Round 2, Weeks 8, 9 & 10

December might not be the best month to do Insanity.  Weeks 8 and 9 didn't go so great and I blame the holidays. It is very hard to follow a diet when you are constantly being force fed Christmas cookies and New Years champagne.  There is also so much less time from trying to get ready for the holidays and actually celebrating them.  I know that I started my first round of Insanity during December and I managed to keep my diet and schedule under control but my life was pretty different in December 2012 when compared to December 2013. Despite all of this, I did manage to keep up on all of the Insanity workouts but did end up skipping a few running ones.

I started week 10 with a new resolve.  A new year and a new opportunity to get back into the swing of the program!  This started great until Friday and Saturday.  I woke up on Friday feeling totally wiped out.  All of my muscles were sore and I was just exhausted so I decided to post pone that workout.  I also skipped my workout on Saturday because I needed to watch the Seahawks beat the Saints.  This means that for the first time in this round, I am behind schedule.  There isn't enough time left to get caught up so I will have to make up those workouts after I finish weeks 11 and 12.

Speaking of 11 and 12, those are the final weeks!  That means that my next post will probably be the last for a while.  I have decided to hold off on posting it until I make up the workouts I missed and complete all the running workouts I skipped.  There are a lot of them.  So, you'll just have to tune in in a few weeks to see how this experiment turns out!

Round 2, Week 7

Oh man, I forgot how long these max interval workouts are!  This week would have been week 6 if I had been following the Insanity schedule as written.  It starts off with Maximum Interval Circuit.  For me, this is the most intense of all the Insanity workouts.  That could be because at 55 minutes it is the longest.  That's only 10 minutes longer than plyometric cardio circuit, but that 10 minutes includes an entire circuit that is repeated thrice. The following day was Max Interval Plyo.  I think this one is a little easier, which surprises me because I still consider plyometric cardio circuit from month one to be pretty tough.  That's mostly because of all the upper body shit during the second circuit. Max Interval Plyo does have a few moves thrown in that don't really do much for me (like the pogo) so I get a little bit of a recovery at a few points.  Also, the 3rd circuit is only gone through once.  Max Cardio Conditioning is my favorite.  I imagine a few Insaniacs will find that crazy.  It is intense so the time goes by pretty quickly and I am stronger with cardio than I am with any thing that requires a lot of strength.  There are some push ups and stuff in there but since it is just one long circuit, I do what I can and move on.

I did manage to get all of the workouts in, but I did have to make up a Max Interval Plyo at the beginning of week 8 because I had company over during the weekend of week 7.  I can't stand having people watch me work out so I decided to swap a run from week 8 for the missed MIP.  Anyway, I'll get in to week 8 and 9 with my next post but I will give you a hint that so far it isn't going well!

The Max workouts are hard and my muscles were pretty sore. They still are a little.  I mentioned in my last post that I got a foam roller to try to workout some of the kinks and knots.  I was originally using the Marathon Stick which really helped me while training for my marathon.  However, it could not work my quads, glutes and hamstrings enough because those are massive muscle groups.  The foam roller allows me to put a lot more pressure on those parts because it uses my body weight to apply the pressure.  It still isn't enough for my hamstrings so I'll probably have to get a PVC pipe or something in the future.  Anyway, YEOWTCH!  If you have ever used a foam roller, you know what I'm talking about.  It is almost unbearably painful at first.  Especially along my IT band, which I had been neglecting with the Marathon Stick and could be the cause of some of the difficulty I've had with running lately.

I've made a few changes to my workout habits, which I feel I am able to do since I am an Insanity veteran and did the program to a T the first go round.  The first change I made is a big one.  The workouts are too damn long now so I skip the first round of stretching.  I read somewhere that static stretching really does nothing to prevent injury and by fast forwarding through them I shave 5 minutes off the workout but still burn the same amount of calories.  I do not condone skipping the warm up at all, okay?  The next change isn't that big of a deal.  I hate the warm up during the Max work outs, especially the floor hops side to side, so I skip that move.  What is it supposed to warm up anyway?  I do butt kicks now instead.

