Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance.
Detailed Reviews & Insight.

As far as INSANITY workouts go, this one is tough, but not the toughest. You get thirty second water breaks between each set, and the main workout, while pretty brutal, spreads the exercises evenly between lower and upper body, so no one area gets taxed unduly.

Cardio Power and Resistance Key Takeaways

Insight # 1

Good News! As far as INSANITY workouts go, this one is tough, but not the toughest.

Insight # 2

We recommend that you explore this site and read the reviews of all 10 workouts so you know full well what you are getting into!

Pro Tip 1: Have A Recovery Plan

Rest and a post workout supplement like the Insanity /  P90X Recovery Formula is key.  You’ll want to boosts energy levels and replenishes essential nutrients to maximize recovery and diminish muscle soreness.

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Pro Tip 2: Have A Back-up Workout

There’s no shame is switching to another workout while you build up to Insanity. EFR offers you a 14-day free trial of all Beachbody workouts.

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Cardio Power and Resistance Details

If you pace yourself, make the most of your water breaks, and listen to Shaun, you should get an excellent workout that taxes you but won’t break you. Of course, the intensity level you bring will determine how hard the workout is, so listen to your body, and push yourself as hard as you can without compromising form!

If you pace yourself, make the most of your water breaks, and listen to Shaun, you should get an excellent workout that taxes you but won’t break you. Of course, the intensity level you bring will determine how hard the workout is, so listen to your body, and push yourself as hard as you can without compromising form!

Enjoy this stretch. It’s your opportunity to get your breath back, to take that generated heat from the warm up and use it to lengthen and prepare your muscles for the main workout (especially since the ‘water break’ that precedes it is only 15 seconds).

The stretch is about six and a half minutes long, and you’ll find that you’ll sweat more during it than during the warm up as your body seeks to deal with all the energy you’ve just burned through. One thing you’ll notice however is that this is not an opportunity for a break; Shaun T uses tricks like extending your arms out to force you to work, and go deep into yoga poses so as to keep your core tight and activated.

You’ll primarily lengthen hamstrings, your groin and quads, and those are the key muscles to work on. Go deep, lead with your chest when pushing into a stretch and not your head. Use the most of your thirty second that follows this-you’re going to need all the energy you can get for the main workout!

The Main Workout consists of two different sets of moves, each set repeated three times, and is finished off by a brutal final minute in which you go all out with a really tough combo.

Luckily, unlike Power Cardio, you get 30 second water breaks between each one, and trust me, you’ll need them. The body of this workout takes about 21:30 minutes, but if you pace yourself carefully, you’ll be able to get through it and finish strong

The first set of moves consists of four moves, each one allotted 30 seconds for a total of two minutes:

Power Jumps: From a squat, leap up and bring your knees high, where you slap them and fall back into a squat. You don’t go all out, but rather follow Shaun T’s cues.

Power Kicks: Another move that incorporates a squat. Hands on your hips, go down into a squat, moving to one side, and when you come up do a front kick. Back down, to the other side, up, kick. Core engaged, leaning forward.

Hit the Floor: Another move that alternates from side to side, you leap up, grab sky, and then fall into a side squat of sorts and reach down to touch the floor with one hand. Back up, grab sky, drop into an opposite side squat, and touch the floor with the other hand.

V Push Ups: Get into push position, and walk your feet forward as close as you can, so that your butt is pointing right up into the air, fingers pointing at each other. Do push ups, lowering your head to the ground, using your shoulders, keeping your back and legs straight.

Each set takes two minutes, with a thirty second water break between.

At the end of the third set, you don’t get to take a break-rather, Shaun T throws you right into one final exercise: Tricep Dips. This one lasts for a whole minute. Get onto all fours, stomach to the sky, and make sure your finger tips are facing your heels, elbows are back, and lower your butt to the ground and back up, using your triceps to control your movement. Then, with twenty seconds to go, lift one of your legs right into the sky. Keep your core tight, and finish it off!

Thirty second break, and then right into Ball Tricep Workout. Get on all fours, the same as the V Push Up, but lower your but into a crouch. Then, on your tip toes, lower your knees toward the ground, and then push back up. Do it for thirty seconds and you’re finally done with the first set!

Remember! It is better to go strong the whole three sets, than to go all out the first time and then be unable to finish. Pace yourself, keep your eye on the clock, and go for the whole three sets of I you can!

Twelve minutes left in the main workout. As soon as the water break is over, you get thrown right into the next set, and you’re off! Each set is two minutes, with a thirty minute water break between. Notice that Shaun amps up the intensity early on-be aware of your own energy levels, and go a little slower if you have to in order to stay in the game.

Hurdle Jumps: Sprint in place, arms pumping, and every time Shaun T calls out, you leap high as if over an invisible lateral hurdle. Sprint, jump! Sprint, jump, sprint, jump!

Globe Jumps: You should recognize this one from the Fit Test. Working in a square formation, go from deep squats, both hands on the ground, leap, grab sky, and fall in the next corner of your square.

Moving Push-Ups: Classic push-ups, but every time you go down, your foot travels to the left, and then your other foot joins it, then they travel to the right, and back and forth for 30 seconds.

Floor Sprints: Stay in push-up position, but now sprint in place, hands locked, knees jacking up to your chests, sprinting and running in place.

Remember! Make the most of those water breaks, take down a mouthful, don’t drink too much, and get right back it. Enjoy Shaun T’s roar when he gets your going for that second set. If you don’t get a rush when he does that, I don’t know what’s wrong with you! Keep form, keep tight, and take a break if you need it!

Once you think you’re going to have a heart attack from that last set, you get a 15 second water break, and he throws you into the most brutal final minute possible. You get into the squat position, and do eight hop squats and then eight push-ups as many times as you can for that one minute.

Hop Squats: In a squat, hop up and down, keeping your core tight, locked into the squat, so that you hop up just a little.

Push-Ups: You guys know what a push-up is!

This is similar to the warm up stretch. Don’t skip it! A series of lunges, hip openers, back stretches, hamstring stretches and just generalized breathing exercises. End it off with a quad stretch, and you’re done!

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