INSANITY!!! Day 6 - Plyometrics Cardio Circuit

Plyo Cardio Circuit for the second time this week. This first time made me feel like barfing, this time I was only exhausted. It was better this time but my legs still shook at the end. That means I worked them till they couldn't go anymore. Success! Tomorrow is an off day with no workout, but I will post something, maybe a preliminary comparison with P90X.

INSANITY!!! Day 5 - Pure Cardio

Back at it with a vengeance! Today was a relatively short session, less than 40 minutes, but it was full -- FULL! -- of high-intensity cardio. Bell to bell, it was virtually non-stop. Having said that, I didn't really feel the INSANITY until the final 5 minutes, when we had to start doing scissor lunges and sprint/lunge combos. Those lunges will get ya every time! Good workout; I modified the cool-down stretch a bit to suit the muscles that I needed to stretch (calves more than hips).

INSANITY!!! Day 4 - Cardio Recovery

Today was a welcome change of pace from the 100% effort that the other workouts have demanded from me. It was a combination of stretching and cardio work that had some moves that were familiar to me from P90X, mostly balance poses from the yoga workout. There were lots of squats and lower body cardio work; I still broke a sweat, but the pace was not nearly as intense. This is good, so my joints can recover to get ready for the next workout tomorrow.

No workout today

Just getting in from a 14-hour day. Left the house at 6 AM to go to a conference in Niagara Falls and I just got back home at 8 PM. Time for a shower and spend some time with the fam watching Shrek 3 before bedtime. Back at it tomorrow!

INSANITY!!! Day 3 - Cardio Power & Resistance

After finishing today's workout, I wonder if it is a coincidence that the initials for today's workout are CPR? Actually, today wasn't as strenuous as yesterday, but I was still wiped out when it was finished. So "power and resistance" apparently means squats and pushups (as opposed to yesterday which was pushups and squats). Now I understand the INSANITY routine: intense warmup, stretch, then 3 sets of tough exercises, the third set having a bonus surprise set of other moves at the end. Each DVD is about 40 minutes, but it is a full 40 minutes of intensity. It is the last set of moves, combined with each set being faster than the previous one, that makes this workout live up to its name. I thought the V-pushups (doing pushups but in a pike position, shaped like an upside-down "V") until I had to do tricep ball pushups (same thing you are except crunched up in a ball so you are lifting almost all your weight).

INSANITY!!! Day 2 - Plyometrics Cardio Circuit

The insanity continues with circuit training that combines the high-impact and big muscle usage of plyometrics (lotsa jumping) with the heart-rate pumping aspects of cardio. The pace does not let up and the breaks are short -- too short, sometimes! Even the pre-stretch warm up is intense. The 41 minute workout chugs along pretty well, but near the end, my muscles had had enough. I actually worked to failure and my hamstrings were quaking while just standing. I re-composed myself after a short break and "finished strong". The trainer says this on the video and it really resonated with me because that is my philosophy too. I didn't feel that great after the workout until I had some food in me so my body could recover. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

INSANITY!!! Day 1

So Cheryl and the kids gave me the Insanity workout because I was looking for a new workout after P90X. I just did the Fit Test for Day 1. It is more intense than P90X, I didn't think that was possible!

Eight intense moves, each one more strenuous than the last. By the second half of the workout, I was breathing pretty hard, trying to recover between moves. In the spirit of being accountable, here are my Day 1 numbers:
Switch Kicks: 52 (high front kicks)
Power Jacks: 43 (jumping jacks, but squats)
Power Knees: 72 (one knee up to hands, while in a lunge)
Power Jumps: 28 (squat jumps)
Globe Jumps: 7 (4 jumps in a box formation) This is when it started getting tough...
Suicide Jumps: 7 (power burpees)
Push-up Jacks: 13 (push-ups combined with jumping your legs out like a horizontal jumping jack)
Low Plank Oblique: 18 (in plank position, bringing each leg up to your side: Chataranga run in P90X)

I have put off starting this routine for a long time, with lots of excuses: the rec room isn't unpacked so there isn't enough floor space, poor sleep (happens more often than I would like), running in the morning (I do less often than I should), have to work early/late (yes, government workers do this; at least I do when needed). Even this morning was an internal struggle to get out of bed. The longest journey begins with a single step, getting out of bed this morning was that step for this journey. I can't say I have been consistent with working out or especially eating healthy, but let's see how well I do over the next couple months. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!