Project Exercise

With Insanity you will do a total of 5 fit tests by the end of the program.  Today I did my second fit test.  Obviously, this test is an indicator of one’s progress.  The fit test itself is a kick butt workout.  Why?  Well, because you are trying to improve your numbers from the last fit test so you are pushing at 100% and just busting a gut.  During the “globe jumps” I got pretty lighthead and actually staggered a bit.  After the “power jumps” I was pretty wasted, but I had to suck it up and go balls to the walls for next test exercise.  I think I was wheezing at some point.  In a lot of ways, I think the fit test is as hard, if not harder, than the other Insanity workouts.  I put everything I had into it.  I am happy that I improved from the last fit test, but I don’t know how I can further improve.  I mean I ran myself into th ground.  I can’t imagine getting bigger numbers on my next test.

It’s rest day… yipee!  Ok, that was weak.  Anyway, let me start with this week’s recap.  I could tell that I was making improvements because I was able to go a bit harder than last week.  I’m still not up to a standard that I can accept, however, it is a move in the right direction.  For instance, I was able to push past the point where some of the people in the workout group had to stop to take mini breaks.  I was also able to move at a faster pace.  Now all this might sound like I am just burning it up, but that is really not the case.  The workout is still kicking my behind.  There are a whole lot of other folks in the videos that I am no where near.  The thing about the Insanity workouts is that no matter how much you improve, you can still crank it up another notch to keep it challenging.

Ok, so let’s talk about my other passion.  Before I started training for my first triathlon last year, I used to play my guitar all the time.  I had room in my life for my family, to workout for my personal fitness, coach football and play the guitar.  However, when I began triathlon training (in addition to doing P90X), it completely took my focus away from the guitar.  I used to actually play in a rock band.  Not for money, just for fun.  A few of my friends would get together and jam.  My role was playing lead guitar… loud and proud.  While we played some public venues, we mostly liked to get together and do the “garage band” thing.  While I am an electric giutar addict, I used to also play in coffee houses with my trusty Martin acoustic guitar once in a while too.  After my first triathlon, I began training for a marathon.  I just never got back to playing my axe at all.

This past Thursday my good friend came over to share Thanksgiving dinner with us.  He is the singer for our group.  When I began training for my first triathlon he kind of understood my need to give up the guitar for a while to pursue my triathlon goals.  After I did the triathlon I figured could check it off my bucket list and “jam” again.  The problem is that I got this triathlon bug and it replaced my guitar addiction.  Anyway, my friend and I began talking about playing music.  He said that there was a gig coming up and that it would be great to get together again.  At that moment I realized that I pretty much abandoned my long time passion for something that was supposed to be short term.  I mean, my intention was to only check the triathlon off of my bucket list.  It was more of a personal challenge to see if I could complete a triathlon.  However, after the first triathlon I hungered for more.  My buddy really made me take stock in myself.  This weekend I grabbed my axe, cranked up my amp and rocked out in my office/workout room/music room or what my wife refers to as my “Man Room”.  My passion was reignited.  I got a rush that I haven’t felt for a long time.  The thing is that I don’t really care if I ever play in a band again.  I just love playing for myself and jamming with friends.  Most hard core guitarists know what I am talking about.  Heck, I was so into guitar that I used actually build them.  I build them from scratch, not from some guitar kit.  I take hunks of wood and go to work.  Below are a couple photos of the last guitar I built…

Before my buddy came over to share Thanksgiving with me and my family, I was planning my triathlon training schedule.  Holy cow, with my passion reignited, I am not sure what I want to do now.  I will never give up working out for my personal fitness.  I am also not willing to give up coaching football as long as my son is playing the game.  Can I train for triathlons and immerse myself into playing my guitar?  Some folks may say to just replace my workouts with Triathlon training, but I have always considered those two separate things.  Triathlon training takes my complete attention and focus.  Doing my personal workouts (i.e. P90X, Insanity, gym workouts, HIIT) just seem like another day at the office… albeit a hard day at the office.

