Day 5 - Cardio Power and Resistance

I remember now. When I started Insanity, the first day (Plyometric Cardio Circuit) made me cry, and the second day (Cardio Power and Resistance) almost made me throw up. Sweet.

Cardio Power and Resistance is a 40 minute, 2 circuit routine consisting of a lot of jumping moves and pushups to improve your POWER! I'm still not sure which workout is harder overall between this one and the other two month one Insanity routines, but it's definitely up there.

The warmup for this routine is more jump-centric compared to the others. You start by jogging in place, then do power jacks, log jumps (jump side to side), 1-2-3 heismans, butt kicks, high knees, then vertical jumps. Like usual, repeat this three times until you say "what the hell" and get mad because the workout hasn't even started yet.

Circuit one consists of the following moves:
*Power Jumps - Jump with power
*Belt Kicks - Go down into a squat position and alternate left and right kicks
*Hit the Floor - Hop into a lunge position and touch the ground in front of you, alternate left and right sides.
*V-Pushups - Kind of like a downward dog pushup
**Tricep Dips then One-legged Tricep Dips (Bonus moves) - Face upwards on your hands and feet. Lower your body via your hands
**Tricep Ball Pushups (Bonus move #2)  - Do pushups from a crouched position

Circuit two:
*Hurdle Jumps - Jog in place then hop to the right, jog some more, hop to the left
*Globe Jumps - Touch the floor then jump along the side of an imaginary rectangle (right, back, left, forward)
*Moving pushups - Pushup to the left, pushup to the right
*Floor Sprints - Run while in a plank position
**8 hop squats/8 pushups - As advertised

The first circuit is done three times and the bonus moves are done after the third go around and then the second circuit is the same.

This routine is crazy tiring and should definitely make you a sweaty mess. I didn't put the a/c for this one but I'm not sure if it mattered. If you've ever watched the informercial for Insanity you'd see that guy with sweat puddles on his floor, well that was me yesterday. As far as power is concerned, this routine has you doing a lot of pushups at a quick cardio pace. I'll admit, I had to take a few breaks to catch my breath and let my arms recover from this tough first week, but it should all be worth it in the long run.

Stay powerful everyone (and amazing)