A General Fitness Update (how did Insanity finish up? when will P90X-2 begin?!)

Ok, so I may have dropped off the face of the planet with my Insanity blogging.  Being in school, hunting for jobs, and getting ready to move across the country after graduation to a new city has kept me on my toes to say the least!

What happened with Insanity?
All that said, I suppose I owe at least a summarized update on the outcome of my Insanity experiment.  I believe my blogging on the program was up to date up until Katie and I started the second 30 days.  My intention was to write full reviews of each individual workout, but it's a bit late for that now!  The second half of the program can be described safely as notably longer versions of the workouts from the first 30 days, with many more power moves to up the resistance training.   However, at its core, Insanity remains throughout as a brutal cardio program, and I can honestly say that my entire body felt like it was starting to involuntarily shut down in the final days.  There's simply not enough recovery focus in Insanity (both in terms of individualized recovery workouts as well as recovery segments of other Insanity workouts) relative to P90x or other fitness programs.  And I feel confident that Shaun T's Max Interval philosophy has little science to back it up, effective though it may be in spite of itself!  (i.e. Shaun T basically looked at scientifically grounded data on HIIT exercises--often based on a 2:1 philosophy where you spend maybe 30 seconds doing a high-intensity move followed by maybe a minute of active recovery--and said "screw it, let's try to do 5 minutes straight of high-intensity followed by a few seconds of recovery....just because!").

In the end, due to some travels in late October, Katie and I ended up quitting Insanity with only one week to go and shifted our workouts towards some 20 minute Jillian Michaels videos that we have.  And I feel zero shame in that!  First of all, as I mentioned, Insanity (while a nice addition to the workout regime very now and then) is too hard on my body to do 6 days a week...especially during the 2nd half of it.  P90x is a cakewalk on your body in comparison yet it STILL gets you into tip-top shape!  Plus, these Jillian workouts I'm talking about are absolutely AWESOME for getting in a great workout in the shortest amount of time possible (~20 minutes).  They're really what Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer series tried to be (I always felt 10 Minute Trainer felt a tad awkward in that it was just too rushed!).  I would also feel comfortable pitting Jillian against P90x, with the only real differentiator being the length of P90x workouts (which of course makes a big difference, but still!).  Lastly, although my fitness definitely improved during Insanity, I would quickly argue that the aesthetic results you get from P90x trounce Insanity with little effort.  Insanity left me slimmed down certainly (and arguably by too large a margin), but it lacked the tight, toned results that P90x produced.  I apologize for not taking "after pics", but I promise they weren't as dramatic as my after-P90x photos (Insanity gave me more of a 6 pack, but that was probably just because I was wasting away from all the cardio!).

Ready for P90X-2!

I think it's probably not surprising, but I am ready to move on to P90X-2 (my Christmas present from my parents)!  Currently, Katie and I are recovering from too much holiday food and cheer by continuing our experimentation with Jillian Michael videos.  Finding the motivation to even do that has been a struggle!

Once we've gotten ourselves back into at least moderate shape, I plan to start Tony Horton's latest adventure.  Still 90 days just like P90x was, the new program promises only 5 days of working out per week, more synergistic and core work, and a simply more scientific approach to muscle confusion and recovery.  Can't wait!

Breast Cancer 5k (...Insanity Still Going Strong!)

Hi all,


I am painfully aware that I'm overdue for blog postings on the 2nd month Insanity workouts!  I promise they're coming...and I promise they'll mostly harp on about how much harder they are than month 1, which as you recall was killer in itself!  That said, today I thought I would give a little recap of the AWIB's Breast Cancer 5k this past Friday.

I hate running.  Pretty much always have, and likely always will.  Either I find running extremely difficult, or at best (assuming I'm in good shape at the time) I find it boring.  And I've never run more than 6 miles at one time in my entire life.  Well, after Friday's 5k I can't say that my opinion on the topic has changed much, but at least it ended up being a good time for a good cause :)


The run was the WaDuke running trail, which, in case you've never been on it before, is pretty imposing in terms of the number and size of the hills on it.  Definitely not a cakewalk. However, I was feeling a bit more confident about running than normal because of all the Insanity workouts I've been doing.  Surely all that training would come in handy out in the real world!  Right?




5k Recap
Well, after the start signal was given, the 30+ or so of us who were there started speeding off down the trail.  Pretty quickly, and unsurprisingly, it was clear that there were two main groups of participants.  The social bunch were "running" to enjoy each others' company (I think they had it right!), and then all the folks struggling to stay at the front (including me).


Despite not having run in about a year, it seems Insanity has provided at least a decent bit of prep for this.  I ran steadily and surely for the first 2/3 of the race, even passing a few people towards the end who perhaps were a bit too eager off the starting block.  However, that's around when the wheels started to fall off the bus.


