DVD 2 - Cardio Abs (16 min. 45 sec)
55 minutes of pure Insanity!
These two workouts were supposed to be on the same DVD. Curious to see what sort of crazy ab workout would be expected of me after Pure Cardio later in the evening I popped the DVD in a quick scan before heading out to do some retail therapy. Unfortunately, the DVD seems to be blank in the place Cardio Abs should be. Oh no! Some people might be happy about the unexpected break. I was disappointed I wouldn't have the added challenge.
I took the DVD out and "cleaned" it, hoping this would clear the problem. But nope. At that point, I remembered that if you have the deluxe edition of Insanity like I do, in month 2 you get to swap Cardio Abs with Insane Abs. I figured I would just do Insane Abs tonight instead. As I went through the DVDs to find Insane Abs to preview, I came to another one called Cardio Abs with no other workout on it. Score! When I first got the set, I wondered why Cardio Abs came on its own as well as attached to another workout. Now I know.
The retail therapy I mentioned above included a stop at the bookstore, Lush cosmetics, lunch & Ross. Sometimes it helps to pamper myself when I've been feeling down for a couple of days. At the bookstore I picked up the first paperback printing of one of my favorite author's newest book (After Dark by Haruki Murakami) and a book by an Indian writer, Manil Suri called The Age of Shiva. At Lush I picked up a 2 bath bombs, 2 bubble bars and a double sized bath melt with various combinations of my favorite smells: jasmine, lavender, honey, rose, citrus. I lunched at Asqew Grill - you can't go too far off the rails with 3 prawns and some veggies on a stick on top of a salad.
Finally, at Ross, I rounded out my athletic wardrobe: a pair of black and fuchsia workout pants with a pink sports bra, a dark grey sports bra with matching pants by Fila and white, black, pink, grey & silver Fila cross-trainers. I had workout clothes, but only 4 sets. The amount of sweat I produce per Insanity DVD is so intense I felt kinda gross wearing a set of clothes twice without washing them, but the time commitment needed for Insanity makes it hard for me to hit the laundromat more than once per week on the weekend so I had to do just that. 2 more sets of workout clothes, and my problem is solved. The great thing about Ross: my entire purchase (including some slippers and hair ties) was $20 less than I would have paid for the Fila pants alone elsewhere. I love Ross.
What a difference the new cross trainers made! Their soles are thicker than on the shoes I already own, and I really felt that during the workout. Much, much better support during the moves requiring me to launch myself into the air and land "softly".
Cardio Abs was great. The first 3 minutes are a warm-up (sprints, jumping jacks and a couple of other up-and-down-from-the-floor moves) followed by going right into the ab workout. You're already warmed up and stretched out from Pure Cardio but Shaun takes you through that brief warm-up anyway. The warm-up was hard. Even though I had the extra break due to taking out one DVD to replace it with another and going through all of the commercial-y stuff at the beginning of the 2nd DVD I still wasn't quite prepared to add that extra bit of high level cardio after just completing a full workout. Nevertheless, I did what I could until knowing eventually I'd be spending the majority of this shorter workout on the floor.
The best thing about this ab workout? No crunches or sit ups. The majority of the workout is done while sitting in the c-sit position (like Shaun T in the picture). The first part is easy, just twisting side to side in this position, then twisting with one leg raised, then the other, then staying centered and alternately bringing each knee up between your arms. Where it gets difficult is when you have to start doing alternating, then simultaneous leg lifts in this position with your palms on the floor by your ass.You round out Cardio Abs by flipping over and doing several variations of push-ups and/or moves from the plank position. I had started to feel the ab work toward the end of the c-sit moves, but it was obvious I'd taxed them more than I imagined when I got into plank position. It takes a lot of ab and back support to hold yourself in plank position for a sustained amount of time, let alone do any maneuvers.
Most of the ab work is done at a cardio pace, though not in intervals. It was pretty intense doing another 16 minute workout after Pure Cardio, though not as intense as it will be next month when I am doing 55 - 60 minutes of interval cardio.
Tomorrow I rest again. I also take my measurements for the first time (officially, I couldn't keep myself from checking part way through this week) since January 3, the day before I started Insanity. For now, I'm off for a luxuriating soaking of my weary muscles in a fragrant bath.
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