Anyway, I just thought I would share what is going through my mind.

I don’t know what happened, but somehow I think I forgot to log a workout.  Yesterday I posted day 11, however, when I count the workout days I am off by 1 day.  I have done all the workouts so today should be day 13.  So while I logged yesterday as day 11, I will logged today’s workout as day 13.  Gee, what happened to day 12.  Well, due to missing a post or something, I am “recalibrating” my Insanity posts to reflect the correct ordinal day of my workouts.

Ok, with all that mumbo jumbo out of the way… Today was Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs.  I have done Pure Cardio before.  As with all the workouts, it is a killer workout.  It is funny how it is titled as “Pure Cardio” because there are more than few plyometrics and push-ups movements in the workout.  We do, however, move at max cardio efforts when doing those bloody moves.  This is the workout where everyone is wasted at the end, including Shuan T.  During the workout, while Shaun T is calling out an exercise, he gets a little confused and says that due to the intensity of the workout he can’t even remember the names of his exercises.  He quickly corrects himself and, like a true professional, he recovers and resumes leading the workout.

There was one small twist to today’s Insanity schedule.  Directly after the Pure Cardio workout, I went into Cardio Abs.  This is the first time that we do the Cardio Abs video.  The funny thing is Cardio Abs starts with a Cardio style warm up.  After doing Pure Cardio, I really don’t think that is necessary.  I was expecting big things from Cardio Abs, but the truth is P90X Ab Ripper X kicks the crap out of this workout.  After the warm up we do standing abs exerises where Shaun T has you use you abs to pull your knees up.  The 3rd segment of Cardio Abs has a few floor exercise with a slow and much easier variation of the Mason Twists.

Personally I think substituting Cardio Abs with P90X ARX or another type of Abs/Core routine would be more beneficial.

Overall, the workout went well.  I felt a bit stronger going through today’s workout.  It is still a butt kicker, but I notice that I can go a bit harder through the workout.  The thing about these workouts is that it is should never get easier (I think) because you can always go faster and do more reps to get your heart rate up.  So if you can easily do 45 reps of “suicides”, then you should crank it up to 50 or 60 to increase the intensity.  Once you get to 60, then go for 70 or 80.

Ok, so I was going to address my upcoming Triathlon and Triathlon training this evening, however, since I have rest day scheduled tomorrow I thought I may as well bring it up in tomorrow’s post.  So until then, Aloha!

Well, the day after Thanksgiving and Cardio Recovery, I hit it hard with Cardio Power and Resistance.  Everytime I do one of the Insanity workouts, I try to figure out if the workout I am doing is the hardest.  For a bit I thought the Pure Cardio was the toughest, however, when I did Plyometric Cardio Circuit, I thought that one was the toughest.  Today I did Cardio Power and Resistance and now I think this one is the toughest.  I guess, they are all equally tough.  It is incredible how everyone in the video ends up on the floor like beat puppies at the end of the video.  Truthfully, I don’t think you really need to worry about what order you do these workouts during the week.  I mean, every workout is just an a$$ kicking plain and simple.  So what difference does it make if you get your butt kick one way on Monday and get it kick equally as bad on Friday.  I am sure the order of the the workouts make sense to Shaun T, however, to me it is just one butt kicking after another.

Tomorrow, Pure Cardio is scheduled.  However, Cardio Abs will also be introduced.  According to the schedule I do Pure Cardio first and follow up with Cardio Abs.  Should be interesting.

Having Cardio Recovery scheduled on Thanksgiving is perfect.  Cardio Recovery is a lower intensity workout.  Don’t get me wrong, there are parts of Cardio Recovery that can provide a bit of a challenge.  For me, it is mostly the leg exercises.  Most of those are iso and pulsing type of moves.  However, even those movements are not too difficult.  It is nothing like P90X leg day.  There are stretching and yoga type routines too.

Since it was a mellow Insanity workout today, I took advantage of that to do a weight shoulders and arms workout.  Insanity is overwhelmingly cardio/plyometric so I like to work in a strength training workout when I can.