It wasn't cold outside, and yet I was wearing lined track pants, sweating profusely after about the halfway mark.  With about 1/3 to go I finally stopped, scrambled to take them off quickly so I could jump back in the race, and was able to get a bit more mobility.  However, I don't know if it was because of that single stop or if I was simply doomed from the start, but that last leg of the race was filled with constant pitstops and breathers.  I was toast!  My muscles were starting to ache, my lungs were burning, and I was feeling rather...unmotivated (boredom starts to set in on top of everything else).  And man that last hill to the finish line is a doozy!


In any case, I ended up finishing with ~24 min, 40 secs on the clock, which was fine by me!  Definitely fast enough for me to feel like Insanity has done me some good, but there was still a solid handful of folks who pretty much destroyed me by at least a couple minutes.  However, it turns out most of them were running club people, so I was lucky enough to win a free apple pie for my finishing time as a wannabe runner.  Too bad they're not on the diet!  It smelled so good too, but we were able to find another taker for the dessert so all is still right with the world.


Miscellaneous Update

• Went to the State Fair last night in Raleigh.  What a circus!  People everywhere, but definitely a fun time.  Too bad the culinary staples there are things like oversized turkey legs and deep-fried kool-aid/twinkies/etc.  I made do with a chocolate covered frozen banana though, so I feel like it made it out ok :)
• The diet is still going strong, although I'm starting to doubt how well it's actually working for me.   However, I think I've maybe been eating too many grains lately (even if they've been gluten free)
• Incidentally, although my doing Insanity has never been about losing weight, I have lost about 6-7 lbs since starting. Weighed in at 150lbs even yesterday.  That's about as low as I want to go, but it's still nice to know I've gotten rid of some of the extra baggage.

Insanity Day 22 (Cardio Abs) complete... this was tough!

So this weekend at Duke was marked by a little something that is commonly known as Campout.  Essentially it's a 36-hr party in a parking lot, where you are required to be present for periodic "check-ins" throughout in order to qualify for a lottery for Duke basketball season tickets.  That said, doing my workouts the past few days has been a challenge, and unfortunately not one that I accomplished successfully.  I briefly toyed with the idea of doing Insanity in the parking lot and getting some other folks to join with me.  Seeing everyone though in the morning looking half-dead told me it would be easier just to run home to do the workout and then come back to Campout later.


Yesterday was supposed to be BOTH Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs.  As of this point I hadn't actually done the latter (instead, Katie and I have swapped in less cardio-centric ab workouts on days that called for ab work); and since Campout had left me exhausted already I decided to just do Cardio Abs, which ended up being a welcome change of pace, still quite a challenge, and a great yet unique ab workout in about 15 minutes.


Warm-up
This wasn't TOO different from the warm-ups for previous Insanity workouts...just a bit shorter since it didn't involve repeated circuits, and perhaps a bit more ab-focused in terms of the exercises chosen.  The trick is to keep your core engaged throughout!


The following moves are each done for 30 secs

• Run in place
• High Knees
• High Knees with Twist (cranks on the obliques)
• Jump Rope 
• Tuck Jumps (jump up high from a starting squat position and bring knees into your elbows at peak)
• Wide Tuck Jumps (similar to above, but is done with a wide legged stance)

It may not look like much, but you'll probably be sweating pretty decently afterwards

Workout

Shaun T's cardio abs revolve quite a bit around what he calls the "C-Sit" position.  Basically you sit on your butt, legs slightly bent in front, with back/core leaned backward at a 45 degree or so angle.  Just holding that pose for a while can work the abs on it's own!

• C-Sit Twists (arms in front of you, twisting side to side)
• Twists with Knee (same as above, but bring in opposing knee to your forearm on each movement)
• A-Frame Ab Twists (similar to the twists, but you put your arms extended above your head instead of in front of you)
• A-Frame with Knee 
• Hold C-Sit Pose
• Single Leg Raises (in c-sit position, extend one straight leg off the floor a couple of inches; now lift it up and back down to the starting position for the duration... then switch legs)
• Double Leg Raises (same as above, but do both legs at same time; THIS IS NOT EASY!)
• High Plank Position 
• High Plank w/alternating knees (while in plank, use your core to bring your knee up/around towards your shoulder)
• High Plank w/fast knees (same as before, just faster)
• Low Plank Position (go down onto your forearms)
• Low Plank w/alternating knees
• Pulse tucks (in plank position you're basically performing, dare I say, pelvic pulses to contract your abs; sounds silly, but it really starts to burn pretty darn quickly)

That's it!

Diet Update

My diet is actually going very well, and I'm extremely lucky to have such a supportive spouse.  Part of the reason I decided to to cut out certain things (dairy, gluten) was that I determined that these might be aggravating my skin a bit.  After being on this for a while, I can fairly confidently say that's true since there has been zero issue since.

