Insanity Pure Cardio

A friend of ours loaned us his Insanity DVDs and since today is 'day off' for T25, I figured I'd go see what all the fuss was about Insanity. I've considered doing it before, but the workouts are longer than I have time to do in the mornings and I don't always have time to work out in the evening. 

First off, I decided to do Pure Cardio. I figured that would probably be the most heart thumping one of the first month workouts. Just a guess (I'll try Plyo next). And, the heart rate chart doesn't lie--

(I did miss the first minute of the workout data...forgot to hit start on my Garmin) The workout started off quickly going right into jogging in place, jumping jacks, and other cardio things (like high knees, butt kicks, etc.). You do them for a certain amount of time. Then, the set repeats two more times, each time getting faster and faster. So, you see my heart rate chart climbs quickly. Then, you'll notice a dip. He goes into a recovery/stretching period. I admit, I'm not huge into long stretches and this seemed really long, getting my heart rate way back down (but I get that stretching is good for muscles). But, once that was over, it amped up. I jumped quickly to 160 bpm and the next 20 minutes was tough. I was pretty proud, though, that it was hard for me, but not impossible. I never stopped for more than 3 seconds and the only modification I made was on a sequence that started with pushups (I did lady pushups instead of on my toes). And, it hurt but it was a great workout.  The workout ended with another 5 minutes of stretching but after having the heart rate up so high, it actually leveled out a little bit and didn't dip so low. Even 20 minutes after the workout, I was still holding above 100 and my resting heart rate is more like 65. For the whole workout, my average heart rate was 141, which is pretty close to my average heart rate for T25 Cardio. 

Unlike T25, he makes no modifications for people who aren't quite ready for this level of cardio. So, you will have to just slow down and do your own pace or just do something else if it gets too hard. The screen does remind you to "keep moving" if it gets too hard. You see the people on the video stop or improvise at times, too. 

So, it was a good workout. There are many free workouts on YouTube that will probably get you the same results, and if you have the time to do it, I am sure it will yield results. I'll see how I feel after I try a few more of the workouts!