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.

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 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 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.

Day 47 - Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs

This is the first time seeing Cardio Abs in 3 weeks.  I welcomed it back with open arms!  I thought a short workout from the first month would be refreshing.  It kind of was, I guess.  Like before, I decided to start with Cardio Abs before going into to the main workout.  I think this was my best performance on Cardio Abs yet.  I was even outlasting some of the Insanity crew on the DVD which is surprising since they all have very nice abs.  Maybe I do too under my layer of fat.  Perhaps time will tell.  Unfortunately, Max Cardio Conditioning did not go as well.  I don't know if I was out of steam because of starting with Cardio Abs or if I was just having a bad day.  My muscles fatigued a lot faster than normal and my heart rate didn't get as high as it normally does.  Doing Cardio Abs with Max Cardio Conditioning is the status quo from here on out.  I will try to do Cardio Abs in the morning before work if my schedule allows and then do Max Cardio Conditioning in the afternoon and see if that improves my performance.

Tomorrow is the return of Core Cardio and Balance, the workout from the recovery week.  It will be nice to have an easier workout.  I believe that if you got the deluxe version of Insanity, Core Cardio and Balance would be replaced by something else at this point but I have the basic version so I cannot offer any insight.  I don't even remember there being a deluxe option when I ordered it.

Day 43- Max Cardio Conditioning

Hey dudes.  I came very close to skipping today.  I stayed up too late last night watching "Let's Play..." videos on YouTube because I am and IDIOT and a nerd.  So, I was tired all day and it has really thrown me off.  I'm glad I decided to do the workout.  It would suck to miss a workout when I've done the routine so perfectly so far.  I didn't really push that hard because I wasn't feeling great but I still managed to burn almost 700 calories.  It really goes to show how you must be committed to the program in all aspects of life, including sleep.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  The cardio workouts (pure cardio and this one) are my favorite.  I like that I can take a break if one of the moves is kicking my ass and then go right in to the next one.  The variety also helps the time go by faster.  In the other workouts I often catch myself thinking, "Ugh!  Two more sets to go!" but the cardio ones are one move after another.  The end arrives before I think about it!

I'm off from work tomorrow so I can sleep in and catch up on my zzzzzzs.  I don't know what tomorrow's workout is. The calendar is wayyyy over there and I have two dogs on my lap right now.  I can tell you this much:  it is MAX something.  Oh, and say, "Hi!" in the comments.  It'd be nice to know if anybody is actually reading this.

Day 38 - Max Cardio Conditioning

As I expected, this was the month 2 equivalent of Pure Cardio from Month 1 and the structure is similar.  Max Cardio Conditioning is longer and the moves are harder, as you would expect.

Things start out with the same warm up as Max Interval Circuit and Max Interval Plyo but when it comes time for the balls out third set, Shaun T. has us do a throw back to the month 1 warm up, which was welcome since I feel those routines did a better job of warming me up than the month two ones. That could be because I am still a weakling and the new warm ups are more difficult.  The main workout starts after the stretching, and like Pure Cardio, they are continuous with no water breaks between.  Here are the moves:

1. High/Low Jab Squats
2. Football Runs
3. Basketball Shots with Squats
4. Right and Left Kicks
5. Diamond Jumps
6. In-Out Push Up Jacks
7. Suicide Jumps
8. High Knee/Low Sprints/Floor Sprints
9. Ski Abs
10. Kick Step Back
11. Squat Twists
12. Over the River Hop
13. Attack
14. Power Knees
15. Ski Down Hooks
16. Belt Kicks
17. Forward/Back Suicides
18. Push Up Abs
19. Plank Punches
20. 8 Jump Ropes/Hop Squats
21. Squat Speed Bag

Sorry, I'm not going to describe the moves.  I'm too tired and hungry.  Maybe I'll add links to some later (don't count on it).  A lot of them are moves we already know, or combinations of two or more moves we are familiar with.  Unlike Pure Cardio, not all of the moves were at full intensity and Shaun T. stressed that control is more important than speed.  I can't remember which those were, though.  I think 10 through 15 were kind of a mid-workout recovery but my heart rate stayed pretty high throughout those.  I think my heart rate actually hit a low point during Push Up Abs and Plank Punches because my arms were dead and I really wasn't doing much during those.  All in all I'm fine with how I did today.  I'm looking forward to getting stronger so I can take less breaks and get even more out of it but I swear at one point during the DVD there are only two people actually doing the moves while everyone else is taking a break.  That makes me feel better.  I have now been through all the main exercises of month two.  They are more difficult and longer but I'm not discouraged.  I remember how shell shocked I was during the very first week, but I got stronger every day and I am confident that will happen during the second month as well.

Tomorrow is Max Recovery and my Max Day Off From Work!  I'm hoping I enjoy Max Recovery more than the recovery from the first month.