So, Insanity may not be Beachbody’s newest gadget.  However, Insanity will always be one of Beachody (and Shaun T’s) best productions.

Here’s what the program looks like:

Core Cardio & Balance is one of the easiest routines in the Insanity series but after doing the other workouts your body will have earned this little break.

Core Cardio & Balance is still a great workout but you won’t feel like you need medical attention at any point during the routine (this is recovery mode).

There are 10 moves in the main Insanity Core Cardio and Balance program.  Here’s what to expect…

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Instructor-Shaun T

Category-Cardio+

Equipment-none

Length-37 minutes

HRM-236 calories

Choreography-Simple

Remember my choreography rating refers to the complexity of the choreography in the workout–not the intensity.  This is an advanced program but the actual moves are simple.  Read more about my choreography ratings here.

My rating- A

The Important Information about Insanity Core Cardio & Balance

If you’re doing the full Insanity program (I hope you are) this video is for your recovery week.  You’ll still be challenged but Core Cardio & Balance is definitely a step down (in intensity) from the other Insanity workouts.

I love that countdown clock.

Most of the exercises are done at a slow speed so try to keep moving through the whole interval.  If you’ve been doing the other Insanity workouts then this will be easy peasy.

There are 10 moves in the main workout.  You do every exercise for 1 minute.  Then there’s standing hip flexors, standing abs, and a section called shoulder burners before the cool down.

Warm-Up

The warm-up is about 4 minutes and not as intense as the other Insanity workouts (since you’re in recovery).  Here are the warm-up exercises (you do each move for 1 minute):

Switch Heel Kicks

Mummy Kicks

Football Shuffles

Over the Log

8 High Knees/8 Power Jacks

8 Fast Feet/8 Hooks

Now you get an awesome stretch.  This part is about 3 minutes long.  Enjoy it.  You’re not allowed to go check your twitter account.  Do the stretches.

WATER BREAK

Main Workout (The Exercises in Core Cardio & Balance)

Moving Ski Hops

Try to keep your knees together.  He does this exercise as a group.  It’s really slow so focus on going deep.

Hit the Floor

You’re familiar with this move.  Again, he starts out really slow but the tempo speeds up before the interval ends.

Level I Drills

This is the one where you go down in high plank and do 4 push-ups and then 4 runs on the floor before standing back up.  The tempo makes it manageable to keep up and do every set with the team.

Heisman

Try to keep the knees up.  Your hip flexors will start to burn but try to keep moving.

8 Switch Kicks/8 Hop Squats

More hip flexors…you got this

High Jump

Make the most of this exercise.  Jump as high as you can on every rep.  Also, try and keep your knees together.  That makes it harder.

Moving Plank Walk

Stay up in high plank.  He counts out the move so you do it with the group.  This will shape your shoulders and abs.  Don’t let your torso sag.

8 elbows/Suicide Drills

These are too slow.  I go rogue and set my own pace when he gets here.

4 & 4 Hops

You alternate hopping on one leg for a count of 4.  Try to lift your knee high.  Don’t do a lazy version.

Jab Switch Jump Squats

Shaun T counts out the moves for you but this is another exercise done too slow for me.  I go at my own pace.

Hip Flexor Burners Section (about 3 minutes)

This section is several standing exercises that use your hip flexors and abs.  You’ll feel it.  You may want to go stand by the couch or a chair (something to hold on to) because you’ll need some balance to finish all the exercises.

WATER BREAK

Standing Abs (there’s about 7 minutes left in the workout)

You have to really focus on contracting your abs to get anything out of standing core work.  Don’t think about your conference call later today or what your kids are doing in the next room.  For the next few minutes think about making your abs stronger.

Shoulder Burners

This section is more about the thighs than the shoulders, in my opinion. You have to stay in a squat position while Shaun T gives you different straight arm moves to do.  Try to keep your face relaxed and don’t come up (stay in the squat)!  It’s tough to keep your face from crinkling up.

Cool Down/Stretch

There’s a nice cool down/stretch section about 2 minutes long.

Now What?

Core Cardio & Balance is a good program to combine with an ab workout or short strength training video (like you can find in the P90X3 series).

You can find Core Cardio & Balance in the Insanity family of videos by Beachbody and in the library of workouts in a Beachbody on Demand membership.

Learn more about Beachbody on Demand.

Do you own Insanity?  Please tell me which workout YOU love in the series!  Thank you!!