Weeks 8 and 9 are another pair of running hybrid weekends.  I like to break up the workouts but so far the hybrid weeks have become excuse weeks and I've been skipping more running workouts than I should.  It kind of defeats the point and makes me wonder if I should just do Insanity straight.  Those are thoughts for when I finish the program.

Round 2, Weeks 5 &6

Halfway through!

Halfway if you don't count the skipped workouts, I'm afraid.  I was hoping to go a week without having to skip a workout but that did not happen during these two weeks.  I skipped cardio abs for both weeks.  I might make those up on my rest days but lately I've been having to use my rest days to make up for a previously skipped day!  Does cardio abs really do anything anyway? Other than that I skipped a running workout on week 5 and two Core Cardio and Balance workouts for week 6.  Those are all workouts that I consider skip-able so I am still on track with all the main Insanity workouts.

I bought a large foam roller today.  I am about to go use it and do not think the experience will be a pleasurable one.

I have now completed all the month one workouts.  Next week we start the Maximum workouts!

Round 2, Week 4

Oh cool, I'm a third of the way through!  Actually I'm not sure if that's good or bad.  I'm already feeling a little burned out and it's been pretty hard starting the workouts when I get home from work.  Despite this, week 4 went pretty well.  I didn't have to skip any workouts, even with Thanksgiving.  My diet has been pretty shitty, though.  I'll work on that! This week was a straight Insanity week but I replaced the fit test and the recovery day with running workouts.

Let us venture forth!  Weeks 5 and 6 await!  These are running/Insanity weeks so hopefully more variety will get me out of my funk.

Round 2, Weeks 2 and 3

Hello.
I don't have too much to say about week 2.  Mainly because it was so long ago and my memory sucks.  I did not miss any workouts and the muscle soreness has subsided.  Maybe I did miss a workout. I vaguely remember writing something about missing a day in my last update.  I'm not going to check.

I do know for certain that I missed two workouts during week three.  One was unavoidable due to a concert I didn't want to miss (it was the "rock" show, so no orchestra and choir, but still awesome) and I would like to say the other one was unavoidable but that would just be me making excuses.  I ended up rearranging the schedule a bit so that the missed workouts were running ones instead of Insanity ones.  I'll more than make up for missed running workouts when I get back into marathon training so I'm less concerned about missing those. Missing Insanity workouts would defeat the whole point of doing this so I make an extra effort to get those in.  If I do end up missing one I guess I'll just make it up after I get through my whole program.

The running days I haven't skipped have not been great.  Most of them are on the treadmill because I'm too much of a weenie to go out in the cold. I've also been having these strange leg stiffening problems about 15 minutes into the runs.  They make my form suck and force me to stop and stretch ever mile or so.  It is pretty annoying and I hope I figure out the problem soon.  It might be from shitty form and it might be because I'm a shitty runner.  It's most likely a combination of the two!  That does bring up one of my favorite aspects of running: its a learning experience. After every run I look back to see how it could have gone better and I look forward to trying to improve my next one.

Happy Thanksgiving, USA readers! Happy Hanukkah, Jewish readers!

Round 2, Week 1

I had forgotten how difficult Insanity was!  While it definitely went better than my very first week, I was a little surprised at how sore I actually was.  I shouldn't be surprised, of course.  I had been focusing on running so most of these moves were using muscles that have been sleeping for a few months.  I was most sore in my chest, abs and back.

I still suck at Plyometric Cardio Circuit and still do best at Pure Cardio.  PCC just has way too much upper body during the second routine.  Maybe by the end of this round I won't suck at in anymore.

One thing I forgot when I started round two is that I am on vacation (more of a staycation) during the second week (which I am halfway through now).  That's a bit of a problem because I am never healthy on my vacations.  I tend to eat out every night and drink more booze since I don't have to be up in the morning.  So far it hasn't been too bad but I do have some events that I'm attending in the next few days that might make it difficult to get my workouts in.

