Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Insanity Max:30 Review: Max Out Cardio

This Monday began month two of Max:30. I was feeling pretty good going into the second month. I had been able to make it through every workout in month one at least once all the way through without Maxing Out and felt ready to tackle this next challenge. 

Month two starts with the workout Max Out Cardio. Beachbody describes Max Out Cardio this way, "This may be the craziest cardio workout you ever tried. Just wait till you get to the first Power Move. What minute are you Maxing Out at now?" Basically, this seemed like a new and more challenging version of Cardio Challenge from month one, an initial impression that turned out to be true. Overall, the month two workouts look to all be analogs for month one workouts with the intensity ratcheted up a bit -- think about the difference between month one and month two of classic Insanity, and you have a good idea what to expect. In my mind, getting started with the program is much more challenging than the transition from month one to month two. If you can do month one and have been following the calendar, you'll be well positioned to do well on month two.


 Here are the moves list. You pretty much do every move for thirty seconds. The rounds are longer in month two for Max Out Cardio than in month one Cardio Challenge. You go from five minute intervals to six. The main difference is the addition of a Power Move at the end of each round. Some of these Power Moves last a bit longer than thirty seconds. For example, I think the first one was a minute. The moves are high impact and similar to Cardio Challenge but with more of a strength endurance feel.

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.
1-2-3 Soccer Juggle: Run side to side three times. Have arms at chest level and open to the sides. Bring up your foot and touch it with the opposite hand.
Hop Hop Runner: Hop twice laterally and then curl the inside leg up and back into a dramatic running motion. Hop and run to the other side. Repeat side to side.
(Repeat series twice)
Plank Jack Front Raise [Power Move]: In a plank, jack the feet out and in, when the feet go out raise one arm. Alternate front raises side to side as you jack the feet. (Note: Yes, this is as hard as it sounds. However, if you've been doing jack push-ups and the like, all of which you do in month one, you should be ready to do this move. Just remember to really engage the core so that you can balance in plank as you do the front raises.)

Round 1:
Balance Kick Back - R: Stand on the left leg and lean slightly forward. Kick the right leg to the back out and in.
Speed In & Out Abs: In plank, jump the feet in towards the chest and then back out. Repeat as quickly as possible.
Low Plank Side Punch: In low plank (on elbows), lift one arm, reach it under your torso and punch to the opposite side. Put that arm back down and reverse on the other side. Go side to side trying not to move the hips.
Balance Kick Back - L: Stand on the right leg and lean slightly forward. Kick the left leg to the back and out and in.
Speed In & Out Abs
Low Plank Side Punch
Balance Kick Back - R
Balance Kick Back - L
Speed In & Out Abs
Low Plank Side Punch
Genie Tuck Jumps [Power Move]: 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. (Note: Doing a Genie Tuck Jump is quick a bit harder than doing a normal Tuck Jump. During a normal Tuck Jump, you can use your arms for momentum to help bring you into the air. With the arms crossed genie-style, you have to completely power yourself from your legs.)

Round 2:
Low-High Switch Kick: 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.
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.
Moving 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.
Low-High Switch Kick
Plank to Squat
Moving Slap Back Jump
Low-High Switch Kick
Plank to Squat
Moving Slap Back Jump
8 Jab - 2 Diamond [Power Move]: 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.

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.
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.
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. (Note: My legs were toast at this point. The previous round with the many squats and jumps made me quite fatigued. I Maxed Out here and took a little while to recover my legs.)
10 & 2 Punch
Floor Hops
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.
10 & 2 Punch
Floor Hops
Lunge Punch Kick - L
Lunge Punch Kick - R
Basketball - Dribble [Power Move]: Do four jumps like you are doing a jump shot in basketball. Then to eight dribbles, where you ski your feet back and forth, front and back, and do a dribbling motion with the opposite hand.

Round 4:
Oblique High Knee: Run with high knees, however, have the legs slightly open and twist your arms (which should be in guard position) left and right to meet the knees, thus engaging the abs.
Sprint - Jack: Run in place as fast as you can. On cue, switch to jacking your feet with arms in guard position. On cue switch back to sprinting and then back again to jacking. (Note: Overall, round four was a bit less challenging than the other rounds, especially rounds two and three. I think I feel this way because the legs got a bit of a break. It was a welcome change to transition to some simple cardio moves here.)
Pike-Up Oblique Knee - R: Start off in plank. Do a pike-up by jumping your feet in towards your arms so that  you are in an inverted "v" then jump back into plank. Now, do a push-up and bring the right knee out along the side of your body and towards the arm in front of you.
Oblique High Knee
Sprint - Jack
Pike-Up Oblique Knee - L: Start off in plank. Do a pike-up by jumping your feet in towards your arms so that  you are in an inverted "v" then jump back into plank. Now, do a push-up and bring the left knee out along the side of your body and towards the arm in front of you.
Oblique High Knee
Sprint - Jack
Pike-Up Oblique Knee - Alt: Start off in plank. Do a pike-up by jumping your feet in towards your arms so that  you are in an inverted "v" then jump back into plank. Now, do a push-up and bring the right knee out along the side of your body and towards the arm in front of you. Repeat from the pike-up and alternate oblique knee push-ups right and left.
High Jump Clap [Power Move]: Jump straight up into the air. As you do so, bring one knee up towards the chest and clap your hands beneath that leg. The other leg remains straight below you. Alternate side to side which leg you are clapping beneath.
The Attack: In a squat position, chop hands left and right in front of you -- kind of like alternating jabs but with the hands open instead of fists.


I made it to 19:08 before Maxing Out, which I felt was pretty good for my first go around. In Cardio Challenge I tended to Max Out because I was huffing and puffing from the cardio (and my cardio is pretty good). In Max Out Cardio, I Maxed Out because my legs were jelly. It made the last ten minutes of the workout pretty interesting. Max Out Cardio definitely seems to work your muscles a bit more than Cardio Challenge.

Throughout the workout, Shaun T keeps saying that Max Out Cardio is an endurance challenge. I am not sure that I entirely agree as I define endurance as running a half marathon or hiking up a mountain for five hours; however, I do somewhat get his point. Over the thirty minutes, we are hitting the same muscles again and again. A key example is how much work the legs get in the middle rounds. It was this fact, more than cardio, that was the hard part of this workout. All in all, definitely a fun and engaging thirty minutes of hard work!

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