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 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 50 - Fit Test and Max Interval Circuit

I am extremely happy with my results today, so lets not dillydally and get right in to it!

Remember how I said I doubted I'd be able to get anymore Switch Kicks in that minute duration?  I blew all my previous tests out of the water!  Maybe getting up early to do the Fit Test was a good thing and I was in the zone or something.  Power Jacks, Power Jumps and Low Plank Obliques are all equally as impressive.  I didn't include Power Knees in the previous sentence because I think my form kind of sucks and it's really hard to count that one because it is so fast.  Oh well.  I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.  Suicide Jumps following the Globe Jumps is still a bitch and my arms were very near useless after doing the Push-Up Jacks but all and all I am very encouraged by these results.

Now for my measurements:

As you can see, everything is moving in the right direction.  Everything other than the biceps, that is.  I don't care about biceps so I'm cool with it.  I was shocked by my weight loss.  The decrease nearly doubled since the last Fit Test.  I don't think my waist and hips will really shrink much more in the next two weeks.  Most of the fat I need to lose is in the love handles and it tends to fall the the area between the waist and hips.  I do have some fat still stored in my boobs so I am expecting more of a decrease in my chest in the future.  I'm looking forward to that because my suits will fit better!

I was starting to get a little discouraged with the program and these results are exactly what I needed.  I think most of it can be attributed to the increase intensity of the second month workouts.  They are painful but they seem to do the trick.

Oh, the Max Interval Circuit went very well also.  I was dead by the last rotation but it was the strongest I've been able to do that workout so far.

Tomorrow is Max Interval Plyo.  Hopefully it doesn't knock me off my pink cloud!

Day 36 - Fit Test and Max Interval Circuit

Holy crap.  That was humbling.

I don't know if you are supposed to do the Fit Test and Max Interval Circuit back to back.  I'm guessing not but I wasn't planning on getting up at 4:00 in the morning to do one of them.  This update will focus more on the Fit Test and my weigh in/measurements as I'll be doing Max Interval Circuit many more times over the next 4 weeks.

Fit Test Results:

As you can see I improved with all the moves except the suicide jumps.  I think my problem with those is they come too close after the globe jumps.  Globe jumps kill me and there isn't enough time between the two to recover.  I doubt I'll be able to improve much more with the switch kicks or the power knees and I'm going to go ahead and call bullshit on Tanya and Chris's results on the DVD.  I think they were in the hundreds for the switch kicks.  Maybe when I'm bored I'll watch them and count.  Hopefully I can catch them red handed with their lies!  Or I'll be proven wrong and shut up about it.

Weigh in/Measurements

More progress!  Though I would like to weigh less than that, losing 3.5 pounds while gaining some muscles isn't a bad thing.  My BMI is also finally in the normal range.  If I wanted better weight results I could have put in my weight after the workout.  I lost two pounds of sweat and my weight was actually over a pound lower than 173.4 but I'm trying to be consistent so I will always be going with my Monday morning weight.  Numbers are going in the right direction but they only tell you so much.  I do look much better in the mirror compared to day 0 and after seeing what a month 2 workout is like I'm guess that will improve dramatically this month.

I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty of the workout today.  I've spent the last 1.5 hours working out and I am hungry.  I will tell you that it was longer than a month one workout and much more difficult.  I stood in disbelief as I watch Shaun T. demonstrate some of the moves he expected me to do.  I am curious how tomorrow will go since I won't be spending all my energy on the Fit Test before it.  

I have almost an 1800 calorie deficiency for today so I am going to eat eat eat now.  I'll be back tomorrow with Max Interval Plyo!

Day 15 - Fit Test #2

Progress!
I was a little weary going in to the second fit test because I was worried that I wouldn't improve and that all the work I've put in over the last two weeks would be for naught.  I had nothing to worry about.  Lets just get into the numbers.

Move	Day 1	Day 15	Day 36	Day 50	Day 63	Change
Switch Kicks	62	65				+3
Power Jacks	38	51				+13
Power Knees	70	102				+32
Power Jumps	23	37				+14
Globe Jumps	7	9				+2
Suicide Jumps	11	16				+5
Push-Up Jacks	16	22				+6
Low Plank Obliques	37	47				+10

As you can see I had improvements in all of the moves, though some are much greater than others.  The switch kicks could have been a larger increase but I caught myself in "pace yourself" mode that I've been doing to get through all the regular workouts.  About halfway through the minute I remembered that I'm supposed to be going for speed.  I could have done them over but I don't care enough.  I am satisfied as long as there is some improvement.  I was going full throttle for the second half of the switch kicks and all of the power jacks and power knees.  It wasn't until the power jumps that I needed a break.  Even still, 14 more of those is huge.  The increase in globe jumps doesn't look that impressive but keep in mind that 2 more reps is equal to 8 more jumps.  Same goes for for suicide jumps since each rep is down, back, forward jump.  The biggest thing holding me back for the push-up jacks and low plank obliques was my abs.  I think I pull an ab muscle or something during a workout last week and it is causing discomfort while in the plank position.  Also, I forgot to protect my elbows again during the low plank obliques so I've got a rug burn to the bone.  All in all I am very happy with my results.  Going forward, I don't think the changes will be quite as substantial but as long as I show improvement, I'll be happy.

