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 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 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 51 - Max Interval Plyo

I woke up this morning sore in many places.  That is a good thing.  I knew I pushed myself harder than normal yesterday and the aching muscles is proof.

Today was Max Interval Plyo again.  This one really kicks my ass.  I think there is some variation on push-ups in every circuit and push-ups being my Achilles heel has been well established in previous blogs.  Lots of squats, too.  Then there is the Squat Push-Up that combines the worst two things in the world.  This all results in many many many breaks throughout.  I think by the end of each circuit I am only working half the time.  I would pat myself on the back for doing 8 Power Jumps when Shaun T. tells me to do 8 if I had any energy left to raise my arms.  Despite all this complaining, I gave it my all and had a good workout.  I have the pool of sweat to prove it!  Oh, and I love how Shaun T. says "You did a mayazeeeeeen" during the cool down stretch.  Thanks, Shaun.  I really did.

Back tomorrow with some Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs.  I had planned to start doing Cardio Abs before work but I've got the early shift tomorrow and I doubt I'll be able to drag my buttocks out of bed earlier than I need to.

Day 45 - Max Interval Plyo

Hey friends, look what Shaun T. tweeted this morning:

That made me smile because I'm pretty sure I said the exact same thing a few blogs ago.  It's true, too.  I'm sure there are some people that can go full throttle through an entire workout.  I even saw a YouTube video of some psychopath doing the workout while wearing a weight suit.  No thank you!  I doubt I'll ever be able to get through the entire workout without a ton of breaks, but that's okay.  If I'm giving it my all and seeing results, then that is good enough for me.  Besides, I said from the get go that I am doing this more to improve my running and not so much to become an Insanity god.

Today's workout was Max Interval Plyo again.  I'm pretty sure I showed improvement, but I honestly can't remember how the last time went.  I suppose I could read my previous blog post on the subject but that would require some mouse clicks and my arms are tired from the workout.  So many push ups!  Speaking of, the main area that I know I improved is with the push ups, especially during the Level-3 drills.  I still have to sit half of them out but the first 16 were my strongest push ups ever!  Sometimes I do worry that my form might be off for a lot of the moves.  Shaun T. often mentions I should be feeling this in my butt or in my calf muscles or some other group, but it seems like my quads are the only muscle group that ever really feels the burn.  I don't know if that's a form issue or just a weak ass calf issue.

Now on to nutrition.  Yesterday I decided to do something that I should have done at the beginning: eat a ton of protein. I always have a protein shake after the workout but my daily protein still wasn't as high as it should be.  I was at Costco yesterday to replenish my protein shake supply when I saw the same company made some protein bars that have 30 grams of protein a pop.  I picked up a box.  Those along with the shakes bring me up to 60 grams of protein a day.  I read somewhere that you are supposed to eat one gram of protein for each pound you weigh.  I'll try that.

Tomorrow is Thursday which means round two of Max Recovery!  We'll see if I still find it tolerable...

Day 41 - Max Interval Plyo

Good golly this is a tough workout!  Towards the end of each set I am totally dead and only going at half speed (or less).  I don't mind.  It only shows that I am giving it my all.

This is the last workout of the first week of month 2.  I really miss the first month's workouts!  I don't know if its the length of these ones or the alterations to each move that makes them more challenging than their month one counterpart.  No doubt it is the combination of both.  It makes the workouts very unpleasant but I think it has greatly accelerated the results.  I have had noticeable weight loss since Monday and I think there has been more development in ab definition.  I bet month one workouts would seem boring now.  While this workout kicked my ass up and down, I did notice an improvement over the first time I did it earlier this week.  I doubt I'll be able to get through the entire workout by the end of the month but we seek progress, not perfection.  Right?

Tomorrow is my rest day.  I would love to spend it watching the Seahawk's playoff game but I'll be at work and we have no TV.  Sad face.  I could record it but I doubt I'll be able to make it through the day without hearing how it turns out.  Oh well.  As long as I can see them in the Super Bowl, which will certainly happen.  Right?  RIGHT?!

Day 37 - Max Interval Plyo

There was a problem at work that happened after I got home this afternoon so I had to deal with that with a long phone call.  That and the length of these MAX workouts is really cutting in to my blogging time for this evening so my descriptions of these moves won't be as detailed as I'd like.

The warm up is the same as Max Interval Circuit and is much more difficult than the first month warm ups.  It consists of jogging, Jumping Jacks - Arms Up (like a regular jumping jack but the arms go straight up and down instead of in a sideways arc), 1-2-3s, Jump Rope S-S (The S-S means side to side), High Knees - Arms Out (good ol' high knees, just this time the arms are held up and out at shoulder height for the duration), Switch Kicks, Hit the Floor, S-S Floor Hops  (I'm not going to try to describe these).  The first time I saw the S-S Floor Hops during yesterdays warms up I think I slung a few F bombs at Shaun T. They didn't seem like a warm up move.  These are all repeated three times, building intensity with each.  The third time you go all out but each move last for a shorter amount of time.  This is followed by the warm up stretch which is about the same as the ones from month one.

The first set contains the following moves: Switch Jumps, Squat Push Ups, Wide In and Out Abs (same as In and out abs but the feet are kept wide), and Power Jumps, our favorite!  This set was tough but completely manageable for me.  After the third set, this rotation is topped off with One Legged V Push Ups.  Just like the V Push Ups of month one, just one foot is on the ground and one is help back in the air.  Not fun!

The second rotation was interesting, starting with Pogo Jumps.  These didn't do much for me, probably because I struggle with the balance so much that I wasn't able to do many reps.  Next is Power Push Ups.  I did better than I thought I would with these but there is still room for improvement.  Globe Twists are like globe jumps, just side to side instead of r-b-l-f.  Still one of my least favorites.  The last move is Level 3 drills.  I thought life couldn't get much worse than level 2 drills but I was wrong!  16 push ups, followed by 16 runs.  Then you hop up and repeat.  I only did one set each time, but still, that's 48 push ups.  Quite and improvement for me!  The second rotation is topped of with one round of Power Lunges/ Hop Squats.  Those are a combination of moves we already know.

The third and final rotation was only done once and my biggest problem with it was just trying to figure out how the hell to do the moves.  I probably said, "Wha.....?" out loud as Shaun T. tried to explain the Side Push Ups.  Those are followed by Kick Stand Hit the Floor which is like a lunge followed by a Super Mario Jump.  Balance was again an issue for me.  Next is 8 Power Knees/8 Diamond Jumps and then Balance Push Ups.  So many push ups!  My problem with this rotation is that all the moves are so different but only doing one set prevents me from really getting the form down.  Anyway, cool down stretch and that's it!

This blog turned out longer than I anticipated.  It is dinner time!  My muscles are very fatigued and it feels like I should eat two giant steaks to get all the protein I need to rebuild them.  I'll probably cook something more sensible.

Tomorrow we discover the Joy of Max Cardio Conditioning!