Also, a note on Campout since I attended as a gluten-free lackey.  Obviously, my choice of brews was limited to the gluten-free variety (mostly sorghum based), and here are some very brief notes on those I tried:

• Redbridge: fairly decent Bud-like beer, falling somewhere in taste between Bud Light & Bud.  At the very least it tastes most like normal beer compared to the others I tried, even if it's not all that good.  I give it a C+
• Bard's Tale: has a somewhat "off" note to it, but definitely has more flavor than Redbridge.  I actually kind of liked it after a while.  B-/B
• Green's: I had three different ones of this brand over the weekend. A dubble dark ale, a golden ale, and one other I can't quite remember.  The Golden Ale is way too sweet and medicinal for my tastes but the dark ale was actually not TOO far astray from a decent tasting craft Belgian.  I'd give them a C+/B- and B/B+ respectively
• St. Peters: by far my favorite of the weekend.  Strong flavor and body without too much of that "off" flavor that seems to go along with most of the gluten-free brews.  I'd give it a solid A-

Insanity Day 14: Rest Day

Ok, just to fully round out the first two weeks I thought I should at least reference today's rest day.  Very needed!

I'm still extremely sore from doing the Chest, Shoulders & Triceps P90x workout the other day, but today it was all relaxation.  Spent most of the day at school actually, but the evening involved some end-of-day networking/hanging out, and then finally a night out with friends to celebrate the 'ol birthday...complete with ANOTHER gluten-free/dairy-free cake courtesy of the Mrs.  I am extremely lucky!

Till the new workouts come to the Insanity rotation in a couple weeks, stay tuned.

Insanity Day 13: Pure Cardio (ugh, take this out of the rotation!)

Ok first of all, today was the big 2-9 on the 'ol birthday meter!  And what better way to start the day than with an early morning bout of Pure Cardio????


Katie and I were back at it again, and for those just now joining us (as they say) this is easily the toughest of all the Insanity workouts as far as the first month is concerned.  Just a beast!


Anyway, not much to report today since y'all should have a good idea by now of what to expect from this one: ~11 min of killer warmup; stretch sequence; and then 15 min of non-stop, 100%, keel over and try not to pass out, cardio intervals.  


Again, we have pretty much got this warm-up thing down, but today (because of the extreme resistance stuff I did yesterday with P90x) I was very very sore.  Doing "pushup jacks" when your chest starts off the workout already fried is not an easy proposition.  With that in mind, there were a few more of the pushup exercises than normal where I had to modify due to sheer exhaustion.  And I'm actually STILL sore as I type.  Oh well.


I do have to say though, as hard as this workout is, it gives you a VERY satisfying feeling after you complete it.  


Diet Update
Not too too much to report today, but there were still some pretty delicious items had throughout the day that fit the diet plan:

• Breakfast: green smoothie
• Mid-morning snack: almond milk & gluten free puffins
• Lunch: Udi's gluten free artisan bread, avocado, sliced chicken breast, mustard.  Delish, but a bit messy.  Those avocados do not want to stay on the sandwhich!
• Dinner: Katie took me to La Residence in Chapel Hill.  Scrumtralescent tuna tartare and pork tenderloin.  Pork isn't technically on my diet but is still "more" allowed than red meat
• Dessert: Katie made a homemade dairy-gluten free "ice cream" cake with peach sorbet, Pamela's cake mix, and caramel frosting.  Wowzers it was good!

Going Forward

Just as an update on where my little reviews will go from here.  Since the workouts don't really change for another two weeks, I'm going to take a brief hiatus and pick back up when the new workouts start hitting the schedule.  If I can make it that far :)

Insanity Day 12: P90X's Chest, Shoulders and Triceps (aka, too much cardio = let's do some P90x!)

Hey all,

So I had been warning of this, but the cardio overload is getting to me, and I can tell the upper body isn't getting near as much love in these Insanity workouts. To rectify this, last night I decided to swap in Chest, Shoulders & Tri's from P90x in place of Insanity's Cardio Power & Resistance. This being my first time to pretty much do a P90x and Insanity workout back to back, I can definitely tell a whole lot of differences in the way these two programs are designed.

Chest, Shoulders & Tri's is 1hr long, and rather than cardio it simply massacres your upper body with a seemingly infinite number of pushups, flys, shoulder presses, tricep extensions, etc. It was the first time in a long time that I've gotten that "pump" feeling in my muscles from exercise, and I like it! My arms and chest can barely move today, so even though Insanity has definitely been getting me in VERY good shape VERY quickly, there are still gaps in program in terms of its focus.

Plus, Tony Horton, in my opinion, simply does a better job of warming up and cooling down in a logical flow, whereas Shaun T's warmups are way too intense and his cool-downs jump straight into static stretching without taking time to let the heart rate come down.