Well, I hope you folks are having a great Thanksgiving full of NFL Football, friends and family time and good food.

Mahalo ke Akua!

Well, I had a pretty good workout today.  Still got my arse kicked, but I think I made a bit of an improvement.  I did a bit better with keeping up with Shaun T and also lasted longer when the going got tough.  Its kind of like deja vu with P90X.  Remember when you started making little victories with your P90X workouts?

I was kind of dreading this workout because this is the one where Shaun T says he is nervous about what is coming up next right after we finish warming up.  Btw, the warm up is a killer.  This is the same video where he says, “aren’t you a sprint instructor?” to one of the people in his workout group.  I remembered how difficult it was the last time I did it.  So was it easy this time?  NO, it was still hard as hell, but I could tell I was making a small improvement.

Matt left a comment yesterday where he said, “Not trying to discourage you..just prepare for what is one hell of a tough journey.”  Matt just recently completed Insanity.  He also has 2 rounds of P90X under his belt.  He also said, “As I went through the 2 months of Insanity the one big thing I missed
from P90X was the variety. Insanity is just non stop cardio and I can
tell you it takes its toll.”  All I can say is, WOW!  I totally understand because it is already tough and I have got to make it through 63 days of this stuff.  As Shaun T says, “Dig Deeper”!  That is his version of Tony Horton’s “Bring It”!  Matt goes on to say that finishing brings a great feeling of accomplishment.  I hope to get the feeling in a couple months too.

Today’s workout was the same workout that I did on day 3.  To be quite honest, it wasn’t any easier.  The way these workouts are designed, the intenisty and speed of each exercise gets increasingly difficult.  I hit my max HR more than a few times during the workout.  In this particular workout there are a couple of exercises that are similar to P90X.  For instance, there are Power Jumps which P90Xers know as Jump Squats.  Also, V Push Ups are the same as P90X Pike Presses.

I wish I had started this program right after my second round of P90X.  I think I was in peak condition at that time.  These workouts might not feel as difficult to perform if I hadn’t waited so long.  Don’t get me wrong they would still be intense, however, my guess is that I would be doing better.  I am getting my arse kicked.  Quite honestly, I think the marathon training actually decreased my “overall” fitness.  The slow endurance running is very one-dimensional where Insanity and P90X forces one to use a variety of muscles while still providing cardio benefits.  Further, instead of just the running motion, these workouts have you moving in all sorts of directions (i.e. plyometrics).  I am not saying a marathoner is not fit.  To be sure, the are fit enough to complete 26.2 miles and these workouts can’t train you for that sort of endurance.  However, as an “overall” fitness program, I find that workouts like P90X, Tabata, Insanity, etc. provide good “overall” fitness.  I often wish that I hadn’t spent time training for a marathon at all and, instead, went right into Insanity.  Of course, injurying my knee left a bad taste in my mouth.

I have never been a good runner and, frankly, I am not built for speed.  I am fairly strong, but fast I am not.  As a young military man, I won a bench press contest in my weight class (140 lbs).  At the time I was benching 315.  So these sort of workouts are more suited for me and my lifestyle.  Prior to P90X I was lifting in the gym and getting my cardio workouts on the elliptical trainers.  I was in excellent shape after P90X, now I have gain a bit of weight and I don’t feel as fit.  During marathon training I had a voracious appetite and I actually put on some weight.  Holy cow, who in the world gains weight while training for a marathon!  I need to lose between 10 to 15 pounds.  Since starting Insanity I have lost 4 pounds.  Not bad for a week.  More important I need to get my body fat down to about 10 or 11%.  I felt great when my BF hit 10%.  In fact, that is where I was when I ran my first triathlon.  I eventually made it to 8.5%, but my wife, as well as some other folks, told me that I was getting scrawny.

So with a week of Insanity under my belt, I can truly say that I am getting owned.  I am sort of embarrased to admit it, but it is what it is.

