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!

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 :)