What is the cardio circuit for insanity

Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit will be one of the hardest workouts you’ll ever do.  I promise.

TIP-If you haven’t worked out since 1980, you might not want to start here.

BUT, make it your goal to crush this workout in a few months.

Plyometric Cardio Circuit is just ONE of the routines in the Insanity series:

I LOVE the Insanity series. 

I know Insanity’s been out for a few years now but the workouts are timeless.  It’s never going to be too late to jump on the Insanity bandwagon.

You don’t need any equipment.  The exercises are simple (but more intense than any workout I’ve ever done*).

And Shaun T’s crew in the video are so real!

Bravo, Beachbody, for using a team of athletes who are also breathless, drenched in sweat and struggling to finish every last rep.  

*Update–Insanity Max:30 is comparable in intensity.

Let me tell you what you’re going to see in Plyometric Cardio Circuit…

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Instructor-Shaun T

Category-Cardio

Equipment-nada

Length-44 minutes

HRM-374 calories

Choreography-Simple

Remember my choreography rating refers to the complexity of the choreography in the workout–not the intensity.  This is an advanced program but the actual moves are simple.  Read more about my choreography ratings here.

My rating-A

The Important Stuff about Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Plyometric Cardio Circuit uses interval training and is a phenomenal cardio workout in a short period of time.  As I said before, this will be one of the hardest workouts you’ve ever done.  Promise.

The main workout has two sections (circuit one and two) of four exercises.  You repeat those four moves three times with more intensity every time.  There are a few moves added at the end of each section (after the third set) before you rest.

There’s a countdown clock.  Watch it.  Challenge yourself to get through each section.  Before you know it you’ll be done.

Go For It.  This routine is so hard.  Push yourself.  You’re getting stronger and healthier.

Remember to read to the end for tips on every section in Plyometric Cardio Circuit as well as links to a few places you can compare prices for Insanity.

Warm-Up

You know how the insanity warm-up works.  You do several exercises in a row.  Then you repeat them twice, increasing intensity every time.

The exercises in this warm-up:

Jog

Jumping Jacks

Heisman

1-2-3

Butt Kicks

High Knees

Mummy Kicks

WATER BREAK

Stretch

I’ve mentioned it before but this little segment is my favorite part of Insanity.  The stretch following the warm-up blast feels so damn good.  The timing is genius. 

Shaun T forgets to do a few of the stretches on the opposing leg (leg raises) in this workout so you’ll need to throw those in there for balance.

GET A DRINK.  YOU NEED IT.

Main Workout (The Exercises in Plyometric Cardio Circuit)

Circuit One (23 minutes left in this workout)

Suicide Drills

Shuffle your feet fast.  Stick your butt out to touch the floor.

Power Squats

Stick that butt out.  You’re creating a stronger lower body.

Mountain Climbers

Core tight.  Lift your knees.  You’re not tired.

Ski Jumps

Keep your knees facing the front and your legs glued together.  Yes, that makes it harder.  I know, you hate me right now.

WATER BREAK

Repeat those four moves with more intensity.  Go at your own pace but go fast.

WATER BREAK

Same moves, one last time, then you move on.  Make this your best set of these.

There are two more exercises left to do before you rest.  You do them once so go for it.

Switch Feet

Try to go fast.  You only have 15 minutes left.

Football Wide Sprints

Feel your core.  You are amazing.  Don’t give up.

WATER BREAK

Circuit Two (14 minutes left)

Basketball

Do them all from the same side.  Switch sides on the second set.  On the third set alternate the move from right (towards the TV) to left (away from TV).

Level One Drill

You have to go down in plank now.

You do four push-ups and then 8 runs on the floor and then stand up.  Repeat.

Ski Abs

Yes, more plank work.  Your legs go to the side and up towards your shoulder.

In/Outs

Stay in plank.  Shaun T tells you what to do.  Try to keep up.

WATER BREAK

Repeat those four moves.  Remember to do the other side on the basketball exercise.

I am dripping in sweat at this point.  My shoulders are on fire.  It’s hard for everyone.  You can do it.  Just do as many push-ups as you can on the Level One Drills.  It’s impossible to keep up with what he calls out.  Go on your knees if you need to.  You should feel your obliques contract on those ski abs.

WATER BREAK

You’ll think you can’t possibly do all those moves again but you can. 

This is the last set.  Can you believe you’ve been in the body of this workout for less than 25 minutes?  It really is insane but this is where it counts.  Do it.  Shaun T will push you through this.  Listen to him.

