Fit Body by Julia: Cardio Madness #2

Cardio Madness #2 is a Fit Body by Julia workout. Most of this workout was created by Daniela though the very last portion (Round of Applause Burnout) was created by Christine Comeau.

Wow. After doing Cardio Madness #1 I was expecting this to be more doable. Cardio Madness #1 was intense and challenging but entirely doable. This one was in line with Oxana’s No Equipment Crazy Cardio–grueling. Though I will say I wasn’t counting the minutes like I was in No Equipment Crazy Cardio. This one is varied and interesting but it was exhausting. It has 3 parts–4 actually. The part of the workout Daniela created contains 3 parts then the workout ends with Christine’s burnout–so a 4th part.

Part 1 is 3 circuits, each circuit contains 7 moves and you do each move for 50 seconds with zero rest. You get a brief rest between each circuit. Then you move on to Part 2 which is a cardio pyramid. That circuit is made up of 4 moves. The first time you do the circuit you do each move for 40 seconds, then 30 seconds then 20 seconds then 10 seconds. Again, during the circuit there is zero rest and you get 10 seconds of rest before repeating the circuit at a shorter timed interval. Part 3 is an AMRAP (as many reps as possible). You have a circuit of 5 exercises, each exercises is done for 10 reps and you repeat the circuit as many times as possible in a 10 minute time frame. Again, zero rest. Daniela finishes you off with a 2 minute burnout that is done pyramid style–again AMRAP in that 2 minutes. And finally, the workout is completed with Christine’s burnout which is 10 exercises, all of which contain a clap somewhere in the move. It is done in 40/10 intervals–40 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Christine’s burnout was challenging but seemed like a cool down after Daniela’s nightmare.

Julia wore her 10 pound weighted vest throughout the majority of this workout. That is insane. I did this workout without any equipment and it completely burned me out–I was pushing through by Part 2! In Part 3 I think, Julia stated that she saw no point in doing a burpee if you do not include a push up. I guess some of my workout today was pointless because by the time she made that comment I was reduced to half burpees. I did do full burpees in Part 1 and 2 but by Part 3 I was just trying to get through. BTW–between each part there was a “break.” Julia apparently turned off her camera and took one and told the home exerciser to also take one. I only have an hour in the morning before work to workout, so that is not an option for me. I also did a warm up and stretch with this workout, so even at 53 minutes my workout ended up being over an hour (not much–only a minute or two). So I did not take these breaks. I just push straight through for 53 minutes. And it was exhausting.

Oh! And this was a real bonus for me. My upper inner thighs (at the back near my glutes) are so @$#%& sore. I don’t know if it is from Julia’s PHAT workout I did yesterday or from PiYo Drench which I did on Sunday–but that added an extra bit of fun to this workout.

Cardio Madness #2 is 53 minutes long, no warm up or stretch. No equipment needed but Julia wore a 10 pound weighted vest for most of it and used a bosu ball for the final burn out–she only used it for one exercise. I used zero equipment except a fitness mat. The breakdown below was copied from Julia’s YouTube page. I only made some formatting adjustments and explained any exercise that isn’t obvious from the name.

Part 1: 3 circuits with 7 moves for 50 sec each, no rest between the moves

Circuit 1:

1. Toe touch jacks (jack and land in narrow squat, touching toes)
2. High knee run with T arms
3. 5 squat jacks + 1 star jump
4. Tricep pushup burpee
5. Jumping lunges (alternating)
6. Walking pushup + plank hop (did 3 walks to one side, then jumped my feet in and out, then did 3 walking push ups back to where I started)
7. Bunny hops (pop squats or small/low squat hops)

Circuit 2:

1. Angry donkeys
2. 8 high knees drop and pop (drop entire body to ground then jump back to feet–like a sprawl)
3. Reverse lunge left leg pulse
4. Diamond pushup burpee
5. Reverse lunge right leg pulses
6. 3 upright heel clicks + squat hold to count of 3
7. 8 mountain climbers + explosive (clapping) pushups

Circuit 3:

1. Groiners
2. Squat jumps
3. Walking lateral plank + oblique hops (I did 2 plank walks to the side, jumped feet in to each side then 2 plank walks back to start)
4. Fast feet
5. Vertical frog jumps (deep plie squat then jump)
6. Spiderman Dive bombers (just like it sounds–and nightmarish)
7. In and out squats (squat jacks)

Part 2: Quick cardio Pyramid: There are 4 moves, you do each for 40 seconds no rest, 30 seconds no rest, 20 seconds no rest and then 10 seconds no rest. In between each full round you get a 10 second break

1. Burpee tuck jumps
2. Lizard hops (like a groiner but you also jump-change hand position)
3. Double butt kickers over mat (plank/pike jumps side to side)
4. Prisoner Jacks (Jumping oblique twists–this is a jack + knee raise)

Part 3: Cardio AMRAP: 10 minutes, 5 moves, 10 reps each (if you keep pace with Julia like I did, you will get through this 3×0

1. Burpee + 2 switch lunges
2. 180 squat tuck jumps
3. Plank jacks in tricep hold
4. Heel clicks
5. Double buttkickers standing (rock star jumps)

Burnout: 2 minutes

Add-on plank jack pushup star jump burpee (that’s a mouthful!). Do a plank jack pushup and a star jump at the top. Then do 2 plank jack pushups and 2 star jumps at the top and so on until 2 minutes are up. Julia also did a squat thrust after the plank jack push up–so I did, too. So if you follow Julia, insert that after the plank jack push up and add onto it just like you do the other parts of the burnout.

Round of Applause Burnout by Christine Comeau:

HIIT at 40/10:

1. Right leg Bulgarian clap under (Julia had her back leg elevated on a bosu ball–do a lunge then jump front leg, clapping hands under thigh)
2. Left leg Bulgarian clap under
3. Clap push up
4. Clap knee abs (like a bicycle but you clap under each leg)
5. Alternating forward lunge tuck with clap under front leg (works the same way as the Bulgarian but you are alternating legs and no bosu ball)
6. Clap jack (clap above head and alt clap under each leg)
7. Squat jump clap and squat squeeze (one squat jump + one squat)
8. Clap abs (lay on back w/ arms and legs extended in a star or X–bring arms and legs in then out)
9. Reverse lunge kick and clap under lunging leg
10. Plank lunge clap (you go from plank to lunge, alternating legs)

For more info on Fit Body by Julia and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.