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 42 - Rest Day

I don't think I've ever been more happy for a day off from working out.  This week has been very punishing and my muscles ache and I'm exhausted.  I did have to work today but now that I'm home, I am going to plop my butt on the couch and chilllllllll

Back to it tomorrow with Max Cardio Conditioning!

PS  Seahawks lost.  It was a heart breaker.

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 40 - Max Interval Circuit

This one is tough!  After today, I am shocked that I was able to do the fit test before this workout earlier this week.  I wasn't able to do an in depth blog about Max Interval Circuit last time and unfortunately today is no different.  This workout is an hour long and I got home late so I have no time.  This workout comes up again on my next day off so I'll try to do a decent overview then.

Tommorrow we go back to Max Interval Plyo.

Day 39 - Max Recovery

This was the first time doing Max Recovery and I was dreading it because of how much I hated the recovery days from the first month.  My dread only grew when I popped in the DVD and hit play only to discover that this one is 47 minutes long!  I think Cardio Recovery was only a half hour.  Anyway, it turned out not to be too bad and I think my muscles actually do feel better.  They were pretty sore over the past few days.  The actual work out was much like Cardio Recovery in that it was more yoga/Pilates moves.  I liked how Max Recovery was set up more, though.  With Cardio Recovery it was a warm up stretch followed by random moves and then some cool down stretches.  Max Recovery breaks things down into a warm up, Workout 1, Workout 2, Workout 3, Workout 4 followed by a cool down.  Each workout kind of focused more on a particular muscle group or base move.  I don't remember all the stretches and moves and I'm not going to look it up.  I don't think there were as many holding moves as Cardio Recovery which makes me happy.  However, a lot of time is spent in plank position and I am not a fan of that.  It's hard to focus on the appropriate muscle when my noodle arms are shaking and about to give out under me.  If I had known there would have been so much plank work and push ups in Insanity I probably would have spent a month building up that strength.  My verdict so far on Max Recovery is that I like it more than Cardio Recovery but I still think my time would be better spent on a run or a bike.

One dilemma I have is trying to track my calories for the recovery workouts.  I wore my heart rate monitor today out of curiosity even though I don't think they are very accurate for non-cardio workouts (I'm not totally convinced with their accuracy for cardio workouts either).  It reported that I burned over 400 calories.  I do not believe that at all.  I went to a generic calorie calculator and had it crank out a number for 47 minutes of "yoga" and it said about 153 calories.  I think the recovery workouts are a little more intense than an actual yoga workout but I guess I'll go with the lower calorie value.  Any insight?

Tomorrow is the return of Max Interval Circuit.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it will be without killing myself on the fit test prior to it.

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.

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!