Day 4: Cardio Recovery

My first day back at Insanity after a long weekend was tough!  Cardio Recover is not the fast paced interval training like the previous workouts.  This is slow and controlled muscle building using your own body weight.

There's really not a true warm up in this video.  It starts off with a few yoga poses and stretches, then you start the muscle building with plank work.  My shoulders were burning!

Then starts the squats.  "Slow and controlled," Shawn sings.  "Two more!  Now hold."  Boy were my legs shaking.  Then, "Now pulse it out."  A few times I had to take a break or my legs were going to give out.  Certainly it'll be over in just a minute!  Nope.. after a 30 second break we go straight into slow lunges with the same setup as the squats.

Again, I thought it's got to be over in just a minute.  Directly back into the squats.  My hands are clasped in front of me like I'm praying, my knees are wobbling like a newborn foal, it's taking Shawn an hour to count down the last 5 seconds!  30 second break and right back to lunges.  Now I see why the women in the video have those thighs!

Then we go into a plie "stretch" as Shawn calls it.  I personally feel its just a disguised squat.  My legs can't take it much longer!

Phew!  That's over!  What's next Shawn?  Crap.. a combination of leg, core, and shoulder work!  These hellacious things Shawn calls quad strengtheners.  My sides hurt, my shoulders burn, my legs are giving out.  How do they make it look so easy??  Then Shawn takes it even further by changing the exercise to work the obliques.  At this point, my legs fail me and I welcome the Child's Pose into Downward Dog.  The stretches feel wonderful but my legs won't stop quivering.  I think this "recovery" workout is harder than the regular videos!

One last horrible exercise called Table Top Balance Pose.  I feel like I'm trying to balance on one foot on top of a 100 foot stilt.  I lightly rest my hands on the entertainment center in front of me to catch myself when I lose my balance.  The easy stretches afterward were so much more difficult just because of my wobbly legs.  After a short stretching session, it's finally over!

Weather permitting (and it's supposed to be), I'll be up bright and early with the hubby and going out for a 2.5 mile run.  I'm so looking forward to being able to run again.  The weather has been absolutely horrible for the past three weeks and we haven't been able to go.  That ultimately led me to start back up with Insanity because I was going stir crazy being stuck inside all day!

I've reached a point of mind where I'm going to lose weight no matter the excused I try to give myself of the circumstances around me, so I wasn't going to let the weather hinder my progress.  I'll see you guys tomorrow!