In any case, here is a list of the moves from Chest, Shoulders & Tri's
(Any non-weighted exercises like pushups or dips is done to failure in terms of reps. Everything else is done as either 8-10 reps or 12-15 reps depending on whether you're looking to build muscle or just get toned)
- Slow Motion Pushups
- Shoulder Fly In & Out
- Chair Dips
- Plank Pushups
- Pike Pushups
- Side Tricep Rise
- Floor Flys (side moving pushups)
- Scarecrows
- Overhead Tricep Extensions
- Alternate Speed Pushups
- Y Shoulder Press
- Lying Tricep Extension
- Side to Side Pushup
- Pour Flys for Shoulders
- Tricep Extensions
- One Arm Pushups
- Weighted Shoulder Circles
- Throw the Bomb
- Plyo or Clap Pushups
- Slow Mo Throw
- Tricep Extension
- One Arm Balance Pushups (pushups w/ a yoga-esque rotation at the top)
- Fly Row Press
- Dumbbell Cross Body Blows


Diet Notes
I can actually say that 1) the diet is becoming a lot easier in terms of resisting temptation, and 2) it's helping dramatically with the results I'm getting from Insanity in terms of noticeable toning, etc.

Some of the goodies I munched on yesterday:

Sweet potato chips
Unsweetened Almond Milk from Trader Joe's with some multigrain Puffins (gluten-free)
cliff z-bar
An awesomely healthy yet delicious salad Katie made: greens, onions, some sort of oil based dressing, strawberries, nuts

Insanity Day 11: Cardio Recovery

So thankful for this!  The early morning cardio annihilations was starting to get to me.


Also, Cardio Recovery is a bit on the shorter side (~35 min), which ended up being great today since I ended up doing school related things (mostly AT school) from about 9am to 10pm.  As a recap of what this one is all about, there's no cardio, and it's mostly a series of stretches but also some deep power moves: squats, etc.  It's at times relaxing, but definitely tough on a few of the exercises.  Katie and I both had to come out of the held poses a few times!


For tomorrow I'll be doing P90x Chest, Shoulders & Triceps to shake things up a bit and give myself some more upper body work.  I posted about these way back in the day when I first did P90x, but I'll probably do a full review of the workout since I have somewhat of a new "audience" reading this blog.


Diet Notes
Breakfast: Green smoothie


Lunch: bowl of fruit, roasted almonds, Trader Joe's strawberry soy yogurt, gluten free sweet potato chips from Costco, turkey/avocado sandwich on gluten free bread (was actually quite delicious), Cliff Z Bar


Dinner: sea bass marinated in soy sauce in white wine and vinegar and mustard, encrusted with sesame seeds; cabbage, snow peas, carrots, onions with white wine and vinegar; brown rice

Insanity Day 10: Plyo Cardio Circuit (Katie's back!)

So Katie's back in action!  Mostly.


This morning Katie, after using the past few days to rest herself a bit to recuperate from the stitched finger, joined me on Plyo Cardio Circuit.  Fortunately my school schedule this term works out perfectly for doing Insanity since my first class isn't until 10:30!  And from experience, I can say that doing the workouts in the afternoon is much more of a gamble; you're tired from the day and don't want to work out, and after school is usually when the extracurricular activities creep in.


Anyway, today was another solid, butt-kicking workout, but I think I probably did my best job on this one yet.  Nailed the warm-up, and got a good bit of the way through the interval portion before I started taking breaks.  Unfortunately, Katie wasn't able to keep up the whole time because Hattie, our new canine companion, was being a nuisance, and so Katie decided to run her outside to go the bathroom while I continued on.  And, to keep from aggravating her finger, she had to modify some of the pushup moves, etc.  But that still doesn't make it much easier!


In any case, I can definitely see a lot more definition in my legs and abs, and it's only been a week.  Like I've said before, the upper body isn't addressed quite enough in the program, but I plan to switch in a P90x upper body workout on Wed.


DIET UPDATE
To help with my diet commitment, Katie picked up a bunch of overpriced, alternative groceries today.  It's no wonder that people eat fast food all the time...it's a great deal!


Anyway, some of the items I tried today were:

• Trader Joe's unsweetened almond milk
• Great alternative to dairy, it has a slightly toasted, nutty flavor, and is probably just a bit creamier than skim milk.  Not bad.
• Whole Fruit coconut fruit bars
• Delish!...however, I just glanced at the nutritional info and it looks like we just assumed they were non-dairy.  Dang it!
• Multigrain Puffins cereal (gluten free)
• I love Puffins Original, but I have to say these aren't my favorite.  Maybe some more exploring is in order
• Indian inspired tacos that Katie made for dinner (awesome!)
• corn tortillas, barley medley, onions, chicken

Although I have to point out that Katie was making a delicious smelling bread pudding earlier tonight that I can't eat.  It looked SOOOO GOOOD!!!! :(

Insanity Day 9: Pure Cardio (Am I getting better? Yeah, but kill me anyway)

Pure Cardio.  Ouch.