Halfway through week one I was considering dropping the running/Insanity hybrid just to get Insanity over with.  I'm going to stick with the hybrid for now, because what's the rush?  Week two and three are the first weeks with a fair amount of running but I have to be honest, I skipped the running workout at the beginning of the week.  I had a rough (but fun!) weekend and I needed a recovery day.

I think the biggest difference I've noticed so far is that I am in better shape which lets me focus more on my form.  It has improved considerably.  I think doing the workouts barefoot helps a lot too.

Round 2!

Hello again!

In the time since I last finished the Insanity program, I did a lot of training for a half marathon in April followed by a full marathon a month ago.  I was planning on relaxing for a month and then starting my second round of Insanity at the beginning of December.  That wasn't really working for me, though.  I tend to become very, very unhealthy when I'm not working towards a workout goal.  Therefore I decided to start round 2 a month early!

Things are going to be a little different this time.  Here's what's changing:

1. The biggest change is going to be with the actual workout schedule.  I have trained very hard to become the mediocre runner that I am today and I really don't want to lose that. I modified the program to create a running/Insanity hybrid schedule.  It looks something like this:

If you are familiar with the program then you might be able to pick up what I actually did.  First, I got rid of the recovery days on Thursdays because I hated them.  I replaced all those with an easy run.  I also got rid of the fit test because I hate those as well and don't give a shit if I improve my reps. I'm in the best shape of my life and I don't really need any evidence of getting in even better shape.  The proof will be in the before and after pics (I hope!).  I then alternate between running and Insanity for every other week of the original insanity schedule.  That changed this beast into a 3 month program instead of 2 but that actually works better with my longer term plans of starting training for my next marathon.  Oh, this might help: PCC=Plyometric Cardio Circuit, CPR=Cardio Power and Resistance, PC= Pure Cardio, Run=Run (DUH!), Abs=Cardio Abs, MIC=Max Interval Circuit, MIP=Max Interval Plyo, MCC=Max Cardio Conditioning, CCB=Core Cardio and Balance.  I think that's what all the workouts are called.  I don't feel like grabbing the Insanity workout calendar to check.

2. I won't be doing daily updates this time. Daily blogging was important to me during the first round to keep me honest and accountable.  Life was different back then and I had time to do that.  I'm a busy dude these days so updates will be far less frequent.  Maybe I'll shoot for a check-in on the Off days.

3. No shoes! I learned from Shaun T's blog that he doesn't wear shoes when he does Insanity at home. I gave it a shot back when I was doing Insanity workouts alongside my marathon training and it really helps with the form and landing softly. It will also be better on my poor carpet.

I believe that's it.  I think I actually lost a fair amount of fat during my marathon training so my goal with this round of Insanity is to get some more definition.  I do not want to bulk up because I am still a runner and don't need that added weight.

I did a nice and easy 3 mile run today.  Tomorrow is Plyometric Cardio Circuit! I'm excited!

What's Next?

Insanity was a great experience.  It was the hardest physical thing I have ever done and also the most rewarding.  On top of that, it delivered the best results with losing weight and toning my body.  Even though I finished the program, I will continue to integrate the Insanity workouts into my new workout routines.  I still have a ways to go before I am satisfied with my workout results and it would be a pity to lose the work I have already put in.  I think doing Insanity less frequently and mixing it in with other physical activities will help me reach those goals without getting burned out or injured.

I now move into my next phase of training which will be a mix of running and Insanity.  I plan to run my next half marathon in April so I really need to start training.  I have created a program that is a mix between easy runs, long runs, Max Insanity workouts and routines from the first month.  After I put the program on paper I laughed at how ridiculous it is so I might have to change it if it proves to be too much.  It's a work in progress!  This blog doesn't seem appropriate for this type of program so I have created a new one that you can find here.  I won't update it as frequently as I did with this blog because it was a huge time sink and a pain in the ass.

