Beachbody Reviews

Insanity Max Interval Circuit (A Summary & Review)

February 3, 2016

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I'm Mickie. Co-founder and CEO of One Strong Southern Girl. Our team is here for you. We want you to remember us because we helped changed your life. 

Hello!

I love this Insanity workout because anyone can do the moves in Max Interval Circuit and you’ll burn a TON of calories in the process.

I’m going to tell you exactly how many calories I burn, how long this routine lasts, and how the exercises in Max Interval Circuit are organized in this Insanity review.

Insanity Max Interval Circuit is just one of the incredible routines in the Insanity series.  Here’s a reminder of what you’ll see in the Insanity program by Beachbody.

Let me break down exactly what you’ll see in Max Interval Circuit…

This post may contain Amazon (or other) affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. You can get more information about that here.

a group of women working out in a school gym

Instructor-Shaun T

Equipment-None

Length-59 minutes

HRM-560 calories

Choreography: Simple

My rating– A

The Important Stuff

Insanity Max Interval Circuit is a great advanced cardio workout.  This video gets a solid A rating because it does incorporate some strength training and has excellent warm-up and cool down/stretch segments.

There’s a countdown clock.  I’m a sucker for a countdown clock.  In this video the clock allows you to break down each segment into small bites that are much easier to swallow.

Remember to read to the end for helpful tips on each section as well as links to a 3 different places you can find this routine.

The Warm-up

The warm-up is a group of exercises that Shaun T repeats three times with increasing intensity.

By the third time you do it you’re wondering What The Hell and you’re definitely a little nervous about what’s to come.  You should be.  Prepare to have your ass kicked.  But don’t worry.  If you can survive the warm-up then you’re good to go.  You’ll rock this work out.

Stretch

After the warm-up there’s an awesome stretch.  I LOVE that he does a thorough stretch after you’re already warm.  It’s so smart and makes a big difference in how effective the stretch is.

Honestly, I’d never done a workout where I was sweating so much in the first 5 minutes until I started the Insanity Series.  But hey, sweating is good.  Make sure you have one (or two) waters close by.

The Main Workout (The Exercises in Insanity Max Interval Circuit)

Cardio

Next there are 3 cardio sections.  Each section is done in the same format as the warm-up.  There are 4 exercises and you do them all.  Then you repeat those same four exercises but at a faster (more intense) pace.  By the time you repeat them the 3rd time you’re totally spent.

Thankfully there are water breaks.  Thank You, Shaun T.  You get 30 seconds between each section to catch your breath and take a drink.

You do have to do push-ups in a few of the groupings.  Don’t expect to go all the way down.  You won’t be able to.  I hate push-ups but was happy to see a strength move.

The last section has you in the plank position a LOT.  Your shoulders will feel like there are little fires burning in there.  It’s ok. You’re a badass.

There’s a short cool down move after each section that allows your heart rate to drop back closer to Earth before you start all over with another section.

Some More Important Stuff…

I love that everyone goes at their own pace. However, that means you’re in charge of pushing yourself.  Take that job seriously.

I rely on having an instructor do almost (if not all) of the workout. I like the instructor to inspire me with their actions, not just encouraging phrases.  Well, you can’t do that in this video.  Shaun T doesn’t do all the workout.  In fact, he walks around a LOT.  One way to make this video even better (in my opinion) would be to have Shaun T actually do all of the workout.  Someone screaming at me while I’m dying reminds me a little bit of my husband cheering me on during labor.  I hate you.  I want to see Shaun T dying with me rather than talking me through it.

Shaun T walks around pointing/poking at his crew. It’s weird.  I get it.  I know he’s pointing out their awesome technique and muscles but we see that on our own.  No poking required.

Shaun T yells a lot. “Dig Deeper!” It’s awesome. It’s his style.  It works.  It’ll push you further, I promise. He frequently screams out how much time is left.  Thank You!  I like that.

His crew are real people. They seem tired (ignore that guy doing break dance moves when it’s all over).  They look like they may black out.  They look like I feel.  That’s all good.  I’m not alone.

Try not to stop. You’ll have to slow down at some point but try to keep going.  You got this!

Now What??

Max Interval Circuit is a great workout (and a reason to buy the Insanity program). 

You burn a ton of calories and it’s very challenging.  Anyone can do the moves.  I love it.

You can find Insanity Max Interval Circuit in the library of workouts in a Beachbody on Demand (BOD) subscription (it’s how I access Beachbody workouts now.)  

Read more about BOD in this article, Beachbody on Demand–5 Reasons to Give it a Try (Besides the fact that there’s a free trial.)

Thanks for reading!

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  1. Dominique Mackson says:

    The shirts you get after Insanity should say I survived and I earned it

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