Today was supposed to be a rather productive one, but it really ended up involving a lot of procrastination, church, and Insanity.  With this being the second time I've done this workout, I am now convinced that it officially wins the prize as being the hardest of the first month.  Fortunately, Katie is planning to join back in tomorrow to keep me company :)


As you may recall, unlike the other workouts that have periodic breaks, the intervals portion of Pure Cardio is 15 minutes of 100% intensity.  Granted, I take breaks anyway to keep from being sent unexpectedly to the ER.  


As far as how I've improved, I again did a really solid job with the 11 min warmup, which I feel pretty accomplished about.  However, the workout itself is nigh impossible to do in one go.  Just to give a bit of a taste of it, Katie happened to video a few seconds of the intervals portion (only a few minutes in).  Hopefully this will give you some sense of the masochism I'm subjecting myself to.

Thoughts for the day
Tomorrow I plan to swap out Plyo Cardio Circuit (which I actually just did yesterday too!) with one of the P90X upper body workouts.  Time to balance out things a bit and give some sanctuary from the cardio barrage of Insanity.


As far as the paleo-esque diet, I can tell this is going to be hard.   For some various health reasons I'm cutting out items like wheat, dairy, and even tomatoes.  After going to to lunch today at Foster's after church, finding something that I could actually eat and enjoy outside of a salad was a challenge!  But one that I think I'm up to.  Maybe :)

Insanity Day 8: Power Cardio & Resistance (aka "we've met before, haven't we?")

With Katie's finger still on the mend, today was another foray into the world of Shaun T. on my own.  And although I certainly feel as though I'm improving and can see some aesthetic difference since only a week ago, it's much easier (and much more fun) to push yourself when you have someone working out next to you.  Oh well.


Being Day 8, today called for some more Power Cardio/Resistance, which is definitely one of the hardest workouts in the program.  Oh who am I kidding?  They're all hard!!


Workout (44 min)
The warmup, like with Day 6, was actually very doable this time.  I'm pushing as hard if not harder than the folks on the DVD, and just as a reminder, the warmup isn't like any other you've ever tried before.  It's an all-out sprint for the last 1/3 of it.


Following the stretch I jumped into the actual workout, which, as you'll recall, puts a lot of emphasis on power and resistance moves like squat jacks and plyo jumps for the legs and v pushups and moving pushups for the upper body.  Unfortunately, despite my feelings of accomplishment in the warmup, this part of the video did me in again.  Lungs burning, muscles fatiguing.  During these intervals it's almost impossible to envision myself ever being able to best this workout.  Shaun T, you have made a monster of a program.  This becomes clear enough in this workout in particular when Shaun T asks one of the background exercisers how she feels: "I feel like sh*#."  That pretty much sums it up.


Thoughts for Today
To go along with my hardcore exercise regimen, Katie is going to help me on the diet portion of this as well.  As a matter of fact, I'm going a little extreme with this (might as well since I'm already killing my body exercise-wise) and am going to try my hand at venturing towards the paleo trend some people are moving towards.  The real emphasis here is on whole, raw foods (although I won't be 100% paleo here), and I also plan to cut out dairy and a few other things at least for the next few weeks.  The real trick though is to make sure I'm getting enough calories with the diet.  I sure as heck need them!  Katie and I are already pretty regimented in our intake (green smoothies every morning, etc.), so I feel like this is at least doable.


Will keep everyone updated on how that goes.

Insanity Day 6: Plyo Cardio Circuit (this again??)

Today was a bit unique (and perhaps a bit scary).  Katie and I had planned to do today's workout after I got home from school, but as fate would have it, she sliced her finger really badly while cooking today and one of our close friends had to rush her to the ER!!  She apparently was doing ok, but I received a string of texts and pictures of the wound from our friend to confirm.  Fortunately, Katie got stitched up and should be back up and running in no time, but this meant that today I was on my own for Insanity (Katie instead took a walk with the dogs and some friends this afternoon after a little bit of recovering; I find that pretty impressive since I probably would have been curled up in bed nursing my finger!).
In any case, today's workout was the first repeat we've had so far: Plyo Cardio Circuit, which if you remember, is the first actual workout you do following the initial Fit Test Day.  The first time we did this we almost passed out.  Today, however, I feel like I can definitely say there was some marked improvement, which I am pretty excited about!


Workout
The warm-up, around 11 minutes of non-stop running in place, jumping jacks, heismans, and more, was certainly no walk in the park this time, but I managed to do the entire thing (really pushing myself) without stopping once for a break!  I'll go ahead and give myself a little pat on the back for that one because that was no easy feat.


