If you love doing the Insanity Pure Cardio workout like I do and you would like to try it with a simple yet challenging variation that will supercharge your fat-burning efforts, this post is for you!

First off, if you are doing the Insanity workout, it's best if you have an intermediate to advanced fitness base. Even Sean T and the folks at Beachbody (with whom I have no affiliation, by the way) have added a disclaimer stating that the workout is not for beginners. And for good reason. It's called Insanity for a reason, after all. The recommendations below are intended for the seasoned Insanity user (or for someone who has a good base level of fitness). If you are new to fitness and would like to get the benefits of this type of training (scroll down this page to read about them below), subscribe to my newsletter here and you will get a free copy of my 15 Minute Fat Burner Workout.  It includes modifications for beginners all the way through advanced exercisers.

Ok, here's what you need to know to do this new-fangled version of Insanity Pure Cardio:

What you will need:

• A digital timer that will let you set intervals. I like the free app Seconds for the iPhone, but there are a ton of apps out there for any smart phone. Or, and this is my least favorite option, just have an analog clock handy and keep an eye on the seconds hand to track your intervals.

What you will do (while following along with the DVD):

• Do the warm-up as usual (it still cracks me up that this is considered a "warm-up"!  It's enough to break most people off all by itself. And, yes, I love it!).

• Save the stretching for after the workout, skip right to the main set.

• Set your timer for a 20/10 interval: 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of active rest. IMPORTANT: You must go all out, hardcore MAXIMUM EFFORT on the 20 seconds! Slow down, walk it out but don't stop on the 10 seconds of active rest, keep moving! This 20/10 interval is perfect as each exercise set in the Insanity workout is 1 minute long.

• Do the "ski downs" and "scissor runs" straight through, no 20/10 interval on these, this is really an active recovery portion of the workout anyway so it's not too intense.

• When you get to the burpees (Sean T calls them suicides), get on the 20/10 interval again until you've completed the push-up jacks.

• Do the cool down and any stretching you like.

*I feel compelled to say something about the movements that have a squat component ("Stance Jacks" and "Frog Jumps"). Instead of getting the butt down (like a plie), please get the butt out (like stick it out behind you!) and make sure your knees don't collapse in toward each other (no knock-knee action), press the knees out. If you have trouble getting your butt to do work, please check out my post on activating your glutes.

Why do it:

• Working for a shorter period of time, but at a very high intensity (anaerobic) is not very efficient so it burns a tremendous amount of calories!  Conversely, working at a lower level of intensity for a longer period of time (aerobic) is more efficient and burns fewer calories. High intensity interval training (HIIT) exploits the anaerobic energy system during the work period and the aerobic energy system during the rest period to turn your body into a fat-burning furnace! Yay!!

• Because there is no structured rest built into Insanity Pure Cardio, it ends up becoming an aerobic workout as your body is forced to slow down after using up fuels from anaerobic sources. Or, if you're like me, you work really hard until you have to stop and rest before starting up again. Don't get me wrong, Insanity Pure Cardio burns calories for sure! However, applying the HIIT protocol to Insanity cardio ensures maximum energy expenditure and calorie burn.

• After a HIIT session, your body continues to burn fat for hours after the workout. With steady state aerobic work, the calorie burn ends as soon as the workout ends.

• HIIT allows you to burn fat while preserving muscle. So if you want that lean, toned and sculpted look, you'll love HIIT.

• Because your work interval is only 20 secs at a time (usually 15-20 mins of a HIIT workout is highly effective) and not continuous for 45 minutes or more, you help to spare your joints, muscles and connective tissue from repetitive use injuries.

• You will burn more fat in less time!!!

• You will improve your overall fitness, including cardiovascular fitness.

There it is. Get after it and leave me a comment below to let me know what you think!