Finally, I will share some things that I am proud of and things I would change about my first round of Insanity.  I am proud that I was able to do the entire program without skipping any days or modifying the schedule too much.  It was tough and involved a few 3:00 AM workouts but I was committed.  I am also proud that I was able to post an update on this blog every day for the past 2 months.  I am so glad I don't have to do that anymore!  I am happy with my results even though I am not quite satisfied yet.  If I could go back and talk to pre-Insanity me I would definitely tell myself to get some push-ups and triceps dips in before I start!  My lack of upper body strength really held me back for a lot of the program.  I would also tell myself to put the plug in the jug!  I had a few workouts done while hungover and that is almost a waste of time.  Alcohol also has a ton of calories and makes me want to eat really shitty food so that probably hindered some of my weight loss.  Of course I probably wouldn't have started on the first week of December if I had the choice.  That probably would have cut out some of the booze since Christmas and New Years always involves liquor and unhealthy food.  Oh well.  I am a regular guy and do things that regular guys do.

Well, that's about it.  Thanks for reading and I hope you have benefited some from my experience!

Day 63 - Fit Test and Final Results

I have such a feeling of accomplishment right now.  It's the same feeling I had when I finished the last of my final exams in college.  Just like a final exam,  the results are what matters, so here goes!

Well, it's nice to see positive change with all the moves.  The only one I did not improve in this time was the globe jumps.  That's fine.  It's such a long move that it really is hard to squeeze out any more reps.

I'm glad I don't have to do the fit test anymore.  I hate it.  I think it is the harder than any of the workouts since you can't really pace yourself.

Again, everything moved in the right direction.  I decided to add a tenth of an inch on to my biceps because I thought it would be funny.  I was a little disappointed with my weight loss because I came into the program expecting to have lost all the weight I needed to by the end.  Then I thought back to day one when I calculated my daily calorie requirements.  The number I came up with was the amount I would need to lose one pound per week.  That was almost the rate that I was losing, so I can't be too disappointed.  I'll continue to lose weight after Insanity, too.  Losing 9.5% of my body fat is pretty impressive, too.

We don't care about the numbers, though.  Here are the pics I promised:

I still have a ways to go but Insanity definitely gave me a jump start.  The end of Insanity feels like the beginning of the next phase of my life.  I am excited to continue on this healthy path and push myself to keep improving.

I'll be back tomorrow or sometime later this week for some final thoughts and what comes next.

Day 62 - Max Cardio Conditioning

Here we are at the final workout of Insanity.  It is amazing how far I've come from the day-one-almost-vomit-inducing-fit test.  Today's workout wasn't the best but that's alright.  My knee was still aching a little but felt a lot better.  I found myself getting fatigued faster than normal.  I'm blaming that on working out in the morning and staying up too late last night, as well as general Insanity burnout.  Even though this was the last workout, I'm not completely across the finish line yet.  I still have my final fit test tomorrow.  How perfect that it is on Super Bowl Sunday.  I'm going to reward myself with pizza and lots of beer while I watch the game.  I'm getting ahead of myself.  Anyway, I'll also post my final weigh in, measurements and some before and after pics.

Tomorrow: Fit Test

Day 61 - Max Interval Plyo (and Cardio Abs)

Oops.  For some reason I was certain that today was Max Cardio and Cardio Abs so I set my alarm early to get the Cardio Abs out of the way before work.  It wasn't until after the ab routine that I decided to actually check to see if that was the correct workout for today.  It was not.  Oh well, no blood no foul.  I ended up just mixing the workouts up a bit so I did Cardio Abs this morning and Max Interval Plyo in the afternoon.  That probably works out better since tomorrow is my day off and I have shit to do so the shorter the workout, the better.

Max Plyo wasn't the best workout of my life.  My right knee has been kind of bothering me all day, especially when descending stairs.  I did take notice and tried to compensate my landings today but I took one bad one during the switch jumps and it sure hurt.  I caught myself before anything bad happened and sat out the rest of that interval but that was alarming.  Hopefully it is nothing to worry about.  The rest of the workout was ho hum.  I'm mostly just trying to get through them at this point.  Two more days!

