Abs: Jog with high knees. Have arms in "on guard" position and twist the torso so arms are meeting knees.


 I really enjoyed Friday Fight: Round 2. It was fun to see all the moves from previous workouts come together in a fast-paced cardio workout. This was definitely all cardio all the time, with less of a focus on working the muscles that in some of the other month 2 workouts. I felt like this was classic Insanity -- it reminded me a lot of the original program. 

In terms of difficulty, I would rate it as similar to a lot of what we see in the original Insanity program. I would also say that Friday Fight: Round 2 isn't much harder than Friday Fight: Round 1; the moves are just different. All in all, it has a great "final workout" feel, as it brings together lots of moves from the program and has you going hard the entire workout. This might be my favorite Max:30 program workout. Highly recommended.

1 comment:

Earn88 said...

Hate to say it but if you think Friday Fight 2 isn't that bad, then you ain't workin hard enough. If you think Fight 2 isn't much harder than Fight 1, then you ain't workin hard enough. Heart rate monitor would be beneficial.