Days 47-53 and finally finished!!!

The remaining week of Insanity happened to occur over the Thanksgiving holiday and because of familial obligations and erratic work schedules we were forced to fit the workouts in when we were able. I opted to change the workout entirely by substituting the DVDs which were longer, with the shorter, 1st round DVDs. Anna on the other hand, stuck with the program all the way through, and except for missing one day due to recovering from Black Friday, only missed one day. So at the end of the 2 month workout, I had only missed one day and while Anna missed two.

I found that I didn’t miss out by substituting the workouts and in fact discovered that I worked harder doing the shorter w/o’s because I was able to up the intensity on my end. Insanity is one of those programs which push you to your limits but also advises that you do only what you are able. By that logic, substituting the workouts could be construed as following their instruction.

After taking the final Fit Test (5th) we were startled at what we found. As I’ve mentioned the FT is taken at the end of every other week to evaluate your progress throughout the Insanity program. There are 8 moves and you are required to document the amount of reps per move to give you an idea of how much you have improved throughout.
Here is a breakdown of our results:

The 8 moves-

1. switch kicks
2. power jacks
3. power knees
4. power jumps
5. globe jumps
6. suicide jumps
7. push-up jacks
8. low plank oblique

I will list our progress using the number to designate the move followed by the amount of reps per move. I am R and Anna is A.

FT-1 (day 1)

1. R-130, A-80
2. R-40, A-30
3. R-92, A-55
4. R-20, A-15
5. R-7, A-4
6. R-10, A-10
7. R-15, A-0
8. R-40, A-30

FT-2 (day 15)

1. R-140, A-100
2. R-50, A-33
3. R-112, A-75
4. R-35, A-20
5. R-9, A-8
6. R-14, A-10
7. R-20, A-10
8. R-50, A-30

FT-3 (day 36)

1. R-160, A-100
2. R-53, A-38
3. R-102, A-100
4. R-50, A-28
5. R-9, A-8
6. R-13, A-10
7. R-25, A-10
8. R-60, A-45

FT-4 (day 50)

1. R-150, A-120
2. R-53, A-42
3. R-124, A-90
4. R-52, A-37
5. R-9, A-8
6. R-14, A-0
7. R-36, A-15
8. R-60, A-46

FT-5 (day 63)

1. R-140, A-123
2. R-54, A-43
3. R-131, A-105
4. R-60, A-36
5. R-11, A-10
6. R-14, A-0
7. R-30, A-12
8. R-60, A-40

The results showed that I peaked at the 3rd FT (day 36) which coincides with the end of the first round of workouts and the beginning of the longer, second round. Where as Anna gradually improved throughout or at least sustained her past results. On the suicide jumps she actually regressed to 0 out of choice.
My results also show that of the progress that I made after the 3rd FT my increase in rep count was only marginal between 2 and 8 more reps, which I attribute to reaching a ceiling on reps versus seconds. 60 seconds a minute means that unless you have superhuman speed, the move itself limits the amount of reps that can be counted in one minute.
Anna, on the other hand, improved more over all than I did. Her results showing significant changes overall sometimes more than 50%. We both attribute this to me having been in better condition due to my continuing exercise regime prior to beginning Insanity, while Anna began the program coming off of a 2 month hiatus from any exercise.
The physical changes are apparent in both of us although they aren’t so drastic that anyone else would notice unless we pointed it out (which we wouldn’t. C’mon, who would?) We didn’t take any before pictures (dummies, I know) but even if we had I don’t think the comparisons would be anything like the night and day photos on the BB website. We both feel better and our cores are stronger as are our legs and overall stamina. I lost mass on my arms (biceps), back (deltoids) but gained mass on my triceps and quads and calves. My stomach is flatter and my obliques are more pronounced. Anna gained mass on her arms, quads and calves as well as a more toned mid section, thighs and buns. I don’t really have a butt so I can’t tell if it grew or shrank!
We both look leaner and sculpted and have noticed how the changes to our cores have effected the way we do pretty much anything. Before when I would bend over and pick something up I always made sure to use my legs so as not to harm my back but now when I tighten my core I find that I don’t need to use my legs as much when picking up a load.