The stretch section, 8 minutes, was a much needed break, and I felt fresh enough to think that I could go through the whole workout this time without stopping (which would of course be a first).  Well, let's just say my successful warm-up was causing some delusions of grandeur.  This "no stopping" did NOT happen.


The actual workout, as you may recall, consists of suicide drills (aka mini shuttle runs), pushups, mountain climbers, ski jumps, power squats, and a whole lot more...delivered via some intense interval cycles.  The first cycle or two I was fine, feeling good even.  But by the last three, I mentally and physically derailed!  Plenty of breaks, and lungs burning in the most brutal of ways.  And even though I tend to be pretty decent at pushups, I was face-planting during some of the latter sets.


All in all though, I have to say that I am starting to see some real progress.  It's only been a week and Katie and I have both started seeing some noticeable improvement, both physically as well as, well, aesthetically.  And at least as Shaun T puts it: "Why do I work out so hard?  To look good!"  That's a bit of a simplification as far as my reasons go, but it's certainly a nice benefit to hold onto.


Latest Thoughts 
Nothing new to report.  After today, it just more confirms the fact that 5 days of agonizingly brutal cardio a week is probably overkill.  Instead, I think swapping in some upper body resistance (whether it's P90x or something else) once a week will be very beneficial.  As I may have mentioned before, sometimes guys haven't been as ecstatic with their Insanity results because there's such little upper body focus.  I mean, I might come out of this program looking my legs could kick a football across my entire apartment complex, but you need to balance it out!

Insanity Day 5: Pure Cardio (aka "Shaun, what is your freakin' problem!?")

What the heck was that!??


Katie and I just finished today's Insanity workout (had to postpone from this morning due to the week's school schedule)...and it was hard.  VERY hard.


The warm-up for Pure Cardio--about 11 minutes--was the exact same as for Plyometric Cardio Circuit, which as you recall was a killer: jog (aka sprint), jumping jacks, heisman, 123 heismans, butt kicks, and mummy kicks...repeat 3x, getting faster with each cycle.

The warm-up, as pretty much always, was followed by an 7-8 minute stretch sequence.  So, it was during the latter half of this portion of the video that I knew I was in trouble.  Right before the workout begins Shaun comments about he's "nervous" about starting Pure Cardio.  What!?  This is definitely the first time I've ever heard him say anything that showed weakness.  It's like he's deliberately taunting us.  What are we in for!?


Workout (15 min)
Brutal. Brutal. Brutal.  


Unlike previous workouts that involve cycles of different exercises for 30 second stints (with periodic breaks), Pure Cardio was 15 minutes of 100% intensity and NO BREAKS!!  Not a single one.  Background exercisers are dropping like flies in the background, while Katie and I are holding back the urge to vomit (not an exaggeration, and this is the first time we've felt this bad from one of these workouts).  


As a basic summary of the moves, there were a large handful of different jack variations (all of which consisted of some sort of low squat), frog jumps, ski jumps, suicide jumps and runs, as well as some brutal synergistic pushup moves.  Most of them we had seen before, but it did us no good in terms of keeping up.  As a matter of fact, this was probably the worst I've done in the actual workout  as far as taking extra breaks.  Brutal.


Thought for Today
Ok, this workout was a challenge, and I feel pretty accomplished having finished it.  However, when you're talking about what amounts to pretty much a 15 minute "sprint" workout, it's kind of defeating during the workout itself.  You almost want to walk away, and seeing all the folks in the background essentially passing out at varying intervals doesn't instill confidence.  I won't be looking forward to doing this one again!


As a side note, this was by far the best I've done on the actual warm-up so far.  No extra breaks!


Oh, and just FYI, there's one particular girl who's been in a few of the workouts so far who we actually seem to better than.  She looks like she's in great shape, but she is CONSTANTLY taking breaks.  Go us :)

Insanity Day 4: Cardio Recovery (thank the maker!)

Finally!  A break!  Well...kind of.


This morning, bright and early before my first day back at school, Katie and I got up to do Cardio Recovery, a 30 minute relief from the craziness of the first few days.  If you've done P90x or other similar workouts before, this is basically Insanity's version of Yoga X.

However, my enthusiasm for this workout has more to do with the fact that cardio was minimal (sort of automatically making this the easiest of the bunch so far), not because it made me feel like it was helping me actually recover.  As a matter of fact, this workout really did a number on the lower body, and Katie and I still couldn't finish a few of the movements.  Holding an isometric lunge or squat for minutes on end (or at least what seems like minutes) is brutal whether cardio is involved or not!


Also, the little amount of stretching that was done was disproportionately skewed towards the legs.  I'm not sure any upper body stretches were even performed despite the fact that the workout had enough plank position exercises to send your arms and shoulders into shock.