Tomorrow is Max Cardio Conditioning for real.

Day 60 - Core Cardio and Balance

I'm running a little short on time tonight so this will be short.

Core Cardio and Balance felt pretty nice today.  I can see working this one into my post Insanity routine.  It gave me a nice recovery so I can finish my LAST THREE DAYS strong!

Boy, that day 60 up there looks nice.

Tomorrow is Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs.  I believe I'll be able to do Cardio Abs before work and the main workout afterwards.  Of course my schedule finally allows me to do that on the last time this workout will come up.

Day 59 - Max Interval Circuit

I think the most important thing I will ever point out about Insanity is this:  Watch the B-Boy do some break dance moves at the end of the workout and almost kick Ariel in the face.  It is the light at the end of the tunnel for this workout.

They say that Insanity is the hardest workout program ever put on DVD.  If that is true, then this is the hardest of the hard.  Max Interval Circuit almost feels like too much by the last circuit.  That being said, this was the best workout I've had yet since I started the program so very long ago.  I felt good (as good as you can feel with the program) and really pushed it.  I guess that is appropriate since it is the last time doing Max Interval Circuit with this go round.

Tomorrow I'll get a bit of recovery with Core Cardio and Balance.  As for right now, I have a sick dog to deal with.

Day 58 - Cardio Abs and Max Cardio Conditioning

I am so glad that I am in the last week of Insanity.  I'm starting to feeling majorly burned out and am in need of a break.  I woke up this morning and did not want to do this workout.  I am so close to the end and I can't mess up now so I reluctantly started it to get it over with.  Cardio Abs went fine.  I can tell that I am improving each time I do it.  I can stick with most of the workout without any breaks until I get to the plank work at the end.  I still struggle with that but am getting better.  Max Cardio Conditioning was tough.  This could be because I am still doing them back to back but my schedule hasn't really allowed me to split them up.  I did my best and was completely exhausted and drenched in sweat by the end.

Following my workout, I had some breakfast, showered and went to my biometric screening.  Here are my results:

• Total Cholesteral of 156 (<200 desirable)
• LDL Cholesterol of 84 (<100 optimal)
• HDL Cholesterol of 51 (40-59 okay but higher is better)
• Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio of 3.1 (<3.5 optimal)
• Blood Pressure 133/78 (<120/80 normal)
• BMI of 24 (that is normal)
• Random Glucose of 80 (70-139 normal)

As you can see most of the numbers are good.  My BP is high, but it always is.  That's actually quite the improvement over the last one.  I get the "white coat syndrome" and I think that always falsely elevates it.  I am happy with these results, especially since it was a biometric screen a few years ago that got me in to working out and eating right in the first place.

Tomorrow is Max Interval Circuit for the last time of this round of Insanity.  I'll do my best to give it my all!  I'm going to do my taxes now.  I can't wait to blow my refund on a bunch of crap and maybe some new running shoes.

Day 57 - Max Interval Plyo

I am writing this on my phone which is a pain in the ass but I'm not near a computer right now and I'd like to get this done.  Please ignore any auto correct typos.
I was up too late and consumed things I shouldn't have last night so this workout wasn't the greatest.  I also had to do it in the morning because my schedule is all wacky from working the swing shift today.  One of the bad (but delicious!) things I consumed was a double black stout.  It lead to some amazing insanity farts today!  I managed to get through the entire workout but I didn't give it my full effort.  So far my final week is off to a bad start but I will rebound tomorrow!
Speaking of tomorrow, I have a health screen I have to go to in the late morning so I will have another early workout.  Hopefully my numbers from the screen will improve over last year since I did all that running, Insanity and have been eating better.  I'll let you know how it goes!
I think tomorrow is Cardio Abs and Max Cardio Conditioning but I am not at home and can't check right now.

Day 56 - Rest Day

I am at work right now so I'm not getting a ton of resting done (or work done for that matter).  I'm also using a work computer that really sucks so I'm hoping this post actually goes up.