Our overall conclusion is that the Insanity program is worth a try if you feel that you have reached a plateau doing any other form of exercise. Whether it be weight training or simple aerobics, Insanity will help you to improve your body. I plan on continuing to do Insanity 2X a week along with a resistance interval training to build back my arms and upper body. We have also come to the conclusion that the second half of Insanity was too long and did not offer the level of improvement overall, compared to the first half. I think that the problem with most programs is that most are too long or too short. Establishing the right balance is crucial to attaining desired results. If you feel that the workout is too long, that can defeat your motivation which is not good (duh).

If you plan on trying Insanity make sure that you have the time to do it consistently and remember to follow their meal plan and/or get the proper amount of rest!

Peace Out!

The final week of Insanity®

In this final week I’ve decided to post our progress during this time after we have completed the program. Anna has threatened to do a guest post but we’ll see about that. Our schedules this week are hectic with the holiday and work. Happy Turkeyday!

Day 46 – Core Cardio and Balance VIII

Today was another recovery day, ergo CCB. I personally don’t appreciate too much down time so I substituted CCB for Cardio Power and Resistance, which is from the first round of Insanity. I must say that I enjoyed the shorter workout even though I pushed it further than I had during the first times around. revisiting the older workouts gives a good sense of just how much progress that I’ve made and I must say that I’m happy with the results. As I’ve been whining about in my past posts, The Insanity program would have not been so monotonous had they mixed up the workouts a bit more. This is just such an example.

Anna had another photo assignment so I had to do this one all by my lonesome and to mix it up even more I did it in the afternoon when I got home from work as opposed to our normal 9:30 AM time. I think that perhaps mixing up the time when I do my exercises would help with breaking the tedium. I also found that I had more stamina, having had more food in my system, and that I perspired more which I think is always a good thing.

I’ll have to say that on down days (rest days) when I don’t workout, I walk around in a bit of a daze. It’s only when the blood gets moving that my head seems to clear up. Could it be that I’m experiencing some sort of workout hangover?

Day 45 – Max Interval Circuit V

Today was the first time since starting Insanity that I didn’t want to do the workout. It’s just that the whole thing has become so monotonous. With P90X there was a sense of the same tedium but with Insanity it is more pronounced. All of the exercises seem to be only slight variations of one another and after 6 weeks they all blend together and I am beginning to lose interest. I think it would have been better if they combined some of the routines from month one along with the routines from month two. It would have broken it up, at the very least.

Also have been noticing that now we are both experiencing lingering pains in certain areas: neck, knees, ankles that only seem to become worse as we continue. I’m not saying that I’m an old fart, but I’m beginning to feel like one.

I have also noticed that I have pretty much peaked as far as how much more muscle tone that I can achieve. My stamina is still up there thanks to all the cardio but I have lost some tone that I can’t wait to get back once this is all over.

We completed the workout, but speaking for myself, I wasn’t left feeling satisfied. I plan on hybridizing my own routine once Insanity is over to address the loss that I have experienced.

I still like the program but am counting the days when it will be over. It’s beginning to remind me of Groundhog Day.

Day 44 – Max Recovery

The best part about this recovery day was that Anna and I got to workout together. She seems to think that her new status is that of coach and proceeded to tell me everything that I was doing wrong, which as it turned out was quite a lot. I was half-assing it all.

I don’t know how else to describe how I feel other than to say that if the workout doesn’t push me and make me sweat, I lose interest. MR is essentially a lot of repetitive yoga moves which trundle along and don’t really get going until the last 10 minutes of the 55 minute routine. So for 45 minutes it was ho-hum, twiddle thumbs and acting like a jackass until Anna was pissed enough to begin telling me what to do. I personally find my antics quite funny, but apparently she doesn’t. Not today anyway.

All because I was ‘interrupting’ workout.

Marriage, it’s all fun and games until the yoga starts.