Insanity Week 1 is in the can.  This workout system is the real deal.  Is it harder than P90X?  Well, to be fair I can only compare week 1 of both systems.  The first week of Insanity is hands down is more difficult than the first week of P90X.  However, let me qualify that.  In way, it is not a fair comparison because there are elements of P90X that are missing from Insanity.  While there are some strength moves in week 1 of Insanity, there are no where near the amount of strength training as there are in the P90X system.  So it is almost like comparing apples to oranges.  P90X is a more balanced workout with strength training, plyometrics and cardio.  Insanity is leans extremely towards cardio and plyometrics.  There are some strength moves, but not as intense as P90X.  Think of Insanity as P90X+ Interval X Plus everyday.  For those of you P90X’ers who have not had the opportunity to do P90X+, then the best way I can describe Insanity is that it is like plyometrics on steroids.  Shaun T does incorporate some stretching and a few yoga movements to keep you loose.

So just how intense is Insanity?  Well, the workout group on the videos often drop out and collapse.  Shaun T himself collapses at the end of the workout.  Is that intense enough for you.  I mean, even Tony Horton is still standing at the end of a P90X workout.  Hey, don’t get me wrong, Tony is super fit.  In fact, I would like to see how Shaun T stacks up against Tony Horton with pull ups.  Not to mention Horton is over 50.  Btw, I like that as I will be 53 in less than a month.

Ok, so that is the first week.  I haven’t gone through all the videos yet.  In fact, after the first month, we begin doing the more “intense” videos.  What the…?  MORE INTENSE.

I did Plyometric Cardio Circuit today.  This the same workout I did on day 2.  In my mind, all these workouts seem to blend into each other.  In other words, I really can’t tell you the differences from one video to the next.  Unlike P90X where I know the difference with each workout, everything is just a cardio/plyo blur from one workout to another.  All these workouts are high intensity cardio and plyo intervals.  There are differences from one workout to another, however, for me it is just an cardio/plyo butt kicking every day.  The only one I can tell that is different is Cardio Recovery.  I am sure that I will be better able to differentiate the  workouts after some time passes, for now I just get my arse handed to me every day and it doesn’t matter what the title is.

I don’t feel like I did better with Plyometric Cardio Circuit this than I last time.  I just felt wasted.  Although it was a “good” wasted.

Tomorrow is rest day!  Thank you Jesus!  I can use the rest.  I will do a recap of the first week of Insanity tomorrow.

No I didn’t end up in the emergency room because of my Insanity workout.  I just wanted to let you folks know why I didn’t make my post yesterday.  I was stuck in the ER for 3 hours.  I don’t really feel like going into the details.  Its just too stupid to explain.  I am just glad that I got my workout done early.

Yesterday’s workout is called “Pure Cardio”.  What can I say?  It is a killer cardio workout!  The warm up is pretty much the same as the other videos.  The thing is that the warm up is a workout.  You will be sweating pretty well by the end of the warm up.  You can see the a bunch of people in his workout group with sweat soaked shirts.  Shaun T himself is sweating big time.  After the warm up there is a stretch segment.  Just before the next segment starts, Shaun T admits that he is a little scared of the next segment.  In fact, he says it twice and he sounds sincere.  However, he motivates everyone to get ready to get the butts handed to them.

The next portion of the video is an a$$ kicking!  About half way through this segment, people are dropping out.  Shaun T watches his group closely and when he notices individuals are a bit over-extended, he tells them to sit out and take a break until they feel they can resume.  Everyone, at some point, has to break.  This workout is like P90X Plyometrics on crack!  The workout gets increasingly harder as it moves forward.  I was toasted at the end.  Shaun T collapses and when the camera pans out, you see most of the people on the floor.

While it was tough cardio-wise, I found that my feet actually get sore doing the plyo movements.  That alone was enough to make me break a couple times.  The workout is 40 minutes long.  I was looking over the second months workouts.  They are 50 minutes long and the workout names are prefixed with the word “Max”.  I assume that means that I am just doing the kindergarten workouts now.