At this point, I have to say I enjoyed the workout, but Katie and I might end up swapping it out with another that would hopefully be a bit more comprehensive.


Latest Thoughts on the Program So Far:
If you aren't in pretty decent shape already, don't start with Insanity.  It's probably even a mistake for me to be doing it.  Also, if you do Insanity and don't end the 60 days in great shape, you must not have been doing it right!  That's pretty much the same assessment I gave for P90x the first time I did it, but at least with P90x I think there's a lot more flexibility in terms of what your starting fitness level should be.  Tony, unlike Shaun T, is constantly pointing out ways to modify exercises based on a) what equipment you have available, and b) what your fitness level is.


See you tomorrow!

Insanity Day 3: Power Cardio & Resistance (aka "death cheated once again")

Today Katie and I were at it again and once more survived the fitness madness that is Insanity...although perhaps not gracefully.  


A few things to note.  Things are still hard (VERY hard), but I think our bodies are at least starting to know what to expect.  And I dare say that today's workout, Power Cardio & Resistance, was even harder than yesterday's if that's even possible!  In all it was about 40+ min long with a bit more focus on resistance-based moves like pushups.


WARM-UP (~10 min)
This essentially was the same as yesterday (3 three-minute cycles of intervals followed by 30 second breaks), although some of the moves were a little different.  

• Jog (running/sprinting in place)
• Power Jacks (a plyo version of a jumping jack; you start off in a deep wide-legged squat before jumping your legs together)
• Log Jumps (these suckers are hard! Jump side to side extremely high like you're jumping over a log)
• 123s (basically, these are heismans with a little bit of pitter-patter footwork in between)
• Butt Kicks (running in place with knees down, kicking your heels to your butt)
• High Knees (running in place while making sure your knees raise up to your waist with each "stride")
• Vertical Jumps (from a moderate squat position, jump as high as you can as if you're shooting a basketball... kills the calves)

Again, at the end of the last cycle was a series of additional moves, that I can't quite remember.  But you finish up hard!

Stretch (10 min)

Today it occurred to me during the stretch sequence that these static stretches go against a lot of what I've heard elsewhere about warming up.  I had been under the impression that any "stretching" after a cardio warm-up should be ballistic stretching (vs static) to keep everything loose for the actual workout.  Especially when the workouts are as plyo crazy as these.  Save the static stuff for post-workout.

Oh well.  We haven't pulled anything yet, but we'll see.  I will say though that having the somewhat subdued stretch break provides a much needed breather!

Workout (~20 min)

• First Interval (3 rounds of following moves)
• Power Jumps (Hard!  Very deep squat into a high jump, tucking your knees in at the top)
• Belt Kicks (basically a squat, come up and kick your leg and then repeat on the other leg)
• Hit the Floor (Don't even know how to describe these, but they sort of resemble a blend between shuttle runs and jumping)
• V push-ups (have your feet up towards your hands as close as possible so that your butt sticks up in the air to make a "v"... have your fingers pointed towards each other, head down, and then perform the pushups so that your shoulders feel the burn!)

The only one of these that didn't seem to be that effective was the belt kicks.  You really need to tighten your core on these to feel them, but I found it too tempting to cheat. 

• Second Interval (3 rounds of the following moves)
• Hurdle Jumps (sprints in place, followed by a mock hurdle jump)
• Globe Jumps (squat jumps: forward, left, back, right..repeat)
• Moving Pushups (with moving push-ups you start in plank, move your right arm and right foot to the right, do a push-up, move to the right again and do another pushup.  Then it’s back to the left twice.  You go back and forth until your minute is up. )
• Floor Sprints (essentially mountain climbers)

Oh yeah, and at the end of this second interval you get to do one last exercise: 8 hop squats/8 pushups...and repeat till your muscles collapse!

Recap

All in all, this workout didn't seem all that different from yesterday, although it was certainly more resistance heavy with all the pushups.  

That said, I do have some early thoughts on the program, and not all of them are positive.  First, unlike P90x, it seems that Shaun T's repertoire of exercise moves is pretty limited.  These workouts are killer AND effective...but they all feel pretty similar, which could make this repetitive and maybe even boring pretty quickly.  Fortunately, Shaun T's a pretty good motivator.  

Second, it's somewhat DE-motivating to see background exercisers  pretty much drop out left and right because the workouts are so stinking hard.  I guess it's comforting to know that I'm not alone in my agony, but it also feels like the bar is almost too high... that this is simply a workout than can never be mastered.  That can be good or bad I suppose.

In any case, another solid/killer workout today.  It will be more of a challenge squeezing these into my schedule going forward since school is starting back up tomorrow, but Katie and are planning to make it happen!  And fortunately, so far, our diets are in tune with all the fitness craziness we're doing.