Day 43 – Max Cardio Conditioning IV & Cardio Abs VI

Another day without Anna, since she had a photo assignment. As I’ve said before, I like this one because it’s so short (45 min, 60 with CA).

We have about 10 days left of Insanity and one thing that Anna and I keep talking about is what we plan on doing after we’re finished. Doing this every morning and feeling so good, noticing the difference in our every day lives, means that we will need to continue on with something that helps to maintain this level of fitness. I plan on making a hybrid routine and Anna wants to do Insanity every other day.

It really is a lifestyle change.

Day 42 – Max Interval Plyo IV

Strangely enough, I did this one without Anna once again. It wasn’t too bad this time and it was over before I knew it.

 

Day 41 – Max Interval Circuit and Fit Test II

Yesterday was a rest day, which was nice, but meant that today’s workout would be coming off of that period of rest and would be that much more difficult considering that we had to do two (workouts, that is).

Two weeks ago we did the same routine: Fit Test and MIC. At that time we wore ourselves out during the FT and had little to no energy left to complete the MIC, so decided to throw in the towel 30 minutes into MIC (itself a 55 minute workout). We just didn’t have enough gas. Knowing this, today we set out to not only excel at the FT (if we could) but to save enough energy to complete the entire MIC, which we did.
The FT is something that if you look at only the progress that you have made from the last time you did the test, you might get depressed. But if you look at the first test you took and compare it to now, you’ll see some improvement. Making progress is a good thing and seeing it on paper (as well as feeling it) helps. You want to improve over your last time but there is only so much room for improvement once you get into the realm of reps vs. time allotted.
Each FT exercise (8 total), be it Power Jumps or Push-Up Jacks is 1 minute long. Except for the one exercise that counts each individual limb movement as a rep (Low Plank Oblique) or the one that counts 4 revolutions as one rep (Globe Jumps) you begin to max out at around 60 reps per minute. It’s just the way things go. Sure with some exercises you won’t come anywhere near 60 reps (see again, Globe Jumps or Suicide Jumps) but soon it all begins to feel a little futile. Especially since when you finish the FT you have the MIC to do.

We did well enough and managed to finish them both. With only mild collapsing on the floor.

That said, we still yelled and threw things at the TV.

Note: If you plan on throwing a dog, make sure that you don’t pick it up by the pointy end.

Day 40 – Core Cardio and Balance or Max Interval Sports Training

We’ve reached the point in the program where we can opt to switch out the exercise for one of the deluxe set disks (if you purchased the deluxe set, it comes with 3 extra disks). In this case it was CCB a rather tame recovery exercise or MIST. We chose MIST for simple fact that it was new.

Disappointment soon followed.

It seems that when BeachBody formatted the DVD for this particular exercise that they didn’t check it post production. It begins in the middle of the routine and then jumps around willy-nilly between exercises. You can’t even try to do any of them because Shaun T will be explaining how to do one exercise and then it will jump to a different one. And the times are off and not at all linear. If you are considering buying the deluxe set you may want to reconsider as it may not work out for you (pun intended)

Have yet to check the other two disks. Also emailed BB to let them know.

So we ended up doing CCB which at this point was like doing a long warm up and almost put me to sleep. I did sweat a little but not much. I suppose that was better than eating a pillowcase full of Big Macs but only slightly. At least I would have had something soft and cheesy upon which to rest my head.

Day 39 – Max Cardio Conditioning III & Cardio Abs V

This routine is turning out to be the easiest one of the new exercises (even though there are no breaks) because it is the shortest, at 45 minutes. Still it is a butt kicker especially the alternating plank push-ups. Shaun T is a maniac. I bet that even his poo have abs.

Thankfully this one sped right along today. I decided against doing CA because it was nearing the time that I had to be at work and still needed to shower, eat and get dressed. Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses. I really didn’t miss it, but I could see why it was added. After doing MCC I felt like I needed to keep going. Though Anna soldiered on.

Here’s to starting earlier tomorrow.

Me saysa yousa doosa good, Ani!