One sign of progress that you can't measure is how I felt after I was finished.  After the first one I thought I was going to barf and/or pass out.  Today I feel like I could go on and do another workout.

Now for my measurements

	Day 0	Day 15	Day 36	Day 50	Day 63	Change
Chest	41	39.5				-0.5
Waist	38	36.5				-1.5
Hips	36.75	36				-0.75
Biceps	12	12				0
Weight	176.9	174.4				-2.5
BMI	25.4	25				-0.4
%Body Fat	27.6	24.5				-3.1

Some of the lost weight is just water, which I was expecting, so it's nice to see the loss of inches in my hips and waist and boobs chest.  My BMI is still considered overweight but it is at the very low end so next time I post my measurements I'm expecting to be in my normal range.

That's all for today.  I've got another early morning workout tomorrow with Plyometric Cardio Circuit!

Day 1 - Fit Test

What in the hell have I gotten myself into?  I'm sure that is a common question after day one.  I came in to this knowing it would be difficult, but holy crap.  By the end of it I was light headed and the closest I've ever been to puking after a work out and this wasn't even a full one!

Day one is the fit test. This consists of a warm up, followed by doing 8 different exercises for one minute each while you count how many repetitions you do.  This is a good workout but the main purpose is to establish a baseline that will show how your overall fitness is progressing.  The fit test is done on day one and then every 15 days and on the final day.  There should be an increase in the number of reps for each exercise as I get stronger.

The Moves
I'm not going to try to describe the moves because I doubt I'd be able to to it in any coherent way.  Instead I'll try to link a video of somebody else doing them.

Switch Kicks
I didn't have too much trouble with these since it was the beginning of the workout and my heart wasn't quite trying to escape my body yet. I was able to go the entire minute without taking any breaks.

Power Jacks
Again, not too bad.  I was able to do this without stopping but I was a little concerned about my form with the jumps. There is so much to concentrate on with the counting and trying not to jump on one of my dogs and trying not to die that my form may have suffered.

Power Knees
These look easy but this was the first move that I wasn't able to do for the entire minute.  It also seems weird to me that you on do it on one side.  It'd be pretty awkward switching back and forth but all the other moves are symmetrical.

Power Jumps
Wow, check out her abs!  This is where I went to shit.  I've read other people complain about this and for good reason!  I wasn't even close to doing them for the entire minute.  I'm a concerned about my form on this one as well.  I think my form pretty much sucks any time I have to jump.

Globe Jumps
I watched the fit test last week when I received Insanity in the mail to see what I was in for.  I thought these looked fun.  They weren't.  The power jumps really did a number on me and I just could not recover from them so any moves following them really suffered.

Suicide Jumps
The name says it all! Did you hear how she was suffering in the video?  (side note: don't search for suicide jumps on YouTube)

Push-Up Jacks
When I watched the Fit Test DVD from the comfort of my couch I thought that these looked the toughest.  They actually weren't too bad and I probably could have done more if I wasn't so close to death from the power jumps/globe jumps/suicide jump blitzkrieg.

Low Plank Oblique
These weren't too bad either, though I hate any exercise that requires me to get on the floor.  I wasn't sure how to count these because with the switch kicks, two kicks equals one rep.  I think with these, each "kick" is a rep but I could be wrong.  I don't think it matters as long as I am consistent with the counting during future fit tests.

Results!

Move	Day 1	Day 15	Day 36	Day 50	Day 63	Change
Switch Kicks	62
Power Jacks	38
Power Knees	70
Power Jumps	23
Globe Jumps	7
Suicide Jumps	11
Push-Up Jacks	16
Low Plank Obliques	37

I was kind of expecting to do better but that is the wrong way of thinking about these numbers.  My numbers on future fit tests are what I need to be focused on.

According to my heart rate monitor my average rate was 159 bpm.  Plugging that into here and here I came up with 400 calories burned.  Now I don't know how accurate these calculations are but that's not bad for 25 minutes.  Check out the graph:

The red line is the heart rate.  I thought it was cool how you could see 9 peaks.  The first one is the warm up followed by the 8 different moves.

What I've Learned
I stood in the shower for about 20 minutes, shell shocked about what I had just been through.  As I stood there, reflecting on the previous 25 minutes, I realized a few things.

1. I was doing the workout on carpet so I didn't use my exercise mat.  In the future I will!  The low plank obliques gave me a nice rug burn on my elbows
2. My dogs are going to be a problem.  I think they thought I was playing with all the moving around I was doing so they were constantly bringing me a toy or trying to lap up some of the sweat that was pouring off me like a monsoon. I might have to confine them to the kitchen if they continue to be a problem. I really don't want to land on one of them.
3. Beer=bad :-(  I didn't have to work today so I enjoyed a nice oatmeal stout and and IPA last night while I watched Boardwalk Empire and The Walking Dead.  It wasn't much but I do think it had a negative effect on my performance and had me feeling a little sluggish.  I guess it's time to put the plug in the jug going forward with the program.

That's all for today!  Tune in tomorrow for Plyometric Cardio Circuit.