Shaun T.'s Insanity: Day 2 (Plyometric Cardio Circuit AKA "Kill me Now!")

Ladies and Gents,


Consider this a forewarning that I might not survive through all 60 days.  My trepidations following the beating I took in yesterday's Fit Test apparently had merit.  Day 2 of Insanity is quite possibly the hardest workout on DVD or otherwise that I have ever attempted...and I wouldn't even dare to suggest that Katie or I did a good job keeping up.  In terms of P90x comparisons, it's most akin to the Intervals Plus+, Plyo X, and Core Synergistics workouts. 


That said, we did what we could, which is really what counts in the end.  You have to remember the payoff you're looking for at the end of all this.  Fitness results don't come easy, but they're always well worth it.  And as I said yesterday... you can always push yourself harder than you think you can (that definitely goes for me: this workout, as hard as it was, is definitely the sort that's easy to cheat on).

www.beachbody.com

Cardio Warm-Up (10.5 minutes of intervals)
The warm-up consists of 3 cycles (no rest in between them) of a series of different exercise movements, which each movement lasting 30-60 seconds.  With each cycle, the pace gets faster, and believe me when I say you'll be longing for the workout to be finished by the time you complete the warm-up.  Comparing this warm-up to P90x's is somewhat of a joke (even though I think P90x warm-ups do a good job of accomplishing what they're supposed to).


Warm-Up Cycle Movements:

• Jog (basically running place; sounds easy enough, but Shaun pretty much has everyone sprinting by the third cycle)
• Jumping Jacks (Shaun makes you touch your hands together at the top, which actually isn't that easy for me these days due to flexibility issues)
• Heismans (Very quick heisman movements compared to those in P90x Plyo)
• 123s (basically, these are heismans with a little bit of pitter-patter footwork in between)
• Butt Kicks (running in place with knees down, kicking your heels to your butt)
• High Knees (running in place while making sure your knees raise up to your waist with each "stride")
• Mummy Kicks (bizarre move where you keep your arms and legs extended straight out, doing a sort of run while kicking your feet out in front of you, all while crossing your extended arms back and forth over each other in front of your chest.. you'd have to see it!)

For the last cycle, there were a bunch of added moves I can't remember... basically some crazy footwork drills. Not an easy way to finish!


Stretch (7 minutes)


This portion of the workout is more akin to the the P90x warm-up than the actual "warm-up" is.

The Workout (~20 minutes of crazy interval circuits)

First Circuit (3 cycles: each movement, again, lasts 30-60 seconds):

• Suicide Drills
• These are basically mini shuttle runs in the middle of your living room
• Power Squats
• Squat jumps... start from standing position, go down into a squat, jump as high as you can, repeat
• Mountain Climbers
• I have never seen mountain climbers like these... and they're hard!!  Standing up, you basically start running with high knees in place, while simultaneously reaching your arms up in turn like your trying to scale up a wall.
• Ski Downs
• Squat Jumps essentially, but you jump laterally from side to side like you're skiing

Second Circuit (3 cycles)

• Basketball Drills
• Pretty much squat jumps... you pretend to be shooting a basket during the jump
• Level One Drills
• These are hard!!!  From standing position drop down into plank for 4 pushups, then 4 "normal" mountain climbers in plank position, then stand up to repeat
• Ski Abs
• Even harder!  In plank position, jump your feet up in toward the right side of your rib cage, then back to plank, then to the left side, and repeat.
• In and Outs
• Yep, even harder.  From plank jump your feet right into/under your chest, then back out to plank.  Repeat.  Killer on your arms, abs, legs.

* In the third round, a few extra moves are added.

• Jabs (I found a lot of consolation seeing one of the background exercisers on this move barely able to move her arms... she had a huge smile on her face that pretty much said "are you kidding me, Shaun?")
• Cross jacks (a weird version of a jumping jack that involves criss-crossing your legs)
• Upper Cuts
• Attack (very similar to jabs)

Diagnosis
This is one hard workout, and I took LOTS of breaks.  I've taken breaks during P90x before, but usually that was more on days where I was feeling a little tired already.  In the case of Insanity, the breaks were more to keep me from having to go to the hospital.


To help with the recovery I'm using some Optimum Nutrition Oats & Whey, which was my recovering drink of the moment during my latter hardcore P90x days.  I think I'm going to need as much help as I can get.


REMEMBER:

1. Have water nearby
2. Take breaks as needed
3. Push harder than you think you can (don't take those breaks unless you NEED them)
4. Maintain good form!!!  Again, very easy to cheat on these sorts of exercises.  Do them in front of a mirror if you can, or with a friend who can keep you accountable.  

Good luck! To me since I have to work out gain tomorrow, and to you if you decide to join this fitness massacre :)