Here is my INSANITY Max 30: Pulse Review! This one is about ‘maxing out form’ and getting ready for the next workouts. It is not insane and fast like the others, but it is still a workout.
I did this one while I had strep throat and flu, barefoot, and with wet hair for the photos. You can find my commentary after doing the workout on my YouTube here.
Total Time: 20 minutes Equipment: none
I like his intro:
'This is your Pulse Workout. This is your time to recover and take it easy. But my name is Shaun T - so it’s not gonna be that easy’.
Warm-Up:
Chest Open Knee - alternate knee ups as you open and close your arms (keeping your elbows up).
Back Lunge Fly - instead of bringing the knees up, lunge them back and fly your straight arms forward and together.
Lateral Lunge - lunge side to side with your hands on your knees.
Downdog Spider - start in Downward Dog and then spider your foot up to your shoulder, repeat but alternate legs.
Here we go!
Squat Pencil - heheh, what? Start in a squat, then bring your hands down and kick your flexed foot forward. Alternate legs.
Stretch:
Calf Stretch - left foot forward, reach for the toe, then switch legs. Then, bring your legs to gather and reach for the ground.
Lunge Pulse Right - with the right leg forward, pulse the lunge.
Lunge Pulse Left - with the left leg forward, pulse the lunge.
Stretch:
Quad Stretch - alternate bringing the leg back and opposite hand to the opposite shoulder.
He’s right, touching the opposite shoulder does help your balance.
Runner Stance Pulse Right - with the right leg back, you pulse in the runner stance without falling over.
Runner Stance Pulse Leg - left leg back, pulse the runner stance.
Stretch:
Hip Opener Stretch - with the toes slightly turned outward, stretch left to right and slightly drop your shoulder in the middle.
Plie Pulse - with the arms straight out, feet out and toes turned out, pulse up and down.
Just imagine me back a little bit more with my torso:
Stretch:
Hamstring Stretch - touch the toe side to side with the legs straight. This is nice, especially since hamstring and glute day was yesterday.
Plank Lat Pulldown - in the plank position, you reach the left arm forward - palm over butt - back forward and down. Switch arms.
Stretch:
Child’s Pose + Cobra - start in Child’s Pose and then move into Cobra. You do this twice. I CAN HANDLE THIS.
Plank Walk + Shoulder Tap - start in a plank and move left to right, tap opposite arms to opposite shoulders, repeat. This may be one of the most difficult moves in the video (cardio-wise).
Stretch:
Chest Stretch - interlock the fingers behind your back, on your knees, and open up your chest. Bring the hands in front, press them out, reach up and open up.
Bear Crawl Walk Out - walk forward four counts, bring the feet up to the hands and jump back out, walk hands back to feet, stand up + arms up - back down and repeat.
Stretch:
Chest Open Stretch - with elbows together, you open them up to stretch the chest.
Reciprocating Knee - in the plank position, you alternate knee drops to the floor.
Stretch:
Downdog + Plank - push back into a Downward Dog and back into a plank. Repeat.
This is apparently the time to go get a mat for core work if you want one. Since when do we need mats? Lay in your sweat. :)
Switch Kick Abs - push your back to the floor and alternate legs up while punching alternating arms up.
Stretch:
Back Stretch - in C-sit position and grabbing under the knees, you round into a C by curving the back.
Crunch Extension - from the C-sit you fall back with arms reaching overhead and then sit up in to the C-sit.
It is a pain to keep your feet off the ground the entire time. Try it.
Stretch:
Hamstring Reach - while seated, reach for the toes with straight legs. Lead with your chest.
Backstroke - with your back on the ground but feet off, alternate straight arms behind head and down to your sides.
This, too, is not so easy to keep your feet off the ground the entire time.
Stretch:
Shoulder Stretch - in the C-sit position, stretch your shoulder across the body and switch.
Table Balance Right - the same arm and leg are lifted while the other knee and hand are on the ground.
Table Balance Left - switch legs and arms.
Stretch:
Child’s Pose
Then, you are done! He tells you to get ready and recover because he’s coming for you!
My Final Thoughts:
Scott - Shaun T’s hubby - is the modifier. :)
I did not burn a whole lot of calories during this quick pulse workout (since it was a recovery low impact workout) and I think it took awhile for my HR monitor to pick up - but here’s my Garmin Connect HR graph:
You can find my after commentary here. I apologize for the not-so-healthy looking iPhone photos.
This is a recovery workout - it is only 20 minutes and has a pulse movement followed by a stretch. It is good for your recovery/rest day.