Last week I mentioned that I might start using my exercise bike on all my rest days but I decided not to today and make it a true rest day.  Next week is the final week of my first round of Insanity and I plan to give it my all so it would probably be wise to let my body fully recover.  Instead of excercising I will be playing Journey on my Playstation 3.  It is the prettiest and most relaxing video game I've ever played.  Check it out!

I work the swing (shit) shift tomorrow at work so I'm going to have to work out in the morning.  I guess the silver lining is that I'll still be sleeping in for a little bit.

I'm not sure what tomorrow's workout is but I'm guessing Max Plyo.  Unless my memory really sucks, I don't think I've done that one in a while.

Also, the web browser on this computer hasn't been updated for many years so the spell check doesn't work.  Forgive any misspellings, pleese.

Day 55 - Core Cardio and Balance

This was just what I needed.  I'm glad that this workout is thrown in a few times in the second month because you really do need a break.  I woke up this morning completely exhausted.  If I had a full Max workout today I doubt I could have done it.  I feel good now and I have a rest day tomorrow so I ought to be all recovered going into the last week!  I did look ahead to see what I have to look forward to and it does look tough but I noticed that the Max Recovery is replaced with Core Cardio and Balance.  This I like!  I said that I liked Max Recovery but that was just when compared to Cardio Recovery.  Honestly, I doubt I'll ever do either of the Recoveries again.

Tomorrow is my rest day.  I'll be at work for half of it so it won't be as restful as I'd like.  Ciao!

Day 54 - Max Interval Circuit

Yo! I was really procrastinating this morning because I did not want to do a workout today.  I especially did not want to do a 60 minute workout.  I finally got around to it just to get it out of the way so I could move on with my day.  It went well enough.  This is a tough one and I think it is the only workout that makes me feel absolutely spent and exhausted by the end.  I think I managed to do more full body drills than I ever have before.  Actually I'm sure that all the moves have shown noticeable improvement but the full body drills really stick out for me because I struggle they are the ones I struggled the most with.  Oh! Also the floor switch kicks.  I can actually do a majority of that workout now.

Well, the workout is done and it is my day off, so it is now time to relax.  Tomorrow I get a little break with Core Cardio and Balance.

Day 53 - Max Recovery

Another Thursday means another Max Recovery.  It seems last week was so long ago and I can't remember how this workout went then.  I don't think I improved much.  I felt the burn early and it hurt some of the first workouts but I think that has been the case every time I do Max Recovery.  I can handle most of the moves that are off the floor with minimal breaks, but then we get in to the low plank/high planks. Those are sadistic but are also the moves that I put the most effort into.  The whole workout uses a lot of strength but the muscles feel so relaxed once its over.

Tomorrow we wake those muscles up with Max Interval Circuit!

Day 52 - Cardio Abs and Max Cardio Conditioning

I had a meeting at work that went long. Between that and getting home I had problem after problem after problem.  It all resulted in me being short on time as I write this so I'm going to keep it short.  I did Cardio Abs.  It went well.  I did Max Cardio Conditioning.  It went okay.

I kind of zoned out at the beginning of Max Cardio Conditioning.  I'm heading in to the home stretch of Insanity and I caught my mind wandering as it tried to come up with different workout schedules to follow in the future.  I don't mind that the second month workouts are longer.  I would be surprised if they weren't.  However, these double headers (Fit Test & Max Interval Circuit and Cardio Abs & Max Cardio Cond.) are really eating into my free time.  I came into the program knowing that it would be a commitment but days like today go something like: wake up, work, work out, eat dinner and go to bed.  Doesn't leave much time for me to enjoy life.  This was supposed to be a short write up!  What it comes down to is that I am looking forward to finishing my first round of Insanity because I won't be so bound by the workout schedule as I'll be okay adjusting and tweaking it to fit my life.

Aaaaannnndddd tomorrow we are back for a much needed Max Recovery.  I have been sore all week so hopefully this will loosen me up a bit.