Now you do two new exercises.  You won’t even care what they are because you’ll be so happy to get out of plank.  You don’t have to repeat them.

Jabs

Punch your hands as fast as you can.  You got this.  Pretend you’re a famous boxer when you’re doing all these punches over the next few minutes.

Cross Jacks

Uppercuts

Attack

Keep your core tight and get into that squat.  You’re so close!

WATER BREAK

Cool Down/Stretch

You did it!!  You’re so amazing.  Be proud of yourself.  You know how much effort you put in to get through this workout.  Don’t skip the stretch.  You need it.

Now What??

I love, love, love this workout.  Insanity is so good because of routines like this one.

You can find Plyometric Cardio Circuit with the other Insanity videos by Beachbody and in the workouts of a Beachbody on Demand membership.

Read more about Beachbody on Demand.  It’s free for 30 days!  (And how I access every Beachbody workout these days.)

Before I started this program I had been warned that Insanity’s Plyometric Circuit was intense and the warnings held true – this workout is no joke!

Unlike P90X, where each week’s workouts are performed in the same order and on the same day of the week, Insanity kind of mixes things up and each week is different. We are at the tail end of week 2 and I have done Insanity Plyometric Circuit a total of three times now. Let me tell you, it hasn’t gotten any easier!

Warm-Up

As usual, we start with a warm-up which consists of about six high intensity moves performed quickly in a row and then leads into two more sets of the same six moves. The total warm-up time is about 9 minutes, 3 minutes per set.

Each warm-up is similar but slightly difference. Plyometric Circuit’s warm-up starts with a jog in place (all warm-ups start like this) then moves into Jumping Jacks, Heismans, Triple Heismans, Butt kicks, High knees, and finishes with Mummy Kicks.

After the short water break that concludes the warm-up, I am literally dripping with sweat. A quite long stretch session follows, which sounds easier than it is. One thing I really like about Insanity is that Shaun T doesn’t waste ANY time – this workout is very efficient despite being short. Several of the stretches are also yoga moves which seem to be strengthening core and legs while you stretch. After an intense warm-up I am usually quite uncomfortable in some of the poses. I also think that this workout is genius because you are torching calories constantly. Since the warm-up is so intense, you are burning calories during the stretch as your body attempts to cool yourself off and also perform the moves.

The Workout

Back to maximum heart rate. There are two main workouts in this DVD in addition to the warm-up. Each workout consists of three sets of moves which get progressively longer. The last workout in each set has an additional 1-2 minutes of moves that you haven’t performed before.

Workout 1

• Suicide Drills (move a few steps across the floor to the left and right and bend and touch the floor on each side)
• Power Squats (squat and jump)
• Mountain Climbers (high knees while alternating your arms up and down like you are climbing a mountain)
• Ski Down (with both feet together, jump side to side like you are skiing)

Additional moves at 3rd set of Workout 1:

• Switch Feet (jump to right foot front, then left foot front and repeat, keeping both feet flat on the ground the whole time and swinging your arms)
• Football Sprints (with feet wide, quickly alternate weight from left to right foot and follow Shaun’s instructions to turn right or left, move forward and backward, etc).

Workout 2

• Basketball Drills (squat and pretend to shoot a basket)
• 5 sets of Level 1 Drills (4 push ups, 4 plank runs, move to a standing position and repeat)
• 5 sets of Ski Drill (Start in plank then jump your feet to the right and then jump back to center, then jump feet to left, repeat)

Additional moves at 3rd set of Workout 2:

• Jabs (in a boxing stance, punch the air, alternating hands)
• Cross Jacks (Alternate  hands going above your head while alternating crossing one leg in front of the other and both legs out)
• Uppercuts (in a boxing stance, perform uppercuts, alternating arms)
• Attacks (in a deep squat, alternate throwing your open palm out like you are deflecting an opponent)

My Thoughts on the Workout

At this point I’ve done all of the Month 1 workouts and this one is my favorite. Not only is it the hardest, I think it’s the most effective. Although sometimes I don’t like the repetition of the warm-up, but overall this is a butt-kicking workout that sculpts the entire body.

The part that is most difficult for me is the floor work because my shoulders start burning so much that I can’t hold the plank in order to do all of the final moves. I also am not quick enough at push-up/plank run/standing to stay in sync with Shaun T but I try! I think it’s good that I did P90X prior to this series because I am much stronger at push-ups than before. It would be more awkward to move from push-ups on your knees to the running plank moves.

Reviews of the other workouts to come shortly! On Monday we will re-perform the Fit Test already!